














■i^ 









X*' .%. . '■ ^:*rt^^ ■" . .v^'.^r:-/^ 






• 0' 



'/- 'si 



^' x'" 



'^. v-^' 



A^ - 






"A s*' 



fj. V-*' 



v^" "^ 



■ '^^ 



\. " 

























'^-. 








■N° 




>' 


, x 






•^ 


^■^ ; 




\^' 


,^^' 












-bo^ ~" ' ' -^ s:^ 






, - , > \ ■ ^, " 5 N v^ 



A^ 












%<>■ 



x\^- '■'■'■■ 






.•■* 



%^- 



cP- 






,0 O. 



,*^ 



,0 c 



^S"^ 
x'^^"-^ 









<*v..^^ 









.^:^' 






>0 o. 









.-^^ . 



.Oo, 



.0- 



.«^.l!*i 



^^ .^^' 



^. s^- 









-xX''- '■/■.. 



A^X^ 



^■^, 



- 



-^ o.'*-' 















•^^' 

s^-^. 






.S^ -5-. 



■^A v^^ 






•'^A V*^ 



*~^ ^*-,. 



^V- v^ 






' .^^^^■ 



>■ ■/>. 






O0~ 



^\^'^ 



x> ,<^''' 



-5-. <^^ 












•f 



^, 



.■* 



<<-. .-^^ 



>^-^ -^^^ 



^ 




^tl 



1 



toi i 




•er^- 



ilM^ '^' " 



bf 




# 



♦ > ^ < * 











I 



HEHOIB 



I 



IP HI 





m s^ 



o o OP o o 



Bs' TERN Arkansas 



A Cot 

1 



COMPRISING 



jtory of the State, a Number of Biographies of Distinguished Citizens of 
. Brief Descriptive History of eaclq of the Counties named herein, and 
; Biograpl^ical Sketches of the Prominent Citizens of such Counties. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis: 
THE GOODSPEED PUBLISHING CO. 

1890. 




V 



^: 







— 'i—j 



W. B. CONKEY, Binder. 



^ 



(s r~ 



-^ e 



V 



•k^ 





HIS beautiful volume has been prepared in response to the popular deiuaud 
for the preservation of local history and biography. The method of prep- 
aration followed is the most successful and the most satisfactory yet devised 
— the most successful in the enormous number of volumes circulated, and 
the most satisfactory in the general preservation of personal biography 
and family record, conjointly with local history. The number of volumes 
being distributed seems fabulous. Careful estimates place tlie number 
circulated in Ohio at 50,000 volumes; Pennsylvania, 60,000; New York, 75,000^; 
Indiana, 40,000; Illinois, 40,000; Iowa, 30,000; Missouri, 25,000; Kansas,"^ 
20,000; Tennessee, 20,000; Kentucky, 25,000; Georgia, 20,000; Alabama, 20,000, 
and all the other States at the same proportionate rate. The entire State of 
Arkansas, which until recently had scarcely been touched by the historian, is 
now being rapidly written. 

The design of the present extensive biographical and historical research is to 
gather and preserve in attractive form, while fresh with the evidence of truth, the enormous fund 
of perishing occurrence. In gathering the matter for the historical sketches of the counties, it 
was thought wisest, owing to the limited space, to collate and condense only the most valuable 
items, by reason of which such sketches are a credit to the book, and of permanent worth. 

In the preparation of this volume the Publishers have met with nothing but courtesy and 
assistance from the ( .ublic. Nothing promised is omitted, and much not promised is given. 
About fifty pages of State history were guaranteed; over twice that number are given. Special 
care was employed and great expense incurred to render the volume accurate. In all cases the 
personal sketches were submitted by mail, and in most instances were corrected and returned 
by the subjects themselves. Coming as they do from the most illustrious families of the State 
— all worthy citizens from the upper, middle and lower classes — they form in themselves the 
most complete account of the Eastern Counties ever written, and their great value to future 
generations will bo warmly acknowledged by all thoughtful people. AVith many tliauks to their 
friends for the success of such a difficult enterprise, the Publishers respectfully tender this fii 
volume to their patrons. 



THE PUBLISHEB 



January, 1890. 



nrDOD 



•^jjiS k- 




CHAPTER I. 

(ic^ol()i;y — lin|iorUiiKc of (IcoluKii' Stiuly — Aroa iiiul Cli- 
inati — Houmlaries — Priiu-iiial streams of tlic Statu — 
Tliu Moiintaiii Systems — Tlie Great Spi-iiigs— Diversity 
of Soils— Caves — TIic Mines, Their Wonderful Deposits 
and Formations 9-18 

CHAPTER II. 

Arelia'ology — Remains of Flint Arrow and Spear Heads, 
and Stone and Other Ornaments — Evidenees of Preliis- 
torie I'eojile alonn' tlie Mississiiipi— Mounds, ete., in 
Other I'orlicnis of the State — Loeal Archieolojjists and 
Their Work — The Indians — Trihal and Haee Character- 
isties — The Arkansas Trihes — The Cession Treaties — 
The Removal of the Chcrokccs, Creeks and Choetaws — 
An Indian Alarm — Assassination of the Leaders, ete., 
ete lll-SH 

* CHAPTER III. 

Diseovery and Settlement — De Soto in Arkansas — Mar- 
unette and Joliet — La Salle, Hennepin and Tonti — 
French and English Sehemes of Con(|Uest and Dreams 
of Power — Louisiana — The "Buhhle" of John Law — 
The Early Vieeroys and Governors — Proprietary Change 
of Louisiana — French and Spanish Settlers in Arkan- 
sas — English Settlers — A Few First Settlers in the 
Counties — The New Madrid Earthtiuake — Other Items 
of Interest 24-»t 

CHAPTER IV. 

Organization — The Viceroys and (iovernors — The Altitude 
of the Royal Owners of Louisiana — The District Divided 
— TheTerritory of Arkansas Formed from the Territory 
of Missouri — The Territorial Government — The First 
Legislature — The Seat of Government— Other Legisla- 
tive Bodies — The Duello— Arkansas Admitted to State- 
hood — The Constitutional Conventions — The Memor- 
ahlc Reconstruction Period — Legislative Attitude on 
the Question of Secession— The War of the Governors, 
etc., etc .U-Ai 

CHAPTER V. 

-Vdvancemciit of the State — .Misconceptions Removed — 
ElTects of Slavery ui)on Agriculture — Extraordinary 
Imi)riiveinents Since the War — Important Suggestions 



— Comparative Estimate of Products — (irowth of the 
Manufacturing Interests — Wonderful Showing of Ar- 
kansas — Its Desirahility as a Place of Residence — State 
Elevatious 45-5^ 

CHAPTER VI. 

Polities — Importance of the Subject — The Two Old Schools 
of Politicians — Triumph of the Jacksoniaus — Early 
Prominent State Politicians — The Great (iuestiou of 
Secession — The State Votes to .Join the Confederacy — 
Horror of the \Var Period — The Reconstruction Distress 
—The lJa.\ter-Brooks Emhroglio 53-55 

CHAPTER VII. 

Societies, State Instituticms, etc. — The Ku Klu.\ Klan— 
Independent Ord(!r of Odd Fellows— Ancient, Free and 
Accepted Masons— Grand Army of the Repuldii — Bu- 
reau of Mines — Arkansas Agricultural Associatiims — 
State Horticultural Society— The Wheel— The State 
Capital — The Capitol Building — State Libraries— State 
Medical Society— State Board of Health— Deaf Mute 
lnstil\ite — School for the Blind— .\rkansas Lunatic 
Asylum— Arkansas Industrial University— The State 
Debt 5'>-"''-l 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Bench and Bar— An .Vnalytic View of the Profession 

of Law — Spanish and French Laws— English Comi i 

Law— The Legal Circuit Riders— Territorial Law and 
Lawyers— The Court Circuits- Early Court Officers— 
The Supreme Court — Prominent Mcmljurs of the State 
Bench and Bar— The Standard of the E.\ecution of Law 
in the State "^'3 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Late Civil War— Analytical View of the Troublous 
Times— Passage of the Ordinance of Secession — The 
Call to Arms— The First Troojis to take the Field— In- 
vasion of the Stiitc by tlie Federal .Vrmy— Sketch of the 
Regiments- Names of Otlicers— Outline of Field Opcr- 
alions— Cleburne and Yell— Extracts from Private 
Memoranda— Evacuation of the State— Rc-occupatiou 
—The War of 1813— The Mexican War- Standard of 
.\merican Generalship 73-81 



CONTENTS. 



-^ 



CHAFTEB X. 

Public Eutcrprises — The Real Estate Bank of Arkansas — 
State Roads and other Iligliways — The Military Roads 
— Navigation within the State from the Earliest Times 
to the Present^Decadeuce of State Navigation — Steam 
boat Racing — Accidents to Boats — The Rise and Growth 
of the Railroad Systems — A Sketch of the Different 
Ijines — Other Important Considerations 82-87 

CHAPTEE, XI. 

The Counties of the State — Their Formation and Changes 
of Boundary Lines, etc. — Their County Seats and Other 
Items of Interest Concerning tlicm — Defunct Counties 
— New Counties — Population of all the Counties of the 
State at every General Census ST-iC 

CHAPTER XII. 

Kduiation— The Menial T\pc Considered— Territorial 
Schools, Laws and Funds — Constitutional Provisions 
for Education — Legislative Provisions — Progress since 
the War — The State Superintendents — Statistics — 
Arkansas Literature — The Arkansaw Traveler 93-U7 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The Churches of Arkausas — Appearance of the Mission- 
aries—Church Missions Established in the Wilderness- 
The Leading Protestant Denominations — Ecclesiasti- 
cal Statistics— General Outlook from a Religious 
Standiioint ;kS-1()1 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Names Illustrious in Arkansas History — Prominent Men- 
tion of Noted Individuals— Ambrose H. Sevier — Will- 
iam E. Woodruff — .John Wilson— .John Hemphill— 
.Jacob Barkmau — Dr. Bowie — Sandy Faulkner— Samuel 
H. Hempstead— Trent, Williams, Shinn Families, and 
Others— The Conways— Robert Crittenden— Archibald 
Yell— .Judge David Walker- Gen. G. D. Royston— 
Judge .James W. Bates 102-112 

CHAPTER XV. 

White County — Location and Description- Boundary 
Lines — Topography and Geology— Water Sujiply— 
Drainage — Streams — Timber — Soil— Resources- Lum- 
ber Interests — Census Enumeration — Taxable Property 
—Live Stc.k Industry— Real and Personal Property- 
Railroad Facilities— Population— Era of Settlements 
County Organization — Seat of Justice and Public 
Buildings— County OHicers — Politics — Court Affairs — 
Roll of Attorneys — Civil War History — Towns and 
Villages— Si'hools— Churches— Biographical 113-271 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Woodruff County— Period of Settlemcnt^First Pioneers 
—County Formation — Seat of Justice- Buildings for 
Public Use— -ludieial History— Legal Bar — Politi<'al 
Status— Directory of Officials- Military Affairs— Geo- 
graphical Sitmition — Boundary and Area— Topography 
— Physical Dcscrii)tion — Resources — Census Statistics 
—Valuation and Taxation— Transportation — Pojiula- 
tion — Educational and Religimis Facilities- Society 
and Commcreial Centers— Biography 272-320 



CHAPTER^XVII. 

Cross County — Acl of Fornuitiou — Early and Subsequent 
Settlements— Names of Pioneers — Origin of County 
Name — Seat* of .histiee — Judicial Transactions — Build- 
ings for Public Use — Situation, Boundary and Area- 
Surface Descri])tion — Municipalities — Court Affairs 
and Bench and Bar — Noted Cases— Eeclesiastical His- 
tory — Schools — List of Officials — Secret Societies — 
Political Status— Railroads — General, Development — 
Family Record 321-389 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Crittenden County — Act of Organization — The Name — 
Early Settlements and Land Entries — Tribunal Centers 
— Public Edifices — Material Advancement and Progress 
— The Crittenden of To-day — Its Desirability as a Place 
of Residence — Resoiin es, Location and Topography — 
Military Affairs — Otlicial Directory— Military Road — 
Railroads — School Matters — Religious Condition — 
Ncwspajier Press- Towtis and Villages— Biography ..3!I0-4.')U 

CHAPTER XIX. 

St. Francis County — Its Advantageous Location — Area 
and Boundary — Strcani- — Population — Navigation — 
Period of Entry— First Settlers — Mound Builders- 
First Building and County Seat — William Strong — Soil 
— Climate ami Production — Stock Raising — Growth aiul 
Material Progress — Valuation — Organization — Court 
Affairs — Prominent Cases — War Record — Sketch of 
Forrest City — Political History and Directory of Otli- 
eers — Suunuary — Biograjiliical 451-500 

CHAPTER XX. 

Monroe County — Transportation Facilities — Taxation, 
Valuation, etc. — Bonded Indebtedness — Productions — 
Live Stock — Horticulture — Location — Topography — 
Variety of Soil — Drainage— Streams, etc. — Timber — 
Original Oceui)aney — Pioneer Settlers and First 
Homes — County Organization — Seat of Justice and 
Public Buildings — List of OlHcials — Political Aspect — 
Population — Court .Vffairs — Civil War — Towns and Vil- 
lages — Schools and Churches — Private Memoirs 507-565 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Lee County — Recent Organization — Creative .\ct — Scat of 
Justice — Officers of Trust — During War Times — Politi- 
cal Complexion — Valuation — Divelopmcnt^ — Churches 
and Schools — Period of Settlement — Locati(m, Area and 
Population — Streams, Soils, cti'. — Natural Yields — 
Stock Raising Interests — Sketch of Marianna and 
llaynes — Numerous Selected Skctrhes 560-031 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Arkansas County — Boundary and Area — Valuation — Topo- 
graphical Presentation— Springs and Mounds— Early 
Settlement — Names of Pioneers — Population — During 
War Times— Bench and Bar — Prominent Cases — Inter- 
esting Historical Records — Territori;il Officers — Cities, 
Towns, etc. — Church Organizations — Transportation 
Facilities — County Papers — Munici]ia] Townships and 
Postoffices — Resources — Schools— Hiographical Me- 
moirs 632-672 



i> \ 




CHAPTER : XXIII. 

Trairic County — History of Si'ttUrment— Act of Organiza- 
tion — Public Structures — Centers of Judiciary Affairs — 
Judicial Districts — Courts — Names of Ollicial lucum- 
heuts — PoHtical' History — Location, Topography, etc. — 
Physical Features — Soil and Productions— Railroads — 
Agricultm-al Wheel — Civil War Hems — Valuation and 
Taxation — Towns and Villages — Public School Sys- 
tem — Church Organizations — Personal Sketches 673-738 

chapter; XXIV. 

Phillips County — Judicial Center — Buildings for Public 
Use — Political Life — Population — Courts of Equity — 



Roll of Legal Practitioners — [County Situation and 
Physical Features — Geologic Formation — Water Sup- 
ply and Drainage — Farming Lands — Live Stock Inter- 
ests — Shiiiping Facilities — Pioneer Settlements — Mili- 
tary|Affairs — Sketch of Helena — Other Towns, Villages, 
etc.- — Interests, Scholastic and Religious — Individual 
Memoirs " 739-80'J 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Speech of Hon. T. F. SorrcUs on. the Deep Water Ques- 
tion — A Matter of Prime Importance — Eastern Arkan- 
sas Interests — Necessity of Deep '^ Water — Methods 
Employed, etc., etc 810-818 



V • 5-+-?- — • 



— P 



S. E. Dent between pages 120 and 12.'5 

Hon. F. P. Laws " 100 " 193 

James B. Dent " 372 " 275 

Capt. J. M. Levesque " 364 " 367 

Maj. James F. Barton " 400 '? 403 

Hon. Asa Hodges " 418 " 421 

Col. O. P. Lyles " 476 " 479 



l>r. Philip Van Patten between pages 498 and 501 

Dr. T.J. Brasher " ."iTC "J, .579 

Dr. F. D. Dale " 042 " 645 

B. B. Coiuicr " 708 "^711 

Col. Hoggatt Clopton " 760 " 763 

Thomas Cotton Press Works 821 




ITH 



l^ 







-^ 




ISTOSY ^ OF 




flflSflS. 



'6~ 



* > * < * 



f El f 



Geology— Importance of Geologic Study— Area and Climate— Boundaries— Principal Streams 
OF THE State— The Mountain Systems— The Great Springs— Diversity of Soils- 
Caves— The Mines, their AVonderful Deposits and Formations. 




Such blessings Nature pours, 
O'erstocked maukiiul enjoys hut half her stores. — Young. 



HE matter of first impor- 
tance for every civilized peo- 
ple to know is the economic 
geology of the country they 
inhabit. The rocks and the 

,.„,- -, ^-^ .. „r climate are the solution in 

Inivfli^ ^^'^ ^°*^ of all problems of 

*&;'(.{■ f ^'^®' ^^ they are the prime sources 
from which all that human beings 
can possess comes. The measure of 
each and every civilization that has 
adorned the world is in exact de- 
gree with the people's knowledge 
,of the natural laws and the envi- 
ronments about them. 
X^'J^^Q'^ The foundation of civilization 

^S, ^ rests upon the agriculturists, and 

nothing can be of more importance to this class 
than some knowledge of what materials plants are 
composed, and the source from whence they de- 
rive existence; the food upon which plants live 
and grow; how they are nourished or destroyed; 
what plant food is ajipropriated by vegetation 
itself, without man's aid or intervention, through 
the natural operations in constant action. The 




schools will some day teach the children these use- 
ful and fundamental lessons, and then, beyond all 
peradventure, they will answer very completely 
the lately propounded question: " Are the public 
schools a failure':'" The knowledge of the ele- 
mentary principles of the geology of this country 
is now the demand of the age, made upon all na 
tions, in all climes. 

The character of vegetation, as well as the 
qualities of the waters and their action ujion vege- 
table and animal life, is primarily determined 
by the subjacent rocks on which the soil rests. 
Earth and air are but the combinations of the 
original gases, forming the solids, liquids and the 
atmosphere surrounding the globe. The soil is • 
but the decomposed rocks — their ashes, in other 
words, and hence is seen the imperative necessity of 
the agriculturist understanding something of the 
rocks which lie beneath the land he would success- 
fully cultivate. Ho who is educated in the simple 
fundamental principles of geology — a thing easier 
to learn than is the difference in the oaks and [lines 
of the forest — to him there is a clear comprehension 
of the life-giving qualities stored in the surface 
rocks, as well as a knowledge of the minerals to be 



•C\s- 



10 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



found in their company. A youth so educated 
possesses incomparable advantages over his school 
companion in the start of life, who has concentrated 
his energies on the classics or on metaphysical sub- 
jects, whether they enter the struggle for life as 
farmers, stock raisers, miners or craftsmen. It 
is as much easier to learn to analyze a rock, min- 
eral or soil, than to learn a Greek verb, as the one 
is more valuable to know than the other. All true 
knowledge is the acquirement of that which may 
aid in the race of life, an education that is so prac- 
tical that it is always helpful and useful. 

The geology of Arkansas, therefore, so far as 
given in this chapter, is in fact but the outline of 
the physical geography of one of the most interest- 
ing localities of the continent, and is written 
wholly for the lay reader, and attempted in a 
manner that will reach his understanding. 

Within the boundary lines of the State are 53,- 
045 square miles, or 33,948,800 acres. It has 
8,868,800 more acres of land than the State of 
New York, and multiplies many times the com- 
bined natural resources of all the New England 
States. It has 2,756 miles of navigable rivers. 

It had a population in 1880, as shown by the 
census, of 802,525. Of these there were 10,350 
foreigners and 210,666 colored. In 1820 the Ter- 
ritory had a population of 14,255; in 1830, of 30,- 
338; iu 1840, of 97,554; in 1850, of 209,897; in 
1860, of 435,450; in 1870, of 481,471. (This 
was the Civil War decade.) In 1885 the popula- 
tion had advanced about 200,000 over the year 
1880, or was near 1,000,000. In 1887 it reached 
the figures of 1,260,000, or an increase of more 
than a quarter of a million in two years, and there 
is reason to believe this increased ratio will pass 
beyond the two million mark in the next census. 
At least, an increase of one hundred per cent in 
the ten years is indicated. Keeping in mind that 
there are no great populous cities in the State, it 
will be known that this has been that healthy in- 
crease of population which gives glowing promises 
for the future of the State. Here the agricultural 
districts, and the towns and cities, have kept even 
pace, while in some of the leading States of the 
Mississippi Valley the great cities have grown 



while the rural population has markedly decreased. 
These are serious problems to reflective minds iu 
those States where the cities are overgrowing and 
the country is declining. Happily, Arkansas is 
troubled with no such indications of the disturbed 
natural distribution of its people. The State, 
since it emerged from the dark and evil days of 
civil war and reconstruction, has not only not been 
advertised in regard to its natural resources, but 
has been persistently slandered. The outside world, 
more than a generation ago, were plausibly led 
to believe the energy of its citizens was justly 
typified in the old senseless ballad, " The Arkan- 
saw Traveler," and the culture and refinement of 
its best people are supposed to be told in the 
witty account of Judge Halliburton's "First Piano 
in Arkansas." The ruined hopes, the bankrupted 
fortimes and the broken hearts that are the most 
recent history of the Western deserts, form some of 
the measure the poor people are paying for the de- 
ceptions in this regard that have been practiced 
upon them. These silly but amusing things have 
had their effect, but they were pleasant and harm- 
less, compared to tb ■ latest phase of pretexts for 
persistent publications of the cruelest falsehoods 
ever heaped upon the heads of innocent men. But, 
in the end, even this will do good; it is to be seen 
now among the people. It will put the people of 
the State upon their mettle, resulting, if that is 
not already the fact, in giving it the most orderly, 
law abiding, peaceful and moral people of any 
equal district of the Union. 

The State is in the central southern portion of 
the great Mississippi Valley, and in climate, soil, 
rocks, minerals and water may well be designated 
as the capital of this ' ' garden and granary of the 
world," with resources beneath the surface that 
are not, taken all together, surpassed on the globe. 
Its eastern line is the channel of the Mississippi 
River "beginning at the parallel 36° of north lati- 
tude, thence west with said parallel to the middle 
of the main channel of the St. Francois (Francis) 
River; thence up the main channel of said last men- 
tioned river to the parallel of 36° 30' of north lati 
tude; thence west with the last mentioned parallel, 
or along the southern line of the State of Missouri, 



IZ 



^1 



^ 9 



\^ 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



11 



to the southwest corner of said State; thence to be 
bounded on the west to the north bank of Red 
River, as designated by act of Congress and treat- 
ies, existing January 1, 1837, defining the western 
limits of the Territory of Arkansaw, and to be 
bounded west across and south of Red River by 
the boundary line of the State of Texas as far as 
the northwest corner of the State of Louisiana; 
thence easterly with the northern boundary line of 
said last named State to the middle of the main 
channel of the Mississippi River; thence up the 
middle of the main channel of said last mentioned 
river, including an island in said river Imown as 
Belle Point Island, and all other land as originally 
surveyed and included as a part of the Territory, or 
State of Arkansas, to the 36° of north latitude, to 
the place of beginning."* 

The State includes between its north and south 
boundary lines the country lying between parallel 
of latitude 33° north, and parallel of latitude 36° 
30' north, and between its east to west lines the 
country between longitude 90° and a little west of 
longitude 94° 30'. Its geographical position on 
the continent assures the best conditions of tem- 
perature, salubrity and rainfall, this being shown 
by the absence of the intense heat and the cold 
storms of the higher latitudes and the drouths of 
the west. 

From the meteorological reports it is learned 
that the average rainfall in the State during June, 
July and August is sixteen inches, except a narrow 
belt in the center of the State, where it is eighteen 

*The above descriptive boundary lines are, in the au- 
thoritative language of the State Constitutional Conven- 
tion. To understand the south and west lines necessitates 
a reference to tlie treaties and acts of Congress. The fol- 
lowing would simplify the descriptive part of the west 
and south lines: Beginning at the southwest corner of 
Missouri, or in the center of Section 19, Township 21, 
Range .34 west of the fifth principal meridian line, thence 
in a straight line south, bearing a little east to strike the 
east line of Section 4. Township 8 north. Range 1^2 west; 
thence in a strai.ght line south, bearing a little west to 
where the line strikes Red River in Section 14. Township 
13 south, Range 33 west; thence alon.g said river to the 
southwest corner of Section 7, Township 14 .south, Range 
28 west; thence south tothe northwest corner of tlic north- 
east quarter of Section 18, Township 20 soulli, Range 28 
west; thence east along the SS--* of latitude to I lie middle 
of the channel of the Mississippi River; thence up said 
river to the place of beginnin,?. The State lines run 
with the lines of latitude and the meridional lines, and 
not witli the government survey lines. 



inches, and a strip on the western portion of the 
State, where it is from eight to fotirteen inches. 
Accurate observations covering fifteen years give 
an average of seventy-five rainy days in the year. 

Of twenty-three States where are reported 134 
destructive tornadoes, four were in Arkansas. 

The atmual mean temperature of Los Angeles, 
Cal., is iibout P less than that of Little Rock. 

The watershed of the State runs from th(! 
north of west to the southeast, from the divide of 
the Ozark Mountain range, except a few streams 
on the east side of the State, which flow nearly 
parallel with the Mississippi River, which runs a 
little west of south along the line of the State. 
North of the Ozark divide the streams bear to a 
northerly direction. 

Of the navigable rivers within its borders the 
Arkansas is navigable 505 miles; Bartholomew 
Bayoti, 68 miles; Black River, 147 miles; Current 
River, 63 miles; Fourche La Favre River, 73 
miles; Little Missouri River, 74 miles; Little Red 
River, 48 miles; Little River, 98 miles; Missis- 
sippi River, 424 miles; Ouachita River, 134 miles; 
Petit Jean River, 105 miles; Red River, 92 miles; 
Saline River, 125 miles; St. Francis River, 180 
miles; White River, 619 miles. 

These streams flow into the Mississippi River 
and give the State an unusual navigable river 
frontage, and they run so nearly in parallel lines 
to each other and are distributed so equally as to 
give, especially the eastern half and the southwest 
part of the State, the best and cheapest trtmsporta- 
tion facilities of any State in the Union. These 
free rivers will in all times control the extortions of 
transportation lines that are so oppressive to the 
people of less favored localities. 

The Arkansas River passes diagonally across 
the center of the State, entering at Fort Smith, and 
emptying into the Mississippi at Napoleon. 

Sotilh of this the main stream is the Ouachita 
River and its tributaries; the Saline River, which 
divides nearly equally the territory between the 
Arkansas and Ouachita Rivers; and the Little Mis- 
souri on the southwest, which divides the territory 
between the Ouachita and Red Rivers. North of 
the Arkansas, and about ecjually dividing the ter- 



<5 k^ 



12 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ritory between the Mississippi and the Arkansas 
Rivers, is White River, running nearly southeast. 
Its main tributary on the west is Little Red River, 
and on the northeast Black River, which enters the 
State from Missouri, and flows southwesterly and 
empties into the White at Jacksonport, Jackson 
County. Another important tributary is Cache 
River, which flows a little west of south from Clay 
County, emptying into the White near Clarendon. 

Eel River is in the northeast corner of the 
State and partially drains Craighead County. 
Eleven Points, Currant, Spring and Strawberry 
Rivers are important tributaries of Black River. St. 
Francis River flows fi'om Missouri, and from 36° 
30' north latitude to 36° north latitude it forms 
the boundary line between Missouri and Arkansas, 
and continuing thence south empties into the Mis- 
sissippi a few miles above Helena. 

Main Fork of White River rises in Madison 
County and flows northwest in and through Wash- 
ington County into Benton County; thence north- 
east into Missouri, returning again to Arkansas iu 
Boone County. Big North Fork of White River 
rises in the south central part of Missom-i, flows 
southward, and forms its junction in Baxter County, 
Ark. La Grue River is a short distance south of 
White River; it rises in Prairie County and joins 
the White in Desha County. Middle Fork of 
Saline River rises in Garland County and flows 
southeast. Rolling Fork of Little River rises in 
Polk and passes south through Sevier County. 
Cassatot River also rises in Polk and passes south 
through Sevier County. Clear Fork of Little 
Missouri rises in Polk County and passes south- 
east. East Fork of Poteau River rises in Scott 
County and runs nearly due west into the Indian 
Territory. L'Auguille River rises in Poiusett 
County and flows through Cross, St. Francis and 
Lee Counties, and empties into the St. Francis 
within a few miles of the mouth of the latter. Big 
Wattensaw River rises in Lonoke County and runs 
east into Prairie County, and empties into White 
River. Muddy Fork of Little Missouri River risf s 
in Howard County and runs southeast. Yache 
Grass River runs north through Sebastian County 
and empties into the Arkansas River east of Fort 



Smith. Terre Noir River runs from northwest to 
the southeast in Clark County and empties into 
Ouachita River. Sulphur Fork of Red River en- 
ters the State from Texas, about the center of the 
west line of Miller County, and running a little 
south of east emjaties into Red River. Sabine River 
flows south through the central southern portions of 
the State, and empties into the Ouachita River near 
the south line of the State. 

There are numerous creeks forming tributa- 
ries to the streams mentioned, equally distributed 
over the State, which are fully described in the re- 
spective counties. Besides these water-courses 
mention should properly be made of the nineteen 
bayous within the State's borders. 

The Ozark Mountains pass through the north- 
ern portion of Arkansas, from west to east, and 
form the great divide in the watersheds of the 
State. Rich Mountains are in the central western 
part, and run east from its west line, forming the 
dividing line between Scott and Polk Counties, 
and also between Scott and Montgomery Counties, 
and run into Yell County. 

South and east of the Rich Mountains are the 
Silver Leaf Mountains, also running east and west 
from Polk County, through Montgomery to Gar- 
land County. These are the mountain formations 
seen about Hot Springs. Sugar Loaf Mountain 
is in Cleburne County, and receives its name from 
its peculiar shape. It is in the northern central 
part of the State. Another mountain of the same 
name, containing the highest point in the State, is 
in Sebastian County, and extends into the Indian 
Territory. Boston Mountains are in the northwest- 
ern part of the State, running east and west in 
Washington, Crawford and other counties. These 
include the main mountainous formations. There 
are many points in these ranges that have local 
names. , / 

It would require volumes to give a complete 
account of the variety of the innumerable springs 
which I'urst forth with their delicious waters — 
warm, hot and cold, salt, mineral and medicated. 
The fame of some of the medical, and the Hot 
Springs of Arkansas, are known throughout the 
civilized world, and pilgrims from all nations come 



Fk: 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



13 



to bo washed and healed in them. They were 
known to and celebrated b}- the prehistoric peoples 
of America; and the migrating buffaloes, ages and 
ages ago, cam(> annually from the land of the Da- 
kotas to the spring waters of Arkansas. The in- 
stincts of the wild beasts antedate the knowledge 
of man of the virtues and values of the delicious 
waters so bountifully given to the State. Nearly 
all over its territory is one wonder after another, 
tilling every known range of springs and spring 
waters, which, both in abundance of flow and in 
medicinal properties, mock the world's previous 
comprehension of the possibilities of nature in this 
respect. 

When De Soto, in June, 1 542, discovered the 
Mississippi River and crossed into (now) Arkansas, 
and had traveled north into the territory of Mis- 
souri, he heard of the ' ' hot lakes ' ' and turned 
about and arrived in time where is now Hot Springs. 
Even then, to the aborigines, this was the best- 
known spot on the continent, and was, and had 
been for centuries, their great sanitarium. The 
tribes of the Mississippi Valley had long been in 
the habit of sending here their invalids, and even 
long after they were in the possession of the whites 
it was a common sight to see the camp of repre- 
sentatives of many different tribes. The whites 
■made no improvement in the locality until 1807. 
Now there is a flourishing city of 10,000 inhab- 
itants, and an annual arrival of visitors of many 
thousands. The waters, climate, mountain air and 
grand scenery combine to make this the great 
world's resort for health and pleasure seekers, and 
at all seasons of the year. The seasons round, with 
rarest exception.-;, are the May and October months 
of the North. 

In the confined spot in the valley called Hot 
Springs there are now known seventy -one springs. 
In 1860 the State geologist, D. D. Owen, only 
knew of forty. Others will no doubt be added to 
the list. These range in temperature from 93° 
to 150° Fahrenheit. They discharge over 500,000 
gallons of water daily. The waters are clear, taste- 
less and inodorous; they come from the sides of the 
ridge pure and sparkling as the pellucid Neva; hold- 
ing in solution, as they rush up hot and bubbling 



from nature's most wonderful alembic, every valua- 
ble mineral constituent. In the cure, especially of 
nearly all manner of blood and chronic diseases, 
they are uneijualed, and their wonders have be- 
come mainly known to all the world by the liv- 
ing and breathing advertisements of those who 
have proven in their own ])ersons their wonderful 
curative powers. To reach Hot Springs and be 
healed, is the hope and aspiration of the invalid, 
when all other remedies have failed. And it is 
but just now that the pleasure seeker, the tourist, 
the scienti.st. and the intelligence and culture of 
the world are beginning to understand that this 
is one of the world's most inviting places to see 
and enjoy. 

But the marvels of the district are not confined 
to the immediate locality of Hot Springs. Here 
is indeed a wide district, with a quantity and variety 
of medical springs that are simply ina[)proachable 
on the globe. Going west from Hot Springs are sys- 
tems of springs running into Montgomery County 
a distance of forty miles. As continued discov- 
eries of other springs in Hot Springs are being 
made, and as these widely distributed outlying 
springs are comparatively of recent disclosure, it 
may be assumed that for many years to come new 
and valuable springs will become celebrated. 

In Carroll County, in the northwest part of 
the State, are Eureka Springs, only second to Hot 
Springs in the wide celebrity of fame as healing 
waters. They, too, may well be considered one of 
the world's wonders. There are forty-two of these 
springs within the corporate limits of the city that 
lias grown up about them. They received no pub- 
lic notice until 1879, when with a bound they 
became advertised to the world. Their wonderful 
cures, especially in cases of rheumatism, cancer, 
dyspepsia and other, if not nearly all, chronic 
diseases, have bordered on the marvelous, if not 
the miraculous. 

In White County are the noted White Sulphur 
Springs, at Searcy, and the sulphur and chalyb 
eate springs, known as the Armstrong and the 
Griffin Springs, and the medical springs — lilan- 
chard Springs — in Union County; the Ravenden 
Springs, in Randolph County, and the Sugar Loaf 



<S k_ 



if-Lzi 



U 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Springs, in Cleburne County; the very recently dis- 
covered Litbia Springs, near Hope, in Hempstead 
County, pronounced by a leading medical journal, 
in its January issue, 1889, to be the most remark- 
able discovery of this class of medical waters of 
this century. These are some of the leading springs 
of the State which possess unusual medicinal 
properties. By a glance at the map it will be seen 
they are distributed nearly equally all over its ter- 
ritory. Simply to catalogue them and give accom- 
panying analyses of the waters would make a pon- 
derous volume of itself. In the above list have 
been omitted mention of the fine Bethseda Springs 
in Polk County, or the fine iron and chalybeate 
springs near Magnolia; Bussey's Springs, near 
Eldorado, Union County; Butler's Saline Chalyb- 
eate Springs, in Columbia County; the double 
mineral spring of J. I. Holdernist, in Calhoun 
County; a large number of saline chalybeate 
springs in Township 10 south, Range 23 west, in 
Hempstead County, called Hubbard's Springs; or 
Crawford's Sulphur Springs; or those others in 
Section 16, Township 12 south. Range 10 west; or 
Murphy's or Leag's Mineral Springs, all in Brad- 
ley County; or Gen. Royston's noted chalybeate 
springs in Pike County, and still many others that 
are known to possess mineral qualities, though no 
complete examination of them has yet been made. 

Special mention should not be omitted of the 
Mountain Valley Springs, twelve miles northwest 
of Hot Springs. The fame of these springs has 
demanded the shipment of water, lately, to distant 
localities in vast and constantly increasing quan- 
tities. The knowledge of them is but compara- 
tively recent, and yet their wonderful healing 
qualities are already widely known. 

Innumerable, apparently, as are the health 
springs of Arkansas, they are far surpassed by 
the common springs found nearly all over the 
State. 

Mammoth Spring is in Fulton County, and is 
unrivaled in the country. The water boils up 
from an opening 120 feet in circumference, and 
flows uninterruptedly at the rate of i), 000 barrels a 
minute. From the compression of so large an 
amount of carl)onic acid held in solution, the whole 



surface of this water basin is in a continual state of 
effervescence. Spring River, a bold stream, is 
produced by this spring, and gives an unlimited 
amount of water power. 

The general division of the surface of the State 
is uplands and lowlands. It is a timber State, 
with a large number of small prairies. East and 
near Little Rock is Lonoke Prairie, and other 
small prairies are in the southwest part. In its 
northeast portion are some large strips of prairie, 
and there are many other small spots bare of tim- 
ber growths, but these altogether compose only a 
small portion of the State's surface. 

The variety and excellence of soils are not sur- 
passed by any State in the Union. The dark 
alluvial prevails in nearly all the lowlands, while 
on many sections of the uplands are the umber red 
soils of the noted tobacco lands of Cuba. About 
two-thirds of the State's surface shows yellow pine 
growth, the great tall trees standing side by side 
with the hardwoods, walnut, maple, grapevines, 
sumac, etc. A careful analysis of the soils and 
subsoils of every county in the State by the 
eminent geologist, Prof. D. D. Owen, shows this 
result: The best soils of Iowa, Wisconsin and 
Minnesota are inferior to the best soils of Arkan- 
sas in fertilizing properties. The following re- 
ports of State geologists tell the story: 



Organic aud Volatile Matter. 

Alumnia 

Carbonate Lime 



Ark. 


MiDD. 


Iowa. 


14,150 

8,715 

21,865 


6,334 

5,585 

690 


6,028 

3.288 
940 



6,580 

4,610 

665 



In fertilizing qualities the only comparative 
results to the Arkansas soils are found in the blue 
limestone districts of Central Kentucky. 

Analysis of the soils shows the derivative geo- 
logical formation of soils, and their agricultural 
values; their losses by cultivation, and what soils 
lying convenient will repair the waste. Arkansas 
County, the mother of counties in the State, lying 
in the southeast, shows the tertiary formations. 
Benton County, at the opposite northwest corner, 
has the sul)carboniferous. The tertiary is found 






^1 



1^ 



HISTORY OF ARKAXSAS. 



15 



in Newton County; Clark, Hompstead and Sevier 
show the cretaceous; Conway, Crawford, Johnson, 
Ouachita, Perry, Polk, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, 
Scott, Van Buren, White, Garland and Montgom- 
ery, the novaculite, or whotstono grit; Greene, 
Jackson, Poinsett and Union, the quaternary. In 
addition to Benton, given above, are Independence, 
Madison, Monroe, Searcy and Washington, subcar- 
boniferous. The lower silurian is represented in 
Fulton, Izard, Lawrence, IMarion and Randolph. 
These give the horizons of the rock formations of 
the State. The State has 28,000,000 acres of 
woodland — eighty-one and one-half per cent of her 
soil. Of this twenty-eight per cent is in cleared 
farms. 

If there be drawn a line on the map, lieginning 
a few miles west of longitude 91°, in the direction 
of Little Rock, thence to the north boundary line 
of Clark County, just west of the Iron Mountain 
Railroad, then nearly due west to the west line of 
the State, the portion north of this line will be the 
uplands, and south the lowlands. The uplands 
correspond with the Paleozoic, and lowlands with 
the Neozoic. 

The granitic axis outbursts in Pulaski, Saline, 
Hot Springs, Montgomery, Pike and Sevier Coun- 
ties, and runs from the northeast to the southwest 
through the State. In Northern Arkansas the dis- 
turbance shows itself in small faults, gentle folds 
and slightly indurated shales; but nearer the gran- 
ite axis, greater faults, strata with high dip and 
talcose slate, intersected with quartz and calcite 
veins, become common. These disturbances are 
intimately connected with, and determine to some 
extent, the character of the mineral deposits of 
the State. The veins along the granite axis were 
tilled probalily with hot alkaline waters depositing 
the metalliferous comjwunds they contained. 

Almost every variety of land known to the 
agriculturist can be found, and, for fertility, the 
soils of the State are justly celebrated. Composed 
as they are of uplands and lowlands, and a variety 
of climate, Ihey give a wide range of products. 
In the south and central portions are produced the 
finest cotton in the markets, while the uplands 
yield fruits in aliundance and variety. No place 



in the great valley excels it in variety of garden 
vegetables, small and orchard fruits, grasses, 
grains, and other field crops. Among agriculturists 
in Arkansas, truly cotton has been king. It is 
grown upon lands that would produce a hundred 
bushels of corn to the acre. All over the State a 
bale of cotton to the acre is the average — worth at 
this time 150. Per acre it is about the same labor 
to raise as corn. In the varied and deep rich 
soils of the State are produced the vegetation — 
fruits, vegetables and plants — of the semi-tropic re- 
gions, and also the whole range of the staple prod- 
ucts of the north. Cereals, fruits and cotton 
grow as well here as anywhere. In the uplands 
will some day be raised grapes and tobacco that 
will be world famous. 

That portion of the hilly lands in Clay, Greene, 
Craighead, Poinsett, St. Francis, Lee and Phillips 
Counties, known as Crowley's ridge, has a soil and 
vegetable growth distinctive from any other por- 
tion of the State. Its principal forest growth is 
yellow poplar, which is found in immense size. 
With this timber are the oak, gum, hickory, wal- 
nut, sugar and maple. The soil is generally of a 
light yellowish or gray color, often gravelly, very 
friable and easily cultivated, producing abundant 
crops of cotton, corn, oats, clover, timothy and red 
top, and is most excellent for fruits. 

The prevailing soil is alluvial, with more or 
less diluvial soils. The alluvial soils, especially 
along the streams, are from three to thirty feet 
deep, and these rich bottoms are often mile* in 
width. There are no stronger or more productive 
lands than these anywhere, and centuries of cul- 
tivation create no necessity for fertilizers. 

The swamp lands or slashes as a general thing 
lie stretched along between the alluvial lands and 
second bottoms. They are usually covered with 
water during the winter and spring, and are too 
wet for cultivation, though dry in the summer and 
fall. They can be easily reclaimed by draining. 

The second bottoms are principally on the east- 
ern side of the State, extending from the slashes to 
the hills. The soil is mostly gray color, sometimes 
yellowish, resting ujion a subsoil of yellowish or 
mulatto clay. The rich, black lands prevail largely 



J 




16 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



iu Hempstead, Little River, Sevier, Nevada, Clark, 
Searcy, Stoue, Izard aud Independence Counties. 

In the mountainous range of the Ozarks, in 
Independence County, are remarkable cave forma- 
tions. They are mostly nitre caves and from these 
and others in the southeast and west of Batesville, 
the Confederacy olitained much of this necessity. 
Near Cushman, Independence County, are the won- 
derful caves. The extent and marvelous beauty of 
formations are in the great arched room, the 
"King's Palace." This cave has been explored 
for miles under the earth, and many wonders and 
beauties are seen on every hand. On the side of 
the mouth of one of the caves in this vicinity a 
strong spring leaps from the mountain's side and 
into the cave, and the rumbling of the rushing 
waters beneath the earth can be heard quite a dis- 
tance. The notable saltpetre caves are in Marion, 
Newton, Carroll, Independence, Washington and 
Benton Counties. 

There are gold mines in Arkansas, yet no re- 
markable iinds that is, no marvelous wonders have 
as yet been uncovered. The universal diffusion 
of milky quartz in veins, seams and beds, as well 
as all the other geological tokens which lead on to 
fortune, are recent discoveries, aud the intelligent 
gold hunters are here in abundance. Who can 
tell what the futm-e may have in store? But 
should no rich paying gold fields ever be found, 
still in the resources of the State are ores of silver, 
antimony, zinc, iron, lead, copper, manganese, 
marble, granite, whet and honestone, rock-crystal, 
paints, nitre earths, kaolin, marls, freestone, 
limestone, buhr and grindstone and slate, which 
may well justifj' the bold assertion of that eminent 
geologist. Prof. D. D. Owen, in ISOO, after care- 
fully looking over the State, ' ' that Arkansas is 
destined to rank as one of the richest mineral 
States in the Union." Its zinc ores compare 
favorably with those of Silesia, and its argentif- 
erous galena far exceeds in percentage of silver the 
average of such ores of other countries. Its 
novaculite (whetstone) rock can not be excelled in 
fineness of texture, beauty of color, and sharpness 
of grit. Its crystal mountains for extent, and 
their products for beauty, brilliancy and transpar- 



ency, have no rivals in the world. Its mineral 
waters are in variety and values equalled only Ijy 
its mineral products. 

Anticipating the natural questions as to why 
the mines of Arkansas are not better developed, it 
will be sufficient to condense to the utmost Prof. 
Owen's words in reference to the Bellah mine in 
Sevier County: " It is the same vein that is found 
in Pulaski County, and runs northeast and south- 
west nearly through the State. Some years ago 
the Bellah mine was explored and six shafts were 
sunk. Three of the principal shafts were about 
thirty feet deep. The work was done under the 
supervision of Richard W. Bellah, afterward of 
Texas. There was a continuous vein, increasing 
in thickness as far as he went. On the line other 
shafts were sunk from six to twelve feet deep, all 
showing the ore to be continuous. About five tons 
of ore were taken out. A portion of this was 
sent to Liverpool, England, to be tested, and the 
statement in return was ' seventy-three per cent 
lead, and 148 ounces of sil'^er to the ton.' " Mr. 
Bellah wrote to Prof. Owen: "I am not willing 
to lease the mines ; but I will sell for a reasonable 
price, provided my brother and sister will sell at 
the same. I have put the price upon the mines, 
and value it altogether [460 acres of land] at 
.$10,000." Such was the condition of affairs at 
this mine when the war came. Substantially, this 
is the ante-bellum history of the Arkansas mining 
interests. Prof. Owen reports picking up from 
the debris of these deserted shafts ore that anal- 
yzed seventy-three per cent lead and fifty-two aud 
one-half ounces of silver to the ton of lead. 

That these rich fields should lie fallow-ground 
through the generations can now be accounted for 
only from the blight of slavery upon the enter- 
prise and industry of people, the evils of a great 
civil war, and the natural adaptation of the soil and 
slavery to the raising of cotton. 

On the line of this vein, in Saline County, 
from very superficial explorations, were discovered 
veins bearing argentiferous lead and copper. 

Lead is found in about every county in North- 
ern Arkansas. These are a continiiation of the 
Missouri lead ores. The richest argentiferous lead 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



17 



ores reported are in Pulaski, Saline, Montgomery, 
Polk, Pike, Ashley and Sevier Counties, being 
found in the quartz and calcite ganguos. It is as- 
sociated in the north of the State with zinc, cop- 
per, and with antimony in Sevier County. 

One of the latest discoveries is the value of the 
antimony mines of Polk and Sevier Counties. A 
mine is being worked successfully for antimony, 
and the increase of silver is improving as the 
shaft goes down. At any hour in the progress of 
the work, according to the opinions of the best 
scientific mining experts, this shaft may reach one 
of the noted silver deposits of the world. In the 
Jeff Clark antimony mine, at a distance of 100 
feet down, was found a rich pocket of silver. In 
every particular, so far, this mine is a transcript of 
that of the noted Comstock mine. The Comstock 
mine showed silver on the sui-face; so did the Sev- 
ier County mine; then it passed down 100 feet, 
following a vein of antimony; so has the Sevier 
mine; then in each has silver been found. 

There is an unchanging law which governs the 
rock and mineral formations. Nature never lies, 
and there is no doubt that the Arkansas mineral 
belt, through Montgomery, Polk, Howard and Sev- 
ier Counties, will prove to be one of the richest 
mining districts of the world. 

The antimony mine has been quite successfully 
worked the past two years. The Bob Wolf mine. 
Antimony BlufP mine, and Stewart Lode are being 
profitably worked. Capital and the facilities for 
reducing ores by their absence are now the only 
drawback to the mineral products of the State. 

Iron is found native in the State only in meteor- 
ites. The magnatite ore is found plentiful in Mag- 
net Cove. Lodestones from this place are shipped 
abroad, and have a high reputation. This is one 
of the best iron ores, and the scarcity of fuel and 
transportation in the vicinity are the causes of its 
not being worked. The limooite iron ore is the 
common ore of all Northern Arkansas; immense 
deposits are found in Lawrence, where several 
furnaces are operated. In the southern jmrt of the 
State is the Ijog iron ore. The brown hematite is 
found in Lawrence, Randolph, Fulton and other 
counties. Workable veins of manganese are found 



in Independence County. This valuable ore is im- 
ported now from Spain; it is used in making Spie- 
gel iron. 

Bituminous and semi-anthracite coal is found 
in the true coal measures of th(! uplands of Ar- 
kansas. That of the northwest is free from sul- 
phur. The semi -anthracite is found in the valley 
of the Arkansas River. These coal fields cover 
10,000 acres. There are four defined coal hori- 
zons — the subconglomerate, lower, middle and up- 
per. The coal fields of this State belong to the 
lowest — the subcarboniferous — in the shale or 
millstone grit less than 100 feet above the Archi- 
medes limestone. In the Arkansas Valley these 
veins aggregate over six feet. The veins lie high 
in the Boston Mountains, dipping south into the 
Arkansas Valley. Shaft mining is done at Coal 
Hill, Spadra and many other points. Itis shipped 
down the river in quantities to New Orleans. 

Aluminum, corundum, sapphire, oriental ruby, 
topaz and amethysts are found in Howard and 
Sevier Counties. Strontianite is found in Mag- 
net Cove — valuable in the purification of sugar. 
In the synclinal folds of Upper Arkansas common 
salt is easily obtained. Good salt springs are in 
Sevier County, also in Dallas and Hot Springs 
Counties. Chalcedony, of all colors, cornelian, 
agates, novaculite. honestone, buhrstone, varieties 
of granite, eight kinds of elegant marble, sand- 
stones, white, gray, red, brown and yellow, are 
common in the grit horizon; flagstones, roofing 
and pencil slates, talc, kaolin, abound in Salhio, 
Washington, St. Francis and Greene Counties. The 
potter's clay of Miller, Saline and Washington is 
extensively worked. "Rock oil" has been dis- 
covered in large pockets in Northwest Arkansas. 

In the development of its mineral resources the 
State is still in its infancy, so much so, indeed, 
that what will prove yet to be the great sources of 
wealth are not even now produced as a commer- 
cial commodity. In some respects this is most re- 
markable. For instance, Arkansas might supply 
the world, if necessity required, with lime and 
cement, can produce the best of each at the least 
cost, and yet practically all these consumed are 
ihiported here from other States. Years ago Prof. 



18 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



D. D. Owen called attention to the valuable marls 
in tbe southwest j)art of the State, but the great 
beds lie untouched and cotton planters send oif for 
other fertilizers. So also of the great beds of 
gypsum that lie uncovered and untouched. The 
cutside world wants unlimited supplies of kaolin, 
fire-clays and such other clays as the State pos- 
sesses in inestimable quantities, and yet the thrifty 
people seem to be oblivious of the fact that here is 
the way to easy sources of wealth. 

People can live here too easily it seems. In 
this way only can a reason be found for not strik- 
ing boldly out in new fields of venture, with that 
vigor of desperation which comes of stern and 
hard necessity. Where nature is stubborn and un- 
yielding, man puts forth his supremest efforts. 

Magnet Cove probably furnishes more remark- 
able formations than any other district in the world. 
The "Sunk Lands" in the northeast part of the 
State, the result of the disturbance of the New 
Madrid earthquake 1811-12, present features of 
interest to both lay and scientific investigators. 
The curious spectacle of deep lakes, beneath which 
can be seen standing in their natural position the 
great forest trees, is presented; and instead of the 
land animals roving and feeding among them are 
the inhabitants of the deep waters. 

The natural abutments of novaculite rocks at 
Rockport, on the Ouachita River, with the proper 
outlying rocks on the opposite side of the river, are 
a very interesting formation. 

Cortes Mountain, Sebastian County, as seen 
from Hodges Prairie presents a grand view. The 
bare hard rock looks as though the waves in their 
mighty swells had been congealed and fixed into 
a mountain. It is 1, 500 feet high. Standing Rock, 
Board Camp Creek, Polk County, is a conspicious 
and interesting landmark. It rises from out the 



crumbling shales, like an artificial piece of masonry. 
to the height of ninety feet. 

Thfe Dardanello Rock as seen from the Arkan- 
sas River, opposite Morristown, is composed of fer- 
ruginous substance, and the great column dips at 
an angle of 40° toward the river. From one point 
on the southeast is the wonderful Dardanelle Profile. 
All the features of the face, with a deep cut mouth 
slightly open as if in the act of listening to what 
one is going to say to it, and the outlines of the 
head, neck and shoulders, are faithfully produced. 
Its faithfulness of detail and heroic proportions 
are its strong characteristics. 

Sandstone Dam across Lee Creek, Crawfoid 
County, is a curious instance of nature's perfect 
engineering. The formation here possesses as 
much interest to the scientist as the noted Natural 
Bridge. 

Investigations of the Mammoth Spring lead to 
the conclusion that it has underground connection 
with Havell's Valley, Mo; that here the waters 
from many springs, some rising to the surface and 
others not rising, are as the head of a vas^ funnel, 
which pour down the subterranean channel and, 
finally meeting obstructions to further progress, are 
forced up through the solid rock and form the 
Mammoth Spring, a navigable subterranean river 
in short, whose charts no Viold seaman will ever 
follow. 

North of Big Rock are the traces of a burnt 
out volcano, whose fires at one time would have 
lighted up the streets of Little Rock even better 
than the electric lights now gleaming from their 
high towers. 

The track of the awful cataclysm, once here 
in its grand forces, is all that is left; the energies 
of nature's greatest display of forces lost in the 
geological eons intervening. 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



19 



mm 



* > ♦ < < 



Archaeology— Remains of Flint Arrow and Spear Heads and Stone and Other Ornaments- 
Evidences OF PUE-HISTORIC PEOPLE ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI— MOUNDS, ETC., IN OTIIEU PORTIONS 

OF The State— Local Archaeologists and their Work— The Indians— Tribal 

AND Race Characteristics— The Arkansas Tribes— The Cession Treaties 

—The Removal of the Cherokees, Creeks and Choctaavs- An 

Indian Alarm— Assassination of the Leaders, etc., etc 




Some lazy ages, lost in sleep and ease, 

No actions leave to busy chronicles; 

Such whose superior felicity but makes 

In story cliasnis, in epochas mistakes. — Dryden. 



N the long gone ages, 
reaches of time perhaps 
only to be measured by 
geological periods, races 
of men have been here, 
grown, flourished, declined 
and jjassed away, many not 
even leaving a wrack behind; others 
transmitting fossil traces, dim and 
crumbling, and still later ones, the suc- 
cessors of the earlier ones, who had no 
„ traditions of their predecessors, have 
^*^/5 l^f*' something of the measure of their 
existence in the deftly cut flints, broken 
pottery, adobe walls, or great earth- 
works standing in the whilom silent 
wilderness as mnte and enduring mon- 
uments to their existence: man, races, civilizations, 
systems of religion passing on and on to that 
eternal silence — stormfully from the inane to the 
inane, the great world's epic that is being forever 
written and that is never writ. 

Arkansas is an inviting field for the investiga- 
tion of the archaeologist, as well as the geologist. 
Races of unknown men in an unknown time have 
swarmed over the fair face of the State. Their 




restless activities drove them to nature's natural 
storehouses and the fairest climes on the continent. 
Where life is easiest maintained in its best form 
do men instinctively congregate, and thus commu- 
nities and nations are formed. The conditions of 
climate and soil, rainfall and minerals are the 
controlling factors in the busy movements of men. 
These conditions given, man follows the great 
streams, on whose bosom the rudest savages float 
their canoes and pirogues. 

Along the eastern part of the State are the most 
distinct traces of prehistoric peoples, whose hiero- 
glyphics, in the form of earthworks, are the most 
legible to the archreologist. Here, earthworks in 
greatest extent and numbers are found, indicating 
that this section once swarmed with these barbaric 
races of men. 

In Lonoke County, sixteen miles southeast of 
Little Rock, and on the Little Rock & Altheimer 
branch of the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Rail- 
road, is a station called Tolteo. It is located on 
the farm of Mr. Gilbert Knapj). and is near 
Mounds Lake. This lake is either the line of what 
was a borse-shoe bend in Ai-kansas River long ago, 
or is the trace of a dead river. The lake is in the 
form of a horse-shoe, and covers a space of about 



3<i; 



20 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS 



three miles. The horse- shoe points east of north, 
and the heels to the southwest. Here is a great 
field of large and interesting mounds and earth- 
works. A little east of the north bend of the lake 
are two great mounds — one square and the other 
cone shaped. The cone shaped is the larger and 
taller, and is supposed to have been 100 feet high, 
while the other was about seventy five feet in ele- 
vation. About them to the noiih and east are 
many small mounds, with no apparent fixed method 
in their location. These have all been denuded of 
their timber and are in cultivation, except the larger 
one above mentioned. Upon this is a growth of 
heavy timber, elms, hickory, and oaks with as high 
as 500 rings, and standing on an alluvial soil from 
eight to fifteen feet deep. These large mounds 
are enclosed with an earth wall starting out from 
the bank of the lake, and circling at a considerable 
di.stance and returning to the lake, and keeping 
nearly an equal distance from the larger mound. 
The sloping base of each mound reaches the base 
and overlaps or mingles with the base of its neigh- 
bor. Around this big wall was once an outside 
ditch. The humus on the smaller mounds shows, 
in cultivation, a stronger and deeper alluvial soil 
than the surrounding land. 

There are evidences in these mounds that while 
they were built by one nation, for objects now 
problematical, they have been used by other suc- 
ceeding peoples for other and different purposes, 
much after the manner that are now found farm- 
ers with well-kept gardens on the tops of the 
mounds, or stately residences, or on others grow- 
inof cotton and com. In them human and ani- 
mal bones are seen, and there are indications that, 
while they were built for purposes of worship or 
war, when the builders passed away more than 
one race of their successors to the country used 
them as convenient burial grounds. They were 
skillfiil stone workers and potters, and their mason's 
tools are frequently met with. Nearly every im- 
plement of the stone age is found in and about 
the mounds. 

M>-. Knapp, who has given the subject consid- 
erable intelligent study, is so convinced that these 
works were made by the Toltec race that he has 



named the new station in honor of that people. 
On the line of this earth-wall mentioned are two 
deep pools that never are known to become dry. 

East of Toltec thirty or more miles, in Lonoke 
Prairie, are mounds that apparently belong to 
the chain or system which runs parallel with the 
river, through the State. The small mounds or 
l)arrows, as Jefferson termed the modern Indian 
burial places, are numerous, and distributed all 
over Arkansas. 

What is pronounced a fortified town is found 
in well m'arked remains on St. Francis River. It 
was discovered by Mr. Savage, of Louisville. Ho 
reports "parts of walls, built of adobe brick and 
cemented." On these remains he detected trees 
growing numbering 300 rings. He reports the 
brick made of clay and chopped or twisted straw, 
and with regular figures. A piece of first-class 
engineering is said to be traced here in a sap- 
mine, which had passed under the walls of the 
fortification. 

The bones and pottery and tools and arms of 
the prehistoric peoples of Arkansas are much more 
abundant than are found in any other spot in the 
United States. 

Mrs. Hobbs, living four miles southeast of 
Little Rock, has a very complete collection of the 
antiquities of the State. It is pronounced by 
antiquarians as one of the most valuable in the 
country. The Smithsonian Institute has offered 
her every inducement to part with her collection, 
but she has refused. It is hoped the State will 
some day possess this treasure, and suitably and 
permanently provide for its preservation. 

When the white man discovered and took pos- 
session of North America, he found the red man 
and his many tribes here, and under a total mis- 
apprehension of having found a new continent, he 
named this strange people Indians. The new world 
might have been called Columbia, and the people 
Columbians. Again, instead of being spar.se tribes 
of individuals fringing the shores of the Atlantic 
Ocean there were 478 tribes, occupying nearly the 
whole of the north half of this western hemis- 
phere; some in powerful tribes, like the Iroquois; 
some were rude agricultural and comro ercial peoples, 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



21 



some liviug in houses of logs or stone, permanent 
residents of their localities; others warriors and 
hunters only, and still others migratory in their 
nature, pirates and parasites. One characteristic 
strongly marked them all — a love of liberty and 
absolute freedom far stronger than the instinct 
of life itself. The Indian would not be a slave. 
Proud and free, he regarded with contempt the 
retinements of civilization. He breathed the same 
free air as did the eagle of the crags, and would 
starve before he would do manual work, or, as he 
believed, degrade himself in doing aught but paint 
himself, siQg his war songs and go forth to battle, 
or pursue the wild game or meet the savage wild 
beasts in their paths and slav them in regular com- 
bat. To hunt, tish and tight was the high mission 
of great and good men to his untutored mind, 
while the drudgery of life was relegated to the 
squaws and squaw-men. His entire economic 
philosophy was simply the attainment of his de- 
sires with the least exertion. In a short time he 
will have tilled his earthly mission, and passed 
from the stage of action, leaving nothing but a 
dim memory. From their many generations of 
untold numbers has come no thought, no inven- 
tion, no action that deserves to survive them a 
day or an hour. The Indians of to-day, the few 
that are pure blood, are but the remnants, the use 
less refuse of a once numerous people, who were the 
undisputed possessois of a continent, but are now 
miserable, ragged and starving beggars at the 
back doors of their despoilers, stoically awaiting 
the last tinal scene in the race tragedy. And, like 
the cheerful sermon on the tombstone, who shall 
say that white civilization, numbers and power, will 
not in the course of time, and that not far distant, 
be the successors of the residue of wretches now 
representing the red race ? "I was once as you 
are, you will soon be as I am." A grim philos- 
ophy truly, but it is the truth of the past, and the 
great world wheels about much now as it has for- 
ever. 

What is now Arkansas has been the po.ssession 
of the following Indian tribes; no one tribe, it seems, 
occupied or owned the territory in its entirety, 
but their possessions extended into the lines, cov- 



ering a portion of the lands only, and then reach- 
ing many degrees, sometimes to the north, south 
and west: The Osages, a once numerous tribe, 
were said to own the country south of the Mis- 
souri River to Red River, including a large por- 
tion of Arkansas. The Quapaws, also a powerful 
nation, were the chief possessors, and occupied 
nearly the whole of the State, "time out of mind;" 
the Cherokees were forced out of Geoi'gia and 
South Carolina, and removed west of the Missis- 
sippi River in 1S3(); the Hitchittees were removed 
from the Chattahouchee River to Arkansas. They 
speak the Muskogee dialect — were 000 strong when 
removed; the Choctaws were removed to the west, 
after the Cherokees. In 1812 they were 15,000 
strong. 

The Quapaws, of all the tribes connected with 
Arkansas, may be regarded as the oldest settlers, 
having possessed more of its territory in well de- 
fined limits than any of the others. In the early 
part of the eighteenth century they constituted a 
powerful tribe. In the year 1720 they were deci- 
mated by smallpox; reduced by this and other 
calamities, in 1820, one hundred years after, they 
were found scattered along the south side of the 
Arkansas River, numbering only 700 souls. They 
never regained their former numerical str(>ngth or 
warlike importance, but remained but a band of 
wretched, ragged beggars, about whose hunting 
grounds the white man was ever lessening and 
tightening the lines. 

January 5, 1819, Gov. Clark and Pierre Chou- 
teau made a treaty with the tribe by which was 
ceded to the United States the most of their terri- 
tory. The descriptive part of the treaty is in the 
following words: "Beginning at the mouth of the 
Arkansas River; thence extending up the Arkansas 
to the Canadian Fork, and up the Canadian Fork 
to its source; thence south to the big Red River, 
and down the middle of that river to the Big 
Raft; thence in a direct line so as to strike the 
Mississippi River, thirty leagues in a straight 
line, below the mouth of the Arkansas, together 
with all their claims to lands east of the Mississippi 
River and north of the Arkansas River. With the 
exception and reservation following, that is to say, 






'2"> 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



that tract of country bounded as follows: Begin- 
ning at H point on the Arkansas River opposite the 
present Post of Arkansas, and running thence a 
due southwest course to the Vs'ashita River; thence 
up that river to the Saline Fork, to a point from 
whence a due north course would strike the Arkan- 
sas River at the Little Rock, and thence down the 
right bank of the Arkansas to the place of begin- 
ning. ' ' In addition to this a tract was reserved 
north of the Arkansas River, which the treaty says 
is indicated by ' ' marks on the accompanying 
map." This west line of the Quapaw reservation 
struck the river about where is now Rock Street. 

In November, 1824, Robert Crittenden, the first 
Territorial secretary, effected a treaty with the 
Quapaws, at Harrington's, Ark., which ceded the 
above reservation and forever extinguished all title 
of that tribe to any portion of Arkansas. The 
tribe was then removed to what is now the Indian 
Territory. 

The other original occupants or claimants to the 
Arkansas Territory were the Osages. Of these 
there were many tribes, and in 1830 numbered 
4,000 strong, but mostly along the Osage River. 
Their claim lapped over, it seems, all that portion 
of the Quapaw lands lying north of the Arkansas 
River. 

The title of the Osages was extinguished to 
what is now Arkansas by a treaty of November 10, 
1808, made at Fort Clark, on the Missouri River. 
By this treaty they ceded all the country east of a 
line running due sou.th from Fort Clark to the Ar- 
kansas River, and down said river to its confluence 
with the Mississippi River. These Indians occu- 
pied only the country along the Missouri and 
Osage Rivers, and if they were ever on what they 
claimed as their southern boundary, the Ai'kansas 
River, it was merely on expeditions. 

About 1818, Georgia and South Carolina com- 
menced agitating the subject of getting rid of the 
Indians, and removing them west. They wanted 
their lands and did not want their pi'esence. At 
first they used persuasion and strategy, and finally 
force. They were artful in representing to the In- 
dians the glories of the Arkansas country, both for 
game and rich lands. During the twenty years of 



agitating the subject Indians of the tribes, of those 
States came singly and in small bands to Arkansas, 
and were encouraged to settle anywhere they might 
desire north of the Arkansas River, on the Osage 
ceded lands. The final act of removal of the In- 
dians was consummated in 1839, when the last of 
the Cherokees were broiight west. Simultaneous 
with the arrival of this last delegation of Indiana 
an alarm passed around among the settlers that the 
Indians were preparing to make a foray on the 
white settlements and murder them all. Many 
people were greatly alarmed, and in some settle- 
ments there were hasty preparations made to flee 
to places of safety. In the meantime the poor, 
distressed Cherokees and Choctaws were innocent 
of the stories in circulation about them, and were 
trying to adjust themselves to their new homes 
and to repair their ruined fortunes. The Chero- 
kees were the most highly civilized of all the tribes, 
as they were the most intelligent, and had mingled 
and intermarried with the whites until there were 
few of pure blood left among them. They had 
men of force and character, good schools and 
printing presses, and published and edited papers, 
as well as their own school books. These condi- 
tions were largely true, also, of the Chickasaws. 
The Cherokees and Chickasaws were removed west 
under President Jackson's administration. The 
Cherokees were biought by water to Little Rock, 
and a straight road was cut out from Little Rock 
to the corner of their reservation, fifteen miles 
above Batesville, in Independence County, over 
which they were taken. Their southeast boimdary 
line was a straight line, at the point designated 
above Batesville, to the mouth of Point Remove 
Creek. 

The nistory of the removal of the Cherokee 
Indians (and much of the same is true of the re- 
moval of the Chickasaws and Creeks), is not a pleas- 
ant chapter in American history. The Creeks of 
Florida had waged war, and when conquered Gen. 
Scott removed them beyond the Mississippi River. 
When the final consummation of the removal of the 
Cherokees was effected, it was done by virtue of a 
treaty, said to have been the work of traitors, and 
unauthorized by the proper Indian authorities. At 



1' 



:vw 



v> 



HISTORY OF ARKATSfSAS. 



23 



all events the artful whites had divided the head- 
men of the tribe, and procured their signatures to 
a treaty which drove the last of the nation beyond 
the Mississijjpi. The chief men in making this 
treaty were the Ridges, Boudinot, Bell and Rogers. 
This was the treaty of 1835. In June, 1839, the 
Ridges, Boudinot an'd Bell were assassinated. 
About forty Indians went to Ridge's house, Inde- 
pendence County, and cruelly murdered young 
Ridge; they then pursued the elder Ridge and, over- 
taking him at the foot of Boston Mountains, as he 
was on his way to visit friends in Van Buren, Ark., 
shot him to death. It seems there was an old law 
of the nation back in Georgia, by which any one 
forfeited his life who bartered any part of their 
lands. 

The Choctaws by treaty ceded to the United 
States all their claim to lands lying within the 
limits of Arkansas, October 20, 1820. 

On the 6th of May, 1828, the Cherokees ceded 
all claim to their lands that lay within the Territo- 
rial limit of Arkansas. 

This was about the end of Indian occupation 
or claims within the State of Arkansas, but not 
the end of important communication, and acts of 
neighborly friendship, between the whites and the 
Cherokees especially. A considerable number of 
Indians, most of them having only a slight mix- 
ture of Indian blood,remained in the State and be- 
came useful and in some instances highly influ- 
ential citizens. Among them were prominent farm- 
ers, merchants and professional men. And very 
often now may be met some prominent citizen, 
who, after even an extended acquaintance, is found 
to be an Indian. Among that race of people 
they recognize as full members of the tribe all 
who have any trace of their blood in their veins, 
whether it shows or not. In this respect it seems 
that nearly all races differ from the white man. 
With the latter the least mixture of blood of any 
other color pronounces them at once to be not white. 

The Cherokee Indians, especially, have always 
held kindly intercourse with the people of Arkan- 
sas. In the late Civil War they went with the 



State in the secession movement without hesitation. 
A brigade of Cherokees was raised and Gen. Albert 
Pike was elected to the command. The eminent 
Indians in the command were Gen. Stand W'aitie 
and Col. E. C. Boudinot. Until 1863 the Indians 
were unanimous in behalf of the Southern cause, 
but in that year Chief Ross went over to the Fed- 
eral side, and thus the old time divisions in the In- 
dian councils were revived. 

Col. Elias C. Boudinot was born in Georgia, in 
August, 1835, the same year of the treaty remov- 
ing the Indians from that State. Practically, 
therefore, he is an Arkansan. Ho shows a strong 
trace of Indian blood, though the features of the 
white race predominate. He is a man of educa- 
tion and careful culture, and when admitted to the 
bar he soon won a place in the splendid array of 
talent then so greatly distinguishing Arkansas. A 
born orator, strong enough in intellect to think 
without emotion, morally and physically a hero, he 
has spent much of his life pleading for his people 
to be made citizens — the owners of their individ- 
ual homes, as the only hope to stay that swift de- 
cay that is upon them, but the ignorance of his 
tribe and the scheming of demagogues and seltish 
' ' agents, ' ' have thwarted his efforts and practically 
exiled him fi'om his race. 

A few years ago Col. Boudinot was invited to 
address Congress and the people of Washington 
on the subject of the Indian races. The masterly 
addi'ess by this man, one of the greatest of all the 
representatives of American Indians, will be fixed 
in histoiy as the most pathetic epilogue of the 
greatest of dramas, the curtain of which was raised 
in 1492. Who will ever read and fully understand 
his emotions when he repeated the lines: 



Their light canoes have vanished 
Prom off the crested waves — 
Amid the forests where tliey roamed 
There rings no hunter's sliout. 
And all their cone-like caljins 
Thai clustered o'er the vale. 
Have disappeared as withered leaves, 
Before the autumn gale. 



(S — 



ht: 



24 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



wsw w 



-5- 



Discovery and Settlement— De Soto in Arkansas— Marquette and Joliet— La Salle, IIexnepin 
AND Tonti— French and English Schemes of Conquest and Dreams of Power— Louisiana 
—The " Bubble" of John Law— The Early Viceroys and Governors— Proprie- 
tary Change of Louisiana— French and SrANisii Settlers in Ark- 
ansas—English Settlers— A Few First Settlers in the 
Counties— The New Madrid Earthquake- 
Other Items of Interest. 



Hail, memory, hail! In thy c.xhaiistless mine 
From age to age unnumbered treasures shiue! 
Thought and her shadowy l)rood Ihy call obey. 
And place and time are siil)ject to thy s-wny. — Roffi'i-s. 




ERDINAND DE SOTO, tbe 
discoverer of the Missis- 
sippi, was the first civilized 
white man to put foot upon 
any part of what is now the 
Stale of Arkansas. He and 
(-Suhis band of adventurous 
followers had forged their 
way over immense obstacles, through 
the trackless wastes, and in the pleas- 
ant month of June, 1541, reached the 
' Mississippi River at, as is supposed, 
Chickasaw Bluffs, a short distance be- 
low Memphis. He had sailed from 
San Lucan in April, 1538, with 600 
men, twenty officers and twenty four priests. He 
represented his king and church, and came to 
make discoveries for his master in Florida, a coun- 
try undelined in extent, and believed to be the 
richest in the world. 

His expedition was a daring and dangerous 
one, and there were but few men in the tide of 
time who could have carried it on to the extent 
that did this bold Spaniard. The worn and deci- 



mated band remained at the Chickasaw Bluffs to 
rest and recuperate until Juno 29, then crossing 
the river into Arkansas, and pushing on up the 
Mississippi River, through brakes and swamps and 
slashes, until they reached the higher prairie lands 
that lead toward New Madrid; stopping in their 
north course at an Indian village, Pacaha, whose 
location is not known. De Soto sent an expedition 
toward the Osage River, but it soon returned and 
reported the country worthless.*" He then turned 
west and proceeded to the Boston Mountains, at 
the head waters of White River; then bending 
south, and passing Hot Springs, he went into camp 
for the winter on the Ouachita River, at Autamqua 
Village, in Garland County. In the spriiag he 

*It is proper to here state the fact that some local in- 
vestigators, and others who have studied the history of 
De Solo's voyaging through Arkansas, do not believe that 
he reached and discovered the river as higli up as Mem- 
phis. They think he approached it a short ilistance above 
the mouth cif Red Hiver, and from that point made his 
detour around to lied River. Others in the State, who 
have .also studied the subject Ihoroughl}-, find e.veelleut 
evidence of his presence in Arkansas along the Mississippi, 
particularly in Mississippi County. See "History of 
Missi.ssipiii County, Ark." After examining tlie lesti- 
mony carefully I incline to the account as given in the 
context as being the most probable. — Ed. 



>y 



Itl 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



25 



floated down the river, often lost in the bayous 
and overflows of Red River, and Anally reached 
again the Mississippi. Halting here he made dil- 
igent inquiries of the Indians as to the mouth of 
the great stream, but they could give him no infor- 
mation. In June, one year from the date of his 
discovery, after a sickness of some weeks, he died. 
As an evidence of his importance to the expedition 
his death was kept a secret, and he was buried at 
night, most appropriately, in the waves of the 
great river that gave his name immortality. But 
the secrecy of his death was of no avail, for there 
was no one who could supply his place, and with 
his life closed the existence, for all practical pur- 
jioses, of the expedition. Here the interest of the 
historian in De Soto and his companions ceases. 
He came not to possess the beaiitiful country, or 
plant colonies, or even extend the dominions of 
civilization, but simply to find the fabled wealth 
in minerals and precious stones, and gather them 
and carry them away. Spain already possessed 
Florida, and it was all Florida then, from the At- 
lantic to the boundless and unknown west. 

The three great nations of the old world had 
conquered and possessed — the Spaniards Florida, 
the English Virginia and New England, and the 
French the St. Lawrence. The feeblest of all 
these colonizers or conquerors were the English, 
and they retained their narrow foothold on the 
new continent with so little vigor that for more 
than a century and a half they knew nothing of 
the country west of them save the idle dreams and 
fictions of the surrounding savages. The general 
world had learned little of De Soto's great western 
discoveries, and when he was buried in the Missis- 
sippi all remained undisturbed from the presence 
or knowledge of civilized men for the period of 
132 years. 

Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit priest, had 
made expeditions along the Northern lakes, pros- 
elyting among the Indian tribes. He had con- 
ceived the idea that there was a great western 
river leading to China and Japan. He was joined 
in his ambition to find this route, and the tribes 
along it, by Joliet, a man tired with the ambition 
and daring of the bold explorer. These two men, 



with five employes, started on their great adven- 
ture May 17, 1()7;5. They found the Upper Mis- 
sissippi River and came down that to the mouth 
of the Arkansas River, thence proceeding up some 
distance, it is supposed to near where is Arkansas 
Post. Thus the feet of the white man pressed 
once more the soil of this State, but it was after 
the lapse of many years from the time of De Soto's 
visit. Marquette carried into the newly discovered 
country the cross of Christ, while Joliet planted 
in the wilderness the tricolors of France. France 
and Christianity stood together in the heart of the 
great Mississippi Valley; the discoverers, founders 
and possessors of the greatest spiritual and tem- 
poral empire on earth. From here the voyagers 
retraced their course to the Northern lakes and 
the St. Lawrence, and published a report of their 
discoveries. 

Nine years after Marquette and Joliet' s expe- 
dition, Chevalier de La Salle came from France, 
accompanied by Henry de Tonti, an Italian, filled 
with great schemes of empire in the new western 
world; it is charged, by some historians of that 
day, with no less ambition than securing the whole 
western portion of the continent and wresting 
Mexico from the Spaniards. When Canada was 
reached, La Salle was joined by Louis Hennepin, 
an ambitious, unscrupulous and daring Franciscan 
monk. It was evidently La Salle's idea to found 
a military government in the new world, reaching 
with a line of forts and military possession from 
Quebec, Canada, to at least the Gulf, if not, «.s 
some have supposed, extending through Mexico. 
He explored the country lying between the North- 
ern lakes and the Ohio River. He raised a force 
in Canada and sailed through Green Bay, and, 
sending back his boat laden with furs, proceeded 
with his party to the head waters of the Illinois 
River and built Fort Creve Cceur. He detached 
Hennepin with one companion and sent him to hunt 
the som"ce of the Mississippi. He placed Tonti in 
command of Creve Cceur, with five men, and him- 
self returned to Canada in the latter part of 1081, 
where he organized a new party with canoes, 
and went to Chicago; crossing the long portage 
from there to the Illinois River, he floated down 



_«) 



26 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



that stream to the Mississippi and on to the Gulf 
of Mexico, discovering the mouth of tlie Mississippi 
River April 5, 1682, and three days after, with 
becoming pomp and ceremony, took possession, in 
the name of France, of the territory, and named it 
Louisiana, in honor of his king, Louis XIV. The 
vast region thus acquired by France was not, as it 
eould not be, well defined, but it was intended 
to embrace, in addition to much east of the 
Mississippi River, all the continent west of that 
current. 

After this expedition La Salle returned to 
France, fitted out another expedition and set sail, 
ostensibly to reach the mouth of the Mississippi 
River and pass up that stream. He failed to find 
the river, and landed his fleet at Metagordo Bay, 
Texas, where he remained two years, when with a 
part of his force he started to reach Canada via 
Fort St. Louis, but was assassinated by one of his 
men near the Trinity River, Texas, March 19, 
1687, and his body, together with that of his 
nephew, was left on the Texas prairie to the beasts 
and buzzards. La Salle was a born commander 
of men, a great explorer, with vast projects of 
empire far beyond the comprehension of his 
wretched king, or the appreciation of his country- 
men. Had he been supported by a wise and strong 
government, France would never, perhaps, have 
been dispossessed of the greatest inter-continental 
colonial empire on earth — from the Alleghanies to 
the Rocky Mountains. This was, in fact, the 
measure of the territory that La Salle's expedition 
and militaiy possession gave to France. The two 
great ranges of mountains, the north pole and 
South America, were really the boundary lines of 
Louisiana, of which permanent ownership belonged 
forever to France, save for the weakness and inef- 
ficiency of that bete noire of poor, beautiful, sunny 
France — Louis XIV. In the irony of fate the his- 
torian of to-day may well write down the appella- 
tion of his toadies and parasites, as the grand 
monarque. La Salle may justly be reckoned one 
of the greatest founders of empire in the world, and 
had poor France had a real king instead of this 
weak and pompous imbecile, her tri-colors would 
have floated upon every breeze from the Allegha- 



nies to the Pacific Ocean, and over the islands of 
more than half of the waters of the globe. 

The immensity of the Louisiana Territory has 
been but little understood by historians. It was 
the largest and richest province ever acquired, and 
the world's history since its establishment has 
been intimately connected with and shaped by its 
influence. Thus the account of the Territory of 
Louisiana is one of the most interesting chapters 
in American history. 

Thirteen years after the death of La Salle, 
1700, his trusty lieutenant, Tonti, descended the 
Mississippi River from the Illinois, with a band of 
twenty French Illinois people, and upon reaching 
Arkansas Post, established a station. This was 
but carrying out La Salle's idea of a military pos- 
session by a line of forts from Canada to the Gulf. 
It may be called the first actual and intended per- 
manent possession of Arkansas. In the meantime, 
Natchez had become the oldest settled point in 
the Territory, south of Illinois, and the conduct of 
the commandant of the canton, Chopart, was laying 
the foundations for the ultimate bloody massacre 
of that place, in November, 1729. The Jesuit, Du 
Poisson, was the missionary among the Arkansans. 
He had made his way up the Mississippi and 
passed along the Arkansas River till he reached 
the prairies of the Dakotahs. 

The Chickasaws were the dreaded enemy of 
France; it was they who hurried the Natchez to 
that awfiil massacre; it was they whose cedar bark 
canoes, shooting boldly into the Mississippi, inter- 
rupted the connections between Kaskaskia and 
New Orleans, and delayed successful permanent 
settlements in the Arkansas. It was thej' who 
weakened the French empire in Louisiana. They 
colleagued with the English, and attempted to 
extirpate the French dominion in the valley. 

Such was Louisiana more than half a century 
after the first attempt at colonization by La Salle. 
Its population may have been 5,000 whites and 
half that number of blacks. Louis XIV had 
fostered it by giving it over to the control of Law 
and his company of the Mississippi, aided by 
boundless but transient credit. Priests and friars 
dispersed through tribes from Biloxi to the Da- 



•<* «- 



rf- 



^ — ^ty- , 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



27 



kotahs, and propitiated the favor of the savages. 
But still the valley of the Mississippi remained a 
wilderness. All its patrons — though among them 
it counted kings and high ministers of state — had 
not accomplished for it in half a century a tithe 
of that prosperity vrhich, within the same period, 
sprung naturally from the benevolence of William 
Penn to the jjeaceful settlers on the Delaware. 

It reqiiired the feebleness of the grand mon- 
arque to discover John Law, the father of in- 
flated cheap money and national financial ruin. 
In September, 1717, John Law's Company of the 
West was granted the commerce and control of 
Louisiana. He arrived at New Orleans with 800 
immigrants in August of that year. Instead of 
coming up the Mississippi, they landed at Dau- 
phine Island to make their way across by land. 
The reign of John Law's company over Louisiana 
was a romance or a riot of folly and extravagance. 
He was to people and create a great empire on 
cheap money and a monopoly of the slave trade. 
For fourteen years the Company of the West con- 
trolled Louisiana. The bubble burst, the dreams 
and illusions of ease and wealth passed away, and 
but wretched remnants of colonies existed, in the 
extremes of want and suffering. But, after all, a 
permanent settlement of the great valley had been 
made. A small portion of these were located at 
Arkansas Post, up the Arkansas River and on Red 
River, and like the most of the others of Law's 
followers, they made a virtue of necessity and re- 
mained because they could not get away. 

John Law was an Englishman, a humbug, but 
a magnificent one, so mai'ked and conspicuous in 
the world's history that his career should have 
taught the statesmen of all nations the simple 
lesson that debt is not wealth, and that every at- 
tempt to create wealth wholly by legislation is sure 
to be followed by general bankruptcy and ruin. 

The Jesuits and fur- traders were the founders 
of Illinois; Louis XIV and privileged companies 
were the patrons of Southern Louisiana, while 
the honor of beginning the work of colonizing the 
southwest of our republic belongs to the illustri- 
ous Canadian, Lemoine D' Iberville. He was a wor- 
thy successor of La Salle. He also sought to find 



the mouth of the Mississippi, and guided by floatinjf 
trees and turbid waters, he reached it on March 
2, 1099. He perfected the line of communication 
between Quebec and the Gulf; extended east and 
west the already boundless possessions of France; 
erected forts and carved the lilies on the trees of 
the forests; and fixed the seat of government of 
Louisiana at Biloxi, and appointed his brother to 
command the province. Under D'Iberville, the 
French line was extended east to Pascagoula 
River; Beinvillo, La Sueur, and St. Denys had 
explored the west to New Mexico, and had gone 
in the northwest beyond the Wisconsin and the 
St. Croix, and reached the mouth of and followed 
this stream to the confluence of the Blue Earth. 
D' Iberville died of yellow fever at Havana, July 
9, 1706, and in his death the Louisiana colony 
lost one of its most able and daring leaders. But 
Louisiana, at that time, possessed less than thirty 
families of whites, and these were scattered on 
voyages of discovery, and in quest of gold and 
gems. 

France perfected her civil government over 
Louisiana in 1689, and appointed Marquis de San- 
ville, royal viceroy. This viceroy's emf)ire was as 
vast in territory as it was insignificant in popula- 
tion — less than 300 souls.* By regular appoint- 
ments of viceroys the successions were maintained 
(including the fourteen years of Law's sujaremacy) 
until by the treaty of Fontainbleau, November 8, 
1762, France was stripped of her American pos- 
sessions, and Canada and the Spanish Florida; 
everything east of the Mississippi except the 
island of New Orleans was given to England, 
and all Louisiana, including New Orleans west of 
the Mississippi River and south of the new southern 
boundary line of Canada, was given to Spain, in 
lieu of her Florida possessions. Hence, it was No- 
vember 3, 1762, thai what is now Arkansas passed 
from the dominion of France to that of Spain. 

The signing of this treaty made that day the 
most eventful one in the busy movements of the 

*The title of France to the boundless confines of 
Louisinna were confiniicd by the treaty of Utrecht. The 
contciuioiis hilween Kniihiml nnil France over the Ohio 
toiintrv, afterward, are a part of the anuals of the gen- 
eral history of the country. 



,t 



28 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



human race. It re-mapped the world, gave the 
English language to the American continent, and 
spread it more widely over the globe than any that 
had before given expression to human thought, 
the language that is the alma mater of civil liberty 
and religious independence. Had France perma- 
nently dominated America, civil liberty and repre- 
sentative government would have been yet unborn. 
The dogmatic tyranny of the middle ages, with all 
its intolerance and war, would have been the herit- 
age of North America. 

Thus re-adjusted in her domain, Louisiana re- 
mained a province of Spain until October 1, 1800. 
when the Little Corporal over-ran Spain with his 
victorious legions, and looted his Catholic majesty's 
domains. Napoleon allowed his military ambition 
to dwarf his genius, and except for this curious 
fact, he was the man who would have saved and 
disenthralled the French mind, and have placed 
the Gaul, with all his volcanic forces, in an even 
start in the race of civilization with the invincible 
and cruel Anglo-Saxon. He was the only man of 
progressive genius that has ever ruled poor, un- 
fortunate France. The treaty of St. Ildefonso, 
secretly transfen-ing Louisiana from Spain again 
into the possession of France, was ratified March 24, 
1801. Its conditions provided that it was to re- 
main a secret, and the Spanish viceroy, who was 
governor of Louisiana, knew nothing of the trans- 
fer, and continued in the discharge of his duties, 
granting rights, creating privileges and deeding 
lands and other things that were inevitable in 
breeding confusions, and cloudy land titles, such as 
would busy the courts for a hundred years, inflict- 
ing injustice and heavy burdens upon many inno- 
cent people. 

In 1802 President JefPerson became possessed 
of the secret that France owned Louisiana. He 
at once sent James Monroe to Paris, who, with the 
resident minister, Mr. Livingston, opened negotia- 
tions with Napoleon, at first only trying to secure 
the free navigation of the Mississippi River, but to 
their great surprise the Emperor more than met 
them half way, with a proposal to sell Louisiana to 
the United States. The bargain was closed, the 
consideration being the paltry sum of $15,000,000. 



This important move on the great chess-board of 
nations occurred April 30, 1803. The perfunc- 
tory act of lowering the Spanish ensign and hoist- 
ing the flag of France; then lowering immediately 
the tri- colors and unfurling the stars and stripes, 
it is hoped never to be furled, was performed at 
St. Louis March 9, 1804. Bless those dear old, 
nation-building pioneers! These were heavy drafts 
upon their patriotic allegiance, but they were equal 
to the occasion, and ate their breakfasts as Span- 
iards, their dinners as Frenchmen, and suppers as 
true Americans. 

The successful class of immigrants to the west 
of the Mississippi were the French Canadians, who 
had brought little or nothing with them save the 
clothes on their backs, and an old flintlock gun 
with which to secure game. They colonized after 
the French mode of villages and long strips of 
farms, and a public commons. They propitiated 
the best they could the neighboring Indian tribes, 
erected their altars, hunted, and frolicked, and 
were an honest, simple-minded and just people, 
but little vexed with ambitious pride or grasping 
avarice. The mouth of the Arkansas River was 
the attractive point for immigrants on their way to 
the Arkansas Territory, and they would ascend that 
stream to Arkansas Post. There were not 500 
white people in the Territory of (now) Arkansas in 
1803, when it became a part of the United States. 
In 1810 the total population was 1,062. So soon 
as Louisiana became a part of the United States, 
a small but never ceasing stream of English speak- 
ing people turned their faces to the west and 
crossed the ' ' Father of Waters. ' ' Those for Ar- • 
kansas established Montgomery Point, at the mouth 
of White River, making that the transfer place for 
all shipments inland. This remained as the main 
shipping and commercial point for many years. 
By this route were transferred the freights for 
Arkansas Post. The highway fi-om Montgomery 
Point to the Post was a slim and indistinct bridle 
path. The immigrants came down the Cumber- 
land and Tennessee Rivers to the Ohio in keel- 
boats and canoes, and were mostly from Tennes- 
see; beckoned to this fair and rich kingdom by its 
sunny clime, its mountains and rivers, and its pro- 



^r. 



:^ 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



2'J 



ductive valleys, all enriched with a flora and fauna 
surpassing the dream of a pastoral poem. 

The French were the first permanent settlers 
of Arkansas, and descendants of these people are 
still here. Many bearing the oldest French names 
have attained to a position among the most emi- 
nent of the great men of the trans -Mississippi. 
Sometimes the names have become so corrupted as 
to be unrecognizable as belonging to the early illus- 
trious stock. The English-speaking people speak- 
ing French names phonetically would soon change 
them completely, The Bogys and Lefevres, for 
instance, are names that go back to the very first 
settlements in Arkansas. "Lefevre" on the maps 
is often spelled phonetically thus : ' ' Lafaver. ' ' 
Representatives of the Lefevi'e family are yet 
numerous in and about Little Rock, and in other 
portions of the State. 

Peter L. Lefevre and family were among the 
very first French settlers, locating in the fall of 
1818 on the north side of the river on Spanish 
Grant No. 497, about sis miles below Little Rock. 
His sons were Peter, Enos, Francis Gr. , Ambrose, 
Akin, Leon and John B. , his daughter being Mary 
Louise. All of these have passed away except 
the now venerable Leon Lefevre, who resides on 
the old plantation where he was born in the year 
1808. For eighty one years the panorama of the 
birth, growth and the vicissitudes of Arkansas 
have passed before his eyes. It is supposed of all 
living men he is the oldest representative surviving 
of the earliest settlers; however, a negro, still a 
resident of Little Rock, also came in 1818. 

The first English speaking settlers were Ten- 
nesseeans, Kentuckians and Alabamians. The ear- 
liest came down the Mississippi River, and then 
penetrating Arkansas at the mouths of the streams 
from the west, ascended these in the search for 
future homes. The date of the first coming of 
English speaking colonists may bo given as 1807, 
those prior to that time being only trappers, 
hunters and voyagers on expeditions of discovery, 
or those whose names can not now be ascertained. 

South Carolina and Georgia also gave their 
small quotas to the first pioneers of Arkansas. 
From the States south of Tennessee the route was 



overland to the Mississippi River, or to some of its 
bayous, and then by water. A few of these from 
the Southern States brought considerable property, 
and some of them negro slaves, but not many 
were able to do this. The general rule was to 
reach the Territory alone and clear a small piece 
of ground, and as soon as possible to Ijuy slaves and 
set them at work in the cotton fields. 

In 1814 a colony of emigrants, consisting of 
four families, settled at Batesville, then the Lower 
Missouri Territory, now the county seat of Inde- 
pendence County. There was an addition of fif- 
teen families to this colony the next year. Of the 
first was the family of Samuel Miller, father of 
(afterward) Gov. William R. Miller; there were also 
John Moore, the Magnesses and Beans. All these 
families left names permanently connected with 
the history of Arkansas. In the colony of 1815 
(all from Kentucky) were the brothers, Richard, 
John, Thomas and James Peel, sons of Thomas 
Peel, a Virginian, and Kentucky companioir^T 
Daniel Boone. Thomas Curran was also one of 
the later colonists "from Kentucky, a relative of the 
great Irishman, John Philpot Curran. In the 1815 
colony were also old Ben Hardin — hero of so many 
Indian wars — his brother, Joab, and William 
GrifSn, Thomas Wyatt, William Martin, Samuel 
Elvin, James Akin, John Reed, James Miller and 
John B. Craig. 

Alden Trimble, who died at Peel, Ark., in 
April, 1889, aged seventy-four years, was born in 
the Cal Hogan settlement, on White River, Marion 
County, June 14, 1815. This item is gained 
from the obituary notice of his death, and indicates 
some of the very first settlers in that portion of the 
State. 

Among the oldest settled points, after Arkan- 
sas Post, was what is now Arkadelphia, Clark 
County. It was first called Blakelytown, after 
Adam Blakely. He had opened a little store at 
the place, and about this were collected the first 
settlers, among whom may now be named Zack 
Davis, Samuel Parker and Adam Highnisrht. The 
Blakelys and the names given above were all locat- 
ed in that settlement in the year 1810. The next 
year came John Hemphill, who was the first to dis- 



^<^\^ — w. 



30 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



^ 



cover and utilize the valuable waters of the salt 
springs of that place. He engaged in the suc- 
cessful manufacture of salt, and was in time suc- 
ceeded by his son-in-law, Jonathan O. Callaway. 
Jacob Barkman settled in Arkadelphia in 1811. 
He was a man of foresight and enterprise, and 
soon established a trade along the river to New 
Orleans. He commenced navigating the river in 
canoes and pirogues, and finally owned and ran in 
the trade the first steamboat plying from that 
point to New Orleans. He pushed trade at the 
point of settlement, at the same time advancing 
navigation, and opened a large cotton farm. 

In Arkansas County, among the early promi- 
nent men who were active in the county's affairs 
were Eli I. Lewis, Henry Scull, O. H. Thomas, 
T. Farrelly, Hewes Scull, A. B. K. Thetford and 
Lewis Bogy. The latter afterward removed to 
Missouri, and has permanenth' associated his name 
with the history of that State. In a subsequent 
list of names should be mentioned those of Will- 
iam Fultony, James Maxwell and James H. Lucas, 
the latter being another of the notable citizens of 
Missouri. 

Carroll County : J udges George Campbell and 
William King, and John Bush, T. H. Clark, Abra- 
ham Shelly, William Nooner, Judge Hiram Davis, 
W. C. Mitchell, Charles Sneed, A. M. Wilson, 
Elijah Tabor, William Seller, M. L. Hawkins . 
John McMillan, M. Ferryman, J. A. Hicks, N. 
Rudd, Thomas Callen, W. E. Armstrong. 

Chicot County : John Clark, William B. Patton, 
Richard Latting, George W. Ferribee, Francis 
Rycroft, Thomas Knox, W. B. Duncan, J. W. 
Boone, H. S. Smith, James Blaine, Abner John- 
son, William Hunt, J. W. Neal, James Murray, 
B. Magruder, W. P. Reyburn, J. T. White, John 
Fulton, Judge W. H. Sutton, J. Chapman, Hiram 
Morrell, Reuben Smith, A. W. Webb. 

In Clark Coimty, in the earliest times, were 
W. P. L. Blair, Colbert Baker, Moses Graham, 
Mathew Logan, James Miles, Thomas Drew, 
Daniel Ringo, A. Stroud, David Fisk and Isaac 
Ward. 

Clay County: John J. Griffin, Abraham Rob- 
erts, William Davis, AVilliam H. Mack, James 



Watson, J. G. Dudley, James Campbell, Single- 
ton Copeland, C. H. Mobley. 

Conway County: Judge Saffold, David Bar- 
ber, James Kellam, Reuben Blunt, James Barber, 
James Ward, Thomas Mathers, John Houston, E. 
W. Owen, Judge B. B. Ball. J. I. Simmons, T. S. 
Haynes, B. F. Howard, William Ellis, N. H. 
Buckley, James Ward, Judge Robert McCall, W. 
H. Robertson, L. C. Griffin, Judge W. T. Gamble, 
D. D. Mason, George Fletcher and D. Han-ison. 

Craighead County: Rufus Snoddy, Daniel 
O'Guinn, Yancey Broadway, Henry Powell, D. R. 
Tyler, Elias Mackey, William Q. Lane, John Ham- 
ilton, Asa Puckett, Eli Quarles, William Puryear. 

In Crawford County were Henry Bradford, 
Jack Mills, G. C. Pickett, Mark Beane, J. C. Sum- 
ner, James Billingsley. 

Crittenden County : J. Livingston, W. D. Fer- 
guson, W. Goshen, William Cherry, Judge D. H. 
Harrig, O. W. Wallace, S. A. Cherry, Judge 
Charles Blackmore, S. R. Cherry, John Tory, F. 
B. Read, Judge A. B. Hubbins, H. O. Oders, J. 
H. AV'athen, H. Bacon. 

Fulton County: G. W. Archer, William Wells, 
Daniel Hubble, Moses Brannon, John Nichols, 
Moses Steward, Enos C. Hunter, MUton Yarberry, 
Dr. A. C. Cantrell. 

Greene Coimty: Judge L. Brookfield, L. 
Thompson, James Brown, J. Sutfin, G. Hall, 
Charles Robertson, Judge W. Hane, Judge George 
Daniel, G. L. Martin, J. Stotts, James Ratchford, 
Judge L. Thompson, H. L. Holt, J. L. Atkinson, 
J. Clark, H. N. Reynolds, John Anderson, Ben- 
jamin Crowley, William Pevehouse, John Mitch- 
ell, Aaron Bagwell, A. J. Smith, Wiley Clarkson, 
William Hatch. 

In Hempstead County: J. M. Steward, A. S. 
Walker, Benjamin Clark, A. M. Oakley, Thomas 
Dooley, D. T. Witter, Edward Cross, William 
McDonald, D. Wilburn and James Moss. 

Hot Springs County: L. N. West, G. B. 
Hughes, Judge W. Durham, G. W. Rogers, T. W. 
Johnson, J. T. Grant, J. H. Robinson, H. A. 
Whittington, John Callaway, J. T. Grant, Judge 
G. Whittington, L. Runyan, R. Huson, J. Bank- 
son, Ira Robinson, Judge A. N. Sabin, C. A. Sa- 



^ 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



31 



bin, W. W. McDaniel, W. Dunham, A. B. McDon- 
ald, Joseph Lorance. 

Independence County : R. Searcy, Robert Bean, 
Charles Kelly, John Reed, T. Curran, John Bean, 
I. Curran, J. L. Daniels, J. Redmon, John Rud- 
dell, C. H. Pelham, Samuel Miller, James Hicham, 
James Trimble, Henry Envies, Harfcwell Boswell, 
John H. Ringgold. 

Izard County: J. P. Houston, John Adams, 
Judge Mathew Adams, H. C. Roberts, Jesse Adams, 
John Hargrove, J. Blyeth, William Clement, 
Judge J. JefPrey, Daniel JefPrey, A. Adams, J. A. 
Harris, W. B. Can-, Judge B HiiAvkins B. H. 
Johnson, D. K. Loyd, W. H. Carr, A. Creswell, 
H. W. Bandy, Moses Bishop, Daniel Hively, 
John Gray, William Powell Thomas Richardson, 
William Seymour. 

Jackson County: Judge Hiram Glass, J. C. 
Saylors, Isaac Gray, N. Copeland, Judge E. 
Bartley, John Robinson, A. M. Carpenter, Judge 
D. C. Waters, P. O. Flynn, Hall Roddy, Judge 
R. Ridley, G. W. Cromwell, Sam Mathews, Sam 
Allen, Martin Bridgeman, John Wideman, New- 
ton Arnold, Joseph Haggerton, Holloway Stokes. 

Jefferson County: Judge W. P. Hackett, J. T. 
Pullen, Judge Creed Taylor, Peter German, N. 
Holland, Judge Sam C. Roane, William Kinkead, 
Thomas O'Neal, E. H. Roane, S. Dardenne, Sam 
Taylor, Judge H. Bradford, H. Edgington, Judge 
W. H. Lindsey, J. H. Caldwell. 

Johnson County: Judge George Jameson, 
Thomas Jenette, S. F. Mason, Judge J. P. Kessie, 
A. Sinclair, William Fritz, W. J. Parks, R. S. 
McMicken, Augustus Ward, Judge J. L. Cravens, 
A. M. Ward, M. Rose, A. L. Black, W. A. Ander- 
son, Judge J. B. Brown, A. Sinclair, William 
Adams. W. M. H. Newton. 

Lafayette County : Judge Jacob Buzzard, Jesse 
Douglass, Joshua Morrison, I. W. Ward, J. T. 
Conway, W. E. Hodges, J. Morrison, George Doo- 
ley, J. M. Dorr, J. P. Jett, W. B. Conway, W. 
H. Conway, T. V. Jackson, G. H. Pickering, 
Judge E. M. Lowe, R. F. Sullivan, James Ab- 
rams. 

Lawi'enoe County; Joseph Hardin, Robert 
Blane, H. Sandford, John Reed, R. Richardson, 



J. M. Kuykendall, H. R. Hynson, James Camp- 
bell, D. W. Lowe, Thomas Black, John Rodney, 
John Spotts, William J. Hudson, William Stuart, 
Isaac Morris, William B. Marshall, John S. Fick- 
lin. 

Madison County: Judge John Bowen, H. B. 
Brown, P. M. Johnson, H. C. Daugherty, M. 
Perryman, T. McCuiston. 

In Miller County: John Clark, J. Ewing, J. H. 
Fowler, B. English, C. Wright, G. F. Lawson, 
Thomas Polk, George Wetmore, David Clark, J. 
G. Pierson, John Morton, N. Y. Crittenden, 
Charles Burkem, George Collum, G. C. Wetmore, 
D. C. Steele, G. F. Lawton and Judge G. M. 
Martin. 

Mississippi County: Judge Edwin Jones, J. 
W. Whitworth, E. F. Loyd, S. McLimg, G. C. 
Bartield, Judge Nathan Ross, Judge John Troy, 
J. W. Dewitt, J. C. Bowen, Judge Fred Miller, 
Uriah Russell, T. L. Daniel, J. G. Davis, Judge 
Nathan Ross, J. P. Edrington, Thomas Sears, 
A. G. Blackmore, William Kellums, Thomas J. 
Mills, James Williams, Elijah Buford, Peter G. 
Reeves. 

Monroe County: Judge William Ingram, J. C. 
Montgomery, James Eagan, John Maddox, Lafay- 
ette Jones, Judge James Carlton, M. Mitchell, J. 
R. Dye, J. Jacobs, R. S. Bell. 

Phillips County: W. B. R. Horner, Daniel 
Mooney, S. Phillips, S. M. Rutherford, George 
Seaborn, H. L. Biscoe, G. W. Fereby, J. H. 
McKenzie, Austin Hendricks, W. H. Calvert, "N. 
Righton, B. Burress, F. Hanks, J. H. McKeal, 
J. K. Sandford, S. S. Smith, C. P. Smith, J. H. 
McKenzie, S. C. Mooney, I. C. P. Tollesou, Emer 
Askew, P. Pinkston, Charles Pearcy, J. B. Ford, 
W. Bettiss, J. Skinner, H. Turner and M. Irvin. 

Pike County: Judge W. Sorrels, D. S. Dickin, 
son, John Hughes, J. W. Dickinson, Judge A\'. 
Kelly, Isaac White, J. H. Kirkhan, E. K. Will- 
iams, Henry Brewer. 

Poinsett County: Judges Richard Hall and 
William Harris, Drs. Theophilus Griffin and John 
P. Hardis, Harrison Ainsworth, Robert H. Stone, 
Benjamin Harris. 

Pope County: Judge Andrew Scott, Twitty 



M 



.^ 



32 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Pace, H. Stinnett, W. Garrott, W. Mitchell, 
Judge S. K. Blythe, A. E. Pace, J. J. Morse, F. 
Heron, Judge Thomas Murray, Jr., S. M. Hayes, 
S. S. Hayes, E. S. Witt, Judge Isaac Brown, R. 
T. Williamson, W. W. Rankin, Judge J. J. Morse, 
J. B. Logan, W. C. Webb. 

Pulaski County: R. C. Oden, L. R. Curran, 
Jacob Peyatte, A. H. Renick, G. Greathouse, M. 
Ctinningham, Samuel Anderson, H Armstrong, T. 
W. Newton, D. E. McKinney, S. M. Rutherford, 

A. McHenry, Allen Martin, J. H. Caldwell, Judge 
S. S. Hall, J. Henderson, William Atchinson, R. 
N. Rowland, Judge David Rorer, J. K. Taylor, 
E. H. Callaway, A. L. Langham, Judge J. H. 
Cocke, W. Badgett, G. N. Peay, J. C. Anthony, 
L. R. Lincoln, A. Martin, A. S. Walker, Judge 
R. Graves, J. P. and John Fields, J. K. Taylor, 
W. C. Howell, J. Gould, Roswell Beebe, William 
Russell, John C. Peay. 

Randolph Coimty: Judge P. R. Pittman, B. J. 
Wiley, William Black, R. Bradford, J. M. Cooper, 

B. J. Wiley, B. M. Simpson, John Janes, James 
Campbell, Samuel McElroy, Edward Mattix, 
Thomas S. Drew, R. S. Bettis, James Russell. 

St. Francis County: Andrew Roane, William 
Strong, S. Crouch, Judge John Johnson, T. J. 
Curl, G. B. Lincecum, William Lewis, Judge 
William Strong, Isaac Mitchell, David Davis, 
Isaac Forbes, Judge William Enos, N. O. Little, 
W. G. Bozeman, H. M. Carothers, Judge R. H. 
Hargrove, H. H. Curl, Cyrus Little. 

Saline County: Judge T. S. Hutchinson, Samuel 
Caldwell, V. Brazil, C. Lindsey, A. Carrick, Judge 
H. Prudden, G. B. Hughes, Samuel Collins, J. J. 
Joiner, J. R. Conway, R. Brazil, E. M. Owen, 
George McDaniel, C. P. Lyle. 

Scott County: Judge Elijah Baker, S. B. 
Walker, James Riley, J. R. Choate, Judge James 
Logan, G. Marshall, Charles Humphrey, W. Cau- 
thorn, G. C. Walker, T. J. Garner, Judge Gilbert 
Marshall, W. Kenner. 

Searcy Coimty: Judge William Wood, William 
Kavanaugh. E. M. Hale, Judge Joseph Rea, Will- 
iam Ruttes, Joe Brown, V. Robertson, T. S. Hale, 
Judge J. Campbell. 

Sevier County: Judge John Clark, R. Hart- 



field, G. Clark, J. T. Little, Judge David Foran, 
P. Little, William White, Charles Moore, A. 
Haitfield, Judge J. F. Little, Henry Morris, 
Judge Henry Brown, George Halbrook, Judge 
R. H. Scott, S. S. Smith. 

Sharp County: John King, Robert Lott, Nich- 
olas Norris, William Morgan, William J. Gray, 
William Williford, Solomon Hudspeth, Stephen 
English, John Walker, L. D. Dale. John C. Gar- 
ner, R. P. Smithee, Josiah Richardson, Judge A. 
H. Nunn, William G. Matheuy. 

Union County: John T. Cabeen, John Black, 
Jr., Judge John Black, Sr. , Benjamin Gooch, 
Alexander Beard, Thomas O'Neal, Judge G. B. 
Hughes, John Cornish, John Hogg, Judge Hiram 
Smith, J. R. Moore, John Henry, John Stokeley, 
Judge Charles H. Seay, W. L. Bradley, Judge 
Thomas Owens. 

Van Buren County: Judge J. L. Laferty, P. 
O. Powell, N. Daugherty, Philip Wail, L. Will- 
iams. Judge J. B. Craig, Judge J. M. Baird, J. 
McAllister, Judge William Dougherty, A. Mor- 
rison, George Counts, A. Caruthers, W. W. Trim- 
ble, R. Bain, J. O. Young, George Hardin, A. W. 
McRaines, Judge J. C. Ganier. 

Washington County: L. Newton, Lewis Evans, 
John Skelton, Judge Robert McAmy, B. H. 
Smithson, Judge John Wilson, James Marrs, V. 
Caruthers, James Coulter, J. T. Edmonson, Judge 
J. M. Hoge, James Crawford, John McClellan, 
Judge W. B. Woody, W. W. Hester, Judge John 
Cureton, L. C. Pleasants, Isaac Murphy, D. Calla- 
ghan. Judge Thomas Wilson, AV. L. Wallace and 
L. W. Wallace. 

White County: Judge Samuel Guthrie, P. W. 
Roberts, P. Crease, Michael Owens, M. H. Blue, 
S. Arnold, J. W. Bond, William Cook, J. Arnold, 
Milton Saunders, James Bird, Samuel Beeler, 
James Walker, Martin Jones, Philip Hilger, James 
King, L. Pate, John Akin, Reuben Stephens, Sam- 
uel Guthrie. 

WoodrufP County: Rolla Gray, Durant H. 
Bell, John Dennis, Dudley Glass, Michael Hag- 
gerdon, Samuel Taylor, James Barues, George 
Hatch, John Teague, Thomas Arnold and Thomas 
Hough. 



\ 



4. 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



33 



The above were all prominent men in their lo- 
calities during the Territorial times of Arkansas. 
Many of them have left names and memories inti- 
mately associated with the histoiy of the State. 
They were a part of those pioneers ' ' who hewed 
the dark, old woods away," and left a rich inheri- 
tance, and a substantial civilization, having wealth, 
refinement and luxuries, that were never a part of 
their dreams. They were home makers as well as 
State and Nation builders. They cut out the roads, 
opened their farms, bridged the streams, built 
houses, made settlements, towns and cities, render- 
ing all things possible to their descendants; a race 
of heroes and martyrs pre-eminent in all time for 
the blessings they transmitted to posterity; they 
repelled the painted savage, and exterminated the 
ferocious wild beasts; they worked, struggled and 
endured that others might enjoy the fruits of their 
heroic sacrifices. Their lives were void of evil to 
mankind; possessing little ambition, their touch 
was the bloom and never the blight. Granted, 
cynic, they builded wiser than they knew, yet they 
built, and built well, and their every success was 
the triumphant march of peace. Let the record of 
their humble but great lives be immortal! 

The New Madrid earthquake of 1811-12, com- 
mencing in the last of December, and the subterra- 
nean forces ceasing after three months' duration, 
was of itself a noted era, but to the awful display 
of nature' s forces was added a far more important 
and lasting event, the result of the silent but 
mighty powers of the human mind. Simulta- 
neously with the hour of the most violent convul- 
sions of nature, the third day of the earthquake, 
there rode out at the mouth of the Ohio, into the 
lashed and foaming waters of the Mississippi, the 
first steamboat that ever ploughed the western 
waters— the steamer "Orleans," Capt. Roosevelt. 
So awful was the display of nature's energies, that 
the gi-anitic earth, with a mighty sound, heaved 
and writhed like a storm-tossed ocean. The great 
river turned back in its flow, the waves of the 
ground burst, shooting high in the air, spouting 
sand and water; great forest -covered hills disap- 
peared af the bottom of deep lakes into which 
they had sunk: and the "sunk lands" are to 



this day marked on the maps of Southeast Mis- 
souri and Northeast Arkansas. The sparse popu- 
lation along the river (New Madrid was a flourish- 
ing young town) fled the country in terror, leav- 
ing mostly their effects and domestic animals. 

The wild riot of nature met in this wilderness 
the triumph of man's genius. Where else on the 
globe so appropriately could have been this meet- 
ing of the opposing forces as at the mouth of the 
Ohio and on the convulsed bosom of the Father of 
Waters? How feeble, apparently, in this contest, 
were the powers of man; how grand and awful the 
play of nature's forces! The mote struggling 
against the "wreck of worlds and crush of mat- 
ter." But, "peace be still," was spoken to the 
vexed earth, while the invention of Fulton will go 
on forever. The revolving paddle-wheels were the 
incipient drive- wheels, on which now ride in tri- 
umph the glories of this great age. 

The movement of immigrants to Arkansas in 
the decade following the earthquake was retarded 
somewhat, whereas, barring this, it should and 
would have been stimulated into activity by the 
advent of steamboats upon the western rivers. The 
south half of the State was in the possession of 
the Quapaw Indians. The Spanish attempts at 
colonizing were practical failures. His Catholic 
majesty was moving in the old ruts of the feudal 
ages, in the deep-seated faith of the " divinity of 
kings," and the paternal powers and duties of 
rulers. The Bastrop settlement of "thirty fam- 
ilies," by a seigniorial grant in 1797, had brought 
years of suffering, disappointment and failure. 
This was an attempt to found a colony on the 
Ouachita River, granting an entire river and a 
strip of land on each side thereof to Bastrop, 
the government to pay the passage of the people 
across the ocean and to feed and clothe them one 
year. To care for its vassals, and to provide 
human breeding grounds ; swell the multitudes for 
the use of church and State; to "glorify God" 
by repressing the growing instincts of liberty and 
the freedom of thought, and add subjects to the 
possession and powers of these gilded toads, were 
the essence of the oriental schemes for peopling 
the new world. Happily for mankind they failed, 



lA 



34 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



and the wild beasts returned to care for their young 
in safety and await the coming of the real ])ioneers, 
they who came bringing little or nothing, save 



a manly spirit of self-reliance and independence. 
These were the successful founders and builders 
of empire in the wilderness. 



:iiff 11 1¥. 



..,-...i.j/2^.:^?}J?C^tJJ, ^2^,,,.,_j.. 



Organization. — The Viceroys and Governors — The Attitude of the Royal Owners of Louisiana— 

The Dlstrict Divided — The Territory of Arkansas Formed from the Territory of Missouri 

—The Territorial Government— The First Legislature — The Seat of Government 

— Other Legislative%Jodies— The Deullo— Arkansas Admitted to Statehood 

—The Constitutional Conventions — The Memorable Reconstruction 

Period— Legislative Attitude on the Question of Secession 

^ —The War of the Governors, etc., etc. 




^.^ ~ •' N the preceding chapter are 
^■Jkc '/i briefly traced the changes 
^' -JL I .'■*■., in the government of the 
Territory of Louisiana from 
its discovery to the year 
1803, when it became a 
part of the territory of 
the United States. Discovered by 
the Spanish, possessed by the French, 
•divided and re-divided between the 
French, Si)aDish and English; set- 
tled by the Holy Mother Church, 
in the warp and woof of nations it 
was the flying shuttle-cock of the 
great weaver in its religion as well 
as allegiance for 261 years. This 
foundling, this waif of nations, was 
but an outcast, or a trophy chained to the 
triumphal car of the victors among the warring 
European powers, until in the providence of God 
it reached its haven and abiding home in the 
bosom of the union of States. 

As a French jjrovince, the civil government of 
Louisiana was organized, and the Marquis de San- 
ville appointed viceroy or governor in 1689. 



UNDER FRENCH RULE. . n 

Robert Cavelier de La Salle (April 9, 

formal) 1G82-1688 

Marquis de Sanville 1G89-1700 

Bienville 1701-1713 

Lamothe Cadillar 1713-1715 

De L'Epinay 1716-1717 

Bienville 1718-1733 

Boisbriant (ad interim) 1734 

Bienville 1733-1741 

Baron de Kelerec 17.53-1763 

DAbbadie 1763-1766* 

UNDER SPANISH RULE. 

Antonio de UUoa 1767-1768 

Alexander O'Reilly 1768-1769 

Louis de Uuzaga 1770-1776 

Beruando de Galvez 1777-1784 

Estevar Miro 1785-1787 

Francisco Luis Hortu, Baron of Caron- 

delet 1789-1793 

Gayoso de Lemos 1793-1798 

Sebastian de Co.';a Calvo y O'Farrell. . .1798-1799 
Juan Manual de Salcedo 1800-1803 

From the dates already given it will be seen 
that the official acts of Salcedo during his entire 

*Louisiana west of the Mississippi, although ceded 
to Spain in 1763, remained under French jurisdiction 
until 1766. 






-— -► 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



35 



term of office, under the secret treaty of Ildefonso, 
were tainted with irregularity. Thousands of laud 
grants had been given by him after he had in fact 
ceased to be the viceroy of Spain. The contract- 
ing powers had affixed to the treaty the usual ob- 
ligations of the fulfillment of all undertakings, but 
the American courts and lawyers, in that ancient 
spirit of legal hyjiercritical technicalities, had 
given heed to the vicious doctrine that acts in good 
faith of a de facto governor may be treated as of 
questionable validity. This was never good law, 
because it was never good sense or justice. 

The acts and official doings of these vice-royal- 
ties in the wilderness present little or nothing of 
interest to the student of history, because they 
were local and individual in their bearing. It 
was the action of the powers across the waters, in 
reference to Canada and Louisiana, that in their 
wide and sweeping effects have been nearly on: nip 
otent in shaping civilization. 

Referring to the acquisition of Canada and the 
Louisiana east of the Mississippi River, Bancroft 
says that England exulted in its conquest;* 
enjoying the glory of extended dominion in the 
confident expectation of a boundless increase of 
wealth. But its success was due to its having 
taken the lead in the good old struggle for liberty, 
and it was destined to bring fruits, not so much to 
itself as to the cause of freedom and mankind. 

France, of all the States on the continent of 
Europe the most powerful, by territorial unity, 
wealth, numbers, industry and culture, seemed 
also by its place marked out for maritime ascend- 
ency. Set between many seas it rested upon the 
Mediterranean, possessed harbors on the German 
Ocean, and embraced between its wide shores and 
jutting headlands the bays and open waters of the 
Atlantic; its people, infolding at one extreme the 
offspring of colonists from Greece, and at the 
other the hardy children of the Northmen, being 
called, as it were, to the inheritance of life upou 
the sea. The nation, too, readily conceived or ap- 
propriated great ideas and delighted in bold re- 
solves. Its travelers had penetrated farthest into 

♦Bancroft, vol. iv.-457; Gayarre's Hiatoire de la 
Louisiane, vol. ii.-121. 



the fearful interior of unknown lands; its mission- 
aries won most familiarly the confidence of the 
aboriginal hordes; its writers described with 
keener and wiser observation the forms of nature 
in her wildness, and the habits and languages of 
savage man ; its soldiers, and every lay Frenchman 
in America owed military service, uniting beyond 
all others celerity with courage, knew best how to 
endure the hardships of forest life and to triumph 
in forest warfare. Its ocean chivalry had given a 
name and a colony to Carolina, and its merchants 
a people to Acadia. The French discovered the 
basin of the St. Lawrence; were the first to ex- 
plore and possess the banks of the Mississippi, and 
planned an American empire that should unite the 
widest valleys and most copious inland waters in 
the world. But over all this splendid empire in 
the old and the new world was a government that 
was medieval — mured in its glittering palaces, 
taxing its subjects, it would allow nothing to come 
to the Louisiana Territory but what was old and 
worn out. French America was closed against even 
a gleam of intellectual independence; nor did all 
Louisiana contain so much as one dissenter from 
the Roman Church. 

" We have caught them at last," exultingly ex- 
claimed Choiseul, when he gave up the Canadas 
to England and the Louisiana to Spain. "Eng- 
land will ere long repent of having removed the 
only check that could keep her colonies in awe. * 
* * She will call on them to support the bur- 
dens they have helped to bring on her, and they 
will answer by striking off all dependence," said 
Vergennes. 

These keen-witted Frenchmen, with a p"ue- 
tration far beyond the ablest statesmen of Eng- 
land, saw, as they believed, and time has con- 
firmed, that in the humiliation and dismember- 
ment of the territory of France, especially the 
transfer to England of Canada, they had laid the 
mine which some day would destroy the British 
colonial system, and probably eventuate in the 
independence of the American colonies. The in- 
tellect of France was keeping step with the spirit 
of the age; it had been excluded of course from 
the nation's councils, but saw what its feeble 



36 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



government neither could see nor prevent, that the 
distant wilderness possessed a far greater impor- 
tance on the world's new map than was given it 
by the gold and gems it was supposed to contain; 
and that the change of allegiance of the colonies 
was the great step in the human mind, as it was 
slowly emerging from the gloom and darkness of 
the middle ages. Thus it was that the mere Tei'ri- 
tory of Louisiana, before it was peopled by civilized 
man, was playing its important part in the world's 
gi'eatest of all dramas. 

The first official act of our government, after 
the purchase of Louisiana, was an act of Congress, 
March 26, 1804, dividing Louisiana into two dis- 
tricts, and attaching the whole to Indiana Terri- 
tory, under the government of William Henry 
Harrison. The division in Louisiana was by a line 
on the thirty-third parallel; the south was named 
the District of Orleans; that north of it was named 
the District of Louisiana. This is now the south 
line of the State of Arkansas. 

In 1805 the District of Louisiana was erected in- 
to the Territory of Louisiana. It was however a terri- 
tory of the second class and remained under the gov- 
ernment and control of Indiana Territory until 1812. 

By act of June 4, 1812, the name of Louisiana 
Territory was changed and became the Missouri 
Territory, being made a territory of the first class, 
and given a territorial government. Capt. William 
Clark, of the famous Lewis and Clark, explorers of 
the northwest, was appointed governor, remaining 
as such until 1819, when Arkansas Territory was 
cut off from Missouri. 

The act of 1812, changing the District of 
Louisiana to Missouri Territory, provided for a 
Territorial legislature consisting of nine members, 
and empowered the governor to lay off that 
part where the Indian title had been extinguished 
into thirteen counties. The county of New 
Madrid, as then formed, extended into the Arkan- 
sas territorial limits, "down to the Mississippi to 
a point directly east of the mouth of Little Red 
River; thence to the mouth of Red River; thence 
up the Red River to the Osage purchase," etc. 
In other words it did not embrace the whole of 
what is now Arkansas. 



December 13, 1813, the County of Arkansas. 
Missoviri Territory, was formed, and the county 
seat was fixed at Arkansas Post. * 

Besides Arkansas County, Lawrence County 
was formed January 15, 1815, and Clark, Hemp- 
stead and Pulaski Counties, December 15, 1818. 

Missouri neglected it seems to provide a judi- 
cial district for her five southern or Arkansas 
counties. Therefore Congress, in 1814, authorized 
the President to appoint an additional judge for 
Missouri Territory, ' " who should hold ofiice four 
years and reside in or near the village of Arkan- 
sas," — across the river from Arkansas Post. 

March 2, 1819, Congress created the Territory 
of Arkansas out of the Missouri Territory. It was 
only a territory of the second class, and the ma- 
chinery of government consisted of the governor 
and three judges, who constituted the executive, 
judicial and legislative departments, their ofii- 
cial acts requiring the consent of Congress. Pres- 
ident Monroe appointed James Miller, governor; 
Robert Crittenden, secretary; Charles Jouett, 
Andrew Scott and Robert P. Letcher, judges of the 
superior court. The act designated Arkansas Post 
as the temporary seat of government. In the ab- 
sence of the Governor, Robert Crittenden, "act- 
ing governor," convened the first session of the 
provisional government on August 3, 1819. The 
act continued the new territory under the laws of 
Missouri Territory. The five counties designated 
above as formed prior to the division of Arkansas, 
had been represented in the Missouri Territorial 
legislature. Elijah Kelly, of Clark County, was a 
representative, and he rode on horseback from his 
home to St. Louis. The session was probably not 
a week in length, and the pay and mileage little 
or nothing. 

This first Territorial legislature appointed a 
treasurer and auditor, provided a tax for general 
purposes, and divided the five counties into two 
judicial circuits: First, Arkansas and Lawrence 
Counties ; Second, Pulaski, Clark and Hempstead 
Counties. 

* During the latter part of the eighteenth century, 
something of the .same muuiripal division was made, and 
called "Arkansas Parish," the name being derived 
from an old Indian tiiwn called Arkansea. 



:tz 



1^ 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



37 



April 2], 1820, Congress passed an act per- 
fecting the Territorial organization, and applying 
the same provisions to Arkansas that were contained 
in the act creating Missouri into a Territory of the 
first class. 

The first legislative bodj' elected in Arkansas 
convened at Ai-kansas Post, February 7 to 24, 1820. 
In the council were: President, Edward McDonald; 
secretary, Richard Searcy; members, Arkansas 
County, Sylvanus Phillips; Clark County, Jacob 
Barkman; Hempstead County, David Clark; 
Lawrence County, Edward McDonald; Pulaski 
County, John McElmurry. In the house of rep- 
resentatives: Speaker, Joseph Hardin (William 
Stephenson was first elected, served one day and 
resigned, on account of indisposition); J. Cham- 
berlain, clerk; members, Arkansas Coimty, W. B. 
R. Horner, W. O. Allen; Clark, Thomas Fish; 
Hempstead, J. English, W. Stevenson; Lawrence, 
Joseph Hardin, Joab Hardin; Pulaski, Radford 
Ellis, T. H. Tindall. This body later adjourned to 
meet October following, continuing in session until 
the 25th. 

At this adjourned session the question of the 
removal of the Territorial seat of government from 
Arkansas Post to ' ' the Little Rock, ' ' came up on 
a memorial signed by Amos Wheeler and others. 
"The Little Rock" was in contradistinction to 
"the Rocks," as were known the beautiful bluffs, 
over 200 feet high, a little above and across the 
river from "the Little Rock." In 1820 Gov. 
Miller visited the Little Rock — Petit Rocher — 
with a view to selecting a new seat of government. 
The point designated was the northeast corner of 
the Quapaw west line and Arkansas River. Im- 
mediately upon the formation of the Territory, 
prominent parties L ^gan to look out for a more 
central location for a capital higher up the river, 
and it was soon a general understand! ng that the 
seat of government and the county seat of Pulaski 
County, the then adjoining county above Arkansas 
County on the river, would be located at the same 
place. A syndicate was formed and Little Rock 
Bluff was pushed for this double honor. The 
government had not yet opened the land to pub- 
lic entry, as the title of the Quapaws had just been 



extinguished. These parties resorted to the expe- 
dient of locating upon the land "New Madrid 
floats," or claims, under the act of February 17, 
1815, which authorized any one whose land had 
been " materially injured " by the earthquake of 
1811 to locate the like quantity of land on any of 
the public lands open for sale. Several hundred 
acres were entered under these claims as the fut- 
ure town site. The county seat of Pulaski County 
was, contrary to the expectation of the Little Rock 
syndicate, located at Cadron, near the mouth of 
Cadron Creek, where it enters the Arkansas River. 

On the 18th day of October, 1820, the Terri- 
torial seat of government was removed from the 
Post of Arkansas to the Little Rock, the act to 
take effect June 1, 1821. The next Territorial 
legislature convened in Little Rock, October 1 to 
2-i, 1821. The council consisted of Sam C. Roane, 
president, and Richard Searcy, secretary. In the 
house William Trimble was speaker, and A. H. 
Sevier, clerk. 

The third legislature met October 6 to 31, 
1823. Sam C. Roane was president of the coun- 
cil, and Thomas "\V. Newton, secretary; while T. 
FaiTelly was speaker, and D. E. McKinney, clerk 
of the house. 

The fourth legislature was held October 3 to 
November 3, 1S25. Of the council, the president 
was Jacob Barkman; secretary, Thomas W. New- 
ton. Of the house, Robert Bean was speaker; 
David Barber, clerk. 

The fifth Territorial legislature was held October 
1 to 31, 1827, and a special session held October 
6 to October 28, 1828; E. T. Clark served as presi- 
dent of the council, and John Clark, secretary; 
J. Wilson was speaker of the house, and Daniel 
Ringo, clerk. 

In the sixth legislature, Charles Caldwell was 
president of the council, and John Caldwell, secre- 
tary; John Wilson was speaker of the house, and 
Daniel Kingo, clerk. 

The seventh legislature held October 3 to 
November 7, 1831, had Charles Caldwell as presi- 
dent of the council, and Absalom Fowler, secre- 
tary; William Trimble was speaker of the house, 
and G. W. Ferebee, secretary. 



-M^ 



38 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



In the eighth legislature, October 7 to Novem- 
ber 16, 1833, John Williamson was president of the 
council and William F. Yeomans, secretary; John 
Wilson was speaker of the house, and James B. 
Keatts, clerk. 

The ninth legislature met October 5 to Novem- 
ber 16, 1835. The president of the senate was 
Charles Caldwell; secretary, S. T. Sanders. John 
Wilson was speaker of the house and L. B. Tully, 
clerk. 

This was the last of the Territorial assemblies. 
James Miller was succeeded as governor by George 
Izard, March 4, 1825, and Izard by John Pope, 
March 9, 1829. William Fulton followed Pope 
March 9, 1835, and held the office until Arkansas 
became a State. 

Robert Crittenden was secretary of State 
(nearly all of Miller's term "acting governor"), 
appointed March 3. 1819, and was succeeded in 
office by William Fulton, April 8, 1829; Fulton 
was succeeded by Lewis Randolph, February 23, 
1835. 

George W. Scott was appointed Territorial 
auditor August 5, 1819, and was succeeded by 
Richard C. Byrd, November 20, 1829; Byrd was 
followed by Emzy Wilson, November 5, 1831; and 
the latter by William Pelham, November 12, 1833, 
his successor being Elias N. Conway, July 25,1835. 

James Sciill, appointed treasurer August 5, 
1819, was succeeded by S. M. Rutherford, Novem- 
ber 12, 1833, who continued in office until the 
State was formed. 

The counties in 1825 had been increased in num- 
ber to thirteen: Arkansas, Clark, Conway, Chicot, 
Crawford, Crittenden, Lawrence, Miller, Hemp- 
stead, Independence, Pulaski, Izard and Phillips. 
The territory was divided into four judicial cir- 
cuits, of which William Trimble, Benjamin John- 
son, Thomas P. Eskridge and James Woodson 
Bates were, in the order named, the judges. The 
delegates in Congress from Arkansas Territory were 
James W. Bates, 1820-23; Henry W. Conway, 
1823-29; Ambrose H. Sevier, 1829-36. 

The Territorial legislature, in common with all 
other legislatures of that day, passed some laws 
which would have been much better not passed, and 



others that remained a dead letter on the books. 
Among other good laws which were never enforced 
was one against duelling. In 1825 Whigs and 
Democrats allowed party feelings to run high, and 
some bloody duels grew out of the heat of cam- 
paigns. 

Robert Crittenden and Henry W. Conway 
fought a duel October 29, 1827. At the first fire 
Conway fell mortally wounded and died a fortnight 
thereafter. 

December 4, 1837, ^ohn Wilson, who, it will 
be noticed, figured prominently in the preceding 
record of the Territorial assemblies, was expelled 
from the house of representatives, of which body 
he was speaker, for killing J. J. Anthony. 

A constitutional convention, for the purpose of 
arranging for the Territory to become a State in the 
Union, was held in Little Rock, in January, 1836. 
Its dut}' was to prepare a suitable constitution and 
submit it to Congress, and, if unobjectionable, to 
have an act passed creating the State of Arkan- 
sas. John Wilson was president, and Charles P. 
Bertrand, secretary, of the convention. Thirty- 
five counties were represented by fifty-two members. 

June 15, 1836, Arkansas was made a State, 
and the preamble of the act recites that there was 
a population of 47, 700. 

The first State legislature met September 12 to 
November 8, 1836, later adjourning to November 
6, 1837, and continued in session until March 5, 
1838. The president of the senate was Sam C. 
Roane; secretary, A. J. Greer; the speaker of the 
house was John Wilson (he was expelled and 
Grandison D. Royston elected) ; clerk, S. H. Hemp- 
stead. 

The second constitutional convention, held 
January 4 to January 23, 1864, had as president, 
John McCoy, and secretary, R. J. T. White. This 
convention was called by virtue of President Lin- 
coln's proclamation. The polls had been opened 
chiefly at the Federal military posts, and the major- 
ity of delegates were really refugees from many of 
the counties they represented. It simply was an 
informal meeting of the Union men in response to 
the President's wish, and they mostly made their 
own credentials. The Federal army occupied the 



.k 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



39 



Arkansas River and points north, while the south 
portion of the State was held by the Confederates. 
It is said the convention on important legal ques- 
tions was largely influenced by Hon. T. D. W. 
Yonly, of Pulaski County. The convention prac- 
tically re-enacted the constitution of 1836, abolished 
slavery, already a fact, and created the separate 
oiEce of lieutenant-governor, instead of the former 
ex-officio president of the senate. The machinery 
of State government was thus once more in oper- 
ation. The convention wisely did its work and 
adjourned. 

The next constitutional convention was held 
January 7 to February 18, 1868. Thomas M. 
Bowen was president, and John G. Price, secretary. 
The war was over and the Confederates had re- 
turned and were disposed to favor the constitution 
which they found the Unionists had adopted in 
their absence, and was then in full force in the 
State. Isaac Murphy (Federal) had been elected 
governor under the constitution of 1864, and all 
the State ofJiees were under control of the Union- 
ists. His term as governor would expire in July, 
1868. 

This convention made sweeping changes in the 
fundamental laws. The most prominent were the 
disfi-anchisement of a large majority of the white 
voter.s of the State, enfranchising the negroes, and 
providing for a complex and plastic system of reg- 
istration. This movement, and its severe character 
throughout, were a j)art of the reconstruction 
measures emanating: from Congress. Arkansas 
was under military rule and the constitution of 
1864, and this condition of affairs, had been ac- 
cepted by the returned conquered Confederates. 
But the Unionists, who had fled to the Federal 
military po.sts for protection, were generally eager 
to visit their vanquished enemies with the severest 
penalties of the law. A large part of the intel- 
ligence and tax-payers of the State were indis- 
criminately excluded from the polls, and new vot- 
ers and new men came to the front, with grievances 
to be avenged and ambitions to be gratified. The 
unusual experiment of the reversal of the civic 
conditions of the ex-slaves with their former mas- 
ters was boldly undertaken. Impetuous men now 



prevailed in the name of patriotism, the natural 
reflex swing of the pendulum — the anti-climax was 
this convention of reconstruction to the convention 
of secession of 1861. The connection between 
these two conventions — 1861-1868 — is so blended 
that the convention of '61 is omitted in its chro- 
nological order, that the two may be set properly 
side by side. 

March 4, 1861, a State convention assembled 
in Little Rock. The election of delegates was 
on Febniary 18, preceding. The convention met 
the day Abraham Lincoln was inducted into office 
as president of the United States. The people of 
Arkansas were deeply concerned. The conserva- 
tive luinds of the State loved the Union as sin- 
cerely as they regretted the wanton assaults that 
had been made upon them by the extremi.sts of the 
North. The members of that convention had 
been elected with a view to the consideration of 
those matters already visible in the dark war-clouds 
lowering upon the country. The test of the un- 
ion and disunion sentiment of that body was the 
election of pre.sident of the convention. Judge 
David Walker (Union) received forty votes against 
thirty-five votes for Judge B. C. Totten. Hon. 
Henry F. Thomasson introduced a series of con- 
servative resolutions, condemning disunion and 
looking to a convention of all the States to "settle 
the slavery question " and secure the perpetuation 
of tl e Union. The resolutions were passed, and 
the convention adjourned to meet again in May fol- 
lowing. This filled the wise and conservative men 
of the State with great hopes for the future. But, 
most unfortunately, when the convention again 
met war was already upon the country, and the 
ordinance of secession was passed, with but one 
negative vote. Th(> few days between the adjourn- 
ment and reassembling of the convention had not 
made traitors of this majority that had so recent - 
ly,condemned disunion. The swift-moving events, 
everywhere producing consternation and alarm, 
called out determined men, and excitement ruled 
the hour. 

The conventions of 1861 and 1868 — secession 
and reconstruction I ^\'hen the long - gathering 
cloud-burst of civil war had passed, it left a cen- 



i:rv 



4. 



40 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



tury's trail of broken hearts, desolated homes, 
ruined lives, and a stream of demoralization over- 
flowing the beautiful valleys of the land to the 
mountain tops. The innocent and unfortunate ne- 
gro was the stumbling-block at all times. The con- 
vention of 1861 would have founded an empire of 
fi'eedom, buttressed in the slavery of the black man ; 
the convention of 1868 preferred to roar its great col- 
umn of liberty upon the ashes of the unfortunate 
past; in every era the wise, conservative and patriotic 
sentiment of the land was chained and bound to 
the chariot- wheels of rejoicing emotion. Prudence 
and an intelligent insight into the future alone 
could prevent men from "losing their reason." 

The constitution of 1868, as a whole, was not 
devoid of merit. It opened the way for an age of 
internal improvements, and intended the establish- 
ment of a liberal public free school system, and at 
the same time provided safeguards to protect the 
public treasury and restrain reckless extravagance. 

Then the legislatures elected under it, the State 
ofiScers, and the representatives in the upper and 
lower Congress, were in political accord with the 
dominant party of the countiy. Gen. Grant was 
president; Powell Clayton, governor; Robert J. L. 
White, secretary of State; J. R. Berry, auditor, 
and Henry Page, treasurer. The first legislature 
under the constitution of 1868 passed most liberal 
laws to aid railroads and other internal improve- 
ments, and provided a system of revenue laws to 
meet the new order of afPairs. During 1869 to 
1S71 railroad aid and levee bonds to the amount of 
$10,419,773.74 were issued. The supreme court 
of the State in after years declared the railroad 
aid, levee and Halford bonds void, aggregating 
$8,604,773.74. Before his term of governor had 
expired. Gov. Clayton was elected United States 
senator (1871-77), and in 1873 Hon. Stephen W. 
Dorsey was elected to a like position. 

The climax and the end of reconstruction in 
Arkansas will always be an interesting paragraph 
in the State' s history. Elisha Baxter and Joseph 
Brooks were the gubernatorial candidates at the 
election of 1872. Both were Republicans, and 
Brooks was considered one of the most ardent of 
that party. Baxter was the nominee of the party 



and on the same ticket with Grant, who was can- 
didate for president. Brooks was nominated on a 
mixed ticket, made up by disaffected Republicans, 
but on a more liberal platform toward the Demo- 
crats than the regular ticket. On the face of the 
first returns the Greeley electors and the Brooks 
ticket were in the majority, but when the votes 
were finally canvassed, such changes were made, 
from illegal voting or bulldozing it was claimed, 
as to elect the Grant and Baxter tickets. Under 
the constitution of 1868, the legislature was de- 
clared the sole judge of the election of State officers. 
Brooks took his case before that body at its Jan- 
uary term, 1873 — at which time Baxter was in- 
augurated — but the assembly decided that Baxter 
was elected, and, whether right or wrong, every 
one supposed the question permanently settled. 

Brooks however, went before the supreme 
court (McClure being chief justice), that body 
promptly deciding that the legislature was by law 
the proper tribunal, and that as it had determined 
the case its action was final and binding. Bax- 
ter was inaugurated in January, 1873; had been 
declared elected by the proper authorities, and 
this had been confirmed by the legislature, the 
action of the latter being distinctly apjiroved 
by the supreme court. The adherents of Brooks 
had supposed that they were greatly wronged, 
but like good citizens all acquiesced. Those 
who had politically despised Brooks — perhaps 
the majority of his voters — had learned to sym- 
pathize with what they believed were his and 
their mutual wrongs. Baxter had peacefully ad- 
ministered the office more than a year, when 
Brooks went before Judge John Whytock, of the 
Pulaski circuit court, and commenced quo ivarranto 
proceedings against Baxter. The governor's at- 
torneys filed a demurrer, and the case stood over. 
Wednesday, April 15, 1874, Judge Whytock, in 
the absence of Baxter' s attorneys, overruled the de- 
murrer, giving judgment of ouster against Baxter, 
and instantly Brooks, with an officer, hastened to 
the State house, demanded the surrender of the 
office, and arrested Baxter. Thus a stroke of the 
pen by a mere circuit court judge in banc plunged 
the State into tumult. 



>?•. 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



41 



Couriers sped over the city, and the flying news 
gave the people a genuine sensation. Indeed, not 
only Baxter but the State and the nation received 
a great surprise. 

As soon as Baxter was released, though only 
under arrest a few minutes, he fled to St. John's 
College, in the city, and from this headquarters 
called for soldiers, as did Brooks from the 
State house, and alas, poor Arkansas! there were 
now again two doughty governors beating the 
long roll and swiftly forming in the ranks of war. 
Brooks converted the State house and grounds 
into a garrison, while Baxter made headquarters 
at the old Anthony Hotel, and the dead-line be- 
tween the armed foes was Main Street. Just in 
time to prevent mutual annihilation, though not 
in time to prevent bloodshed, some United States 
soldiers arrived and took up a position of armed 
neutrality between the foes. 

If there can be anything comical in a tragedy 
it is furnished just here in the fact that, in the 
twinkling of an eye, the adherents and voters of the 
two governors had changed places, and each was 
now lighting for the man whom he had opposed so 
vehemently. And in all these swift changes the 
supreme court had shown the greatest agility. 
By some remarkable legerdemain, Brooks, who was 
intrenching himself, had had his case again placed 
before the supreme court, and it promptly reversed 
itself and decided that the circuit court had juris- 
diction. The wires to Washington were kejat hot 
with messages to President Grant and Congress. 
The whole State was in dire commotion with ' ' mus- 
tering squadrons and clattering cars." The fre- 
quent popping of picket guns was in the land; a 
steamboat, laden with arms for Baxter, was at- 
tacked and several killed and many wounded. 
Business was again utterly pro.strated and horrors 
brooded over the unfortunate State; and probably 
the most appalling feature of it all was that in the 
division in the ranks of the people the blacks, led 
by whites, were mostly on one side, while the 
whites were arraj'ed on the other. Congress sent 
the historical Poland Committee to investigate 
Arkansas affairs. President Grant submitted all 
legal questions to his attorney-general. 



The President, at the end of thirty days after 
the forcible possession of the office, sustained Bax- 
ter — exit Brooks. The end of the war, the cli- 
max of reconstruction in Arkansas, had come. 
Peace entered as swiftly as had war a few days be- 
fore. The sincerity and intensity of the people's 
happiness in this final ending are found in the fact 
that when law and order were restored no one was 
impeached, no one was imprisoned for treason. 

The report of the Poland Committee, 1874. 
the written opinion of Attorney-General Williams, 
the decision of the Arkansas supreme court by 
Judge Samuel W. Williams, found in Vol. XXIX of 
Arkansas Reports, page 173, and the retiring mes- 
sage of Governor Baxter, are the principal records 
of the literature and hi.story of the reign of the 
dual governors. The students of law and history 
in coming time will turn inquiring eyes with 
curious interest upon these official pages. The 
memory of "the thirty days" in Arkansas will 
live forever, propagating its lessons and bearing 
its warnings; the wise moderation and the spirit 
of forbearance of the people, in even their exult- 
ing hour of triumph, will be as beacon lights 
shining out upon the troubled waters, transmit- 
ting for all time the transcendent fact that in the 
hour of supreme trial the best intelligence of the 
people is wiser than their rulers, better law- 
givers than their statesmen, and incomparably 
superior to their courts. 

The moment that President Grant officially 
spoke, the reconstruction constitution of 1S(J8 was 
doomed. True, the people had moved almost in 
mass and without leadership in 1873, and had 
repealed Article VIII of the constitution, disfran- 
chising a large part of the intelligent tax-payers 
of the State. 

The constitutional convention of 1874, with 
the above facts fresh before it, met and promul- 
gated the present State constitution. G. D. Roy- 
ston was president, and T. W. Newton, secretary. 
The session lasted from July 14 to October 31. 
1874. From the hour of its adoption the clouds 
rolled away, and at once commenced the present 
unexampled prosperity of the State. Only here and 
there in Little Rock and other points in the State 



■42 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



may one see the mute but eloquent mementos of 
the past, iu the dihipidated buildings, confiscated 
during the lifetime of some former owner, may- 
hap, some once emiiiciit citizen, now in his grave 
or self expatriated from a State which his life 
and genius had adorned and helped make great. 
Municipalities and even small remote districts are 
paying off the last of heavy debts of the ' ' flush 
times. ' ' Long suffering and much chastened State 
and people, forgetting the jiast, and full of hope for 
the future, are fitly bedecking (though among the 
youngest) the queenliest in the sisterhood of States. 
In this connection it will be of much interest to 
notice the names of those individuals, who, by 
reason of their association with various public 
affairs, have become well and favorably known 
throusrhout the State. The term of service of each 
incumbent of the respective offices has been pre- 
served and is here given. The following table 
includes the acting Territorial and State governors 
of Arkansas, with date of inauguration, party pol- 
itics, etc: 







= u ^ 




a 
o 




a 


■S-6 


o 


s 












t^..' 


















Territory 
and State. 


S 


Date of 
luaugu ration. 


■5 

xi 


(Si 
1" 


n 


n 




u 

>< 




a 






2S 


James Miller... 


App'l'd 


March 3, 1819 










George Izard... 


App't'd 


March 4, 1825 










John Pope 


App t'd 


March 9, 1829 










Wm. I'ulton.... 


.App't'd 


March 9, 1835 










J. S. Couway.... 


1830 


September 13, 1836 


4 yrs. 


Dem. 


1,1U21J 


7,716 


ArcliibalU Tell. 


18411 


November 4, 1840 


4 yrs. 


Dem. 






Samuel Adams. 


Acting 


Apr. '29 to Nov. 9, 1844 










T. S. Drew 


184.1 


November .^, 1844 


5 yrs. 


Dem. 


1,731 P 


17,387 


J. Williamson. 


Acting 


Apr. 9 to May 7, 1846 










R. C. Hyrd 


Acting 


Jan. 11 to Apr. 19, 1849 










J. S. Roane 


1849 


April 19, 1849* 




Dem. 


163 


6,809 


R. C. Byrd 


Acting 


1849 










J. R. Hampton 


Acting 


1851 








E. N. Conway.. 


185° 


November LS, lK,-)2 


4 yrs. 


Dem. 3,027 


27,8.^7 


E. N. Conway.. 


1864 


November 17, 1856 


4 yrs. 


Dem. 


12.303 


42,861 


H. M. Rector.... 


186U 


November Hi, 1860 


2 yrs. 


I. D. 


2,461 


61,198 


T. Fletcher 


Acting 


Nov.4 toNov. l.'i, 18l« 




Con. 


(no re 


cord) 


H. Flannagin.. 


181)2 


November 15,1862 


3 yrs. 


Con. 


10,018 


26,266 


I. Murphy 


18(jJ 


April 18, 1804 




Fed. i (no re 


cord) 


P. Clayton 


186! 


July 'J, 1808 


4 yrs. 


Rep. 1 (no re 


cord) 


0. A.Hadley ... 


Acting 


January 17, 1871 


2 yrs. 


Rep. 


(no re 


cord) 


E. Haxter 


IHT2 


January 6, 1873 


2 yrs. 


Rep. 


2,948 


80,721 


A. U. Garland. 


1874 


November I'J, 1874 


2 yrs.i r>em. 


76,4.')3 




W. R. Miller.... 


1876 


January 11, 1877 


2 yrs.' Dern. 


32,215 


108,633 


W. R. Miller.... 


187f 


January 17, 1879 


2 yrs. 


Dem. 


88.73( 




T. J. Churchill 


1880 


January 13,1881 


■•' yrs. 


Dem, 


52,761 


115,019 


J, H. Berry 


1882 


January 13, \Sm 


2 vrs. 


Dem. 


•28,481 


147,169 


B. T. Embry... 


Acting 


Sep. 25 to Sep. 30, 1883 










S. P. Hughes... 


1884 


January 17, 1885 


2 yrs. 




45,23b 


156,310 


J. W. Stayton.. 


.Acting 












S. P. Huglies... 


1886 




2 yrs. 


Dem. 


17,411 


16.1,889 


D. E. Barker... 


Acting 












J. P. Eagle 


1888 




2 yrs. 


Dem. 


15.006 


187,397 



* Special election. 



The secretaries of Arkansas Territory have been: 
Robert Crittenden, appointed March 'S, 1819; 
William Fulton, appointed April 8, 1829; Lewis 
Randolph, appointed February 23, 1835. 

Secretaries of State: Robert A. Watkins, 
September 10, 1836, to November 12, 1840; D. 
B. Greer, November 12, 1840, to May 9, 1842; 
John Winfrey, acting. May 9, to August 9, 1842; 
D. B. Greer, August 19, 1840, to September 3, 
1859 (died); Alexander Boileau, Septembers, 1829, 
to January 21, 1800; S. M. Weaver, January 21, 
1860, to March 20, 1860; John I. Stirman, March 
24, 1800, to November 13, 1802; O. H. Gates, 
November 13, 1802, to April 18, 1804; Robert J. 
T. White, Provisional, from January 24, to January 
6, 1873; J. M. Johnson, January 6, 1873, to No- 
vember 12, 1874; B. B. Beavers, November 12, 
1874, to January 17, 1879; Jacob Frolich, January 
17, 1879, to January, 1885; E. B. Moore, January, 
1885, to January, 1889; B. B. Chism (present in- 
cumbent). 

Territorial auditors of Arkansas: George W. 
Scott, August 5, 1819, to November 20, 1829; 
Richard C. Byrd, November 20, 1829, to Novem- 
ber 5, 1831; Emzy Wilson, November 5, 1831, to 
November 12, 1833; William Pelham, November 
12, 1833, to July 25, 1835; Elias N. Conway, 
July 25, 1835, to October 1, 1836. 

Auditors of State: Elias N. Conway, October 

I, 1836, to May 17, 1841; A. Boileau, May 17, 
1841, to July 5, 1841 (acting); Elias N. Conway, 
July 5, 1841, to January 3, 1849; C. C. Danley, 
January 3, 1849, to September 16, 1854 (resigned); 
W. R. Miller, September 10, 1854, to January 23, 
1855; A. S. Huey, January 23, 1855, to January 
23, 1857; W. R. Miller, January 23, 1857, to March 
5, 1860; H. C. Lowe, March 5, 1860, to January 24, 
1801 (acting); W. R. Miller, January 24, 1801, to 
April 18, 1804; J. R. Berry, April 18, 1804, to Oc- 
tober 15, 1806; Stephen Wheeler, January 0, 1873, 
to November 12, 1874; W. R. Miller, October 15, 
1800, to July 2, 1808; John Crawford, January 

II, 1877, to January 17, 1883; A. W. Files, Jan- 
uary, 1883, to January, 1887; William R. Miller 
(died in office), January, 1887, to November, 1887; 
W. S. Dunlop, appointed November 30, 1887, to 



-^ 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



43 



January, 1889; \V. S. Dunlop, January, 1889 
(present incumbent). 

Territorial treasurers: Jamea Scull, August 15, 
1819, to November 12, 18H:i; S. M. Rutherford, 
November 12, 1833, to October 1, 1836. 

State treasurers: W. E. Woodruff, October 1, 
1836, to November 20, 1838; John Hutt, November 
20, 1838, to February 2, 1843; John C. Martin, 
February 2, 1843, to January 4, 1845; Samuel 
Adams, January 4, 1845, to January 2, 1849; Will- 
iam Adams, January 2, 1849, to January 10, 1849 ; 
John H. Crease, January 10, 1 849, to January 26, 
1855; A. H. Rutherford, January 27, 1855, to Feb- 
ruary 2, 1857; J. H. Crease, February 2, 1857, to 
February 2, 1859; John Quindley, February 2, 1859, 
to December 13, 1860 (died); Jared C. Martin, 
December 13, 1860, to February 2, 1861; Oliver 
Basham, February 2, 1861, to April 18, 1864; E. 
D. Ayers, April 18, 1864, to October 15, 1866; L. 
B. Cunningham, October 15, 1866, to August 19, 
1867 (removed by military); Henry Page, August 
19, 1867 (military appointment), elected 1868 to 
1874 (resigned); R. C. Newton, May 23, 1874, to 
November 12, 1874; T. J. Churchill, November 
12, 1874, to January 12, 1881; W. E. Woodruff, 
Jr., January 12, 1881, to January, 1891. 

Attorneys-general: Robert W. Johnson, 1848; 
George C. Watkins, October 1, 1848; J. J. Critten- 
den, February 7, 1851 ; Thomas Johnson, Septem- 
ber 8, 1856; J. L. Hollowell, September 8, 1858; 
P. Jordon, September 7, 1861; Sam W. Williams, 
1862; C. T. Jordan, 1864; R. S. Gantt, January 
31, 1865; E. H. Deadman, October 15, 1866; J. R. 
Montgomery, July 21, 1868; T. D. W. Youley, Jan- 
uary 8, 1873; J. L. Witherspoon, May 22, 1874; 
Simon P. Hughes, November 12, 1873, to 1876; W. 
F. Henderson, January 11, 1877, to 1881; C. B. 
Moore, January 12, 1881, to 1885; D. W. Jones, 
January, 1885, to 1889; W. E. Atkinson, January, 
1889 (present incumbent). 

Commissioners of immigration and of State 
lands: J. M. Lewis, July 2, 1868; W. H. Grey, 
October 15, 1872; J. N. Smithee, June 5, 1874. 

These officers were succeeded by the commis- 
sioner of State lands, the first to occupy this position 
being J. N. Smithee, from November 12, 1874, to 



November 18, 1878; D. W. Lear, October 21, 1878, 
to November, 1882; W. P. Campbell, October 30, 
1882, to March, 1884; P. M. Cobbs, March 31, 
1884, to October 30, 1890. 

Superintendents of public instruction: Thomas 
Smith, 1868 to 1873; J. C. Corbin, July 6, 1873; 
G. W. Hill, December 18, 1875, to October, 1878; 
J. L. Denton, October 13, 1875, to October 11, 
1882; Dunbar H. Pope, October 11 to 30, 1882; 
W. E. Thompson, October 20, 1882, to 1890. 

Of the present State officers and members of 
boards, the executive department is first worthy of 
attention. This is as follows: 

Governor, J. P. Eagle; secretary of State, B. 
B. Chism; treasurer, William E. Woodruff, Jr.; 
attorney-general, W. E. Atkinson; commissioner 
of State lands, Paul M. Cobbs; superintendent 
public instruction, W. E. Thompson; State geolo- 
gist, John C. Brauner. 

Board of election canvassers: Gov. J. P. Eagle, 
Sec. B. B. Chism. 

Board of commissioners of the common school 
fund: Gov. J. P. Eagle, Sec. B. B. Chism, Supt. 
W. E. Thompson. 

State debt board: Gov. J. P. Eagle; Aud. W. 
S. Dunlop, and Sec. B. B. Chism. 

Penitentiary board — commissioners : The Gov- 
ernor; the attorney -general, W. E. Atkinson, and 
the secretary of State. 

Lessee of penitentiary: The Arkansas Indus- 
trial Company. 

Printing board: The Governor, president; W. 
S. Dunlop, auditor, and W. E. Woodruff, Jr., 
treasurer. 

Board of railroad commissioners (to assess and 
equalize the railroad property and valuation within 
the State): The Governor, secretary of State and 
State auditor. 

Board of Trustees of Arkansas Medical College: 
J. A. Dibroll, M. D.. William Thompson, M. D., 
William Lawrence, M. D. 

The Arkansas State University, at Fayetteville, 
has as its board of trustees: W. M. Fishback, Fort 
Smith; James Mitchell, Little Rock; W. B. 
Welch, Fayetteville; C. M. Taylor, South Bend; 
B. F. Avery, Camden; J. W. Kessee, Latour; Gov. 



'y 



44 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



Eagle, ex-o^'c»o;'E. H. Murfree, president, A. I. 
U. ; J. L. Cravens, secretary. 

Of the Pine Bluff Normal, the president is J. 
Corbin, Pine Bluff; the board is the same as that 
of the State University. 

Board of dental surgery: Dr. L. Augspath, 
Dr. H. C. Howard, Dr. M. C. Marshall, Dr. L. G. 
Roberts, and Dr. N. N. Hayes. 

State board of health: Drs. A. L. Brey- 
sacher, J. A. Dibrell, P. Van Patten, Lorenzo R. 
Gibson, W. A. Cantrell, V. Brunson. 

Board of municipal corporations: Exofficio — 
The Governor, secretary of State and State auditor. 

Board of education: The Governor, secretary 
of State and auditor. 

Board of review for donation contests: The 
Governor, auditor of State and attorney-general. 

Board of examiners of State script: The Gov- 
ernor, secretary of State and auditor. 

Reference to the presidential vote of Arkansas, 
fi-om the year 1836 up to and including the elec- 
tion of 1888, will serve to show in a general way 
the political complexion of the State during that 
period. The elections have resulted as follows:* 

1836— Van Buren (D), 2,400; Harrison (W), 
1,162; total 3,638. 

1840-Harrison (W), 5,160; Van Buren (D), 
6,049; Birney (A), 889; total 11,209. 

1844-Polk (D), 8,546; Clay (W), 5,504; 
total 15,050. 

1848— Taylor (W), 7,588; Cass (D), 9,800; 
total 16,888. 

* Sealtering votes not given. 



1852— Pierce (D), 12,170; Scott, 7,404; 
total 19,577. 

1850— Buchanan (D), 21,910; FiUmore, 10,787; 
total 32,697. 

1860— Douglas (D), 5,227; Breckenridge, 
28,532; Bell, 20,297. 

1864— No vote. 

1868— Grant (R), 22,112; Seymour, 19,078; 
total 41,190. 

1872— Grant (R), 41,377: Greeley, 37,927; 
total 79,300. 

1876— Tilden (D), 58,300; Hayes (R), 88,669; 
total 97,029. 

1880— Garfield (R), 42,435; Hancock (D), 
60,475; total, 107,290. 

1884— Cleveland (D), 72,927; Blaine, 50,895; 
total, 125,669. 

1888— Harrison (R), 58,752; Cleveland (D), 
88,962; Fisk, 593; total, 155,968. 

In accepting the vote of Arkansas, 1876, objec- 
tion was made to counting it, as follows: "First, 
because the official returns of the election in said 
State, made according to the laws of said State, 
show that the persons certified to the secretary 
of said State as elected, were not elected as 
electors for President of the United States at 
the election held November 5, 1876; and, sec- 
ond, because the returns as read by the tellers 
are not certified according to law. The objec- 
tion was sustained by the Senate but not sus- 
tained by the House of Representatives. ' ' 




•i'U - r 



;r^ 



1^ 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



45 



)W 



* > * < * 



Advancement of the State— Misconceptions Removed— Effects of Slavery upon Aoricultuke- 
extraordinary improvement since the war— important suggestions— comparative 
Estimate of Produots— Growth of the Manufacturing Interests- 
Wonderful Showing of Arkansas— Its Desirability as a 
Place of Residence— State Elevations. 



Look forward what's to come, and back what's past; 
Tliy life will be with praise and prudence graced; 
What loss or gain may follow thou may'st guess, 
Then wilt thou be secure of the success. — Denham. 




EFORE entering directly up- 
on the subject of the mate- 
rial life and growth of Arkan- 
sas, it is necessary to clear 
away at the threshold some 
of the obstructions that have 
lain in its pathway. From 
the earliest settlement slav- 
ery existed, and the nergo 
slave was brought with the 
first agricultural communities. Slave 
labor was profitable in l:)ut two things 
— cotton and sugar. Arkansas was 
north of the sugar cane belt, but was a 
splendid field for cotton growing. Slave 
labor and white labor upon the farms 
were never congenial associate.s. These 
things fixed rigidly the one road in the 
agi'icultural progress of the State. 
What was therefore the very richness 
of heaven's bounties, became an incubus upon the 
general welfare. The fertile soil returned a rich 
reward even with the slovenly ajiplied energies of 
the slaves. A man could pay perhaps $1,000 for 
a slave, and in the cotton field, but really nowhere 
else, the investment would yield an enormous profit. 



The loss in waste, or ill directed labor, in work 
carelessly done, or the want of preparation, tools 
or machinery, or any manner of real thrift, gave 
little or no concern to the average agriculturist. 
For personal comfort and large returns upon invest- 
ments that required little or no personal attention, 
no section of the world ever surpassed the United 
States south of the 30° of north latitude. Wealth 
of individuals was rated therefore by the number 
of slaves one possessed. Twenty hands in the cot- 
ton field, under even an indifferent overseer, with 
no watchful care of the master, none of that saving 
frugality in the farming so imperative elsewhere 
upon farms, returninl every year an income which 
would enable the family to sjieud their lives trav- 
eling and sight-seeing over the world. The rich 
soil required no care in its tilling from the owner. 
It is the first and strongest principle in human na- 
ture to seek its desires through the least exertion. 
To raise cotton, ship to market and dispose of it, 
purchasing whatever was wanted, was the inevi- 
table result of such conditions. This was by far the 
easiest mode, and hence manufactures, diversity of 
farming or farming pursuits, were not an impera- 
tive necessity — indeed, they were not felt to be ne- 
cessities at all. The evil, the blight of slavery 



-^ 






,>?•. 



46 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



upon the whites, was well understood by the intel- 
ligence of the South, by even those who had learned 
to believe that white labor could not and never 
would be profitable in this latitude; that — most 
strange! the white man who labored at manual 
labor, must be in the severe climate and upon the 
stubborn New England soil. It was simply effect 
following cause which made these people send off 
their childi-en to school, and to buy their every want, 
both necessaries and luxuries — importing hay, corn, 
oats, bacon, mules, horses and cattle even from 
Northern States, when every possible natural ad- 
vantage might be had in producing the same things 
at ho-ne. It was the easiest and cheapest way to do. 
In the matter of dollars and cents, the destroying 
of slavery was, to the farmers of the Upper Missis- 
sippi Valley, a permanent loss. Now the New South 
is beginning to send the products of its farms and 
gardens even to Illinois. The war, the abolition 
of slavery, the return of the Confederates to their 
desolated homes, and their invincible courage in 
rolling up iiteir sleeves and going to work, and the 
results of their labors seen all over the South, form 
one of the grandest displays of the development of 
the latent forces of the great American people 
that can be found in history. 

There is not a thing, not even ice, but that, in 
the new social order of Arkansas, it can produce 
for its own use quite as well as the most favored 
of Northern States. The one obstruction in the 
way of the completed triumph of the State is the 
lingering idea among farmers that for the work of 
raising cotton, black labor is better than white. 
This fallacy is a companion of the old notion that 
slavery was necessary to the South. Under proper 
auspices these two articles of Arkansas — cotton 
and lumber — alone may make of it the most pros- 
peroiis State in the Union ; and the magician's 
wand to transform all this to gold is in securing the 
intelligent laborer of the North, far more than the 
Northern capital prayed for by so many. The North 
has its homeless millions, and the recent lessons 
in the opening of Oklahoma should be promptly 
appreciated by the people of this State. For the 
next decade to manufacture every pound of cotton 
raised in the State, as well as husbanding and man- 



ufacturing all the lumber from these grand old for- 
ests, is to solve the questions in the race of State 
prosperity and general wealth among the people. 
When free labor supplanted slave labor wTiat a won- 
derful advance it gave the whole section; when in- 
telligent skilled labor supplants ignorance and un- 
skilled labor, what a transcendent golden epoch 
will dawn. There is plenty of capital to-day in the 
State, if it was only put in proper cooperative 
form, to promote the establishment of manu- 
factories that would liberally reward the stock- 
holders, and make them and Arkansas the richest 
people in the world. Such will attract hundreds of 
thousands of intelligent and capable wage workers 
from the North, from all over the world, as well as 
the nimble-witted farm labor in the gardens, the 
orchards, the fields and the cotton plantations. This 
will bring and add to the present profits on a bale 
of cotton, the far richer dividend on stocks in fac- 
tories, banks, railroads and all that golden stream 
which is so much of modern increase in wealth. 
The people of Arkansas may just as well have this 
incalculable abundance as to not have it, and at the 
same time pay enormous premiums to others to come 
and reaj) the golden harvests. Competent labor- 
ers — skilled wage workers, the brawn and brain 
of the land — are telling of their unrest in strikes, 
lockouts, combinations and counter combinations; 
in short, in the conflict of labor and capital, they 
are appealing strongly to be allowed to come to 
Ai'kansas — not to enter the race against ignorant, 
incapable labor, but simply to find employment and 
homes, where in comfort and plenty they can rear 
their families, and while enriching themselves to 
return profits a thousand fold. Don't fret and 
mope away your lives looking and longing for capi- 
tal to enter and develop your boundless resources. 
Capital is a royal good thing, but remember it is 
even a better thing in your own pockets than in 
some other person's. Open the way for proper, 
useful lal)or to come and find employment ; each 
depaitment, no matter how small or humble the 
beginning, once started will grow rapidly, and the 
problem will have been solved. Only by the North 
taking the raw product of the South and putting it 
in the hands of skilled labor has their enormous 



V 



® »_ 



^ — ^iy 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



47 



capital been secured. The profits on high priced 
labor will always far excel that on ignorant or cheap 
workmen. The time is now when this kind of 
labor and the small farmers and gardeners are 
awaiting a bidding to enter Arkansas. When the 
forlorn hope returned from the late war, they met 
the stern necessity, and demonstrated the fact that 
here, at least, the people can create their own capi- 
tal. Let them now anticipate the future by this 
heroic triumph of the past. The Gods help those 
only who help themselves. 

" The fault, dear Brutus, is not iu our stars, 
but in ourselves." 

To the Northern home-seeker the thing of first 
importance is to tell of the temperate climate at all 
seasons, and its extraordinary healthfulness, cur- 
ing him of the false idea spread so wide that the 
topography of the State is seen from the decks 
of steamers, or on the lines of railroad which are 
built along the swamps and slashes, mostly on ac- 
count of the easy grades on these lines. Then show 
from the records the low rate of taxation and the 
provisions of the law by which high taxation is for- 
ever prevented. From this preliminary may be 
unfolded to him some of the wonderful natural re- 
sources which are awaiting development. Here 
both tongue and pen will fall far short of telling all 
or nearly all. In climate, health, soil, timber, 
minerals, coal, rocks, clays, marls, sand, navigable 
streams, mineral and fresh waters, Arkansas may 
challenge any similar sized spot on the globe. It 
has more miles of navigable streams than any other 
State in the Union, and these are so placed as to 
give the whole territory the advantages thereof, as 
though the engineers had located them. It has 
unequaled water power — the Mammoth Spring 
alone furnishing enough water power to propel all 
the machinery we.st of the Mississippi River. The 
topography of the State is one of its most inviting 
features. Its variety in this respect is only equaled 
by the diversity of its soils. The traveler who iu 
approaching this section concludes that it consists 
chiefly of swamp Ijottoms, and water-covered 
slashes, may readily learn from the records that 
three-quarters of the State's surface is uplands, 
ranging from the gentle swells of prairie and 



woodland to the grandly beautiful mountain scen- 
ery; and on the mountain Ijenchcs, and at the base, 
are as rich and beautiful valleys as are kissed liy the 
rays of the sun in hisseason's round. Take the 
whole range of agricultural products of Ohio, Ind- 
iana, Illinois and Kansas, and all can be produced 
quite as well in Arkansas as in any of these States. 
In the face of this fact, for more than a genera- 
tion Arkansas raised scarcely any of the products 
of these Northern communities, but imported such 
as it had to have. It could not sjiare its lands from 
the cultivation of the more profitable crops of 
cotton. In a word, the truth is the State was bur- 
dened with natural wealth — this and slave lal)or 
having clogged the way and impeded its progress. 
With less labor, more cotton per acre and per hand, 
on an average, has been produced in Arkansas than 
in any other Southern State, and its quality has been 
such as to win the prize wherever it has been en- 
tered in competition. Its reputation as a fruit- 
growing State is not excelled. In the New Orleans 
Exposition, in California, Ohio and everywhere en- 
tered, it has taken the premium over all competi- 
tors. Its annual rainfall exceeds that of any South- 
ern State, and it cannot, therefore, suffer seriously 
from drouths. There is not a spot upon the globe 
which, if isolated from all outside of its limits, 
could .sustain iu health and all the civilized comforts 
a population as large as might Arkansas. Fifty 
thousand people annually come hither and are 
cured, and yet a general nebulous idea prevails 
among many in the North that the health and eSi- 
mate of the State are not good. The statistics of 
the United States Medical Department show the 
mortality rate at Little Rock to be less than at any 
other occupied military post in the country. There 
is malaria in portions of the State, but considering 
the vast bottom stretches of timber-land, and the 
newness of the country's settlement, it is a remark- 
able fact that there is less of this disease here 
than in Pennsylvania; while all the severer diseases 
of the New England and Northern States, such as 
rheumatism, consumption, catarrh and blood poi- 
son, are always relieved and generally cured in 
Ai'kansas; malignant scarlet fever and diphtheria 
have never yet appeared. That di-eadful deciniator, 



48 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



yellow fever, has only visited the eastern portion of 
the State, but in every case it was brought from 
abroad, and has never prevailed in this locality as an 
epidemic. Therefore, the largest factories, schools 
and universities in the world should be here. The 
densest population, the busiest haunts of men, will 
inevitably come where their rewards will be great- 
est — the struggle for life less severe. Five hun- 
dred inhabitants to the square mile will not put to 
the full test the limitless resources of this wonder- 
ful commonwealth. Ten months of summer with- 
out one torrid day, with invariable cool and re- 
freshing nights, and two months only of winter, 
where a man can work out of doors every day in 
the year in comfort, with less cost in physician's 
bills, expense in food, clothing and housing, are 
some of the inducements the State offers to the 
poor man. There are millions of acres of fertile 
lands that are offered almost without money and 
without price; land nearly any acre of which is 
worth more intrinsically than any other similar 
sized body of land in the world. There are 
5,000,000 acres of government lands in the State, 
and 2,000,000 acres of State lands. The rainfall in 
1886 was 46.33; average mean temperature, 58.7°; 
highest, 97.8°; lowest, above zero, 7.6°. Of the 
33,500,000 acres in the State there are soils richer 
and deeper than the Nile; others that excel the 
alluvial corn belt of the Northern States; others 
that may successfully compete with the noted Cuba 
or James River, Virginia, tobacco red soil districts, 
or the most noted vineyards of France or Italy. 
Here is the land of wine and silk, where side by side 
will grow the corn and the figr— the land overhuns 
with the soft, blue skies, and decked with flowers, 
the air laden with the rich perfumes of the magno- 
lias, on the topmost pinnacle of whose branches the 
Southern mocking-bird by day and by night swells 
its throat with song — 

" Wliere all, save the spirit of man, is divine." 

The artificial and local causes which have ob- 
structed the State's prosperity are now forever 
gone. There is yet the unsolved problem of the 
political negro, but this is in Illinois, Kansas and 
Ohio, exaetlv as it is in Arkansas. It is only the 



common problem to the Anglo-Saxon of the United 
States, which, in the future as in the past, after 
many mistakes and even great wrongs, he will for- 
ever settle and for the Isest. Throw politics to the 
winds; only remember to profit by the mistakes of 
the North in inviting immigration, and thereby 
avoid the ominous presence of anarchism, socialism, 
and those conditions of social life latent in ' ' the 
conflict of labor and capital. ' ' These are some of 
the portentous problems now confronting the older 
States that are absent from Arkansas; they should 
be kept away, by the knowledge that such ugly 
conditions are the fanged whelps of the great 
brood of American demagogues — overdoses of 
politics, washed down by too much universal vot- 
ing. It is of infinitely more importance to giiard 
tax-receipts than the ballot boxes. When vice and 
ignorance vote their own destruction, there need be 
no one to compassionate their miseries, but always 
where taxes run high, people's liberties run low. 
The best government governs the least — the freest 
government taxes the least. 

Offer premiums to the immigration of well- 
informed, expert labor, and small farmers, dairy- 
men, gardeners and horticulturists and small trad- 
ers. Let the 7, (WO, 000 acres of government and 
State lands be given in forty-acre tracts to the 
heads of families, who will come and occupy them. 
Instead of millions of dollars in donations to great 
corporations and capitalists, give to that class which 
will create capital, develop the State, and enrich 
all the people. Railroads and capitalists will fol- 
low these as water runs down the hill. Arkansas 
needs railroads — ten thousand miles yet— it needs 
great factories, great cities, universities of learn- 
ing and, forsooth, millionaires. But its first and 
greatest needs are small farmers, practical toil- 
ers, skilled mechanics, and scattered all over the 
State beginnings in each of the various manufac- 
tures; the beginnings, in short, of that auspicious 
hour when it ceases to ship any of its raw mate- 
rials. It is a law of life, that, in a society where 
there are few millionaires, there are few pauj)ers. 
Where the capital of a country is gathered in vast 
aggregations in the possession of a few, there the 
children cry for bread — the poor constantly in- 



r 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



49 



crease, wages fall, employment too often fails, and 
the hoarse mutterings of parading mobs and bread 
riots take the places of the laughter and the songs 
of the laborers to and from the shoi)s and the 
fields. 

The following from the government olficial re- 
ports, of the growth and value of the manufactures 
of the State is to be understood as reaching only 
to 1880, when it had but commenced to emerge 
from the old into the new life: 





g 

a 


"« 




i 


a 




IB 

"a 


OQ 

s 
'2 


Year. 


■s 


'E 


OS 




-u 




et 






•s 


8 


3 


£ 


J3 


fc 


(^ 


ti 

s 






















w 












> 


^ 


1850 . . . 


261 


$ 306,045 
1,.316,610 


812 


30 




Sl.'50,876 
554,240 


8 215 7S9 


S 537,9li» 
3,880,.578 
4,629,234 
6 756 159 


18B0 


518 


1,8:!1 


.1fi 




1 280 503 


1870 


1,070 
1,202 


1,782,913 
2,953,130 


3,077 
4,307 


•17 


R' 


673,96-i 
925,358 


2.5116,998 
4,392,080 


1880 


90 


160 







Ideas of values are most easily reached by com 
parisons. The following figures, taken from offi- 
cial government reports, explain themselves: 





Value of 
Farms. 


MachiDery 


Live Stock. 


Producls. 




S 74,249.655 
105,932,541 
507,430,227 
235,178,631 
193,724,200 


$ 4.637,497 
7,8211,915 

29,371,884 
9,734,634 

13,089,783 


$ 20.472,426 
33,440,265 
124,71.%1U3 
60,907,149 
31,904,821 


813,796,261 
31,708,914 






36,103,073 




52,24(1,561 


Miuuesota 


49,468,967 



The products are the profits on the capital in- 
vested. Words can add nothing to these figures 
in demonstrating the superiority of Arkansas as 
an agricultural State, except the explanation that 
Southern farming is yet more or less carried on 
under the baneful influences of the days of slavery, 
unintentional indifference and the absence of 
watchful attention by the proprietor. 

Cotton grows finely in all parts of this com- 
monwealth and heretofore in two-thirds of its terri- 
tory it has been the main crop. In the fertile 
bottoms the product per acre has reached as high 
as 2,000 pounds of seed cotton, while on the 
uplands it runs from 600 to 1,000 pounds. The 
census of 1880 shows that Arkansas produces more 
cotton per acre, and at less expense, ihan any of 
the so-called cotton States. In 1880 the yield 
was 608,256 bales, grown on 1,042,970 acres. That 



year Georgia raised 814,441 bales, on 2,617,138 
acres. The estimated cost per aero of raising cot- 
ton is 16. It will thus be seen that it cost 
$9,444,972 in (leorgia to raise 256,185 more bales 
of cotton than Arkansas had grown— much more 
than double the land to produce less than one- 
fourth more cotton. Less than one-twentieth of 
the cotton land of the latter State has been brought 
under cultivation. 

The superiority of cotton here is attested by 
the fact that the greatest cotton thread manufact- 
urers in the world prefer the Arkansas cotton to 
any other in the market. The product has for 
years carried off the first prizes over the world's 
competition. 

The extra census bulletin, 1880, gives the yield 
of corn, oats and wheat products in Arkansas for 
that year as follows: Corn, 24,156,517 bushels; 
oats, 2,219,824 bushels; wheat, 1,269,730 bushels. 
Remembering that this is considered almost ex- 
clusively a cotton State, these figures of the cereals 
will be a genuine surprise. More wheat is grown 
by 40,000 bushels and nearly three times as much 
corn as were raised in all New England, according 
to the official figures for that year. 

From the United States agricultural reports are 
obtained these interesting statistics concerning the 
money value of farm crops per acre: 





Corn. 


Eye. 


Oats. Potatoes. 


Hay. 


Illinois 


1 6 77 

8 86 

11 52 

6 44 

7 52 
7 91 

11 51 


$ 6 64 
7 30 
9 08 
5 98 
5 16 
7 32 
9 51 


$ 6 46 130 32 
5 92 30 08 


$ 7 66 
7 66 
9TI5 


Oliio 


7 90 
6 12 
5 34 
5 73 

11 07 


34 48 
37 40 
43 50 

28 08 
78 05 




5 89 




17 30 




14 95 


Arkansas 


22 94 



The following is the average cash value per 
acre on all crops taken together: 



Maine |l;i 51 

New Uampshire... . 13 56 

Vermont H 60 

JIassachusetts 2(5 71 

Hhode Island 29 32 

Connecticut 16 82 

New York 14 15 

New .Jersey 18 05 

Penns3'lvania 17 68 

Delaware 15 80 

Maryland 17 82 

VirKinia 10 01 



North Carolina $10 79 

South Carolina 10 09 

Georgia 10 35 

Florida 8 52 

Alabama 13 49 

Mississippi 14 76 

Louisiana 22 40 

Arkansas 20 40 

Tennessee 12 39 

West Virifinia 12 74 

Kentucky 13 58 

Ohio...! 15 58 



50 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



Michigan $18 96 

Indiana 14 66 

Illinois 13 47 

Wisconsin 13 80 

Minnesota 10 29 

Iowa 8 88 

Missouri 10 78 



Kansas $ 9 11 

Nebraslia 8 60 

California 17 18 

Oregon 17 11 

Nevada, Colorado and 

the Territories 16 13 

Texas 14 69 



The advance of horticulture in the past decade 
in the State has been extraordinary. Twenty years 
ago its orchard products amounted to very little. 
By the census reports of 1880, the total yield of 
fruit was $867,426. This was $100,000 more than 
the yield of Florida, with all the latter' s immense 
orange groves. As universally as has the State 
been misunderstood, it is probably in reference 
to its fruits and berries that the greatest errors 
have long existed. If one visits the apple and 
peach regions of the North, it is found to be the gen- 
eral belief that Arkansas is too far south to pro- 
duce either, whereas the truth is that, especially 
in apples, it has no equal either in the United 
States or in the world. This fact was first brought 
to public attention at the World's Fair, at New 
Orleans, 1884-85, where the Arkansas exhibit was 
by far the finest ever made, and the State was 
awarded the first premium, receiving the World's 
medal and a special notice by the awarding com- 
mittee. Thus encouraged, the State was repre- 
sented at the meeting of the American Pomological 
Society, in Boston, in September, 1887. Sixty- 
eight varieties of Arkansas seedling apples were in 
the exhibit, to contend with all the champion fruit 
growers of the globe. The State won the Wilder 
medal, which is only given by reason of extraor- 
dinary merit, and in addition to this was awarded 
the first premium for the largest and best collection 
of apples, consisting of 1 28 varieties. 

The collection which won the Boston prizes was 
then shipped to Little Rock, and after being on 
exhibition there twenty days, was re-packed and 
shipped to the National Horticultural meeting in 
California, which met at Riverside, February 7, 
1888. Arkansas again won the first prize, invad- 
ing the very home of Pomona, and bearing off the 
first honors as it had in eastern and northern sec- 
tions of the Union. The "Arkansas Shannon" 
is pronounced by competent judges to be the finest 
apple now grown anywhere. 



Strawberries are another late discovery of the 
resources of Arkansas. The yield and quality are 
very superior. So rapidly has the industry grown 
that, during the fruit season, the Iron Motintain 
road runs a special daily fruit train, leaving Little 
Rock late in the afternoon and reaching St. Louis 
early the next morning. This luscious product, of 
remarkable size, ripens about the first of April. 

Of all cultivated fruit the grape has held its 
place in poetry and song, in sacred and profane 
history, as the first. It finds in Arkansas the same 
conditions and climate of its native countries, 
between Persia and India. The fruit and its wine 
produced here are said by native and foreign 
experts to equal, if not surpass, the most famous of 
Italy or France. The vines are always healthy 
and the fruit perfect. The wild muscadine and 
scuppernong grow vines measuring thirty-eight 
and one-half inches around, many varieties fruit- 
ing here to perfection that are not on the open air 
lists at all further north. 

The nativity of the peach is the same as that 
of the grape, and it, too, therefore, takes as kindly 
to the soil here as does the vine. Such a thins as 

o 

budded peach trees are of very recent date, and as 
a consequence the surprises of the orchardists in re- 
spect to this fruit are many. Some of the varieties 
ripen in May. and so far every kind of budded 
peaches brought from the North, both the tree and 
the fruit, have improved by the transplanting. 
The vigor of the trees seems to baffle the borers, 
and no curled leaves have yet been noticed. In 
quality and quantity the product is most encourag- 
ing, and the next few years will see a marked 
advance in this industry. 

For fifty years after the settlement of the State 
peach seedlings were grown, and from these, as in 
the case of the apple, new and superior varieties 
have been started, noted for size, flavor, abundance 
and never failing crops. 

The Chickasaw plum is so far the most suc- 
cessfully grown, and is the best. It is a perfected 
fruit easily cultivated, and is free from the curculio, 
while the trees are healthy and vigorous beyond 
other localities. 

In vegetables and fruits, except the tropical 



~® 



-+- 



HISTORY OF AKKANSAS. 



plants, Arkansas is the banner State. In the fruit 
and vegetable kingdom there is found iu luxuriant 
growth everything in the long list from corn to the 
fig- 

The yield and quality of Arkansas tobacco is 
remarkable when it is remembered that this indus- 
try has received so little attention. Thirty years 
ago State Geologist Owen informed the people 
that he found here the same, if not better, tobacco 
soil, than the most favored districts of Cuba. The 
yield of tobacco, in 1880, was 970,230 pounds. 
Yet so little attention or experiment has been given 
the subject that an experimental knowledge of the 
State's resources in this respect cannot be claimed 
to have been gained. 

In 1880 the State produced: Barley, 1,952 
bushels; buckwheat, 548 bushels; rye, 22,387 
bushels; hay, 23,295 tons; Irish potatoes, 492,627 
bushels; sweet potatoes, 881,260 bushels. 

From the census reports of the same year are 
gleaned the following: Horses, total, 146,333; 
mules and asses, 87,082; working oxen, 25,444; 
milch cows, 249,407; other cattle, 433,392; sheep, 
246,757; swine, 1,505,098; wool, 557,368 pounds; 
milk, 316,858 gallons; butter, 7,790,013 pounds; 
cheese, 26,310 pounds. All parts of the State are 
finely adapted to stock-raising. The excellence 
and abundance of pure water, the heavy growth of 
blue grass, the cane brakes and abundant mast, 
sustain the animals during most of the winter 
in marketable condition. In respect to all domes- 
tic animals here are presented the same conditions 
as in nearly every line of agriculture — cheapness 
of growth and excellence of quality. 

The improvement in cattle has been retarded 
by the now conceded fact that the "Texas fever" 
is asserted by some to bo seated in the State. 
This affects Northern cattle when imported, while 
it has no effect on native animals. Except for this 
unfortunate reality there would be but little time 
lost iu developing here the great dairy industry of 
the country. But good graded cattle are now 
being raised in every jiortion, and so rich is the 
locality in this regard that in stock, as in its fniits, 
care and attention will produce new varieties of 
unrivaled excellence. Ai kansas is the natural home 



and breeding ground of animals, all growing to 
great perfection, with less care and the least cost. 

Taxes here are not high. The total taxation in 
Illinois in 1880, assessed on real and personal 
property, as per census reports, for State, county 
and all civil divisions less than counties, was 
$24,586,018; the same year in Arkansas the total 
tax was 11,839,090. Farm lands are decreasing 
in value in Illinois nearly as fast as they are in- 
creasing in Arkansas. The total taxation in the 
United States in 1880 was the enormous sum of 
$312,750,721. Northern cities are growing, while 
their rural population is lessening. The reverse 
of this is the best for a State. The source of ruin 
to past nations and civilizations has all arisen 
from an abuse of the taxing powers. Excessive 
taxation can only end in general ruin. This 
simple but great lesson should be instilled into the 
minds of all youths, crystallized into the briefest 
maxim, and written over every threshold in the 
land; hung in the porches of every institution of 
learning; imprinted upon every plow handle and 
emblazoned on the trees and jutting rocks. The 
State that has taxed its people to build a $25,- 
000,000 State house, has given deep shame to the 
intelligence of this age. Taxes are the insidious 
destroyer of nations and all liberty, and it is only 
those freemen who jealously guard against this 
evil who will for any length of time maintain their 
independence, equality or manhood. 

The grade profile of the Memphis Route shows 
the elevations of the various cities and towns 
along that line to be as follows in feet, the datum 
plane being tide water of the Gulf of Mexico: 
Kansas City, 765; Rosedale, 825; Merriam, 900; 
Lenesa, 1,040; Olathe, 1,060; Bonita, 1,125; 
Ocheltree, 1,080; Spring Hill, 1,020; Hillsdale, 
900; Paola, 860; Pendleton, 855; Fontana, 925; 
La Cygne, 840; Barnard, 810; Pleasanton, 865; 
Miami, 910; Prescott, 880; Fulton. 820; Ham- 
mond, 875; Fort Scott, 860; Clarksburg, 885; 
Garland, 865; all in Kansas; Arcadia, 820; 
Liberal. 875; lantha, 990; Lamar, 1,000: Keno- 
ma, 980; Golden City, 1,025; Lockwood. 1,065; 
South Greenfield, 1,040; Everton, 1,000; Ash 
Grove, 1,020; Boisd'Arc, 1,250; Campbells, 1,290; 



<? »^ 



-^ 



52 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Nichols Junction, 1,280; Springfiekl, 1,300; Tur- 
ner, 1,210; Rogersville, 1,475; Fordiand, l,m)0; 
Seymour, 1,080; Codar Gap, 1,085; Mansfield, 
1,520; Norwood, 1,510; Mountain Grove, 1,525; 
Cabool, 1,250; Sterling, 1,500; ^Villo\v Springs, 
1,400; Burnbam, 1,300; Olden, 1,280; West 
Plains, 950; Brandsville, 1,000; Koshkonong, 970; 
Thayer, last point in Missouri, 575; Mammoth 



Spring, Ark., 485; Afton, 410; Hardy, 370; Willi- 
ford, 330; Ravonden, 310; Imboden, 300; Black 
Rock, 290; Portia, 285; Hoxie, 295; Sedgwick, 
270; Bonnervillo, 320; Jonesboro, 275; Nettleton, 
250; Big Bay Siding, 250; Hatchie Coon, 250; 
Marked Tree, 250; Tyronza, 240; Gilmore, 225; 
Clark(>ton, 240; Marion, 235; West Memphis, 200; 
MiMuphis, 280. 



lliTEt ¥1. 



>JS)«®- 



Politics— l.MPOKTANCE of the Subject— The Two Old Schools of Politicians— Tuumi-h of the 

Jacksonians— Early Prominent State Politicians— The Great Question of Secession 

—The State Votes to Join the Confederacy— Horror of the War Period— 

The Reconstri'ction Distress— The Baxter-Ukooks Emrroglio. 







III knots tlicy stand, or iu a. rank Ibcy walk, 

Serious in aspect, earnest in their talk; 

Factious, anil favouring; this or t'other side, 

As their weak fancy or slronj; reason guide. — Dri/den. 



N one sense there is no 
portion of the history of 
l>jSf^'''^ Arkansas more instructive 
I -^t'i than its political history, 
■ liocatise in this is the key 
to the character of many 
of its institutions, as well 
as strong indications of the trend of 
the public mind, and the characteris- 
tics of those men who shaped public 
affairs and controlled very largely in 
the State councils. 

Immediately upon the formation 
of the Territorial goveinment, the Presi- 
dent of the United States sent to Ai-- 
kansas Post Gov. James Miller, Robert 
Crittenden, secretary, and C. Jouett, 
Robert P. Letcher and Andrew Scott, judges, to 
organize the new Territorial government. Gov. 
Miller, it seems, gave little attention to his office, 



and therefore in all the early steps of formation 
Crittenden was the acting governor; and from the 
force of character he possessed, and his superior 
strength of mind, it is fair to conclude that he 
dominated almost at will the early public affairs 
of Arkansas. 

This was at the time of the beginning of the 
political rivalry between Clay and Jackson, two of 
the most remarkable types of great political lead- 
ers this country has produced — Henry Clay, the 
superb; "Old Hickory," the man of iron; the one 
as polished a gem as ever glittered in the* political 
heavens — the other the great diamond in the 
rough, who was of the people, and who drew his 
followers with bands of steel. These opposites 
were destined to clash. It is well for the country 
that they did. 

Robert Crittenden was a brother of John J. 
Crittenden, of Kentucky, and by some who knew 
him long and well he was deemed not only his 



rrn: 



A, <5_^ 



\ii^ 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS 



53 



brother's peer, but in many respects bis intellect- 
ual superior. It goes without the saying, he was a 
born Whig, who, in Kentucky's super-loyal fash- 
ion, had Clay for bis idol, and, to put it mildly, 
Jackson to dislike. 

President Monroe had appointed the first Terri- 
torial officers, but the fact that Crittenden was 
secretary is evidence that politics then were not 
running very high. Monroe was succeeded in 
1824 by John Quincy Adams. It would seem that 
in the early days in Arkansas, the Whigs stood 
upon the vantage grounds in many important 
respects. By the time Adams was inauguiatod 
the war political to the death between Clay and 
Jackson had begun. But no man looked more care- 
fully after his own interests than Jackson. He 
had large property possessions just across the line 
in Tennessee, besides property in Arkansas. He 
induced, from bis ranks in bis own State, some 
young men of promiise to come to Arkansas. The 
prize now was whether this should be a Whig 
or Democratic State. President Adams turned 
out Democratic officials and put in Whigs, and 
Robert Crittenden for a long time seemed to hold 
the State in bis hand. Jackson's superiority as a 
leader over Clay is manifested in the .struggles 
between the two in Arkansas. Clay's followers 
here were men after his fashion, as were Jackson's 
men after his mold. Taking Robert Crittenden 
as the best type, he was but little inferior to Clay 
himself in his magnetic oratory and purity of prin- 
ciples and public life; while Jackson sent here 
the Seviers, Conways and Rectors, men of the 
people, but of matchless resolution and personal 
force of character. No two great commanders 
ever had more faithful or able lieutenants than 
were the respective champions of Old Hickory 
and Harry of the West, in the formative days of 
the State of Arkansas. The results were, like 
those thoughout the Union, that Jackson triumphed 
in the bard strife, and Arkansas entered the Union. 
by virtue of a bill introduced by James Buchanan, 
as a Jackson State, and has never wavered in its 
political integrity. 

As an evidence of the similarity of the con- 
tests and respective leaders of the two parties 



here to those throughout the country, it is only 
necessary to point out that Crittenden drew to 
his following such men as Albert Pike, a genius 
of the loftiest and most versatile gifts the country 
has so far produced, while Jackson, ever supplying 
reinforcements to his captains, sent among others, 
as secretary of the Tt>rritory, Lewis Randolpb, 
grandson of Thomas Jefferson, and whoso wife 
was pretty Betty Martin, of the White House, a 
niece of Jackson's. Randolph settled in Hemp- 
stead County when it was an unbroken wilder- 
ness, and his remains are now resting there in an 
unknown grave. 

Clay, it seoms, could dispatch but little addi- 
tional force to his followers, even wlien be saw they 
were the hardest pressed by the triuiu[)haiit enemy. 
There was not much by which one* could draw 
comparisons between Clay and Jackson — unless 
it was their radical difference. As a great ora- 
tor. Clay has never been excelled, and he lived in 
a day when the open sesame to the world's de- 
lights lay in the silver tongue; but Jackson was 
a hero, a great one, who inspired other born 
heroes to follow him even to the death. 

Arkansas was thus started permanently along 
the road of triumphant democracy, from which 
it never would have varied, except for the war 
times that brought to the whole country such con- 
fusion and political chaos. Being a Jackson 
State, dominated by the blood of the first governor 
of Tennessee — Gen. John Sevier, a man little in- 
ferior to Jackson himself — it was only tlie most 
cruel circumstance that could force the State into 
secession. W'hen the convention met on the 4th 
of March, 1861, " on the state of the Union," its 
voice was practically unanimous for the Union, 
and that body passed a series of as loyal resolu- 
tions as were ever penned, then adjourning to 
meet again in the May following. The conven- 
tion met May 0, but the war was upon the coun- 
try, and most of the Gulf States had seceded. 
Every one knew that war was inevital)le; it was 
already going on, but very few realized its immen- 
sity. The convention did not rush hastily into 
secession. An ordinance of secession was intro- 
duced, and for days, and into the nights, run- 



Vp 



n^ 



a w. 



'.>£. 



54 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ning into the small hours, the matter was delib- 
erated upon — 110 preliminary test vote was forced 
to an issue. Delegates were present in anxious 
attendance from the Carolinas, Alabama and 
Georgia. They knew that the fate of their action 
largely depended upon the attitude of Arkansas. 
If Arkansas voted no, then the whole secession 
movement would receive a severe blow. The after- 
noon before the final vote, which was to take place 
in the evening, these commissioners from other 
States had made up their minds that Arkansas 
might possibly vote down secession. When the con- 
vention adjourned for supper, they held a hurried 
consultation, and freely expressed their anxiety 
at the outlook. It was understood that the dis- 
cussion was closed, and the night session was 
wholly for the purpose of taking a vote. All was 
uncertainty and intense excitement. Expressions 
of deepest attachment to the Union and the old 
flag were heard. The most fiery and vehement 
of the secessionists in the body were cautious and 
deliberative. There was but little even of vehe- 
ment detestation of the abolitionists — a thing as 
natural then for a Southern man to despise as 
hatred is natural to a heated brain. 

At a late hour in the evening, amid the most 
solemn silence of the crowded hall, an informal 
vote was taken. All except six members voted to 
secede. A suppressed applause followed the 
announcement of the vote. A hurried, whispered 
conference went on, and the effort was made to 
have the result unanimous. Now came the final 
vote. When the name of Isaac Murphy, afterward 
the military governor, was reached, it was passed 
and the roll call continued. It was so far unani- 
mous, with Mr. Murphy's name still to call. The 
clerk called it. Mr. Murphy arose and in an 
earnest and impressive manner in a few words ex- 
plained the dilemma be was in, but said, "I cannot 
violate my honest convictions of duty. I vote 
'No.'" 

When the day of reconstruction began, at first 
it was under the supervision of the military, and 
it is yet the greatest pity that Congress did not let 
the military alone to rehabilitate the States they had 
conquered. Isaac Murphy was made governor. 



No truer Union man lived than he. He knew the 
people, and his two years of government were 
fast cxiring the wounds of war. But he was 
tui-ned out of ofBce. 

The right to vote compels, if it is to be other 
than an evil, some correct and intelligent under- 
standing of the form of government prevailing in 
the United States, and of the elementary prin- 
ciples of political economy. The ability to read 
and write, own property, go to Congress or edit a 
political paper, has nothing to do with it, no more 
than the color of the skin, eyes or hair of the voter. 
The act of voting itself is the sovereign act in the 
economic affairs of the State; but if the govern- 
ment under its existing form is to endure, the 
average voter must understand and appreciate the 
fundamental principles which, in the providence 
of God, have made the United States the admira- 
tion of the world. 

Arkansas, the Democratic State, was in political 
disquiet from 1861 to 1874 — the beginning of the 
war and the end of reconstruction. When in the 
hands of Congress it was returned at every regular 
election as a Republican party State. The brief 
story of the political Moses who led it out of the 
wilderness is of itself a strange and interesting 
commentary on self-government. 

When the war came there lived in Batesville 
Elisha Baxter, a young lawyer who had been 
breasting only financial misfortunes all his life. 
Utterly failing as a farmer and merchant, he had 
been driven to study law and enter the practice 
to make a living. An honest, kind-hearted, good 
man, loving his neighbor as himself, but a patriot 
every inch of him, and loving the Union above all 
else, his heart was deeply grieved when he saw 
his adopted State had declared for secession. He 
could not be a disunionist, no more than he could 
turn upon his neighbors, friends and fellow-citi- 
zens of Arkansas. He determined to wash his 
hands of it all and remain quietly at home. Like 
all others he knew nothing of civil war. His 
neighbors soon drove him from his home and 
family, and, to save his life, he went to the North- 
ern army, then in Southern Missouri. He was 
welcomed and offered a commission in the Federal 



i> \ ' 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



55 



army and an opportunity to return to his State. 
He declined the offer; he could not turn and shed 
the blood of his old neighbors and former friends. 
In the vicissitudes of war this non-combatant was 
captured by an Arkansas command, paroled and 
ordered to report to the military authorities at Lit- 
tle Rock. He made his way thither, and was 
thrown into a military prison and promptly indicted 
for high treason. Then only be began to under- 
stand the temper of the times, for the chances of 
his being hanged were probably as a thousand to 
one to acquittal. In this extremity he broke jail 
and fled. He again reached the Northern army 
in which he accepted a commission, and returned 
to his old home in Batesville, remaining in mili- 
tary command of the place. He was actively 
engaged in recruiting the Union men of Northern 
Arkansas and forming them into regiments. It 
goes without saying that Baxter never raised a 
hand to strike back at those who had so deeply 
wronged him, when their positions were reversed 
and he had the power in his hands. 

At the fall election, 1871, Baxter was the regu- 
lar Republican candidate for governor, and Joseph 
Brooks was the Independent Republican nom- 
inee. The Republican party was divided and each 



bid for the Democratic vote by promises to the 
ex-Confodorates. Brooks may have been elected, 
but was counted out. Baxter was duly inaugu- 
rated. When he had served a year the politicians, 
it is supposed, who controlled Arkansas, finding 
they could not use Baxter, or in other words that 
they had counted in the wrong man, boldly pro- 
ceeded to undo their own acts, dethrone Baxter and 
put Brooks in the chair of State. An account of 
the Baxter-Brooks war is given in another chapter. 

Thus was this man the victim of political cir- 
cumstances; a patriot, loving his country and his 
neighbors, he was driven from home and State; a 
non-combatant, he was arrested by his own friends 
as a traitor and the hangman's halter dangled in 
his face; breaking prison and stealing away like a 
skulking convict, to return as ruler and master by 
the omnipotent power of the bayonet; a non-party 
man, compelled to be a Republican in politics, and 
finally, as a Republican, fated to lead the Demo- 
cratic party to success and power. 

The invincible Jacksonian dynasty, built up in 
Arkansas, with all else of public institiitions went 
down in the sweep of civil war. It has not been 
revived as a political institution. But the Demo- 
cratic party dominates the State as of old. 




56 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



liifffER TO. 



♦ > ♦ < ♦ 



.Societies, State Institutions, etc.— The Ku Klxjx Klan— Independent Order of Odd Fellows- 
Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons— Grand Army of the Republic— Bureau of Mines- 
Arkansas Agricultural Associations— State Horticultural Society— The Wheel 
—The State Capital— The Capitol Building — State Librarie.s— State 
Medical Society— State Board of Health — Deaf Mute Institute 
-School for the Blind— Arkan.sas Lunatic Asylum— Ar- 
kansas Industrial University— The State Debt. 



Heaven forming each on other to depend. 

A master, or a servant, or a friend. 

Bids each on other for assistance call. 

Till one man's weakness grows the strength of aU.—Popf. 




"'EGRET societies are a form of 
social life aud expression which, 
in some mode of existence, 
antedate even authentic his- 
tory. Originally a manner 
of securing defense from the 
common enemies of tribes 
and peoples, they have developed 
into social and eleemosynary insti- 
tutions as advances in civilization 
have been made. At first they 
were but a severe necessity, and as 
that time slowly passed away, they 
became a luxury and a pleasure, 
having peculiar and strong attrac- 
tion to nearly all men. That part of 
one's nature which loves to lean 
upon others for aid, even in the social scale, finds 
its expression in some of the many forms of 
societies, clubs, organizations or institutions that 
now pervade nearly all the walks of life. In every 
day existence, in business, church, state, politics 
and pleasure, are societies and organizations every- 
where — for the purposes of gain, charity and 



comfort — indeed, for the sole purpose of finding 
something to do, would be the acknowledgment of 
many a society motto. The causes are as diversi- 
fied as the bodies, secret and otherwise, are 
numerous. 

The South furnishes a most remarkable instance 
of the charm there is in mystery to all men, in the 
rise and spread of the Ku Klux Klan, a few years 
ago. Three or four young men, in Columbia, 
Tenn. , spending a social evening together, con- 
cluded to organize a winter's literary society. All 
had just returned from the war, in which they had 
fought for the ' ' lost cause, ' ' and found time 
hanging dull upon them. Each eagerly caught at 
the idea of a society, and soon they were in the 
intricacies of the details. Together, from their 
sparse recollections of their schoolbooks, they 
evolved the curious name for the society. The 
name suggested to them that the sport to be 
derived from it might be increased by making it a 
secret society. The thing was launched upon this 
basic idea. In everything connected with it each 
one was fertile it seems in adding mystery to mys- 
tery in their meetings and jaersonal movements. 



Jl 



IS 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



01 



The initiation of a new member was made a grand 
and rollicking affair. So complete had the mem- 
bers occasioned their little innocent society to be 
a mystery, that it became in an astonishingly brief 
time a greater enigma to themselves than even to 
outsiders. It swiftly spread from the village to the 
county, from the county to the State, and over-ran 
the Southern States like a racing prairie fire, 
changing in its aims and objects as rapidly as it 
had grown. From simply frightening the poor 
night-prowling darkeys, it became a vast and 
uncontrollable semi -military organization; inflict- 
ing punishment here, and there taking life, until 
the State of Tennessee was thrown into utter con- 
fusion, and the military forces were called out; 
large rewards were offered for the arrest even of 
women found making any of the paraphernalia of 
the order. Government detectives sent to pry into 
their secrets were slain, and a general reign of 
terror ensued. No rewards could induce a mem- 
ber to betray his fellows; and the efforts of the 
organizers to control the storm they had raised, 
were as idle as the buzzing of a summer fly. 
Thousands and thousands of men belonged to 
it, who knew really little or nothing about it, and 
who to this day are oblivious of the true history 
of one of the most remarkable movements of large 
bodies of men that has ever occurred in this or 
perhaps any country. It was said by leading 
members of the order that they could, in twenty- 
four hours, put tens of thousands of men in line of 
battle, all fully armed and equipped. It was 
indeed the "Invisible Empire." By its founders 
it was as innocent and harmless in its purposes as 
a Sunday-school picnic, yet in a few weeks it spread 
and grew until it overshadowed the land — but little 
else than a bloody, headless riot. The imagina- 
tions of men on the outside conjured up the most 
blood-curdling falsehoods as to its doings; while 
those inside were, it seems, equally fertile in 
schemes and devices to further mystify people, 
alarm some and terrify others, and ajiparently the 
wilder the stoiy told about them, the more they 
would enjoy it. Its true history will long give it 
rank of first importance to the philosophic and 
careful, painstaking historian. 



Among societies of the present day, that 
organization known as the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows is recognized as a prominent one. The 
Grand Lodge of the order in Arkansas was organ- 
ized June 11, 1849. Its first past grand master 
was John J. Horner, elected in 1854. His succes- 
sors to date have been as follows : James A. Henry, 
1858; P. O. Hooper, 185U-1800 ; Richard Bragg. 
Sr., 1802; Peter Brugman, 1867, 1868, 1871; Isaac 
Eolsom, 1873; Albert Cohen, 1874; John B. Bond. 
1876; E. B. Moore, 1878; James S. Holmes, 1880: 
Adam Clark, 1881 ; W. A. Jett, 1882 ; James A. 
Gibson, 1884 ; George W. Hurley, 1885 ; H. S. 
Coleman, 1886, and A. S. Jett, 1887. The pres- 
ent able officers are R. P. Holt, grand master; 
J. P. Woolsey, deputy grand master; Louis C. 
Lincoln, grand warden ; Peter Brugman, grand 
secretary; H. Ehrenbers, grand treasurer; H. S. 
Coleman, grand representative; A. S. Jett, grand 
representative; Rev. L. B. Hawley, grand chap- 
lain; John R. Richardson, grand marshal; J. G. 
Parker, grand conductor; William Mosby. grand 
guardian ; W. J. Glenn, grand herald. In the 
State there are eighty-two lodges and a total mem- 
bership, reported by the secretary at the October 
meeting, 1888, of 2,023. The revenue from sub- 
ordinate lodges amounts to -f 13, 832, while the 
relief granted aggregates $2,840. There were 
sixteen Rebekah lodges organized in 1887-88. 

The Masonic fraternity is no less influential 
in the affairs of every part of the country, than the 
society just mentioned. There is a tradition — too 
vague for reliance — that Masonry was introduced 
into Arkansas by the Spaniards more than 100 
years ago, and that therefore the first lodge was 
established at Arkansas Post. Relying, however, 
upon the records the earliest formation of a lodge 
of the order was in 1819, when the Grand Lodge 
of Kentucky granted a dispensation for a lodge at 
Ai'kansas Post. Robert Johnson was the first mas- 
ter. Judge Andrew Scott, a Federal judge in the 
Territory, was one of its members. But before 
this lodge received its charter, the seat of govern- 
ment was removed to Little Rock, and the Arkan- 
sas Post lodge became extinct. No other lodge 
was attempted to be established I ntil 1836, when 



58 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



a dispensation was granted Washington Lodge No. 
82, at Fayetteville, October 3, 1837. Onesimus 
Evans, was master; James McKissick, senior war- 
den; Mathew Leeper, junior warden. 

In 1S38 the Grand Lodge of Louisiana granted 
the second dispensation for a lodge at Arkansas 
Post — Morning Star Lodge No. 42 ; the same year 
granting a charter to Western Star Lodge No. 43, 
at Little Rock. Of this Edward Cross was master; 
Charles L. Jeffries, senior warden; Nicholas Peay, 
junior warden. About tbi.s time the Grand Lodge 
of Alabama granted a charter to Mount Horeb 
Lodge, of Washington, Hempstead County. 

November 21, 1838, these four lodges held a 
convention at Little Rock and formed the Grand 
Lodge of Arkansas. 

The representatives at this convention were: 
From Washington Lodge No. 82, of Fayetteville, 
Onesimus Evans, past master; Washington L. Wil- 
son, Robert Bedford, Abraham Whinnery, Richard 
C. S. Brown, Samuel Adams and Williamson S. 
Oldham. 

From Western Star Lodge No. 43, of Little 
Rock, William Gilchrist, past master; Charles L. 
Jeffries, past master; Nicholas Peay, past master; 
Edward Cross, past master; Thomas Parsel, Alden 
Sprague and John Morris. 

From Morning Star Lodge No 42, of the Post 
of Arkansas, John W. Pullen. 

From Mount Horeb Lodge, of Washington, 
James H. Walker, Allen M. Oakley, Joseph W. Mc- 
Kean and James Trigg. 

Of this convention John Morris, of Western 
Star Lodge No. 43, was made secretary. Mr. 
Morris is still living (1889), a resident of Auburn, 
Sebastian County, and is now quite an old man. 
Mr. John P. Karns, of Little Rock, was in 
attendance at the convention, althovigh not a dele- 
gate. These two are the only ones surviving who 
were present on that occasion. 

The Grand Lodge organized by the election of 
William Gilchrist, grand master; Onesimus Evans, 
deputy grand master; James H. Walker, grand sen- 
ior warden; Washington L. Wilson, grand junior 
warden; Alden Sprague, grand treasurer, and 
George C. Watkins, grand secretary. 



The constituent lodges, their former charters be- 
ing extinct by their becoming members of a new jur- 
isdiction, took new numbers. Washington Lodge, 
at Fayetteville, became No. 1; Western Star, of 
Little Rock, became No. 2; Morning Star, of the 
Post of Arkansas, became No. 3, and Mount Horeb, 
of Washington, became No. 4. Of these Wash- 
ington No. 1, and Western Star No. 2, are in vig- 
orous life, but Morning Star No. 3, and Mount 
Horeb No. 4, have become defunct. 

From this beginning of the four lodges, with a 
membership of probably 100, the Grand Lodge 
now consists of over 400 lodges, and a member- 
ship of about 12,000. 

The following are the oflScers for the present 
year: R. H. Taylor, grand master. Hot Springs; 
J. W. Sorrels, deputy grand master. Farmer, 
Scott County; D. B. Warren, grand lecturer, 
Gainesville; W. A. Clement, grand orator. Rover, 
Yell County; W. K. Ramsey, grand senior ward- 
en, Camden; C. A. Bridewell, grand junior ward- 
en, Hope; George H. Meade, grand treasurer. Lit- 
tle Rock; Fay Hempstead, grand secretary, Little 
Rock; D. D. Leach, grand senior deacon, Augusta; 
Samuel Peete, grand junior deacon, Batesville; H. 
W. Brooks, grand chaplain, Hope; John B. Baxter, 
grand marshal, Brinkley; C. C. Hamby, grand 
sword bearer, Prescott; S. Solmson, senior grand 
steward. Pine BlufiP: A. T. Wilson, junior grand 
steward, Eureka Springs; J. C. Churchill, grand 
pursuivant, Charlotte, Independence County; Ed. 
Metcalf, grand tyler, Little Rock. 

The first post of the Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic, Department of Arkansas, was organized under 
authority from the Illinois Commandery, and called 
McPherson Post No. 1, of Little Rock. The 
district then passed under command of the Depart- 
ment of Missouri, and by that authority was or- 
ganized Post No. 2, at Fort Smith. 

The Provisional Department of Arkansas was 
organized June 18, 1883, Stephen Wheeler being 
department commander, and C. M. Vaughan, adju- 
tant general. A State encampment was called to 
meet at Fort Smith, July 11, 1883. Six posts were 
represented in this meeting, when the following 
State officers were elected: S. Wheeler, com- 



^ 9 



^ 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



59 



mander; M. Mitchell, senior vice; R. E. Jackson, 
junior vice; H. Stoue, quartermaster, and the 
following council: John F. Owen, A. S. Fowler, 
W. W. Bailey. A. Walrath, Benton Turner. 

There are now seventy-four posts, with a mem 
bership of 2,500, in the State. The present offi 
cers are: Department commander, A. S. Fowli^r; 
senior vice commander, John Vaughan; junior vice 
commander, E. A. Ellis; medical director, T. G. 
Miller; chaplain, T. R. Early. 

The council of administration includes A. A. 
Whissen, Thomas Boles, W. S. Bartholomew, R. 
E. Renner and I. B. Lawton. The following were 
the appointments on the staff of the department 
commander: Assistant adjutant-general, N. W. Cox; 
assistant quartermaster-general, Stephen Wheeler; 
judge advocate, S. J. Evans; chief mustering 
officer, S. K. Robinson; department inspector, 
R. S. Curry. Headquarters were established at 
Little Rock, Ark. 

There are other bodies in the State whose aims 
and purposes differ materially from those previously 
mentioned. Among these is the Arkansas Bureau 
of Mines, Manufactures and Agriculture, which 
was organized as a State institution at the session 
of the legislature in 1889. The governor ap- 
pointed M. F. Locke commissioner, the latter mak- 
ing M. W. Manville assistant. They at once pro- 
ceeded to organize the department and open an 
office in the State-house. The legislature appro- 
priated for the next two years for the bureau the 
sum of S18,000. 

This action of the legislature was in response 
to a demand from all parts of the State, which, 
growing in volume for some time, culminated in 
the meeting in Little Rock of numerous promi- 
nent men, and the organization of the Arkansas 
State Bureau of Immigration, January 31, 1888. 
A demand from almost every county prompted 
Gov. Senior P. Hughes to issue a call for a State 
meeting. The meeting was composed only of the 
best representative citizens. Gov. Hughes, in his 
address, stated that "the State should have an 
agricultural, mining and manufacturing bureau, 
which should be a bureau of statistics and immi- 
gration, also." Hon. Logan H. Roots was elected 



president of the convention. He voiced the pur- 
poses of the meeting still further when he said, 
" We want to educate others on the wealth-mak- 
ing properties of our State." A permanent State 
organization was effected, one delegate from each 
county to -constitute a State Board of Immigra- 
tion, and the following permanent officers were 
chosen: Logan H. Roots, of Little Rock, presi- 
dent; Dandridge McRae, of Searcy, vice-president; 
H. L. Remmel, of Newport, secretary; George R. 
Brown, of Little Rock, treasurer; J. H. Clen- 
dening, of Fort Smith, A. M. Crow, of Arkadel- 
phia, W. P. Fletcher, of Lonoke, additional exec- 
utive committee. The executive committee issued 
a strong address and published it extensively, giv- 
ing some of the many inducements the State had 
to offer immigrants. The legislature could not 
fail to properly recognize such a movement of the 
people, and so provided for the long needed bu- 
reau. 

Arkansas Agricultural Association was organ- 
ized in 1885. It has moved slowly so far, but is 
now reaching the condition of becoming a great 
and prosperous institution. The entire State is soon 
to be made into sub-districts, with minor organ- 
izations, at least one in each Congressional district, 
with a local control in each, and all will become 
stockholders and a part of the parent concern. 
A permanent State fair and suitable grounds and 
fixtures are to be provided in the near future, when 
Arkansas will successfully vie with any State in 
the Union in an annual display of its products. 

The officers of the Agricultural Association for 
1889, are as follows: Zeb. Ward, president, Little 
Rock; B. D. Williams, first vice-president, Little 
Rock; T. D. Culberhouse, vice-president First 
Congressional district: D. McRae, vice president 
Second Congressional district; W. L. Tate, vice- 
president Third Congressional district ; J. J. Sump- 
ter, vice-president Fourth Congressional district; J. 
H. Vanhoose, vice-president Fifth Congressional 
district; M. W. Manville, secretary; D. W. Bizzell, 
treasurer. 

Arkansas State Horticultural Society was or- 
ganized May 24, 1879, and incorporated January 
31, 1889. Under its completed organization" the 



^ 



(5 w. 



60 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



first fair was held in Little Rock, commencing 
Wednesday, May 15, 1889. President, E. F. Bab- 
cock; secretary, M. W. Manville; executive com 
mittee, S. H. Nowlin, chairman. Little Rock; 
George P. C. Rumbough, Little Rock; Rev. S. H. 
Buchanan, Little Rock; E. C. Kiuneyi Judsonia, 
and Fred Dengler, Hot Springs, constitute the 
official board. 

In 1881 three farmers of Prairie County met 
and talked over farm matters, and concluded to 
organize a society for the welfare of the farming 
community. The movement grew with astonish- 
ing rapidity. It was organized as a secret, non- 
political society, and in matters of trade and com- 
merce proposed to give its members the benefit 
of combination. In this respect it advocated ac- 
tion in concert with all labor unions or organiza- 
tions of laborers. A State and National organiza- 
tion was effected, and the sub-organizations, ex- 
tending to the smallest school districts, were re- ' 
quired to obtain authority and report to the State 
branch and it in return to the National head. Thus 
far its originators sought what they believed to be 
the true co-operative method in their business af- 
fairs. 

The next object was to secure beneficial legis- 
lation to farmers — each one to retain his polit- 
ical party affiliations, and at the ballot-box to vote 
for either farmers or those most closely identified 
with their interests as might be found on the 
respective party tickets. 

The officers of the National society are: Isaac 
McCracken, president. Ozone, Ark., and A. E. 
Gardner, secretary and treasurer, Dresden, Tenn. 
The Arkansas State Wheel officers are: L. P. 
Featherstone, president, Forrest City; R. H. 
Morehead, secretary, White Chapel, and W. H. 
Quayle, treasurer, Ozan. 

The scheme was inviting to honest farmers and 
the humble beginning soon grew to be a most pros- 
perous society — not only extending over the State, 
but reaching boldly across the line into other 
States. When at the zenith of its prosperity, it 
is estimated there were 60,000 members of the 
order in Arkansas. This was too tempting a pros- 
pect for the busy political demagogues, and to the 



amazement of the better men in the society, they 
soon awoke to the fact that they were in the hands 
of the wily politicians. It is now estimated that 
the ranks in Arkansas are reduced to 20,000 or 
less — all for political causes. The movement now 
is to purge the society of politics and in the near 
future to meet the Farmer's Alliance in St. Louis, 
and form a combination of the two societies. It 
is hoped by this arrangement to avoid the dema- 
gogues hereafter, and at the same time form a 
strong and permanent society, which will answer 
the best interests of the farming community. 

As stated elsewhere, the location of a capital 
for Arkansas early occupied the attention of its 
citizens. On November 20, 1821, William Rus- 
sell and others laid off and platted Little Rock 
as the future capital of the Territory and State. 
They made a plat and a bill of assurances thereto, 
subdividing the same into lots and blocks. They 
granted to Pulaski County Lots 3 and 4 in trust 
and on the conditions following, viz. : ' ' That the 
said county of Pulaski within two years" should 
erect a common jail upon said Lots 3 and 4. Out 
of this transaction grew a great deal of litigation. 
The first jail was built of pine logs in 1823. It 
stood until 1837, when it was burned, and a br^ck 
building was erected in its stead. This stood for 
many years, but through the growth of the city, it in 
time became a public nuisance and was condemned, 
and the location moved to the present site of the 
stone jail. 

The Territory was organized by Congress in 
1819, and the seat of government located at the 
Post of Arkansas. In the early part of 1820 
arose the question of a new site for the seat of 
government, and all eyes turned to Pulaski County. 
A capital syndicate was formed and Little Rock 
Bluff fixed upon as the future capital. The one 
trouble was that the land at this point was not yet 
in market, and so the company secured ' ' sunk land 
scrip" and located this upon the selected town 
site. The west line of the Quapaw Indian reser- 
vation struck the Arkansas River at ' ' the Little 
Rock" and therefore the east line of the contem- 
plated capital had to be west of this Quapaw line. 
This town survey ' ' west of the point of rocks. 



^ 



>>. 



HISTORY or ARKANSAS. 



01 



immediately south of the Arkansas River, and 
west of the Quapaw line," was surveyed and re- 
turned to the recorder at St. Louis as the new town 
site and Ten-itorial capital — called Little Rock. 
The dedication of the streets, etc., and the plat as 
laid ofP, was dated November 10, 1821. Grounds 
were given for a State house, and other public 
buildings and purposes, and for ' ' the permanent 
seat of justice of said county (Pulaski)" was ded- 
icated an entire half square, " bounded on the north 
by Markham Street and on the west by Spring 
Street and on the south by Cherry (novy Second) 
Street" for court house purposes. In return the 
county was to erect a court house and jail on the 
lots specified for these purposes, ' ' within ten 
years from the date hereof. ' ' A market house was 
to be erected by the city on Lots 4 and 5, Block 99. 
The latter in time was built on these lots, the upper 
story containing a council chamber, which was in 
public use until 1864, when the present city hall 
was erected. 

By an act of the legislature, October 24, 1821, 
James Billingsly, Crawford County, Samuel C 
Roane, Clark County, and Robert Bean, Inde- 
pendence County, were appointed commissioners, 
"to fix on a proper place for the seat of justice of 
the County of Pulaski;" the act further specify- 
ing " they shall take into consideration donations 
and future divisions." The latter part of the 
sentence is made still more important by the fact 
that at that time the western boundary of Pulaski 
County was 100 miles west, at the mouth of Petit 
Jean, and the eastern boundary was a few miles 
below Pine Bluff. 

October 18, 1820, the Territorial seat of govern- 
ment was removed from the Post of Arkansas to 
the Little Rock, the act to take effect June 1, 1821. 
It provided "that there shall be a bond * * * 
for the faithful performance of the promise and i 
good faith by which the seat of government is 
moved. 

In November, 1821, about the last of the belong- 
ings of the Territorial capital at the Post were 
removed to Little Rock. It was a crossing point 
on the river of the government road leading to 
Missouri, and the place had often been designated 



as the "Missouri Crossing," but the French had 
generally called it Arkapolis. 

During the short time the Territorial capital 
was at Arkansas Post, no effort was made to erect 
public buildings, as from the first it was under- 
stood this was but a temporary location. When 
the capital came to Little Rock a onestory double 
log house was built, near the spot where is now 
the Presbyterian Church, or near the corner of 
Scott and Fifth Streets. This building was in 
the old style of two rooms, with an open space 
between, but all under the same roof. In 1826 
the log building was superseded by a one-story 
frame. March 2, 1831, Congress authorized the 
Territory to select ten sections of land and appro- 
priate the same toward erecting capitol buildings; 
and in 1832 it empowered the governor to lease 
the salt springs. With these different funds was 
erected the central building of the present capitol, 
the old representative hall being where is now the 
senate chamber. In 1836, when Arkansas became 
a State, there was yet no plastering in any part of 
the brick building, and in the assembly halls were 
plain pine board tables and old fashioned split 
bottomed chairs, made in Little Rock. 

In 1886, at the remarkably small cost of $35,000, 
were added the additions and improvements and 
changes in the capitol building, completing it in 
its present form. And if the same wisdom con- 
trols the State in the future that has marked the 
past, especially in the matter of economy in its 
public buildings, there will be only a trifling 
additional expenditure on public buildings during 
the nest half century. The State buildings are 
sufficient for all public needs; their plainness and 
cheapness are a pride and glory, fitting monuments 
to the past and present generation of rulers and 
law makers, testifying to their intelligence and 
integrity. 

The State library was started March 3, 1838, at 
first solely as a reference and exchange medium. 
It now has an annual allowance of SI 00, for pur- 
chasing books and contains 25,000 volumes, really 
more than can suitably be accommodated. 

The Supreme Court library was established in 
January, 1851. It has 8,000 volumes, including 






A. a 



1£ 



62 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



all the reports and the leading law works. The 
fees of attorneys' license upon admission to the 
bar, of ten dollars, and a dollar docket fee in each 
case in court, constitute the fund provided for the 
library. 

The State Medical Society, as now constituted, 
was formed in May, 1875. It held its fourteenth 
annual session in 1889, at Pine Bluff. Edward 
Bentley is the acting president, and L. P. Gibson, 
secretary. Subordinate societies are formed in all 
parts of the State and are represented by regular 
delegates in the general assemblies. In addition to 
the officers for the current year above given are 
Z. Orts, assistant secretary, A. J. Vance, C. S. 
Gray, B. Hatchett and W. H. Hill, vice-presidents 
in the order named. 

The State Board of Health was established by 
act of the legislature, March 28, 1881. It is com- 
posed of six commissioners, appointed by the gov- 
ernor, ' 'a majority of whom are to be medical grad- 
uates and of seven years ' practice in the profes- 
sion. " The board is required to meet once in 
every three months. The secretary is allowed a 
salary of $1,000 per annum, but the others receive 
no compensation except traveling expenses in the 
discharge of official duties. 

The present board is composed of Dr. A. L. 
Breysacher, president; Dr. Lorenzo R. Gibson, seo- 
retary ; Doctors J. A. Dibrell, P. Van Patton, W. 
A. Cantrell and V. Brunson. 

The beginning which resulted in the present 
elegant State institution for deaf mutes was a school 
established near the close of the late war, in Little 
Rock, by Joseph Mount, an educated mute, who 
gathered a few of these unfortunate ones together 
and taught a private school. The State legislature 
incorporated the school and made a small provision 
for it, July 17, 1868, the attendance that year 
being four pupils. The buildings are on the beau- 
tiful hill just west of the Union Depot, the im- 
provement of the grounds being made in 1869. 
The attendance in 1870 was 48 pupils, which in 
the last session's report, 1888, reached the number 
of 109; and the superintendent, anticipating an at- 
tendance for the current two years of 150, has 
solicited appropriations accordingly. 



The board of trustees of the Deaf Mute Insti- 
tute includes: Hon. George E. Dodge, president; 
Col. S. L. Griffith, vice-president; Maj. R. H. Par- 
ham, Jr., secretary; Hon. W. E. Woodi'ufF, treas- 
urer; Maj. George H. Meade and Col. A. R. Witt. 
The officers are: Principal, Francis D. Clarke; 
instructors: John W. Michaels, Mrs. I. H. Carroll, 
Miss Susan B. Harwood, Miss Kate P. Brown, Miss 
Emma Wells, S. C. Bright; teacher of articulation, 
Miss Lottie Kirkland. Mrs. M. M. Beattie is 
matron; Miss Lucinda Nations, assistant ; Miss 
Clara Abbott, supervises the sewing, and Mrs. 
Amanda Harley is housekeeper. The visiting phy- 
sician is J. A. Dibrell, Jr. , M. D. ; foreman of the 
printing office, T. P. Clarke; foreman of the shoe 
shop, U. G. Dunn. Of the total appropriations 
asked for the current two years, $80,970, $16,570 
is for improvements in buildings, grounds, school 
apparatus, or working departments. 

The Arkansas School for the Blind was incor- 
porated by act of the legislature, February 4, 1859, 
and opened to pupils the same year in Arkadel- 
phia. In the year of 1868 it was removed to Little 
Rock, and suitable grounds purchased at the foot 
of Center Street, on Eighteenth Street. 

This is not an asylum for the aged and infirm, 
nor a hospital for the treatment of disease, but a 
school for the young of both sexes, in which are 
taught literature, music and handcraft Pupils 
between six and twenty-six years old are received, 
and an oculist for the purpose of treating pupils 
is a part of its benefits; no charge is made for 
board or tuition, but friends are expected to fur- 
nish clothing and traveling expenses. 

It is estimated there are 300 blind of school 
age in the State. The legislature has appro- 
priated $140 a year for each pupil. On this allow- 
ance in two years the steward reported a balance 
unexpended of $1,686.84. In 1886 was appro- 
priated $6,000 to build a workshop, store-room, 
laundry and bake-oven. In 1860 the attendance 
was ten — five males and five females; in 1862, 
seven males and six females. The year 1888 
brought the attendance up to fifty males and fifty- 
two females, or a total of 102. During the last 
two years six have graduated here — three in the 



J Vy ' 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



03 



industrial deisartment, and three in the industrial 
and literary department. Four have been dis- 
missed on account of recovered eyesight. 

The trustees of the school arc: J. R. Right- 
soli, S. M. Marshall, W. C. Ratcliffo, J.W. House, 
and D. G. Fones; the superintendent being John 
H. Dye. 

Another commendable institution, carefully 
providing for the welfare of those dethroned of 
reason, is the Arkansas State Lunatic Asylum, 
which was authorized by act of the legislature of 
1873, when suitable grounds wore purchased, and 
highly improved, and buildings erected. The in 
stitution is three miles west of the capitol and one- 
half mile north of the Mount Ida road. Eighty acres 
of ground were originally purchased and enclosed 
aad are now reaching a high state of improve- 
ment. The resident population of the asylum at 
present is 500 souls, and owing to the crowded 
conditions an additional eighty acres were pur- 
chased in 1887, making in all 100 acres. A care- 
ful inquiry shows there are in the State (and not in 
the asylum, for want of room) l'J8 insane persons, 
entitled imder the law to the benefits of the insti- 
tution. Of the 411 patients in the asylum in 1888, 
only four were pay patients. 

John G. Fletcher, R. K. Walker, A. L. Brey- 
sacher, John D. Adams and M'illiam J. Little are 
trustees of the institution, while Dr. P. O. Hooper 
is superintendent. 

In 1885 the legislature made an appropriation 
of $92, 500 for the erection of additional Ijuihlings 
and other needed improvements. This fund was 
not all used, but the remainder was returned into 
the State treasury. The total current expenses for 
the year 1887 aggregated $45, 2 1 2. 60. The current 
expenses on patients the same year wore $2'J, 344. 80. 
The comfort of the unfortunates — the excellence of 
the service, the wholesome food given them, and at 
the same time the minimum cost to the tax payers, 
prove the highest possible commendation to those 
in charge. 

The Arkansas Industrial University is the prom- 
ise, if not the present fullilhiient, of one of the 
most important of State institutions. It certainly 
deserves the utmost attention from the best people 



of the State, as it is destined to become in time one 
of the great universities of the world. It should 
be placed in position to be self-supporting, be- 
cause education is not a public pauper and never 
can be permanently successful on charity. Any 
education to be had must be earned. This law of 
nature can no more be sot aside than can the law 
of gravitation, and the ignorance of such a simple 
fact in statesmen and educators has cost our civili 
zation its sovorost ])ains and penalties. 

The industrial department of the institution 
was organized in June, 1885. The act of incor 
poration provided that all males should work at 
manual labor three hours each day and be paid 
therefor ten cents an hour. Seven thousand 
dollars was appropriated to equip the shops. Prac- 
tical labor was defined to be not only farm and 
shop work, but also surveying, drawing and labor- 
atory practice. Mechanical arts and engineering 
became a part of the curriculum. The large major- 
ity of any people must engage in industrial pur- 
suits, and to these industrial development and 
enlightenment and comfort go hand-in-hand. 
Hence the real people's school is one of manual 
training. Schools of philosophy and literature will 
take caroof themselves; think of a school (classical) 
endeavoring to train a Shakespeare or Burns ! To 
have compelled either one of these to graduate at 
Oxford would have been like clipping the wings 
of the eagle to aid his ujjward flight. In the edu- 
cation at least of children nature is omnipotent and 
pitiless, and it is the establishment of such train- 
ing schools as the Arkansas Industrial University 
that gives the cheering evidence of the world's 
progress. In its continued pro.sperity is hope for 
the near future; its failure through ignorance or 
bigotry in the old and worn out ideas of the dead 
past, will go far toward the confirmation of the 
cruel cynicism that the most to be pitied animal 
pell-melled into the world is the new-born babe. 

The University is situated at Fayetteville, 
Washington County. It was organized by act of 
the legislature, based on the "Land Grant Act" 
of Congress of 1862, and .supplemented by liberal 
donations from the State, the County of Wash- 
ington, and the city of Fayetteville. The school 



64 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



was opened in 1872. March 30, 1877, the legisla- 
ture passed the act knowu as the ' ' Barker Bill, ' ' 
which made nearly a complete change in the pur- 
view of the school and brought prominently for- 
ward the agricultural and mechanical departments. 
"To gratify our ambitious" [but mistaken] 
"youth," says the prospectus, " we have, under 
Section 7 of the act, provided for instruction in the 
classics." 

Under the act of Congress known as the 
'Hatch Bill," an Agricultural Experimental Sta- 
tion has been organized. Substantial buildings 
are now provided, and the cost of board in the in- 
stitution is reduced to $8 per month. The attend- 
ance at the present time is ninety -six students, 
and steps are being taken to form a model stock- 
farm. The trustees, in the last report, say: "We 
recommend that girls be restored to the privi- 
leges of the institution." The law only excludes 
females from being beneficiaries, and females may 
still attend as pay students. 

A part of the University is a branch Normal 
School, established at Pine Bluff, for the purpose 
of educating colored youth to be school teachers. 
These Normal Schools have for some years been 
a favorite and expensive hobby in most of the 
Northern States. There is probably no question 
that, for the promotion of the cause of education 
among the negroes, they offer unusual attractions. 

The following will give the reader a clear com- 
nrehension of the school and its purposes. Its 
departments are: 

Mechanic arts and engineering, agriculture, 
experiment station, practical work. English and 
modern languages, biology and geology, military 



science and tactics, mathematics and logic, prepara- 
tory department, drawing and industrial art, and 
music. 

To all these departments is now added the med- 
ical department, located at Little Rock. This 
branch was founded in 1871, and has a suitable 
building on Second Street. The tenth annual 
course of lectures in this institution commenced 
Octobers, 1888; the tenth annual commencement 
being held March 8, 1889. The institution is self- 
supporting, and already it ranks among the fore- 
most medical schools in the country. The graduat- 
ing class of 1888 numbered twenty. 

The State Board of Visitors to the medical 
school are Doctors W. \V. Hipolite, W. P. Hart, 
W. B. Lawrence, J. M. Keller, I. Folsom. 

The debt of Arkansas is not as large as a cur- 
sory glance at the figures might indicate. The 
United States government recently issued a statis- 
tical abstract concerning the public debt of this 
State that is very misleading, and does it a great 
wrong. In enumerating the debts of the States it 
puts Arkansas at $12,029, 100. This error comes 
of including the bonds issued for railroad and levee 
purposes, that have been decided by the Supreme 
Coui't null and void, to the amount of nearly 
$10,000,000. They are therefore no part of the 
State indebtedness. 

The real debt of the State is $2,111,000, 
including principal and accumulated interest. 
There is an amount in excess of this, if there is 
included the debt due the general government, 
but for all such the State has counter claims, and 
it is not therefore estimated in giving the real 
indebtedness. 




s 



9 \ ' 



J^l 



-U © 



HISTORY OF • ARKANSAS. 



65 



• — -l-w-^ 



The Bench and Bar— An Analytic View of the Profession of Law— Spanish and French Laws- 
English Common Law— The Legal Ciikjuit Riders— Territokial Law and F^awyers 
-The Court Circuits— Early Court Officers— The Supreme Court— Promi- 
nent Members of the State Bench and Bar— The Standard 
OF THE Execution of Law in the State. 



Law.s do not put the least restraint 
Upon our freedom, but maintain t; 
Or if they do. 'tis for our good, 
To jiive us freer latitude; 
For wholesome laws preserve us free 
By stinting of our liberty. — Butler. 




*HE Territory when under 
Spanish or French nile 
was governed by much the 
same laws and customs. 
The home government ap- 
pointed its viceroys, who 
were little more than nomi- 
nally under the control of the 
except in the general laws 
of the mother country. The neces- 
sary local provisions in the laws 
were not strictly required to be 
submitted for approval to the mas- 
-ter powers before being enforced 
in the colony. Both govern- 
)^y''i^.''' CX ments were equally liberal in 
^ g) bestowing the lands upon sub- 

jects, and as a rule, without cost. But the shadow 
of feudal times still lingered over each of them, 
and they had no conception that the real jieople 
would want to be small landholders, sup])osing 
that in the new as in the old world they would 
drift into villanage, and in some sense be a part 
of the possession of the landed aristocracy. Hence, 



these governments are seen taking personal charge 
as it were of the colonies; providing them masters 
and protectors, who, with government aid, would 
transport and in a certain sense own them and 
their labor after their arrival. The grantee of cer- 
tain royal rights and privileges in the new world 
was responsible to the viceroy for his colony, and 
the viceroy to the king. The whole was anti-dem- 
ocratic of course, and was but the continued and 
old, old idea of " the divine rights of rulers." » 

The commentaries of even the favorite law- 
writers to-daj' in this democratic country " are 
blurred on nearly every page with that monstrous 
heresy, "the king can do no wrong" — the gov- 
erning power is infallible, it needs no watching, no 
jealous eye that will see its errors or its crimes ; a 
fetich to be blindly worshiped, indiscriminately, 
whether it is an angel of mercy or a monster of 
evil. When Cannibal was king he was a god, with 
no soul to dictate to him the course he pursued. 
' ' The curiosities of patriotism under adversity ' ' 
just here suggests itself as a natural title-page to 
one of the most remarkalile liooks yet to be written. 

The bench and bar form a very peculiar result 



^«- 



66 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



of modern civilization — to-day fighting the most 
heroic battles for the poor and the oppressed ; to- 
morrow, perhaps, expending equal zeal and elo- 
quence in the train of the bloody usurper and ty- 
rant. As full of inconsistencies as insincerity it- 
self, it is also as noted for as wise, conservative and 
noble efforts in behalf of our race as ever distin- 
guished patriot or sage. 

The dangers which beset the path of the law- 
yer are a blind adherence to precedent, and a love 
of the abstruse technicalities of the law practice. 
\\'heu both or either of these infirmities enter the 
soul of the otherwise young and rising practitioner, 
his usefulness to his fellow man is apt to be perma- 
nently impaired. He may be the ' ' learned judge, ' ' 
but will not be the great and good one. 

The history of the bench and bar should be 
an instructive one. The inquirer, commencing in 
the natural order of all real history, investigating 
the cause or the fountain scarce, and then follow- 
ing up the effects flowing from causes, is met at 
the threshold with the question. Why ? What 
natural necessity created this vast and expensive 
supernumerary of civilization ? The institution in 
its entirety is so wide and involved, so comprehen- 
sive and expensive, with its array of court olficials, 
great temples, its robes, ermine and wool-sacks; its 
halls, professors, schools and libraries, that the 
average mind is oppressed with the attempt to 
grasp its outlines. In a purely economic sense it 
produces not one blade of grass. After having 
elucidated this much of the investigation as best 
he can, he comes to a minor one, or the details 
of the subject. For illustration's sake, let it be 
assumed that he will then take up the considera- 
tion of grand juries, their origin, history and present 
necessity for existence. These are mere hints, but 
such as will arrest the attention of the student of law 
of philosophical turn of mind. They are nothing 
more than the same problems that come in every 
department of history. The school of the lawyer 
is to accept precedent, the same as it is a common 
human instinct to accept what comes to him from 
the fathers — assuming everything in its favor and 
combating everything that would dispute ' ' the 
old order." It is the exceptional mind which 



looks ancient precedent in the face and asks ques- 
tions, W'hence ? Why ? Whither ? These are gen- 
erally inconvenient queries to indolent content, 
but they are the drive- wheels of moving civiliza- 
tion. 

One most extraordinary fact forever remains, 
namely, that lawyers and statesmen never unfolded 
the science of political economy. This seems a 
strange contradiction, but nevertheless it is so. 
The story of human and divine laws is much alike. 
The truths have not been found, as a rule, by the 
custodians of the temples. The Rev. Jaspers are still 
proclaiming "the world do move." Great states- 
men are still seriously regulating the nation's 
' ' balance of trade, ' ' the price of interest on money, 
and through processes of taxation enriching peo- 
ples, while the dear old precedents have for 100 
years been demonstrated to be myths. They are 
theoretically dead with all intelligent men, but 
are very much alive in fact. Thus the social 
life of every people is full of most amusing curi- 
osities, many of them harmless, many that are not. 

The early bench and bar of Arkansas produced 
a strong and virile race of men. The pioneers of 
this important class of community possessed vigor- 
ous minds and bodies, with lofty ideals of personal 
honor, and an energy of integrity admirably fitted 
to the tasks set before them. 

The law of the land, the moment the Louisi- 
ana purchase was effected, was the English com- 
mon law, that vast and marvelous structure, the 
growth of hundreds of years of bloody English 
history, and so often the apparent throes of civil- 
ization. 

The circuit riders composed the first bench 
and bar here, as in all the western States. In 
this State especially the accounts of the law prac 
tice — the long trips over the wide judicial circuits; 
the hardships endured, the dangers encountered 
from swollen streams ere safe bridges spanned 
them; the rough accommodations, indeed, some- 
times the absence of shelter from the raging ele- 
ments, and amid all this their jolly happy -go lucky 
life, their wit and fun, their eternal electioneering, 
for every lawyer then was a politician; their quick- 
ened wits and schemes and devices to advantage 



,>- 



^1 



>^. 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



07 



each other, both in and out of the courts, if all 
could be told in detail, would read like a fascinat- 
ing romance. These riders often traveled in com- 
panies of from three to fifteen, and among them 
would be found the college and law-school gradu- 
ates, and the hrxish graduates, associated in some 
cases and opposed in others. And hero, as in all 
the walks of life, it was often found that the rough, 
self-educated men overmatched the graduates in 
their fiercest contests. While one might understand 
more of the books and of the learned technicalities 
of law, the other would know the jury best, and 
overthrow his antagonist. In the little old log 
cabin court rooms of those days, when the court 
was in session, the contest of the legal gladiators 
went on from the opening to the closing of the 
term. Generally the test was before a jury, and 
the people gathered from all the surrounding coun- 
try, deeply interested in every movement of the 
actors. This was an additional stimulus to the 
lawyer politicians, who well understood that their 
ability was gauged by the crowd, as were their sue 
cesses before the jury. Thus was it a combination 
of the forum and "stump." Here, sometimes in 
the conduct of a noted case, a seat in Congress 
would be won or lost. A seat in Congress, or on 
the "wool sack," was the ambition of nearly every 
circuit rider. Their legal encounters were fought 
out to the end. Each one was dreadfully in earn- 
est—he practiced no assumed virtues in the strug- 
gle; battling as much at least for himself as his 
client, he would yield only under compulsion, even 
in the minor points, and, unfortunately, sometimes 
in the heat of ardor, the contest would descend 
from a legal to a personal one. and then the handy 
duello code was a ready resort. It seems it was 
this unhappy mixture of law and politics that 
caused many of these bloody personal encounters. 
In the pure practice of the law, stripped of polit- 
ical bearings, there seldom, if ever, came misunder- 
standings. 

Thoy must have been a fearless and earnest 
class of men to brave the hardships of professional 
life, as well as mastering the endless and involved 
intricacies of the legal practice of that day. The 
law then was but little less than a mass of un- 



meaning technicalities. A successful practitioner 
required to have at his fingers' ends at least Black- 
stone's Commentaries and Chitty's Pleadings, and 
much of the wonders contained in the Rules of 
Evidence. Libraries were then scarce and their 
privations here were nearly as great as in the com- 
mon comforts for "man and beast." There have 
been vast improvements in the simplifying of the 
practice, the abolition of technical pleadings es- 
pecially, since that time, and the young attorney 
of to-day can hardly realize what it was the pio- 
neers of his profession had to undergo. 

A judicial circuit at that early day was an im- 
mense domain, over which the bench and bar 
regularly made semi-annual trips. Sometimes 
they would not more than get around to their 
starting point before it would be necessary to 
go all over the ground again. Thus the court was 
almost literally "in the saddle." The saddle-bags 
were their law offices, and some of them, upon 
reaching their respective county-seats, would sig- 
nalize their brief stays with hard work all day in 
the court-room and late roystering at the tavern 
bar at night, regardless of the demurrers, pleas, 
replications, rejoinders and surrejoinders, declara- 
tions and bills that they knew must be confronted 
on the morrow. Among these jolly sojourners, 
"during court week" in the villages, dignity and 
circumspection were often given over exclusively 
to the keeping of the judge and prosecutor. Cir- 
cumstances thus made the bench and bar as social 
a set as ever came together. To see them return- 
ing after their long journeyings, sunburned and 
weatherbeaten, having had but few advantages of 
the laundry or bathtub, they might have passed for 
a returning squad of cavalry in the late war. One 
eccentric character made it a point never to start 
with any relays to his wardrobe. When he reached 
' home after his long pilgrimage it would be noticed 
that his clothes had a stuffed appearance. The 
truth was that when clean linen was needed he 
bought new goods and slipped them on over the 
soiled ones. He would often tell how he dreaded 
the return to his home, as he knew that after his 
wife attended to his change of wardrobe he was 
' ' most sure to catch cold. ' ' 



r 



GS 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



On one occasion two members of the bar met 
at a county seat where court was in session a week. 
They had come from opposite directions, one of 
them riding a borrowed horse seventy miles, while 
the other on his own horse had traveled over 100 
miles. Upon starting home they unwittingly ex- 
changed horses, and neither discovered the mistake 
until informed by friends after reaching their des- 
tination. The horses could hardly have been more 
dissimilar, but the owners detected no change. It 
was nearly the value of the animals to make the 
return exchange, yet each set out, and finally re- 
turned with the proper horse. No little ingenuity 
must have been manifested in finally unraveling 
the great mystery of the affair. 

Surrounded as they were with all these ill con- 
ditions, as a body of men they were nevertheless 
learned in the law, great in the forum, able and 
upright on the bench. Comparisons are odious, 
but it is nothing in disparagement to the present 
generation of courts and lawyers, to say that to be 
equally great and worthy with these men of the 
early bench and bar of Arkansas, is to exalt and 
ennoble the profession in the highest degree. 

Sixty years have now passed since the first 
coming of the members of this calling to the State 
of Arkansas. In 1819 President Monroe appointed 
James Miller, governor, Robert Crittenden, secre- 
tary, and Charles Jouitt, Andrew Scott and Robert 
P. Letcher, judges of the Superior Court, for the 
new Territory of Arkansas. All these, it seems, 
except Gov. Miller, were promptly at the post of 
duty and in the discharge of their respective offices. 
In the absence of Mr. Miller, Mr. Crittenden was 
acting governor. These men not only constituted 
the first bench and bar, but the first Territorial offi- 
cials and the first legislature. They were all lo- 
cated in the old French town of Ai-kansas Post. 
The lawyers and judges were the legislative tody, 
which enacted the laws to be enforced in their re- 
spective districts. At their first legislative session 
they established but five statute laws, and from 
this it might be inferred that there were few and 
simple laws in force at that time, but the reader 
will remember that from the moment of the Louis- 
iana purchase all the new territory passed under 



the regulation and control of the English common 
law — substantially the same system of laws then 
governing England. 

It is a singular comment on American juris- 
prudence that this country is still boasting the pos- 
session of the English habeas corpus act, wrung 
by those sturdy old barons from King John, — a 
government by the people, universal suffrage, 
where the meanest voter is by his vote also a sov- 
ereign, and therefore he protects himself against 
— whom ? — why, against himself by the English 
habeas corpus act, which was but the great act of 
a great people that first proclaimed a higher right 
than was the ' ' divine right of kings. ' ' When these 
old Englishmen presented the alternative to King 
John, the writ or the headsman' s ax, he very sensi- 
bly chose the lesser of the two great inconven- 
iences. And from that moment the vital meaning 
of the phrase ''the divine right of kings" was 
dead in England. 

In America, where all vote, the writ of habeas 
corpus has been time and time again suspended, 
and there are foolish men now who would gladly 
resort to this untoward measure, for the sake of 
party success in elections. There is no language of 
tongue or pen that can carry a more biting sar- 
casm on our boasted freemen or free institutions 
than this almost unnoticed fact in our history. 

One of the acts of the first legislative session 
held in August, 1819, was to divide the Territory 
into two judicial circuits. As elsewhere stated, the 
counties of Arkansas and Lawrence constituted the 
First circuit; Pulaski, Clark and Hempstead Coun- 
ties forming the Second. 

The judges of the Superior Courts were as- 
signed to the duties of the different circuits. At 
the first real Territorial legislature, composed of 
representatives elected by the people, the Territory 
was divided into three judicial circuits. The 
courts, however, for the different circuits, were all 
held at the Territorial capital. There was no cir- 
cuit riding, therefore, at this time. 

Judicial circuits and judges residing therein 
were not a part of judiciary affairs until 1823. The 
judges of the First circuit from that date, with time 
of appointment and service, were: T. P. Eskridge, 



f^:^ 



-^ 9 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



69' 



December 10, 1823; Andrew Scott, April 11, 1827; 
Sam C. Koane, April 17, 1829-36. The list of 
prosecuting attorneys includes: W. B. R. Horner, 
November 1, 1823; Thomas Hubbard, November 
5, 1828, to February 15, 1832; G. D. Royston, 
September 7, 1833; Shelton AVatson, October 4, 
1835; A. G. Stephenson, January 23, 1836. 

Of the Second circuit the judges were: Richard 
Searcy, December 10, 1823, and J. W. Bates, 
November, 1825, to 1830; while the prosecuting 
attorneys were R. C. Oden, November 1, 1823; A. 
H. Sevier, January 19, 1824 (resigned); Sam C. 
Roane, September 26. 1826; Bennett H. Martin, 

January 30, 1831; Absalom Fowler, ; D. L. 

F. Royston, July 25, 1835; Townsend Dickin- 
son, November 1, 1823; A. F. May, March 29, 
1825 (died in office); W. H. Parrott, April 21, 
1827; S. S. Hall, August 31, 1831; J. W. Robert- 
son, September 17, 1833; E. B. Ball, July 19, 
1836. 

Samuel S. Hall was judge of the Third circuit, 
serving from December, 1823, to 1836. As pros- 
ecuting attorneys, are found the names of T. Dick- 
inson, January 10, 1823; A. D. G. Davia, June 
21, 1829; S. G. Sneed, November 11, 1831; David 
Walker, September 13, 1833; Thomas Johnson, 
October 4, 1835; W. F. Denton, January 23, 1836. 

The appointment of Charles Caldwell as judge 
of the Fourth circuit dates from December 27, 
1828; wTiile E. T. Clark, February 13, 1830; J. C. 
P. Tolleson, February 1, 1831; and W. K. Sebas- 
tian, from January 25, 1833, served as prosecuting 
attorneys. 

The Supreme Court of Arkansas has ever com- 
prised among its members men of dignity, wisdom 
and keen legal insight. The directory of these 
officials contains the names of many of those whose 
reputation and influence are far more than local. 
It is as follows: 

Chief justices: Daniel Ringo, 1836; Thomas 
Johnson, 1844; George C. Watkins, 1852 (re- 
signed); E. H. English, 1854 (also Confederate); 
T. D. W. Yonley. 1864 (Murphy constitution); E. 
Baxter, 1864 (under Murphy regime); David 
Walker, 1866 (ousted by military); W. W. Wil- 
shire, 1868 (reriioved); John McClure, 1871, (re- 



moved); E. H. English, 1874. Sterling R. Cock 
rill is present chief justi? 

Associate justices: Thomas J. Lacey, 1836; 
Townsend Dickinson, 1836: George W. Paschal, 
1842; W. K. Sebastian, 1843; W. S. Oldham. 
1845; Edward Cross, 1845; William Conway, 1846; 
C. C. Scott, 1848; David Walker, 1847 and 1874; 
Thomas B. Hanley, 1858 (resigned); F. I. Batson, 
1858 (resigned); H. F. Fairchild, 1860 (died); 
Albert Pike, 1861 (also Confederate); J. J. Clen- 
denin, 1866 (ousted); T. M. Bowen, 1868; L. 
Gregg, 1868; J. E. Bennett, 1871; M. L. Steph- 
enson, 1872; E. J. Searle, 1872; W. M. Harrison, 
1874; J. T. Bearden, 1874 (appointed); Jesse 
Turner, 1878; J. R. Eakin, 1878; AV. W. Smith, 
1882; B. B. Battle, 1885, re-elected. By law 
three additional judges were elected April 2, 1889: 
Simon B. Hughes, W. E. Hemingway and Mont. 
H. Sandels. 

Reporters: Alberi Pike, N. W. Cox, E. H. 
English, J. M. Moore, L. E. Barber, B. D. Turner 
and W. W. Mansfield (present incumbent). 

Clerks: H. Haralson, L. E. Barber, N. W. Cox, 
and W. P. Campbell (in office). 

Special chief justices: William Story, F. W. 
Compton, J. L. Witherspoon, S. H. Hempstead, 

C. B. Moore, Thomas Johnson, R. A. Howard, 
George A. Gallagher, B. B. Battle. Sam W. Will- 
iams, A. B. Williams, G. N Cousin, Isaac Strain, 
N. Haggard, Edward Cross, R. C. S. Brown, L. 
A. Pindall, Sam C. Roane. George Conway, Sack- 
field Mackliuin, John Whytock. C. C. Farrelley, 
W. W. Smith, W. I. AVarwick, B. B. Morse, B. 

D. Turner, George AV. Caruth, S. H. Harring- 
ton. 

In this list are the names of nearly all early 
members of the Arkansas bar. Commencing here 
as young attorneys in their profession, many of 
them have left illustrious names — names that adorn 
the history of the State and Nation, and time 
will not dim nor change the exalted esteem now 
given them. Not one of them but that was an ex- 
ample of that wonderful versatility of American 
genius — the young lawyer becoming great in the 
practice of his profession in the wild wood; or cel- 
ebrated CD the bench fur decisions that came to the 



^j^ 



70 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



world like beacon lights from the unknown land; 
or as senators holding civilized people spell-bound 
by their wisdom and eloquence; and all, at all times, 
listening for their country's call to play as con- 
spicuous a part in camp and field as they had in 
the walks of civil life. To undertake all these 
things is not wonderful with a people so cosmopol- 
itan as those of the west, but to be preeminent in 
each or all alike is most remarkable. 

Of this brilliant galaxy of pioneer legal lights 
— giants indeed — there now remain as a connect- 
ing link with the present generation only the ven- 
erable Gen. Albert Pike, of Washington City, and 
Judge Jesse Turner, of Van Buren. 

Writing in a reminiscent way of the bench and 
bar, Albert Pike says: '"When I came to the bar 
there were William Cummins, Absalom Fowler, 
Daniel Ringo, Chester Ashley, and Samuel Hall, 
at Little Rock. I served on a jury in 1834 where 
Robert Crittenden was an attorney in the case ; the 
judge was Benjamin Johnson, who died in Decem- 
ber, 1834, at Vicksburg. Parrott and Oden died 
before I went to Little Rock. Judge William 
Trimble was an old member of the bar when I en- 
tered it, as was Col. Horner, of Helena. Thomas 
B. Hanley had recently come to Helena from Louis- 
iana. I think Maj. Thomas Hubbard and George 
Conway were practicing at Washington in 1835. 
Judge Andrew Scott had been Territorial judge, but 
retired and lived in Pope County. Frederick W. 
Trapnall and John W. Cocke came from Kentucky 
to Little Rock in 1836, and also William C. Scott 
and his partner, Blanchard. I think Samuel H. 
Hempstead and John J. Clendenin came in 1836. 
John B. Floyd lived and practiced law in Chicot 
County. ' ' Gen. Pike further mentions Judge David 
Walker, John Linton, Judges Hoge and Sneed, 
John M. Wilson, Alfred W. Wilson, Archibald 
Yell, Judge Fowler, Judge Richard C. S. Brown, 
Bennett H Martin, Philander Little, Jesse Turner 
and Sam W. Williams as among the eminent law- 
yers of the early courts of Arkansas. 

The list of those who have occupied positions 
as circuit judges and prosecuting attorneys in the 
various circuits, will be found of equal interest 
with the names mentioned in connection with a 



higher tribunal. It is as l)elow, the date affixed 
indicating the beginning of the term of service: 

Judges of the First circuit: W. K. Sebastian, 
November 19, 1840; J. C. P. Tolleson, February 
8, 1843; John T. Jones, December 2, 1842; Mark W. 

Alexander, ; George W. Beasley, September 

6, 1855; C. W. Adams, November 2, 1852; Thomas 

B. Hanley, ; E. C. Bronough, August 25, 

1858; O. H. Gates, March 3, 1859; E. C. Bronough, 
August 23, I860; Jesse M. Houks, September 17, 
1865; John E. Bennett, July 23, 1868; C. C. Wat- 
ers, February 23, 1871; M. L. Stephenson, March 
24, 1871; W. H. H. Clayton, March 10, 1873; J. 
N. Cypert, October 31, 1874; M. T. Saunders, 
October 30, 1882. Prosecuting attorneys: W. S. 
Mosley, November 14, 1840; A. J. Greer, Novem- 
ber 9, 1841; S. S. Tucker, January 20, 1840; 
Alonzo Thomas, August 5, 1842; W. N. Stanton, 
December 2, 1842; N. M. Foster, December 4, 
1843; A. H. Ringo, March 2, 1849; H. A. Bad- 
ham, March 12, 1851; L. L. Mack, September 
6, 1855; S. W. Childress, August 30, 1856; Lin- 
coln Featherstone, August 23, I860; Z. P. H Farr, 
December 1, 1862; B. C. Brown, January 7, 1865; 
P.O. Thweat, October 15, 1866; C. B. Fitzpatrick, 
March 16, 1871: W. H. H. Clayton, March 23, 
1871; Eugene Stephenson, April 23, 1873; C. A. 
Otey, October 31, 1874; D. D. Leach, October 13, 
1876; P. D. McCulloch (three terms); Greenfield 
Quarles, October 80, 1884; S. Brundridge, October 
30, 1886. 

Judges of the Second circuit: Isaac Baker, 
November 23, 1840; John C. Murray, August 18, 
1851; W. H. Sutton, January 11, 1845; John C. 
Murray, August 22, 1858; Josiah Gould, Febru- 
ary 26, 1849; W. M. Harrison, May 17, 1865; 
T. F. Sorrells, August 22, 1853; W. C. Hazeldine, 
April 14, 1871; J. F. Lowery, December 12, 
1863; L. L. Mack, October 31, 1874; William 
Story, July 23. 1868; W. F. Henderson, April 26, 
1874; J. G. Frierson, October 31, 1882; W. A. 
Case, vice Frierson, deceased, March 17, 1884, 
elected September 1, 1884; J. E. Riddick, Oc- 
tober 30, 1886. Prosecuting attorneys: John S. 
Roane, November 15, 1840; Samuel Wooly, Sep- 
tember 19. 1842; J. W. Bocage, November 20, 



ILiC 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



71 



1843; S. B. Jones, April 20, 1846; T. F. Sorrells, 
February '20, 1849; W. P. Grace, August 22, 
1853; S. F. Arnett, August 23, 1856; D. W. 
Carroll, August 30, I860: C. C. Goddon, May 17, 
1865; W. F. Slemmons, October 15, 1866; D. 
D. Leach, December 16, 1868; R. H. Black, May 
6, 1873; J. E. Riddick, October 13, 1876; W. A. 
Gate, October 14, 1878; E. F. Brown, May 5, 
1870; W. B. Edrington (four terms), October 30, 
1880; J. D. Block, October, 1888. 

Judges of the Third circuit: Thomas Johnson, 
November 13, 1840; William Conway, November 
15, 1844; W. C. Scott, December 11, 1846; R. 
H. Nealy, February 28,1851; W. C. Bevins, August 
23, 1856; W. R. Cain, August 23, 1860; L. L. 
Mack, March 15, 1866; Elisha Baxter, July 23, 
1868; James "VV. Butler, March 10, 1873; William 
Byers, October 30, 1874; R. H. Powell (three 
terms), October 30. 1882; J. W^ Butler, May, 1887. 
Prosecuting attorneys: N. Haggard, November 30, 
1840; S. S. Tucker, January 20, 1842; S. H. 
Hempstead, February, 1842; A. R. Porter, Decem- 
ber 2, 1842; S. C.Walker, December 2, 1846; J. H. 
Byers, March 5, 1849; W. K. Patterson, August 
30, 1856; F. W. Desha, August 30, 1860; L. L. 
Mack, July 8, 1861; T. J. Ratcliff, July 9, 1865; 
M. D. Baber, October 15, 1866; W. A. Inman, 
December 8, 1868; J. L. Abernathy, October 31, 
1874; Charles Coffin, October 14, 1878; M. N. 
Dyer (two terms), October 30, 1882; W. B. Padgett, 
October 30, 1886; J. L. Abernathy, October, 1888. 

Judges of the Fourth circuit: J. M. Hoge, 
November 13, 1840; S. G. Sneed, November 18, 
18441^. B. Greenwood, March 3, 1851; F. I. 
Batson, August 20, 1853; J. M. Wilson, Febru- 
ary 21, 1859; J. J. Green, August 23, 1860; Y. 
B. Sheppard, May 9, 1863; Thomas Boles, 
August 3, 1865; W. N. May, April 24, 1868; 
M. L. Stephenson, July 23, 1868; C. B. FiLz- 
patrick, March 23, 1871; J. Huckleberry, April 
10, 1872; J. M. Pittman, October 31, 1874; J. H. 
Berry, October 21, 1878; J. M. Pittman (three 
terms), October 31, 1882. Prosecuting attorneys: 
Alfred M. Wilson, November 13, 1840; A. B. 
Greenwood, January 4, 1845; H. F. Thomasson, 
September 6, 1853; Lafayette Gregg, August 23, 



1856; B. J. Brown, December 1, 1802; J. E. 
Cravens, January 7, 1805; Squire Boon, October 
15, 1806; Elias Harrell, August 11, 1868; S. W. 
Peel, Aprir26, 1873; E. I. Stirmau, October 13, 
1876; H. A. Dinsmore (throe terms), October 14, 
1878; J. Frank Wilson, October 30, 1884; J. W. 
Walker, October 30, 1866; S. M. Johnson. Octo- 
ber 30, 1888. 

Judges of the Fifth circuit: J. J. Clendenin, 
December 28, 1840; W. H. Field, December 24, 
1840; J. J. Clendenin, September 6, 1854; Liberty 
Bartlett, November 12, 1854; E. D. Ham, July 23, 
1868; Benton J. Brown, September 30, 1874; W. 
W. Mansfield, October 31, 1874; Thomas W. 
Pound, September 9, 1878; W. D. Jacoway, Oc- 
tober 31, 1878; G. S. Cunningham (three terms), 
October 31, 1882. Prosecuting attorneys: R. M'. 
Johnson, December 29, 1840; George C. Watkins, 
January 11, 1845; J. J. Clendenin, February 17, 
1849, to 1854; J. L. Hollowell, Septembers, 1858, 
to 1860; Sam W. Williams, May 10, 1860; Pleas- 
ant Jordan, September 7, 1801 ; Sam W. Williams, 
July 6, 1863; John Whytock, December 19, 1805; 
R. H. Dedman, October 15, 1866; N. J. Temple, 
August 15, 1808; Arch Young, August 24, 1872; 
Thomas Barnes, April 23, 1S73; J. P. Byers, Oc- 
tober 31, 1873; A. S. McKennon, October 14, 
1878; J. G. Wallace (two terms), October 31, 
1882; H. S. Carter, October 30, 1886. 

Sixth circuit — judges: William Conway, De- 
cember 19, 1840; John Field, February 3, 1843; 
George Conway, August 1, 1844; John Quillin, 
March 2, 1849; Thomas Hubbard, August 22, 
1854; A. B. Smith, February 7, 1856; Shelton Wat- 
son, September 20, 1858; Leu B. Green, April 5, 
1858; A. B. Williams, January 28, 1865; J. T. 
Elliott, October 2, 1805; J. J. Clendenin, October 
31, 1874; J. W. Martin, October 31, 1878; F. T. 
Vaughan, October 31. 1882; J. W. Martin, Octo- 
ber 30, 1886. Prosecuting attorneys: G. D. Roys- 
ton, November 11, 1840; O. F. Rainy. June 12, 
1843; Isaac T. Tupper, January 18, 1844; A. W. 
Blevins, January 11, 1847; E. A. Warner, March 
3, 1851; Orville Jennings, August 23, 1853; E. 
AV. Gantt. August 22, 1854; James K. Young, 
August 30, 1860; Robert Canigan, September 13, 



=^ 



72 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



1865; J. F. Ritchie, October 15, 1866; T. B. Gib- 
son, January 11, 1868: Charles C. Reid, Jr., April 
30, 1871; F. T. Vaughan, September 18, 1876; 
T. C. Trimble, September 80, 1878; F. T.Vanghan, 
September 30, 1880; T. C. Trimble, October 31, 
1882; R. J. Lea, October 30, 1884; Gray Carroll, 
October 30, 1886; R. J. Lea, October 80, 1888. 

Seventh circuit — judges: R. C. S. Brown, 1840; 
W. W. Floyd, November 30, 1846. (December 
20, 1849, the State was re districted into six cir- 
cuits. Hence this was abolished for the time.) 
William Byers, July 8, 1861; R. H. Powell, May 
11, 1866; John Whytock, July 23, 1868; J. J. 
Clendenin, May 29, 1874; Jabez M. Smith, Oc- 
tober 31, 1874; J. P. Henderson (three terms), Oc- 
tober 31, 1882. Prosecuting attorneys: John M. 
Wilson, November 20, 1840; J. M. Tebbetts, De 
cember 5, 1844; Elisha Baxter, December 7, 1861; 
W. B. Padgett, August 29, 1865; W. R. Coody, 
October 15, 1866; E. W. Gantt, July 31, 1868; 
J. M. Harrell, May 5, 1873; M. J. Henderson, 
October 31, 1874; James B. Wood, October 14. 
1878; J. P. Henderson (three terms), October 31, 
1882; W. H. Martin, October 30, 1888. 

Eighth circuit — judges: C. C. Scott, December 
2, 1846; William Davis, July 3, 1848 (abolished 
December 20, 1849); James D. Walker, July 25, 
1861; Elias Harrell, May 8, 1865; William Story, 
March 27, 1867; E. J. Earle, July 23, 1868; T. G. 
T. Steele, February 23, 1873; L. J. Joyner, Octo- 
ber 81, 1874; H. B. Stuart, October 31, 1878; 
R. D. Hearn, October 30, 1886. Prosecuting attor- 
neys: Richard Lyons, February 5, 1847; N. W. Pat- 
terson, October 25, 1865; C. G. Reagan, Januarj' 
7, 1865; J. C. Pratt, July 23, 1868; T. M. Gun- 
ter, October 15, 1866; Duane Thompson, January 
4, 1874: George A. Kingston, July 26, 1871; J. 
D. McCabe, October 31, 1874; J. H. Howard, April 
26, 1873; Rufus D. Hearn (three terms), July 6, 
1874; Lafayette Gregg, Jjovember 13, 1862; W. 
M. Green (three terms), October 80, 1884. 

Ninth circuit — judges: H. B. Stuart, Novem- 
ber 28, 1862; W. N. Hargrave, , 1865; E. J. 

Searle, February 25, 1867; G. W. McCowan, July 
23, 1868; J.T. Elliott, April 26, 1873; J. K. Young, 
October 31, 1874; C. F. Mitchell, October 31, 1882; 



L. A. Byrne, November 4, 1884; A. B. Williams, 
vice Mitchell, resigned, September 10, 1884; C. E. 
Mitchell, October 30, 1886. Prosecuting attorneys : 

A. J. Temple. July 8, 1861; A. T Craycraft, 
January 7, 1865; E. J. Searle, February 19, 1866; 
R. C. Parker, October 15, 1866; N. J. Temple, 
January 20, 1867; J. R. Page, January 9, 1869; 
J. M. Bradley. April 26, 1873; Dan W. Jones, 
October 31, 1874; B. W. Johnson, October 13, 
1876; John Cook. October 14, 1880; T. F. Web- 
ber (four terms), October 31, 1882. 

Judges of the Tenth circuit: H. P. Morse, 
July 23, 1868; D. W Carroll, October 28, 1874; 
T. F. Sorrells, October 31, 1874; J. M. Bradley, 
October 80, 1882; C. D. Wood, October 80, 1886. 
Prosecuting attorneys: J. McL. Barton, March 

29, 1869; H. King White, April 20, 1871; M. Mc- 
Gehee, April 29, 1873; J. C. Barrow, October 31, 
1874; C. D. Woods, October 30, 1882; M. L. 
Hawkins, vice Woods, October 10, 1886; R. C. 
Fuller, October 30, 1888. 

Eleventh circuit — judges: J. W. Fox, April 

30, 1878; H. N. Hutton, JiUy 24, 1874; John A. 
Williams, October 31, 1874; X. J. Pindall. Octo- 
ber 31, 1878; J. A. Williams (two terms), October 
30, 1882. Prosecuting attorneys- H. M. McVeigh, 
April 26, 1873; Z. L. Wise, October 31, 1874; T. 

B. Martin. October 10, 1878; J. M. Elliott (five 
terms), October 10, 1880. 

Twelfth circuit — judges: P. C. Dooley, April 
26, 1873; J. H. Rogers, April 20, 1877; R. B. 
Rutherford, October 2, 1882; John S. Little, Octo- 
ber 20, 1886. Prosecuting attorneys: D. D. Leach, 
April 26, 1873; John S. Little (three terms), April 
2, 1877; A. C. Lewers (two terms), September 20, 
1884; J. B. McDonough, October 30, 1888. 

Thirteenth circuit — judges: M. D. Kent, April 
26, 1873; B. F. Askew, October 30, 1882; C. W. 
Smith, October 30, 1886. Prosecuting attorneys: 
W. C. Langford, April 26, 1873; W. F. Wallace, 
June 5, 1883; H. P. Snead (three terms), Octo- 
ber 30, 1884. 

Fourteenth circuit — judges: George A. King- 
ston, April 20, 1878; R. H. Powell, May, 1887. 
Prosecuting attorneys: Duane Thompson, April 
26, 1873; De Ross Bailey, May, 1887. 







L. D. Belden was appointed judge of the Fif- 
teenth circuit April 2G, 1873, the prosecuting at- 
torney being G. G. Lotta, elected April 23, 1873. 

Sixteenth circuit— judge: Elisha Mears, April 
26, 1873. Prosecuting attorneys : H. N. Withers, 



September 27, 1873; V. B. Shepard. April 3ii, 
1874. 

By an act of April 16, 1873, the State was di- 
vided into sixteen judicial circuits, l>ut two years 
later a reduction to eleven in number was made. 



iHfiim-K fx. 



The L.vte Civil War— Analytical View of the Troublous Times— Passage of the Ori>inan( e of 
Secession— The Call to Arms— The First Troops to Take the Field— Invasion of the State 
BY THE Federal Army—Sketches ok the Regiments— Names of Officers— Outline of 
Field Operations— Claibourne and Yell— Extracts from Private Memo- 
randa—Evacuation OF THE .State— Re-Occupation— The War of 1812— 
The Mexican War— Standard of American Generalship. 



■M,M 




The cannon's busli'd! uor drum nor clarion sound: 
Helmet and hauberk gleam upon the ground; 
Horsemen and liorse lie weltering in their gore; 
Patriots are dead, and heroes dare no more; 
While solemnly the moonlight shrouds the plain. 
And lights the lurid features of the a\a\n.— Montgomery. 



RKANSAS was not among 
the States that may be call- 
ed leaders in inaugurating 
the late war. It only pass- 
ed a secession ordinance 
, > May 6, 1861, nearly a 
^XV^ month after hostilities had 
commenced, and Lincoln had issued 
his call for 75,000 ninety-day troops 
' ' to put down the rebellion. ' ' The re- 
luctance with which the State finally 
joined its sister States is manifested 
by the almost unanimous refusal of 
the State convention, which met in 
March, 1861 — the day Lincoln was in- 
augurated — and nearly linanimously voted down 
secession and passed a series of conservative resolu- 
tions, looking to a national convention to settle in 




some way the vexed question of slavery, and then 
voting a recess of the convention. When this 
re assembled war was upon the country, and the 
ordinance of secession was passed, only, however,* 
after full di.scussion, pro and con. There was 
but one vote against secession finally, and that was 
given iiy Isaac Murphy — afterward the military 
governor of Arkansas. 

Local authorities received instructions to arm 
and equip forty regiments of State troops. The 
ruling minds of the State were averse to war. 
and resisted it until they were forced into the po- 
sition of siding with their neighbors or with the 
Union cause. In the South, as in the North, 
there were inconsiderate hot-heads, who simply 
wanted war for war's sake — full of false pretests, 
but eager for war with or without a pretext. These 
extremists of each party were, unconsciously, per- 



-« V 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



'.ii. 



haps, but in fact, the two blades of the pair of 
scissors, to cut asunder the ties of the Uuion of 
States. Slavery, possibly not directly the cause of 
the war, was the handiest pretext seized upon at 
the time, with such disastrous results. In the dis 
pensations of heaven, had the fanatics of the North 
and the lire-eaters of the South been hung across 
the clothes-line, as a boy sometimes hangs cats, 
and left in holy peace to fight it out, what a bless- 
ing for mankind it would have been! 

The history of the late war cannot yet be writ- 
ten. Its most profound effects are not yet evolved. 
The actual fighting ceased nearly a generation ago, 
and the cruel strife is spoken of as over. It is the 
effects that true history observes. The chronicler 
records the dates and statistics, and files these 
away for the future historian. It is highly prob- 
able that there is no similar period in history 
where the truth will be so distorted as by him 
who tells ' ' the story of the war. ' ' 

Anyone can begin to see that there are many 
things now that were unknown before the war. 
Great changes are still being worked out, and 
whether or not yet greater ones are to come, no one 
knows. The abolitionists thirty years ago hated 
the slave owners, — the slave holders loved slavery. 
The former thought to forever end slavery on this 
continent by liberating the slaves, and now the 
once alarmed slave owner has discovered that the 
great benefits of the abolition of slavery have been 
to the whites far more than to the blacks. 

There is little idea of what the real historian 
one hundred years from now will be compelled to 
say of these " blessed times. " He will most prob- 
ably smile in pity upon all this self-laudation and 
wild boast. If men could have known the effects 
to follow in all the important movements of peo- 
ples, it is highly probable there would have been no 
civil war. Those who "sectionally hated" may 
sleep quietly in their graves, because they died 
unconscious as to whether their supposed bloody 
revenge, driven hurtling at the enemy, was a bullet 
or a boomerang. 

The Southern individual may look with envy to 
the pension fund now being poured out in North- 
ern States, while, instead of this, he should only 



remember that the Southern soldier is making his 
way unaided in the world. It should not be for- 
gotten that the rapid development of the South is 
sadly in want of the constant labor of thousands of 
immigrants, and that the New South is just entering 
upon a period of surprising and unexampled pros- 
perity, which certainly must continue. 

In Arkansas, as in Illinois, when Fort Sumter 
was fired on, instantly there was a storm of excite- 
ment to "let slip the dogs of war." Action took 
the place of argument. The best men in the com- 
munity, those who had ao long talked and pleaded 
against war, closed their mouths, and with sore 
hearts turned their eyes away fi'om the sad outlook. 
The young and the inconsiderate seized the power 
to rule, and (though they knew it not) to ruin. 
Bells were rung, drums were beaten, and fifes made 
strident martial music, and people rushed into the 
streets. Open air meetings for the Confederate 
cause gathered, and songs and speeches inflamed 
the wildest passions of men. Poor men ! they 
little reeked the cruel fate into which they were 
plunging their country — not only themselves, but 
generations to come. A fifer and drummer march- 
ing along the streets, making harsh and discordant 
noises, were soon followed by crowds of me'n, 
women and children. Volunteers were called for 
by embryo captains, and from these crowds were 
soon recruited squads to be crystallized into armies 
with heavy tramp and flying banners — the noisy 
prologue to one of the bloodiest tragedies on which 
time has ever rung up the curtain. 

The first official action of the State was that 
authorizing the raising and equipping of seven 
i-egiments. These were soon ready to report with 
full ranks. Seven regiments ! Even after the 
war was well on foot, men were forming companies 
in hot haste, in fear that before they could reach 
the field of action the war would be over. And 
after they were mustered in and at their respective 
rendezvous, without uniforms and with sticks for 
guns, learning the rudiments of drill, they were 
restless, troubled seriously with the fear that they 
would never see or feel the glory of battle. The 
youths of the State had rushed to the recruiting sta- 
tions with the eager thoughtlessness with which 



:f\: 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



75 



they would have put down tlipir names for picnic, 
hunting or fishing expeditions, and the wild delights 
of a season of camp life. Perhaps to some came 
indistinct ideas of winning glory on the field and a 
triumphant return home, to lie met by the happy 
smiles of a people saved — when the bells would 
ring and flowers be strewn in the highway. 

The seven regiments first authorized by the 
military board (the board consisting of the gov- 
ernor, Col. Sam W. Williams and Col. B. C. Tot- 
ten) had hardly been formed when more soldiers 
were wanted. Ten additional regiments were 
authorized, and of the ten seven were recruited 
and organized. Fourteen infantry regiments be 
sides the cavalry and artillery had been a strong 
demand on the people, but the calls for men were 
increased. By voluntary enlistments twenty-one 
infantry regiments were finally in the field. In- 
cluding cavalry and artillery, Arkansas had abovit 
25,000 volunteer soldiery. 

Then came the remorseless conscription. The 
oflamour of soldiering was now all jrone. Ragged, 
hungry, wounded and worn with hard marches, 
men had suffered the touch of the hand of the 
angel of destruction. The relentless conscripting 
went on. The number of years before old age 
exempted was lengthened, and the age of youth 
exempting was shortened, until as said by Gen. 
Grant, they were ' ' robbing the cradle and the 
grave ' ' to recruit their decimated ranks in the 
army. 

There are no records now by which can be told 
the number of men Arkansas had in the Confeder- 
ate army, liut it is supposed by those best informed 
to have had nearly 40,000. In addition to this the 
State furnished soldiers to the Union army. In 
the history of wars it is doubtful if there is anything 
to exceed this in the heroic sacrifices of any people. 

The original seven regiments were authorized 
as the first exuberant war expression of the State. 
They were State troops, armed and equipped by 
the State; but the fact is that the poorest men went 
into the army at their individual expense and armed 
and equipped themselves. This was the rale — not 
by men only who were fighting for their slave 
property, but largely by men who had never owned 



or expected to own a slave. When the Union army 
under Gen. Curtis was bearing doWn to invade Ar- 
kansas, ten more regiments were authorized and 
responded to this call, and seven additional regi- 
ments were raised and mustered into the State's 
service. 

A military board had been provided for, con- 
sisting of three men, the governor and two advis- 
ors, who had a general supervision in organizing 
and equipping the army. 

The first regiment raised in the State is known 
as the Pat Cleburne regiment. Patrick A. Cleburne, 
colonel, was soon made a general, and took his 
brigade east of the Mississippi River. The gal 
lant and dashing leader was killed in the battle of 
Franklin, November 30, 1864. At the first call 
to arms he raised a company and named it the Yell 
Rifles, of which he was first captain, and on the 
formation of the first regiment he became colonel, 
rising up and up by rapid promotions to a major- 
generalship. 

The names of Yell and Pat Cleburne are en- 
twined closely in the hearts of the people of Ai'kan- 
sas. Yell was killed at the bloody battle of Buena 
Vista, Mexico, at the head of his charging column. 
The military lives and deaths of the two men were 
much alike. Their names and fames are secure in 
history. There is a touch of romance about Pat 
Cleburne's life in Arkansas. A Tipperary boy, of 
an excellent family, born in 1828, he had, when not 
more than sixteen years of ago, joined the English 
army, where he was for more than a year before his 
whereabouts became known. His friends secured 
his release from the army, when he at once bade 
adieu to his native land and sailed for America. 
Stopping in 1849, a short time in Cincinnati, he 
was for a while a drug clerk. In 1859 he came 
to Helena, Ark., and engaged here also as a pre- 
scription clerk, in the meantime reading law; he 
was made a licensed attorney in 1856. In the 
bloody street affray soon after, between Hiudmau 
and Dorsey Rice, he was drawn into the fracas and 
was shot through the body by a brother of Rice's, 
who came upon the ground during the mel(?e. The 
latter noticed the encounter, and seeing that Cle- 
burne stood at one side, pistol in hand, fired. On 






HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



tm'ning to see who had shot him, Cleburne saw 
James Marriott, a brother-iu-law of Dorsey Rice, 
with pistol in hand, and under the mistake that 
he was the assailant, shot him dead. Cleburne 
lingered a long time from his wound but finally 
recovered. 

In the yellow fever scourge in Helena, in 1855, 
he was at one time about the only well person re- 
maining to care for the sick and dying. He was a 
strict member of the church and for some years a 
vestryman in St. John's Episcopal Church, Helena. 
He was engaged to wed Miss Tarleton, of Mobile, 
when he fell upon the battle field, and the dead 
soldier lay upon the ground, with his arms folded 
over his breast, as if even in death he would pro- 
tect the sacred tokens of love that he wore next his 
heart. 

The military board elected two brigadier-gen- 
erals — James Yell and N. B. Pierce. The latter 
was sent to Northwestern Arkansas, where was 
fought the first battle on Arkansas soil — Pea Ridge, 
or as it is better known in the South, Elkhorn. 
This was a severe engagement, and a decisive one. 

There is yet some confusion in referring to the 
respective numbers of the Arkansas regiments. 
Gren. Pierce, supposing he had full power, gave 
numbers Third, Fourth and Fifth to what the 
board, the proper and only authority, designated 
as numbers Second, Third and Fourth. The fol- 
lowing shows the board's numbering and names 
of the colonels : 

First, Col. P. H. Cleburne; Second, Col. 
Gratiot; Third, Col. Dockery; Fourth, Col. Davis 
Walker; Fifth, Col. D. C. Cross; Sixth, Col. Lyon; 
Seventh, Col. Shaver; Eighth, Col. W. K. Patter- 
son; Ninth, Col. John Roane; Tenth, Col. T. D. 
Merrick; Eleventh, Col. Jabez M. Smith; Twelfth, 
Col. E. W. Gantt; Thirteenth, Col. J. C. Tappan; 
Fourteenth, Col. W. C. Mitchell, (never com- 
pleted); Fifteenth, Col. Dawson; Seventeenth, Col. 
G. W. Lamar, Lieut. -Col. Sam W. Williams. 

In the scraps of records now to be found there 
pre mentioned as the different arms in the Confed- 
erate service of Arkansas men, in addition to those 
above given, the following: Light artillery. Hill's; 
batteries, Blocher's, Brown's, fitter's, Hughey's, 



Marshall's and West's; cavalry battalions, Chris- 
man's, Crawford's, Hill's, Witherspoou's; detached 
companies, Brown's, Coarser' s, Desha's, Ranger's, 
Fitz William's, Miller's and Palmer's: regiments, 
Carroll's, Dobbins', Newton's; infantry, regiments 
from one to thirty-nine, inclusive. 

Four regiments of infantry of Federal recruits 
were raised in Arkansas, the First commanded by 
Col. M. La Rue Harrison; the Fourth by Elisha 
Baxter. The First Arkansas Light Artillery was 
150 strong. The Arkansas Infantry Brigade was 
under command of Col. James M. True. August 
5, 1863, Adj't Gen. Thomas made a trip to the 
Southwest for the purpose of gathering in all the 
negroes possible by scouting bands, and to enlist 
the able bodied men. The First Arkansas Battery 
was commanded by Capt. Dent D. Stark, and the 
First Arkansas Cavalry by Maj. J. J. Johnson. 
The Second Arkansas Cavalry is mentioned. 
Lieut. -Col. E. J. Searle, authorized to raise the 
Third Arkansas Cavalry, reported 400 strong. 
The Fourth Arkansas Cavalry comprised nine 
companies, commanded by Capt. W. A. Martin. 

The Second and Third Arkansas colored in- 
fantry regiments are mentioned, in addition to the 
Second and Third white regiments. 

In the spring of 1861, the Richmond govern- 
ment authorized Col. T. B. Flournoy to raise a reg- 
iment. It was collected in and about Little Rock 
and Col. Fagan was elected commander. This 
command went to Virginia. Gen. Churchill organ- 
ized the first regiment of cavalry, with rendezvous 
at Little Rock. Gen. T. C. Hindman organized 
Hindman's Legion. It consisted of infantry and 
cavalry and had fifteen companies. He took his 
command east of the river. Under the direction of 
the military board Col. Rosey Carroll's regiment 
of cavalry was raised. The Second Arkansas Reg- 
iment of Mounted Infantry was mustered at Osage 
Springs, by Col. Dandridge McRea. James Mcln 
tosh became colonel and Capt. H. H. Brown, major. 
J. P. Eagle was first lieutenant-colonel and after- 
ward colonel. Col. Mcintosh was killed at Pea 
Ridge, but had been promoted a brigadier-general 
a few days before his death. 

The absence of war archives from the State, 



■?; 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



I I 



the most of them that were preserved until after 
the war being now in Washington, and the pass- 
ing away of so many of the prominent participants, 
and a common fault of hnman memory, make it 
well-nigh impossible to gather for peruiiuient form 
any satisfactory roster of the different Confederate 
commands or the order of their organization. No 
Arkansan so far, which is much to bo regretted, 
has attempted to write a history of the State in 
the civil struggle. 

Gov. J. P. Eagle happened to keep dupli- 
cates of certain reports he made while in the ser- 
vice, and discovered them recently where they had 
been laid away and forgotten among old papers. 
Fortiinately when he made the reports the idea 
occiirred to him to keep a copy for himself, that 
some day he might look over them and be inter- 
ested. 

"This is a list of the killed and wounded in my 
regiment," he remarked, "the Second Arkansas, 
from May 8 to August 31, 1864, and the other is a 
report of the same from November 26, 1864, to 
March 21, 1865." 

The Second Arkansas at the beginning of the 
war was a mounted regiment, commanded by Col. 
James Mcintosh. It was dismounted early in the 
conflict. Col. Mcintosh was promoted to the rank 
of brigadier-general in the spring of 1862. He 
led his brigade bravely into the heaviest lighting 
at the battle of Elkhorn (Pea Ridge), where he 
was killed. He was succeeded by Col. Embry, 
who was soon after succeeded by Col. Flannagin, 
afterwards the ' ' War Governor ' ' of Arkansas. 
Flannagin was succeeded bj' Col. James William- 
son, who lost a leg at the battle of Resaca, Ga. , 
May 14, 1864. Col. J. T. Smith then became 
colonel. He was killed July 28 following, in the 
fight at Lick Skillet Road, and J. P. Eagle, now 
governor of Arkansas, became colonel. Col. 
Eagle had been wounded at Moore's Mills, and at 
the time of his promotion was not with the famous 
regiment. He remained in command until the 
regiment was consolidated with other regiments 
and the whole formed into one regiment, with Col. 
H. G. Bunn commanding. Gov. Eagle became 
lieutenant-colonel and George Wells, major. 



The battle of Elkhorn checked the advance of 
Ciu'tis' army into Arkansas, and the Federals re- 
mained hovering in the southwest of Missouri and 
northwest of Arkansas for some time. Immedi- 
ately after the tight Van Dorn's forces were with- 
drawn and taken east of the Mississippi to resist 
the Federal advance down the river to Vicksburg. 
Gen. T. C. Hindman returned and took command 
of the Confederates in Arkansas and established 
headquarters at Little Rock and slightly fortified 
the place. 

Gen. Curtis then moved with the Federal army 
down the valley of White River, acting in con- 
junction with the river fleet, and when he reached 
Cotton Plant a flank attack was made on his army 
and the battle of Cotton Plant was fought. The 
Confederates were repulsed, and Curtis moved on 
and took possession of Helena, the Confederates 
retiring. Northern and Northeastern Arkansas 
were then in the possession of the Union army. 
The Federals were in the possession of the Missis- 
sippi down to a point just above Vicksburg. The 
Confederates made a futile effort to re-capture 
Helena, July 4, 1803, but heavy rains, swollen 
streams and impassable roads thwarted every 
move. 

June 2, 1862, Gov. Rector issued the following: 

"It being essential that but one military organization 
shall exist within the Trans-Mississippi department, all 
Arkansas troops are hereby transferred to the Confeder- 
ate service." (Signed) H. M. Kectok, 

Gov. & Prest. Mil. Board. 

The authorities at Richmond, as well as in the 
Trans-Mississippi district, were anxiously awaiting 
news of the war steamer, "Arkansas," then build- 
ing up the mouth of Red River. June 2, 1802, 
she steamed out of that river and passed the fleet 
guarding the river for the purpose of capturing the 
rebel steamer. The attempt and success in run- 
ning the fiery gauntlet was one of the most exciting 
scenes ever witnessed on western rivers. Proudly 
the vessel kept on her course, sending volleys into 
every vessel to the right and left, and at nearly 
every turn of her wheels encountering new enemies. 
A Federal surgeon of the Union fleet said that 
wonderful trip of the "Arkansas" reminded him 






HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



of the Irishman's advice oa going into the "free 
tight" — "wherever you see a head hit it." The 
Confederate reports say two Federal gun-boats 
were captured and others disabled. 

August 7, following, the ' 'Arkansas, ' ' when five 
miles above Baton Rouge on her way down the 
river, again encountered Federal gun-boats. Her 
machinery being disabled, after she had fought 
long and well, her crew "blew her up, and all 
escaped. ' ' 

January 3, 1863 Gen. J. M. Schofield wrote to 
Gen. Curtis, from Fayetteville, Ark. : ' ' The oper- 
ations of the army since I left it have been a series 
of blunders, from which it narrowly escajied dis- 
aster * * At Prairie Grove (fought in Decem- 
ber, 1862) Blunt and Herion were badly beaten in 
detail and owed their escape to a false report of 
my arrival with re-enforcements." It now is 
revealed that Hindman did not know the extent 
of his victory, but sujjposed he was about to be 
overwhelmed by the enemy. Thus the two armies 
were as secretly as possible running away from 
each other. 

July 13, 1863, Gen. E. Kirby Smith wrote from 
Shreveport, headquarters of the Trans-Mississippi 
district, to Govs. Thomas C. Reynolds, F. R. Lub- 
bock, H. Flannagin and Thomas O. Moore, calling 
on these, as the heads of their respective States, to 
meet him at Marshall, Tox. , August 15, following: 
"I have attempted to impartially survey the field 
of my labor. * * I found on my arrival the 
headquarters of Arkansas district at Little 
Rock. * * • Vicksburg has fallen. The enemy 
possesses the key to this department. * * The 
possession of the Mississippi River by the enemy 
cuts off this department from all communication 
with Richmond, consequently we must be self- 
sustaining, and self-reliant in every respect. * * 
AV'ith God's help and yours I will cheerfully 
grapple with the difficulties that surround us." etc. 

This was a gloomy but a correct view of the 
situation west of the Mississippi River after the 
fall of Vicksburg. 

On January 11, 1863, from Helena, Gen. Fiske 
reported to Washington : ' ' Found Gorman actively 
organizing expedition to go up White River to 



co-operate with Gen. McClernand on Arkansas 
River. Twenty-five transports are waiting the 
signal to start. ' ' 

Fi-om "Prairie Landing, twenty-five miles up 
Arkansas, January 13, 1863," Amos F. Eno, sec- 
retary pro tern of Arkansas and adjutant-general, 
telegraphed Staunton: " Left Helena on 11th, and 
took with me books and papers of office of military 
government of Arkansas. ' ' 

January 14, 1863, the Federals captured St. 
Charles, the Confederates evacuating the day before. 

January 18, Gen. W. A. Gorman occupied 
Devall's BlufP, which the Confederates had also 
evacuated. 

These captures and evacuations were the pre- 
liminary movements looking toward Little Rock, 
the Federals clearing out the small outposts, and 
the Confederates gathering in their forces. 
j On August 5, 1863, Gen. Frederick Steele 
I "assumed the command of the army to take the 
field from Helena, and advance upon Little Rock. ' ' 

In his order for movement mention is made of 
the following: First division — cavalry under 
command of Gen. J. W. Davidson; Second division 
—Eighteenth, Forty-third, Fifty-fourth. Sixty- 
first, One Himdred and Sixth, and One Hundred 
and Twenty-sixth regiments, Illinois Infantry; 
Twelfth Michigan, Twenty-second Ohio, Twenty- 
seventh Wisconsin, Third Minnesota, Fortieth 
Iowa and Forty -third Indiana Infantry regiments; 
Third division — Twenty-ninth, Thirty-third and 
Thirty sixth Iowa, Forty- third Indiana. Twenty- 
eighth Wisconsin, and Seventy -first Ohio Infantry 
regiments; and the Fifth Kansas, First Indiana 
Cavalry, and a brigade under Col. Powell Clayton. 
Four batteries of field pieces — five wagons to each 
regiment; 160 rounds of ammunition, 40 rounds to 
each cartridge-box; 400 rounds to each piece of 
artillery, and sixty days' rations for the whole 
army, were the supplies granted these forces. 

Gen. Steele was occupied in the expedition 
from Helena to Little Rock, from August 5 to Sep- 
tember 10. The cavalry under Gen. Davidson 
had to scour the country to the right and left as 
they made their slow advance. Twelve miles east 
of Little Rock, at Bayou Meta bridge, was a heavy 



~Si 



r^ 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 




skirmish, indeed, a regular battle, being the first 
serious effort to check the Fedi^ral advance upon 
the capital. Again there was heavy fighting six 
miles east of Little Rock, at what is now the 
Brugman place. Here Confederate Col. Coffee, 
of Texas, was killed. This was the last stand 
made in defense of the city, and in a short time 
Davidson's cavalry appeared in Argenta, and 
trained their field pieces on the city, and fired a 
few shots, when the place was surrendered by the 
civil authorities, September 10, 186:1 The Con- 
federates had evacuated but a few hours before 
the Federal cavalry were galloping through the 
streets, and pjsting sentinels here and there. 

There was no confusion, no disorder, and none 
of the usual crimes of war under similar circum- 
stances. In an hour after Gen. Steele was in 
possession of the city he had it under strict con- 
trol, and order prevailed. Gen. Reynolds was put 
in command of Little Rock.* 

The Confederates wisely retreated to Arkadcl- 
phia. They were pursued bj' the Federals as far 
as Malvern, but no captures were made and no 
heavy skirmishing occurred. 

It is said that Price evacuated Little Rock un- 
der the impression that his force was far inferior 
to that of Gen. Steele. Those who were Confeder- 
ate ofiicers and in Little Rock now believe that his 
force was equal at least in numbers to Steele's. 

♦Abstract from consolidated tri-monthly report of the 
Army of Arkansas, Maj.Gen. Frederick Steele command- 
ing, for September 10, 1863; headquarters. Little Rock: 



Commaud. 



First Division (Davidson) 

Second Division (Englemann).. 

Tliird Divi^ionlRice) 

Infantry Brigade (True) 

Cavalry nricade (Clayton) 

Artillery (Hayden) 

Cavalry escort (McLean) 



Total- 



Present for 
duty. 



200 
1411 
123 
89 
30 
15 
4 



619 



.3,328 

I,683| 

1,79G 

445 

495 

64 



5.372 

2,90(1 

2,316 

a,280 

736 

607 

91 



9,854 14,382 



0)5 



7,735 
6,885 
4,007 
2,825 
1,800 
844 



l_ 

2.3,620| 



6 
5 

28 



Gen Price had not made a mistake of the comparative 

strength of the two armies. The commissary informs 
me that on the raorninjr of the evacuation he issued 8,000 
rations — full number. 



They think that Price had based his idea of the 
enemy's numbers by allowing the usual propor- 
tion of armies of infantry and artillery to cavalry. 
They believe also that the Confederates at Little 
Rock at the evacuation had between 1 1 , 000 and 
1*2,000 men present— not the number for duty — 
basing this upon the number of rations issued 
that day. 

After the occupation of Little Rock the Federals 
dominated all that portion of the State north and 
east of the Arkansas River, and yet their actual 
occupied posts were the only grounds over which 
Confederate rangers were not frequently roving 
with impunity. 

The Confederates exercised ruling power- all 
south and west of the Ouachita River, and for quite 
a while the territory between the Arkansas and 
Ouachita Rivers was a kind of "No Man's Land" 
so far as the armies were concerned. 

Steele early in 1864, having been re-enforced, 
began to move on Arkadelphia. Price retreated to 
Camden, where the Confederates had several fac- 
tories for the manufacture of war materials. 

Price made a stand against Steele and fought 
the battle of Prairie D'Ann, but there was noth- 
ing decisive in this engagement, although it was 
a severe one. Price withdrew and fell back on 
Rondo, in the southwest corner of the State. 

lu the meantime Banks' expedition was as- 
cending Red River, the plan being to catch Price 
between Banks and Steele, and destroy the Con- 
federate army. Price and Gen. Dick Taylor did 
not wait for Banks, but met and overwhelmingly 
defeated him. Having defeated Banks, they turned 
and gave Steele battle at Jenkins' Ferry, and de- 
feated him. This was the great and decisive bat- 
tle of the Trans-Mississippi district. 

Steele retreated and fell back on Little Rock, 
his superior generalship being shown in extricat- 
ing his badly crippled army and saving it on the 
withdrawal. 

The Federal expeditions were well planned for 
"baggi ng' ' the whole Confederate Trans- Mississippi 
army, but the vicissitudes of war ordained other- 
wise. Banks' expedition and its overwhelming mis- 
fortunes ruined him as a military man throughout 



:i 



€ »^ 



80 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



the North, while the brilliaat successes of Price 
raised the hopes of the Confederacy. Some, how- 
ever, still criticise. 

Price failed to follow up his advantage and 
either destroy or capture Steele's entire army. 
Had he fully known the condition of affairs at 
Richmond possibly he might have adopted that 
course. The Federals were confined within their 
fortified posts and Confederate bands were again 
scouring over the State. 

Price, losing no time, then started on his raid 
back into Missouri to carry out his long cherished 
hope of re-possessing that State. The history of 
that raid and the dissolution and end of the Con- 
federacy are a familiar part of the country's 
history. 

Other wars than that mentioned have occupied 
the attention of people of this section, though 
perhaps not to such an extent as tho great civil 
strife. There were not people in Arkansas to go 
to the War of 1812, and the State becomes con- 
nected with that struggle chiefly because Archibald 
Yell, the brave young hero, was at the battle of 
New Orleans, and afterward became one of the most 
prominent citizens of Arkansas. He was born in 
North Carolina, in August, 171)7, and consequently 
was but fifteen years of age when the second war 
with England began. But the lad then and there 
won the inalienable friendship of Gen. Jackson. 

Arkansas acquired no little fame in the Mexican 
War, chiefly, however, through the gallantry and 
death of Gov. Yell, the leader of the Arkansas 
forces. When troops were called for in the year 

1846, in the war with Mexico, Yell was a member 
of Congress. A regiment of cavalry was raised 
and he was asked to take the command, and obedi- 
ent to this request he promptly resigned his seat 
to assume leadership. Albert Pike was a captain 
in the regiment. 

At the battle of Buena Vista, on February 22, 

1847, Yell led his cavalry command in one of the 
most desperate charges in the annals of war. In 
his enthusiasm he spurred on his horse far in 
advance of his men. He was charging the enemy, 
which outnumbered his force more than five to 
one. He reached the ranks of the enemv almost 



alone, and raising himself in the saddle commenced 
to slash right and left, totally unmindful that it 
was one against thousands. Just as the foremost of 
his men came up he was run through the Ijody and 
killed. William A. L. Throckmorton, of Fayette- 
ville, it is agreed, was the first to reach the side 
and catch the falling form of his loved leader. Mr. 
Throckmorton says he saw the man who gave the 
fatal thrust and quickly killed him, thus avenging 
so far as the wretched greaser's life could go the 
life of as gallant and noble a knight as ever re- 
sponded to bugle call. He was the dashing cava- 
lier, great in peace, superb in war. Leading his 
trusty followers in any of the walks of life, death 
alone could check him, nothing could conquer him. 

After the war was over the government brought 
his remains and delivered them to his friends in 
Fayetteville, his home, who lovingly deposited 
them beneath the cold white marble shaft which 
speaks his fame. The burial ceremony occurred 
August 3, 1847, and a vast concourse of people, 
the humblest and highest in the State, were the 
sincere and deep mourners on the occasion. 

Arkansas won everlasting laurels through its 
gallant soldiers in the Mexican A\'ar. 

Omitting all reference to the Revolutionary 
War, there are conclusions to be drawn from the 
wars our conntrymen have been engaged in since 
the days when Gen. Jackson was the national hero. 
None of these were significant enough to be used 
by the philosophic historian from which to draw 
conclusions as to the character of modern or 
contemporary Americans as warriors, or their dis- 
tinguishing characteristics as a warlike nation. 
The late Civil War, however, furnishes a wide and 
ample field for such investigation. An impartial 
view of the late struggle presents first of all this 
remarkable fact. In by far the longest and great- 
est war of modern times, neither side has given 
the age a great captain, as some call greatness, 
though one furnished Grant, the other, Lee, both 
men without a superior; whilst in the ranks and 
among the subcommands, no battles in history 
are at all comparable for excellence and superior 
soldiership to those of the great Civil War. On 
both sides there were any number of great field 



^ 



^ s 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



81 



commanders, as great as ever dnnv a sword. But 
they received orders, did not give them, and in 
the execution of orders never were excelled. Lee, 
Grant, Jackson, Sherman, Hancock. Johnston. 
Sheridan and hundreds of others on both sides, to 
the humblest in the ranks, were immortal types of 
the soldier in the field. These men were like 
Napoleon's marshals — given a command or order 
they would risk life itself to execute it. But on 
neither side was there the hiast exhibition of the 
qualities of a Napoleon or Von Moltke. 

Napoleon was his own secretary of war, gov 
ernment. cabinet, and commander in the field, and 
for this very reason, he was Von Moltke' s inferior 
as a great commander, whose genius saw the weak 
point, the point of victory on the map of the 
enemy's country, and struck it with a quick and 
decisive blow. 

Our Civil War and the Franco- German War 
were closely together in time. War was hardly over 
in America when it commenced in Europe. Any 
student of German history who has studied the 
German-Prussian war, can not but know that Von 
Moltke was the pre-eminent captain in all the his- 
tories of wars. Had Washington or Richmond had 
his peer at the commencement of our struggle, the 
high probabilities are that the war would have 
been over before the first twelve months had ex- 
pired. 

In war, it is a fact, that it is the strategy be- 
fore the armies meet in battle array which decides 
the struggle. It is only thus that one man can 



become more powerful than a million with guns in 
their hands. It is in this sense — this application 
of the science of modern warfare, that a com- 
mander wins battles and decides victories. He 
conquers enemies, not by drawing his sword, biit, 
studying his maps in his qaiet den when others 
sleep, he directs the movements of his armies and 
leaves the details of the actual fight to others. He 
is indifferent to the actual fighting part of it, be- 
cause he has settled all that long beforehand by 
his orders. 

In all actual battles, as was testified by the 
Federal commanders before Congress about the 
battle of Gettysburg, if victory is not organized 
beforehand, all is chance, uncertainty, and both 
armies are little else than h(>adless mobs — ignorant 
of whether they are whipping or being whipped. 
The field commander may save the day and turn 
the tide and gain a victory, but what is it after all, 
— so many men killed and captured on either side, 
and then recruited up, and rested a little, only to 
repeat the bloody carnage again and again. 

Let it be assumed that th(> absence of great mil- 
itary genius on both sides is the highest compli- 
ment that can be paid to American civilization. War« 
is barbarism. The higher civilization will eradi- 
cate all practical knowledge of the brutality of 
warfare from men's minds. Then there will be 
no wars, save that of truth upon the false — intelli- 
gence upon ignorance How gi-andly divine will 
be, not only the great leaders in this holy straggle 
for victory, but the humblest of all privates! ' 







liL 



82 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



;illft»TER X. 



« > *>-^-^ 



Public Enterprises— The Real Estate Bank of Arkansas— State Roads and other IIiohways- 

The Military Roads— Navigation Within the State from the Earliest Times to the 

Present— Decadence of State Navigation— Steamboat Racing— Accidents to 

Boats— The Rise and Growth of the Railroad Systems— A Sketch 

of the Different Lines — Other Important Considerations. 



From the blessings they bestow 

Our times are dated, and our eras niove.- 



-Prwr. 




*HE first session of the new 
State legislature, among 
other acts, incorporated the 
State Bank, and as if fur- 
ther determined to show 
that the legislature was at 
least in the front in those 
days of wild-cat bank enterprises, 
proceeded to make money cheap 
and all rich by incorporating the 
celebrated Real Estate Bank of 
Arkansas. Already John Law's 
Mississippi bubble had been for- 
gotten — the old continental money 
and the many other distressing 
instances of those cruel but fas- 
cinating fictions of attempts to 
make credits wealth. No statesman in the world's 
history has ever yet made an approach to the 
accomplishment of such an impossibility, and still 
nearly all financial legislation is founded upon 
this basic idea. State and national banks have 
been the alluring will-o'-the-wisps in this per- 
sistent folly. All experience teaches that the 
government that becomes a money-clianger soon 
becomes the powerful robber, and the places of 
just rulers are filled with tax bandits — there the 



lordly rulers are banditti, and the people the most 
wretched of slaves. 

The State Bank was, as were all such institu- 
tions of that day in any of the States, demoraliz- 
ing in the financial affairs of the people, encourag- 
ing extravagance and debt, and deceiving men with 
the appearances of wealth to their ultimate ruin. 

The Real Estate Bank, as its name indicates, 
was for the purpose of loaning money on real 
estate security. Up to that time the American 
farmer had not learned to base his efforts upon any- 
thing except his labor. To produce something and 
sell it was the whole horizon of his financial educa- 
tion. If, while his crop was maturing, he needed 
subsistence he went to his merchant and bought 
the fewest possible necessities on credit. It was 
an evil hour when he was tempted to become a 
speculator. Yet there were some instances in 
which the loans on real estate resulted in enabling 
men to make finely improved cotton plantations. 
But the rule was to get people in debt and at the 
same time exhaust the cash in the bank. The 
bank could collect no money, and the real estate 
ovyner was struggling under mortgages he could 
not pay. Bothlender and borrower were sufferers, 
and the double infliction was upon them of a public 
and individual indebtedness. The Real Estate 



--S 



HISTOIIY OF ARKANSAS. 



83 



Bank made an assignment in 1842, and for years 
was the source of much litigation. It practically 
ceased to do business years before it had its doors 
closed and was wound up, and the titles to such 
lands as it had become the possessor of passed to 
the State. 

The old State Bank building, in front of the 
State house, is the only reminder of the institution 
which promised so much and did so little for the 
public. The old building is after the style of all 
such buildings — a low, two-story brick or stone, 
with huge Corinthian columns in front, having 
stone steps to ascend to the first floor. Similar 
structures can be found in Illinois, Missouri and 
all the Western and Southern States. The one in 
Little Eock is unsightly and gloomy and does little 
else but cumber the ground. It is in the way, ow- 
ing to a difficulty in the title, of such a modern 
and elegant building as would be in keeping with 
the rapidly advancing and beautiful "City of 
Roses." 

Roads and highways have always occupied pub- 
lic consideration. Being so crossed with rivers 
passing from the west toward the Mississippi 
River, the early settlers all over the confines of this 
State passed up the streams and for some time 
used these as the only needed highways. In the 
course of time they began to have bridle-paths 
crossing from settlement to settlement. 

The United States military road from Western 
Missouri passed through Arkansas and led on to 
Shreveport, La. This extended through East- 
ern Arkansas, and Arkansas Post was an import- 
ant point on the route. It was surveyed and 
partially cut out early in the nineteenth century. 
A monthly mail proceeded over the route on horse- 
back, the mail rider generally being able to carry 
the mail in his pocket. 

A trail at first was the road from the mouth of 
the White River to Ai-kansas Post. This portage 
soon became a highway, as much of the business 
and travel for the Post was landed at the mouth of 
White River and transported across to the Red 
River. 

In 1821 Congress authorized the survey and 
opening of a public highway from Memphis, via 



Little Rock, to Fort Smith. The work was com- 
pleted in 1823. This was the first highway of 
any importance in the Territory. The other routes 
mentioned above were nothing more than trails, or 
bridle-paths. A weekly mail between Little Rock 
and Memphis was established in 1829. 

In 1832 a government road leading on a di- 
rect line from Little Rock to Batesville was cut 
out, and the Indians removed from Georgia were 
brought by water to the capital and taken over 
this road. At that time it was the best public 
course as well as the longest in the State, and be- 
came in time the main traveled road from the 
northern part of the State to its center. 

Arkansas was settled sparsely along the Missis- 
sippi River some years before Fulton invented the 
steamboat. The first steamboat ever upon western 
waters passed down that river in the latter part 
of 1811 — the "Orleans," Capt. Roosevelt. 

The Indians had their light cedar bark canoes, 
and were remarkably expert in handling them. 
These were so light that the .squaws could carry 
them on their backs, and in their expeditions in 
ascending the streams frequently saved much time 
by traveling across the great bends of the river 
and carrying their conveyances. Of course in going 
with the current, they kept the stream, skimming 
over the waters with great speed. At one time the 
migrator}' Indians at stated seasons followed the 
buffalo from the Dakotas to the Gulf, the buffalo 
remaining near, and the Indians on the streams. 
The latter could thus out-travel the immonee 
herds and at certain points make forays upon 
them and so keep an abundant supply of meat. 
The buffalo had the curious habit of indulging 
in long stops when they came to a large river in 
their course, as if dreading to take to the water 
and swim across. They would gather on the bank 
of the river at the selected crossing-place, and 
after having devoured everything near at hand 
and hunger began to pinch, would collect into a 
close circle and begin to move, circling round 
and round, the inside ones ever crowding the out- 
side ones closer and closer to the water. This 
continued until some one, crowded into the deep 
water, bad to make the plunge, when all followed. 



jipy 



<5 k^ 



-A S- 



V> 



84 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



These animals when attacked by other animals, 
or when danger threatened, formed in a compact 
circle, with the cows and calves on the inside and 
the bulls on the outer ring. In this battle array 
there was nothing in the line of beasts that dared 
molest them. 

The white man came and to the canoe he added 
the skiff, the pirogue, the raft, the keel boat and 
the flat boat. The raft never made but one trip 
and that was down stream always, and when its 
destination was reached it was sold to be converted 
into lumber. Other water crafts could be hauled 
back by long tow lines, men walking on the banks 
and pulling them up stream. There are those now 
living who can remember when this was the only 
mode of river navigation. The younger people of 
this generation can form no adequate idea of the 
severity of the toil and the suffering necessarily in- 
volved in the long trips then made by these hardy 
pioneers. If the people of to-day were compelled 
to procure the simple commodities of life at such 
hard sacrifices, by such endurance, they would do 
without them, and go back to fig leaves and nuts 
and roots for subsistence. 

When Fulton and Livingston had successfully 
navigated their boat from Pittsburg to New Or- 
leans, they made the claim of a sort of royal patent 
to the exclusive navigation of the Mississippi River 
and its tributaries. This claim was put forth in 
perfect good faith and it was a new question as 
well as a serious one for the courts, when these 
claimants arrested Captain Shreve upon his arrival 
in New Orleans with his boat, and carried him be- 
fore the court to answer in damages for navi- 
gating by steam the river that belonged to them 
as the first steam navigators. This curious inci- 
dent indicates how little even the inventor of the 
steamboat appreciated of what vast importance to 
civilization his noble invention really was. To 
him and his friend it was but a small personal 
right or perquisite — a licensed monopoly, out of 
which they could make a few dollars, and when 
they passed away probably the invention too would 
die and be forgotten. How infinitely greater had 
the noble, immortal originator builded than he 
knew! The revolving paddles of the steamboat 



were but the wheels now whirling so rapidly be- 
neath the flying railroad trains over the civilized 
world. From this strange, rude craft, the ' ' Or- 
leans," have evolved the great steamships, iron-clad 
war vessels, and the palatial steamboats plying the 
inland waters wherever man's wants or luxuries 
are to be supplied. The genius and glory of such 
men as Fulton belong to no age, much less to 
themselves — they and theirs are a part of the world, 
for all time. 

In 1812 Jacob Barkman opened up a river 
trade between Arkadelphia and New Orleans, car- 
rying his first freights in a pirogue. It took six 
months to make a round trip. He conveyed to New 
Orleans bear skins and oil, pelts, and tallow se- 
cured from wild cattle, of which there were a great 
many; these animals had originally been brought 
to the country by the Spaniards and French, and 
had strayed away, and increased into great herds, 
being as wild and nearly as fleet as the deer. He 
brought back sugar, cofPee, powder, lead, flints, 
copperas, camphor, cotton and wool cards, etc., 
and soon after embarking was able to own his 
negro crews. He purchased the steamboat ' ' Dime ' ' 
and became one of the most extensive and enter- 
prising men in the State. With his boat he ascended 
rivers, and purchased the cotton, owning his cargo, 
for a return trip. 

In 1819, James Miller, the first governor of the 
Territory, and a military suite of twenty persons, 
embarked at Pittsburg in the United States keel- 
boat, " Arkansas, " for Arkansas Post. The trip 
occupied seventy days, reaching the point of desti- 
nation January 1, 1820. It was difScult to tell 
which excited the greatest curiosity among the 
natives — the new governor or the keel-boat. 

The flood-tide of western river navigation 
reached its highest wave soon after the close of the 
late war. The Mississippi River and tributaries 
were crowded with craft, and the wharves of cities 
and towns along the banks were lined with some 
of the finest boats ever built, all freighted to the 
water's edge and crowded with passengers. Build- 
ers vied with each other in turning out the most 
magnificent floaters, fitted with every elegance and 
luxury money could procure. The main point after 



.h3I 




elegance, in which they rivaled most, was the speed 
of their respective craft. From the close of the 
war to 1870. steamboating was the overshadowing 
business on western waters. Of the boats of this 
era, some will go into history, noted for their 
fleetness, but unlike the fleet horses of history, 
they could not leave their strain in immortal de- 
scendants, rivaling their celebrated feats. Racing 
between boats that happened to come together on 
the river was common, and sometimes reckless 
and dangerous, as well as exciting. Occasionally 
a couple of ' ' tubs, ' ' as the boys called a slow 
boat, engaged in a race and away they would go, 
running for hours side by side, the stokers all 
the time piling in the most inflammable material 
they could lay hands on, especially pine knots and 
fat bacon, until the eager flames poured out 
of the long chimney tops; and it was often told 
that the captain, rather than fall behind in the 
race, would seat a darkey on the end of the lever 
of the safety valve, and at the same time scream 
at the stokers to pile on the bacon, pine knots, oil, 
anything to make steam. Roustabouts, ofiicers, 
crew and passengers were all as wildly excited as 
the captain, and as utterly regardless of dangers. 
From such recklessness accidents of course did hap- 
pen, but it is wonderful there were so few. 

Not infrequently commanders would regularly 
engage beforehand for a race of their boats; fixing 
the day and time and as regularly preparing their 
vessels as a jockey trains and grooms his race-horse. 
The two most noted contests of this kind on the 
Mississippi River were, first, in the early times, 
between the " Shotwell " and "Eclipse," from 
Louisville to New Orleans. The next and greatest 
of all was just at the time of the commencement of 
the decline in steamboating, between the steamers 
"Robert E. Lee" and "Natchez," from New Or- 
leans to St. Louis. The speed, the handling of 
these boats, the record they made, have never been 
equaled and probably never will be, unless steam- 
boating is revived by some new invention. The 
race last mentioned took place in 18(58. 

Fearful steamboat calamities, from explosions 
and from fires, like the awful railroad accidents, 
have marked the era of steam navigation. 



The most disastrous in history occurred in 1805, 
in the loss of the " Sultana," on the Mississippi, a 
few miles above Memphis, a part of the navigable 
waters of Arkansas. The boat was on her wa}' up 
stream from New Orleans laden principally with 
soldiers, some of them with their fanulies, and 
several citizens as passengers. There were 2,350 
passengers and crew on the vessel. A little after 
midnight the sudden and awful explosion of the 
boilers came, literally tearing the boat to pieces, 
after which the wreck took tire. Over 2,000 peo- 
ple perished. 

The early decline of the steamboat industry 
kept even pace with the building of railroads over 
the country. Main lines of railroads were soon 
built, the streams being used as natural road beds 
thi'ough the rock hills and mountains. In passing 
over the country in trains one will now often see 
the flowing river close to the railroad track on one 
hand, when from the opposite window the high 
rock mountain wall may almost be touched. Then, 
too, the large towns were along the navigable riv 
ers, lakes and ocean. The sage conclusion of the 
philosopher when he went out to look at the world, 
and was impressed with the curious coincidence 
that the rivers ran so close by the big towns, is a 
trite one: A great convenience to those who used 
water. 

The first railroad built in Arkansas was the 
Memphis & Little Rock Railroad. Work was com- 
menced with the intention of first constructing it 
from Little Rock to Devall's Bluff, on Whitf' 
River, whence passengers might proceed by boat 
to Memphis. It was started at both ends of the 
line and finished in 1859, the next j'ear being 
extended to St. Francis River, and then in 1860 
completed to the river opposite Memphis. When 
the Federal army took possession of the ^Mississippi 
River, and their forces began to possess the north- 
eastern portion of the State, the Confederates as 
they rotireil toward Little Rock destroyed the road 
and burned the bridges. Indeed, when the war 
ended in 1865, Arkansas was without a mile of 
railroad. Soon after the war closed the road was 
rebuilt and put in operation, and for some time 
was the only one in the State. 



T' 



.£. 



86 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



The next was the old Cairo & Fulton Railroad, 
now the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern 
Road. It was organized in 1853, and in 1854-55 
obtained a large Congressional land grant in aid 
of the enterprise, and built first from Fulton to 
Beebe, in 1872; it was completed to Texarkana 
in 1873, and soon came to be the most important 
line in the State. The Camden branch, fiom Gur- 
don to Camden, was completed in 1882. The Mem- 
phis branch, from Bald Knob to Memphis, ninety- 
three miles, was finished and the first passenger 
train passed over the line May 10, 1888. The 
branch from Newport to Cushman, a distance of 
forty-six miles, was built in 1882. The Helena 
branch, from Noble to Helena, 140 miles, was com- 
pleted in 1882. 

The main line of the St. Louis & L'on Moun- 
tain Railroad enters the State on the north, at 
Moark (combination for Missouri and Arkansas), 
and passes out at Texarkana (combination for 
Arkansas and Texas). The distance between these 
two points is 305 miles. 

The first section of the St. Louis, Arkansas & 
Texas Railroad, from Clarendon to Jonesboro, was 
built in 1882, and the next year completed to Tex- 
arkana. It was built as a yarrow gauge and made 
a standard gauge in 1886. Its northern terminus 
for some time was Cairo, where it made its St. 
Louis connection over the St. Louis & Cairo Nar- 
row Gauge Road, now a standard, and a part of the 
Mobile & Ohio system. The Magnolia branch of 
this road runs from McNeal to Magnolia, about 
twenty miles, and was built in 1885. The Althei- 
uier branch, from Altheimer to Little Rock, was 
constructed and commenced operation in 1888. 
The main line of this road enters the State from 
the north in Clay County, on the St. Francis River, 
penetrating into Texas at Texarkana. 

The Little Rock, Mississippi River & Texas 
Railroad, now in course of construction, is a much 
needed road from Little Rock to Pine Bluff, on to 
Warren and Mississippi, and will form an important 
outlet for Arkansas toward the Gulf. This was 
built from Arkansas City to Pine Bluff, and then 
completed to Little Rock in 1880. 

The Pine Bluff & Swan Lake Railroad was 



built in 1885. It is twenty-six miles long, and 
runs between the points indicated by its name. 

The Arkansas Midland Railroad, from Helena 
to Clarendon, was built as a narrow gauge and 
changed to a standard road in 1886. 

The Batesville & Brinkley Railroad is laid as 
far as Jacksonport. It was changed in 1888 to a 
standard gauge, and is now in course of construc- 
tion on to Batesville. 

The Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis Rail- 
road enters the State at Mammoth Spring, and 
runs to West Memphis. Its original name was 
Kansas City, Springfield & Memphis Railroad. It 
now is a main line from Kansas City to Birming- 
ham, Ala. 

Work was commenced on the Little Rock & 
Fort Smith Railroad in 1871 at Little Rock, and 
built to Ozark; later it was finished to Van Buren, 
there using a transfer, and was completed to Fort 
Smith. 

The Hot Springs Railroad, from Malvern, on the 
main line of the Iron Mountain Railroad, to Hot 
Springs, was built and is owned by "Diamond 
Joe" Reynolds. Operations were commenced in 
1874. 

The line of the St. Louis & San Francisco Rail- 
road passes near the west line of Arkansas adjacent 
to Fort Smith. There is a branch road of this 
line from Jensen to Mansfield, sixteen miles long. 

It looks a little as though the sponsor for the 
name of the Ultima Thule. Arkadelphia & Missis- 
sippi Railroad intended to use the name for a main 
track through the State. It was built in 1887 for 
the use of the Arkadelphia Lumber Company. 
Eureka Springs branch runs from Seligman to Eu- 
reka Springs. Another branch goes from Rogers 
to Bentonville. Still another, extending from Fay- 
etteville to St. Paul, is thirty-five miles in length. 
The branch from Fayetteville is now in course of 
building. 

The Russellville & Dardanelle Railroad is four 
miles long, extending from the south bank of the 
Arkansas River to Russellville. 

The Southwestern, Arkansas & Indian Terri- 
tory Railroad indicates that there is nothing in a 
name, as this road is but twenty- seven miles long, 



^ i 



^ 



^1 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



running from Southland to Okolona on the west, 
and also extending east from the main line. 

A line is being surveyed and stops actively 
taken to build a road from Kansas City to Little 
Rock, which is to cross the Boston Mountains near 
the head waters of White River. 

Several other important lines are at this time 



making preparations to build in the near future. 
Charters for nearly 100 routes in the State have 
been secured since 1885. There is not only plenty 
of room, but a great necessity for yet hundreds of 
miles of now roads here. They will greatly facili- 
tate the development of the immense resources of 
this favored locality. 



ilitiii XI. 



♦ > * < «• 



The Counties of the State— Their Formation and Changes of Boundary Lines, etc.— Their 

County Seats and othe.r Items of Interest Concerning Tiiem— Defunct Counties- New 

Counties— Population of all the Counties of the State at every General Census. 




Not cliaos-Iike. together crush'd and liruised; 

But as the world, harmoniously confused; 

Where order in varietj' we see, 

And where, though all things diflfer, thej- aijree. — Pope. 



■ ERHAPS to many, no more 
interesting subject in the 
history of the State can be 
presented than that refer- 
ring to the name, organiza- 
tion, etc., of each county 
QJ, ■'/-''■ t^'''' "^''* within its limits. Careful 

^^^i\'*'» research has brought forth the fol- 
lowing facts presented in a concise, 
but accurate manner: 

Arkansas County was formed 
Decemljer 13, 1818. As the lir.st 
municipal formation within the 
boundary of the State, in Lower Mis- 
souri Territory, it was first a parish 
under Spanish rule and then under 
French. Octolier 23, 1821. a part 
of Phillips County was added to it; the line be- 
tween Pulaski and Arkansas was changed October 
30, 1823; Quapaw Purchase divided between Ar- 




kansas and Pulaski October 13, 1827; line between 
Arkansas and Phillips defined November 21, 1829; 
boundaries defined November 7, 1836. County 
seat, De Witt; first county seat, Arkansas — oppo- 
site Arkansas Post. 

Ashley, formed November 30, 1848, named for 
Hon. Chester Ashley, who died a United States 
Senator; line between Chicot changed January 19, 
1801. County seat, Hamburg. 

Baxter, March 24, 1873; line between Izard and 
Fulton defined October 16, 1875; line between 
Marion changed March 9, 1881. County seat. 
Mountain Home. 

Benton. Sejitember 30, 1836, named in honor'' 
of Hon. Thomas H. Benton. County seat, Ben- 
tonville. 

Boone, April 9. 1809 ; named for Daniel 
Boone; line between Marion defined December 9, 
1875. Harrison, county seat. 

Bradley, December 18, 1840; part of Calhoun 



I 



\^ 



88 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



attached October 19, 1802; part restored to Ashley 
County January 1, 1859. Warren, county seat. 

Calhoun, December 0, 1850; named for John 
C. Calhoun; part added to Union and Bradley 
November 19, 1862. County seat, Hampton. 

Carroll, November 1, 1833; named in honor of 
the signer of the declaration; boundary defined 
December 14, 1838; line between Madison defined 
January, 11, 1843, and again January 20, 1843; 
line between Marion defined December 18, 1846; 
line between Madison defined December 29, 1854, 
and again January 16, 1857; part of Madison 
attached April 8, 1869. Berryville, county seat. 

Chicot, October 25, 1823; boundary defined 
November 2, 1835; part attached to Drew Decem- 
ber 21, 1846; line between Ashley changed 
January 19, 1861; line between Drew changed 
November 30, 1875; line changed between Desha 
February 10, 1879. Lake Village, county seat. 

Clark, December 15, 1818, while Lower Mis- 
souri Territory; named in honor of Gov. Clark, 
of Missouri; the line between Pulaski and Clark, 
changed October 30, 1823; divided November 2, 
1829; line between Hot Springs and Dallas changed 
April 3, 1868; line between Pike defined April 
22, 1873; line between Montgomery changed April 
24, 1873; line between Pike changed March 8, 
1887. Arkadelphia, county seat. 

Clay, March 24, 1873; named for Henry Clay. 
This county, formed as Clayton County, was changed 
to Clay on December 6, 1875. The act of March 
24, 1873, changed the boundaries of a large num- 
ber of counties. Boydsville and Corning, county 
seats. 

Cleburne, formed February 20, 1883; named 
in honor of Gen. Patrick A. Clebui'ne. Heber is 
the county seat. 

Cleveland, formed in 1885; named for President 
Cleveland ; was formed as Dorsey County. Toledo, 
county seat. 

Columbia, December 17, 1852; part of Union 
County added December 21, 1858; line between 
Nevada defined April 19, 1873. Magnolia, county 
seat. 

Conway, December 7, 1825; named after the 
noted Conways; the northeast boundary defined 



October 27, 1827; line between Pulaski and Con- 
way defined October 20, 1828; part of Indian pur- 
chase added October 22, 1828; line between Con- 
way, Pulaski and Independence defined November 
5, 1831; part added to Pope January 6, 1853; 
part added to White January 11, 1853; act of 
March, 1873; line between Pope defined May 28, 
1874. County seat, Morrillton. 

Craighead, formed February 19, 1850. Jones- 
boro, county seat. 

Crawford, October 18, 1820; boundary was 
changed October 30, 1823; divided and county 
of Lovely established October 13, 1827; part of 
the Cherokee Country attached to, October 22, 
1828; boundary defined December 18, 1837; line 
between Scott defined; line between Washington 
defined November 24, 1846; line between Frank- 
lin defined March 4, 1875; line changed between 
Washington March 9, 1881. Van Buren, county 
seat. 

Crittenden, October 22, 1825; named for Rob- 
ert Crittenden; St. Francis River declared to be 
the line between St. Francis and Crittenden Coun- 
ties November, 1831; portion attached to Missis- 
sippi County January, 1861; act, March, 1873. 
Marion, county seat. 

Cross, November 15, 1862, 1866, 1873. Witts- 
burg, the county seat. 

Dallas, January 1, 1845; line between Hot 
Springs and Clark changed April 3, 1869. Prince- 
ton the county seat. 

Desha, December 12, 1838; named for Hon. 
Ben Desha; portion attached to Drew January 21, 
1861; part of Chicot attached February 10, 1879; 
also of Lincoln, March 10, 1879. Arkansas City, 
county seat. 

Drew, November 26, 1846; part Chicot attached 
December 21, 1846; jiart of Desha attached Jan- 
uary 21, 1861; March, 1873; line between Chicot 
changed November 30, 1875. Monticello, county 
seat. 

Faulkner, April 12, 1873; line defined Decern- ' 
7, 1875. Conway, county seat. 

Franklin, December 19, 1837; line between 
Johnson defined December 14, 1833; line between 
Crawford defined March 4, 1875. Ozark, county seat. 






k 




Fulton, December 21, 1842; part attached to 
Marion County January 18, 1855; part of Law- 
rence attached January 18, 1855, March, 1873; 
line between Baxter and Izard defined February 
Ifi, 1875. County seat, Salem. 

Garland, April 5, 1873; named after Gov. 
A. H. Garland. Hot Sprin<:fs, county seat. 

Grant, February 4, 1869. Sheridan, county 
seat. 

Greene, November 5, 1833; act March, 1873. 
Paragould, county seat. 

Hempstead, December 15, 1818, when this 
was Lower Missouri Territory; Lafayette County 
carved out of this territory October 15, 1827; line 
between Pike defined December 14, 1838. Wash- 
ington, county seat. 

Hot Spring, November 2, 1829; certain lands 
attached to March 2, 1838; Montgomery taken out 
of December 9, 1842; line between Saline defined 
December 23, 1846; line between Montgomery 
changed December 27, 1848; line between Saline 
changed February 19, 1859, and changed again 
January 10, 1861; line between Clark and Dallas 
changed April 3, 1869; March, 1873. Malvern, 
county seat. 

Howard, April 17, 1873. County seat, Centre 
Point. 

Independence, October 20, 1820; part of east- 
ern boundary defined October 30, 1823; Izard 
County formed of October 27, 1825 ; part of Inde- 
pendence added October 22, 1828; line between 
Independence and Izard defined November 5, 1831 ; 
line between Independence and Conway, November 
5, 1831; between Independence and Jackson, No 
vember8, 1836; between Izard February 21, 1838; 
December 14, 1840; Lawrence changed December 
26, 1840; March. 1873; Sharp County defined Feb- 
ruary 11, 1875. Batesville, county seat. 

Izard, October 27, 1825; western boundary 
line extended October 13, 1827; part of the Indian 
purchase added October 22, 1828; between Inde- 
pendence and Izard defined November 5. 1831; 
between Conway and Izard. November 5, 1831; 
southern boundary established November 11, 1833; 
line between Independence defined February 21, 
1838, and December 14. 1838, and December 21, 



1840; western boundary line defined December 24, 
1840, March, 1873; between Baxter and Fulton 
defined February 16, 1875; between Sharp changed 
March 9, 1877. Melbourne, county seat. 

Jackson, November 5, 1829; line between In- 
dependence defined Noveoiber 8, 1836; part of 
St. Francis attached January 10, 1851. Jackson- 
port, county seat. 

Jefferson, November 2, 1829; boundaries de- 
fined November 3, 1831, and again October 29, 
1836; line changed between Lincoln and Desha 
March 20, 1879. Pine Bluff, county seat. 

Johnson, Novemlier 16, 1833; southern line 
defined November 3, 1835; east line defined Octo- 
ber 5, 1836; line between Franklin defined Decem- 
ber 14, 1838, 1848; between Pope February 19, 
1859, again March 27, 1871; line between Pope 
re-established on March 6, 1875; between Pope 
changed March 9, 1877. Clarksville, county seat. 

Lafayette, October 15. 1827; the line between 
Union defined November 26, 1846. Lewisville, 
county seat. 

Lawrence, on January 15, 1815, while Lower 
Missouri Territory ; east line defined October 30, 
1823; between Independence changed December 
20, 1840; part attached to Fulton January IS, 
1855; part attached to Randolph January 18, 
1861; nearly half the county cut off the west side 
to form Sharp County, 1868. Powhatan, county 
seat. 

Lee, April 17, 1873. Marianna, county seat. 

Lincoln, March 28, 1871; part transferred to 
Desha County, March 10, 1879. Star City, county 
seat. 

Little River, March 5, 1867. Richmond is the 
county seat. 

Logan, originally Sarber County, March 22, 
1871; amended, February 27. 1873; changed to 
Logan, December 14, 1875; line between Scott 
changed, March 21, 1881. Paris, county seat. 

Lonoke, April 16. 1873; named for the lone 
oak tree, by simply spelling phonetically — the 
suggestion of the chief engineer of the Cairo & 
Fulton Railroad. Line between Prairie defined 
November 30, 1875, and again, December 7, 1875. 
Lonoke, county seat. 



iTi: 



V 



90 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Lovely, October 13, 1827; abolished October 

17, 1828.' 

Madison, September 30, 1836; west boundary 
changed on November 26, 1838; between Carroll 
defined January 11, 1843, and again January 20, 
1843, 1846; between Newton, December 21, 1848; 
between Carroll, April 8, 1869. Huntsville, county 
seat. 

Marion, September 25, 1836; originally Searcy 
County; changed to Marion, September 29, 1836 
(Searcy County created out of December 13, 1838); 
west boundary defined November 18, 1837; between 
Carroll defined December 18, 1846; part of Fulton 
attached January 18, 1855; between Van Bureu 
and Searcy defined January 20, 1855, and March, 
1873; line between Boone defined December 9, 
1875; line between Baxter changed March 9, 1881. 
Yellville, county seat. 

Miller, April 1, 1820; the greater portions fell 
within the limits of Texas; county abolished there- 
fore, 1836; re-established, December 22, 1874, and 
eastern boundary extended. Texarkana, county seat. 

Mississippi, November 1, 1833, 1859; portion 
of Crittenden attached, January 18, 1861. Osceola, 
county seat. 

Monroe, November 2, 1829; boundaries defined 
December 25, 1840; line between Prairie changed 
December 7, 1850; line changed April 12, 1869, 
March, 1873, April, 1873, and May 27, 1874. 
Clarendon, county seat. 

Montgomery, December 9, 1842; line between 
Yell defined January 2, 1845; between Perry, 
December 23, 1846; between Perry re-established 
December 21, 1848; between Hot Spring changed 
December 27, 1848; between Polk changed Feb- 
ruary 7,1859, March, 1873; between Clark changed 
April 24, 1873; line between Pike defined Decem- 
ber 16, 1874. Mount Ida, county seat. 

Nevada, March 20, 1871; line between Colum 
bia defined April 10, 1873. Prescott, county seat. 

Newton, December 14, 1842; line between 
Madison defined December 21,1848; between Pope 
January 10, 1853. Jasper, county seat. 

Ouachita, November 29, 1842; line between 
Union changed January 6, 1853. Camden, county 
seat. 



Perry, December 18, 1840; line between Pul- 
aski, Saline and Montgomery defined December 
23, 1846; old line between Montgomery re-estab- 
lished December 21,1848. Perryville, county seat. 

Phillips, May 1, 1820; part attached to Arkan- 
sas County October 23, 1881; west boundary 
defined October 30, 1823; act to divide and create 
Crittenden County October 22, 1825; divided and 
St. Francis County created October 13, 1827; line 
between Arkansas County defined November 21, 
1828, 1840, March, 1873. Helena, county seat. 

Pike, November 1, 1833; line between Sevier 
defined November 15,1833; between Hempstead, 
December 14, 1838; between Clark, April 22, 
1873; between Montgomery, December 16, 1874: 
between Clark defined March 8, 1877. Murfrees- 
boro, county seat. 

Poinsett, February 28, 1838, 1859. Harris- 
burg, county seat. 

Polk, November 30, 1844; line between Mont- 
gomery changed February 7, 1859; part of Sebas- 
tian County added by ordinance of convention, 
June 1, 1861. Dallas, county seat. 

Pope, November 2, 1829; part added to Yell 
January 5, 1853; part of Conway attached Janu- 
ary 6, 1853; line between Newton, January 10, 
1853; part of Van Buren attached January 12, 
1853; between Van Buren defined February 17, 
1859; between Johnson, October 19, 1859, March, 
27, 1871; between Conway, May 28,' 1874; between 
Johnson re-established March 6, 1875; between 
Johnson changed March 9, 1877. Dover, county 
seat. 

Prairie, October 25, 1846; between Pulaski 
changed December 30, 1848; between Monroe 
changed December 7, 1850; line changed April 12, 
1869; between White defined April 17, 1873; line 
changed April 26, 1873, May 27, 1874; between 
Lonoke changed November 30, 1875; separated 
into two districts, 1885. Devall's Blufi^, county 
seat. 

Pulaski, December 15, 1818, while a part of 
Lower Missouri Territory ; line between Arkansas 
and Pulaski October 30, 1823; between Clark 
changed October 30, 1823; divided October 20, 
1825; Quapaw Purchase divided— Arkansas and 



y: 



<s w. 



:i£: 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



'Jl 



Pulaski, October 13, 1827; northwest boundary 
defined October 23, 1827; between Pulaski and 
Conway, October 20, 1828; line between Saline 
defined February 25, 1838, December 14, 1838; 
between White changed February 3, 1843; between 
Saline defined December 21, 1840; between Perry 
defined December 23, 1846; between Prairie 
changed December 30, 1848; betwei^n Saline de- 
fined April 12, 1873; again, December 7, 1S75. 
Little Rock, county seat. 

Randolph. October 29, 1835; part of Lawrence 
attached January 18, 18fi4, March, 1873. Poca- 
hontas, county seat. 

Saline, November 2, 1835; boundaries defined 
November 5, 1S36; between Pulaski, February 25, 
1838, December 14, 1838, December 21, 1846; be- 
tween Hot Spring, December 23, 1840, February 
19, 1859, January 19,1801; between Pulaski, April 
12, 1873, December 17, 1875. Benton, county 
seat. 

Scott, November 5, 1833; boundaries defined 
October 24, 1835; between Crawford, December 
10, 1838; part of Sebastian attached by conven- 
tion June 1, 1801; line between Logan changed 
March 21, 1873. Waldron, county seat. 

Searcy, November 5, 1835; boundaries defined 
September 20, 1830; name changed to Marion 
September 29, 1836; county created out of Marion 
December 13, 1838; between Van Buren defined 
October 2, 1853; between Van Biu-eu and Marion 
defined October 20, 1855, March, 1873. Marshall, 
county seat. 

Sebastian, January 6,^ 1851; part attached to 
Scott and Polk by the convention June 1, 1861. 
Fort Smith and Greenwood, county seats. 

Sevier, October 17, 1828; boundaries defined 
November 8, 1833; between Pike, November 15, 
1833; southeast boundary defined October 20, 
1836. Lockesburg, county seat. 

Sharp, July 18, 1868; act March 3, 1873; be- 
tween Independence defined February 11, 1875; 



line between Izard changed March 9, 1877, 1883. 
Evening Shade, comity seat. 

St. Francis, October 13, 1827; St. Francis 
River declared boundary line between Crittenden 
November 3, 1831; part attached to Jackson Jan- 
uary 1, 1851, March, 1873. Forrest City, county 
seat. 

Stone, April 21, 1S73. Mountain View, county 
seat. 

Union, November 2, 1829; boundaries defined 
November 5, 1830; line between Lafayette, 
November 20,1840; line between Ouachita changed 
January 6, 1853; part added to Columbia, Decem- 
ber 21, 1851; part of Calhoun attached October 
19, 1862. El Dorado, county seat. 

Van Buren, November 11, 1833; boundaries 
defined November 4, 1836; part attached to Pope 
January 12, 1853; between Searcy and Marion 
defined Jaiiuary 20, 1855; between Pope defined 
February 17, 1859. Clinton, county seat. 

Washington, October 17, 1828; certain land-s 
declared to be in Washington County October 26, 
1831; line between Crawford defined November 
24, 1846; line changed between Crawford March 
8, 1883. Fayetteville, county seat. 

White, October 23, 1S35; line between Pulaski 
changed February 3, 1843; part of Conway at- 
tached January 11, 1853; line between Prairie 
defined April 17, 1873. Searcy, county seat. 

Woodruff, November 26, 1802; but vote, in 
pursuance to ordinance of conventions 1861, 1866y 
1869; line changed April 26, 1873. Augusta, 
county seat. 

Yell, December 5, 1840; northern boundary, 
December 21, 1840; line between Montgomery, 
January 2, 1845; part Pope attached January 6, 
1853. Danville and Dardanelle, county seats. 

The following tal)le will prove valuable for 
comparison in noting the growth in population 
of the counties throughout the State in the various 
decades from their organization: 



r"K: 



,_4^ 



92 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



AGGREGATE POPULATION BY CODSTIES. 


AGGREGATE POPULATION BY COUNTIES. 






CouDlies in 


1880 


1870 


1860 1 1850 


1840 


1830 


1820 


1810 


Counties in 
the State. 


1880 1870 


1860 


1850 i 


1840 

37,674 


1830 ' 1820 
30,388. 14,255 


1810 


the S(ate. 


302,52s 


184,471 


l35,46oi 209,897 


97,574 


E0,388 


14,255 


1,062 


802,525 484,471 435,450 

i 
1 ~ 


209,897 


1,062 


Arkansas 

Ashley 

Baxter 

Benton 

Boone 

Bradley 

Calhoun 

Carroll 


8,038 
10,156 
6,004 
20,327 
1'2,146 
6,2H5 
5,071 
13,337 
10,117 
15,771 
7,213 
14.090 
I'2,765 
7,11.37 
14,740 
9,415 
6,050 
6,6'i5 
8,873 
8,370 
12,231 
12,786 
14,951 
6,720 
9,023 
6,185 
7,480 
19,0)5 
7,775 
9,917 
18,086 
10,857 
10,877 
22,386 


8,238 
8,042 

13,'83i' 
7,032 
8,646 
3,853 
6,780 
7,214 

11,953 

"u',397 
8,112 
4,577 
8,957 
3,831 
3,915 
5,707 
6,125 


8,884 
8,690 

'9,306 

"8,388' 
4,103 
9,383 
9,234 
9,735 

12,439 
6,697 
3.060 
7,850 
4,920 


3,246 
2,058 

"sVfi'o 

"3,829 

"4,617 
5,115 
4,070 

"3,'583 

"7,960 
2,6i8 


1,346 

2,228' 

2,'8i'4' 
3,806 
2,300 

'2','89'2 

'4,'266 
1,561 


1,426 

i','l'65 
1,369 

"982 

'2','44'0 
1,272 


1,260 


1,063 

; 


Lee 

Lincoln 

Little River 

Logan 

Lonoke 

Madison 

Marion 

Miller 

Mississippi 

Monroe 

Montgomery 

Nevada 

Newton 

Ouachita 

Perry 

Phillips 


13,288 ' 

9,255 1 

6,405 1 3,246 

14,885! 

12,146 : 

11,4.65 1 8,231 

7,907 : 3,979 

9,919 

7,142 3,6;i3 


6,192 

■'s'.'sm' 

5,657 
3,633 

"s'ffl's 

12,936 
2,465 

14,877 
4,025 
3,621 
4,262 
7,883 
8,864 

11,699 
6,261 
8,672 
6,540 
5,142 
6,271 


'4,82.3 
2,308 

"2,'3(j8 
2,049 
1,958 

"i'.'TSS 
9,591 
978 
6,935 
1,801 
2,308 
1,263 
4,710 
2,097 
6,657 
3,275 
4,4.67 
3,903 
3.083 
1,979 


2,775 
1,325 

1,416 
936 


""•iei' 




"::."::: 


Clark 

Clay 

Columbia 


'i','646 




9,574 

5,729 

12,959 
6,120 

11,758 
3,872 

21,262 
6,345 
2,192 
6,857 

14,322 
«.4,35 

32,616 

11,724 
8,389 
8,963 
9,174 
7,278 

19,660 
6,192 
9,047 
5,089 

13,419 


2,984 

"4,'37'4' 

12,975 
2,685 

15,372 
3,788 
1,720 
8,376 
8,386 
5,604 

32,066 
7,466 
6,714 
3,911 
7,483 
5.613 

12,940 
4,492 
6,400 

"io,'57i 

























Crawford 

Crittenden 







3,.647 

969 

1,320 


1,152 


1,197 




Cross 

Dallas 


'8,'283 
6,4.59 


6,877 
2,911 




......... 






Poinsett 

Polk 

Pope 

Prairie 

Pulaski 

Randolph 

St. Francis 

Saline 

Scott 

Searcy 

Sebastian 

Sevier 

Sharp 

Stone 








Desha 

Dorsey 


1,698 








2,8.60 


i,'483 






9,960 

"9,'627' 
4,843 


9,687 
4,024 


3,276 

"3,972 
1,819 


'2,'665 





E:: 




5,3.60 
2,196 
2,499 
2,061 
1,694 
9.36 


2,395 

"I'.'sos 


1,921 




Faulkner 

Franklin 




Fulton 

Garland 

Grant 












3,943 

7,573 

13,768 

5,877 

'l4,666 
6,806 
7,268 
15,733 











1 


'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 


Greene 

Hempstead 

Hot Spring 

Howard 

Independence.. 
Izard 


13.989 
5,636 

ii',307 

7,216 
10,493 
14,971 
7,612 
8.464 
9,373 


7,672 
3,609 

"'7,767 
3,212 
3.086 
6,834 
5,227 
5,220 
6,274 


4,921 
1,907 

'3,669 
2,240 
1,640 
2.566 
3,433 
2,280 
2,835 
1 


'2,'5i'2' 

458 

'2,'0'3'i 

1,266 

333 

772 


2,246 1 


lo'.sie 

"i'i'.isi 
6,357 

14,673 
8,316 

"6,333 


"4','246 

"i'o'm's 

2,8M 
9,970 
2,619 

"3,341 


"2,'8"i'0 

"2,'8'8'9 

1.518 

7,148 

920 


""esi" 
""""eio 



















••'•"••-• 


Van Buren 

Washington 

White 






Jackson 






23,884 1 17,266 

17,794 10,.347 

8.646 6,981 

13,852 8,048 


5.182 







Jefferson 









Johnson 

Lafayette 


6,730 i 9,1.39 


748 
2,806 


'5,'592 




Woodruff. 

Yell 




......... 


Lawrence 





























-7; 



^1 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



m 



(3 ■ 



:iAff£t XII. 



' > ■♦ < ♦ 



Education— The Mental Type Considered— Territorial Schools, Law.s and Funds- Constitutional 

Provisions fob Education— Legislative Provisions— Progress .since the War- The State 

Superintendents— Statistics— Arkansas Literature— The Arkansaw Traveler. 




Delightful task! to rear the tender thought, 

To teach the young idea how to shoot; 

To pour the fresh instructions o'er the mind. 

To breathe th' enlivening spirit, and to ti.\ 

The generous purpose in the glowing breast.— Thomson. 



ERE is one subject 
at least in the economic 
institutions of our country 
where men do not divide 
on political lines. To the 
historian it is a restful 
and refreshing oasis in 
the arid desert. From 
the Canadas to the Gulf commun- 
ities and States earnestly vie with 
each other in the establishment of 
the best public schools. The pres- 
ent generation has nearly supplant- 
ed the former great universities 
with the free public high schools 
A generation ago the South sent its 
boys to the North to school; the 
North sent its boys to the old universities of Europe. 
Oxford and Heidelburg received the sons of ambi- 
tious, wealthy Americans of the North, while Yale, 
Harvard and Jefferson Colleges were each the alma 
mater of many of the youths of the South. The 
rivaliy in the schools between the two sections at 
that time was not intense, but the educa'ed j'oung 
men of the South met in sharpest rivalry in the 
halls of Congress the typical Northern man. As 
the highest types of the North and the South in 



active political life may be placed Thomas Jeffer- 
son and Daniel Webster. In peace or in war the 
differences in the intellectual advancement of the 
two sections were more imaginary than real. The 
disadvantage the South met was the natural ten- 
dency to produce an aristocratic class in the com- 
munity. Cotton and the negro were impediments 
in the Southern States that clogged the way to the 
advancement of the masses. They retarded the 
building of great institutions of learning as well as 
the erection of large manufactories. This applied 
far more to collegiate education than to the com 
mon or public school system. The Southern man 
who was able to send his children away from his 
State to school realized that he gave them two ad- 
vantages over keeping them at home; he aided 
them in avoiding negro contact and association, 
and provided the advantage of a better knowledge 
of different peoples in different sections. 

Arkansas may have lagged somewhat in the 
cause of education in the past, but to-day, though 
young as a State, it is far in advance of many older 
communities who are disposed to boast greatly of 
their achievements in this direction. 

"When still a Territory the subject of education 
received wise and considerate attention. March 
2, 1827, Congress gave the State seventy two 



^' 



/J^^ 



94 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



sections of land for the purpose of establishing 
"a seminary of learning." A supplemental act 
was passed by Congress, June 23, 1836, one week 
after it became a State, offering certain propo- 
sitions for acceptance 'or rejection: 1. The six- 
teenth section of every township for school pur- 
poses. 2. The seventy-two sections known as the 
saline lands. By article 9, section 4, State con- 
stitution of 1869, these lands were given to the free 
schools. 3. The seventy-two sections, known as 
the seminary lands, given to the Territory in 1827, 
were vested and contirmed in the State of Arkansas 
for the use of said seminary. October 18, 1836, 
the State accej)ted the propositions entire; and the 
legislature passed the act known as ' ' the ordinance 
of acceptance and compact." December 18, 1844, 
the general assembly asked Congress for a modi- 
fication of the seminary grant, so as to authorize 
the legislature to appropriate these seventy-two 
sections of land for common school purposes. 
Congress assented to this on July 29, 1846, and 
the lands were added to the free school fund. 
These congressional land grants formed the basis of 
the State's free school system. 

The first State constitution of 1836 recognized 
the im[)ortance of popular education, and made it 
the duty of the general assembly to provide by 
law for the improvement of such lands as are, or 
may be, granted by the United States for the use 
of schools, and to pass such laws as ' ' shall be cal- 
culated to encourage intellectual, scientific and 
agricultural improvement." 

The general assembly of 1842 established a sys- 
tem of common schools in the State, which was ap- 
proved and became a law February 8, 1853, pro- 
viding for the sale of the sixteenth section, and 
election of school trustees in each township, to ex- 
pend the money from the sale of land in the cause 
of education. The act required schools to be main- 
tained in each township "for at least four months 
in each year, and orthography, reading, writing, 
English grammar, arithmetic and good morals 
should be taught." The trustees were required 
to. visit the schools once in each month, and the 
school age was fixed at from five to twenty-one 
years. The act also provided for the establishment 



of manual labor schools. It went to the extent of 
appropriating a sum of money for the purchase of 
text-books. This was a long step in advance of 
any other portion of the country at that time. To 
the fund arising from lands the act added "all 
fines for false imprisonment, assault and battery, 
breach of the peace, etc." This act of the assem- 
bly placed the young State in the vanguard of 
States in the cause of free schools. It is an 
enduring monument to the men of that legis- 
lature. Under this law the reports of the county 
commissioners of education were ordered to be 
made to the State auditor, but if so made none can 
be found in the State archives. 

A State board of education was provided for 
by the act of 1843, and the board was required to 
make a complete report of educational matters, 
and also to recommend the passage of such laws 
as were deemed advisable for the advancement of 
the cause of education. By an act of January 1 1 , 
1853, the secretary of State was made ex-officio 
State commissioner of common schools, and re- 
quired to report to the governor the true condition 
of the schools in each county; which report the 
governor presented to the general assembly at 
each regular session. The provisions of an act of 
January, 1855, relate to the sale of the sixteenth 
section, and defined the duties of the school trus- 
tees and commissioners. Article 8, in the consti- 
tution of 1867, is substantially the same as the pro- 
visions of the law of 1836. 

From 1836 to 1867, as is shown by the above, 
the provisions of the law were most excellent and 
liberal toward the public schools; legislative enact- 
ments occur at frequent intervals, indicating that 
the State was well abreast of the most liberal school 
ideas of the time, and large funds were raised 
sacred to the cause. 

Investigation shows that from the date of the 
State's admission into the Union, until 1867, there 
were many and admirable stipulations and statutes, 
by which large revenues were collected from the 
sale of lands, but the records of the State depart- 
ment give no account of the progress of free 
schools duiing this period, leaving the inference 
that but little practical benefit accrued to the 



i= 



_ ■* 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



95 



cause from these wise and liberal mc'Hsuros put 
forth by Congress and the State. 

By act approved May 18, 1867, the legislature 
made a marked forward movemt'nt in the cause of 
education. Considering the chaotic conditions of 
society, and the universal public and private bank- 
ruptcy, the movement is only the more surprising. 
The act stipulated that a tax of 20 cents on every 
$100 worth of taxable projjerty should be levied 
for the purpose of establishing and maintaining 
a system of public schools. The second section 
made this fund sacred — to be used for no other 
purpose whatever. The fourth section provided 
for a superintendent of public instruction ■ and 
defined his duties. The eighth section provided 
for a school commissioner, to be chosen by the 
electors of each county, who should examine any 
one applying for a position as school teacher; 
granting to those qualified to teach a certificate, 
without which no one could be legally em- 
ployed to teach.. Prior to this a license as teacher 
was not considered essential, and there was no one 
authorized to examine applicants or grant certifi- 
cates. The Congressional township was made the 
unit of the school district, the act also setting 
forth that in the event of the trustees failing to 
have a school taught in the district at least three 
months in the year, the same thereby forfeited 
its portion of the school revenue. These wise and 
liberal arrangements were made, it must be remem- 
bered, by a people bankrupt by war and suffering 
the hard trials of reconstruction. 

No regular reports were made — at least none 
can be found — prior to ISO?, the date of the ap- 
pointment of a superintendent. Though reports 
were regularly received from the year mentioned, 
the most of them were unsatisfactory and not 
reliable. 

The constitution of 1868 created some wise 
amendments to the previous laws. It caused the 
schools to become fi-ee to every child in the State; 
school revenues were increased, districts could have 
no part of the school fund unless a free school had 
been taught -for at least three months. The leg- 
islature following this convention, July 23, ISOS, 
amended the school laws to conform to this con- 



stitutional provision. In addition to State sujier- 
intendeut, the oflice of circuit superintcnident was 
created, and also the State board of education. 

The constitutional convention of 1874 made 
changes in the school law and provided for the 
school system now in force in the State. The act 
of the legislature, December 7, 1876, was passed 
in conformity with the last preceding State con- 
vention. This law with amendments Ib the present 
school law of Arkansas. 

Hon. Thomas Smith was the first State super- 
intendent, in oflBce from 1868 to 1873. The 
present incumbent of that position, Hon. Wood 
ville E. Thompson, estimates that the commence- 
ment of public free schools in Arkansas may prop- 
erly date from the time Mr. Smith took possession 
of the otfice^schools free to all ; every child entitled 
to the same rights and privileges, none excluded ; 
separate schools provided for white and black; 
a groat number of schools organized, school houses 
built, and efficient teachers secured. Previous to 
this time people looked upon free schools as largely 
pauper schools, and the wealthier classes regarded 
them unfavoral)ly. 

Hon. J. C. Corbin, the successor of Mr. Smith, 
continued in office until Deceml)or 13, 1875. 

Hon. B. W. Hill was appointed December 18, 
1875, and remained in office until 1878. It was 
during his term that there came the most marked- 
change in public sentiment in favor of public 
schools. He was a zealous and able worker in the 
cause, and from his report for 1876 is learned t\» 
following: State apportionment, $213,000; dis- 
trict tax, $88,000; school population, 180,000. 
Through the directors' failure to report the enroll- 
ment only shows 16,000. The total revenue of 
1877 was $270,000; of 1878, $276,000. 

Mr. Hill was succeeded in 1878 by Hon. J. L. 
Denton, whose integrity, earnestness and great 
ability resulted in completing the valuable work so 
well commenced by his predecessor — removing the 
Southern prejudices against public schools. He 
deserves a lasting place in the history of Arkansas 
as the advocate and champion of free schools. 

The present able and efficient State superin- 
tendent of public instruction, as previously men- 



96 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



tioned, ia Hon. AVooflville E. Thompson. To his 
eminent qualifications and tireless energy the 
schools of Arkansas are largely indebted for the 
rapid advance now going on, and which has 
marked his past term of office. From his bien- 
nial repoi t are gleaned most of the facts and sta- 
tistics given below. 

The growth of the institution as a whole may 
be defined by the following statistics: In 1879 
the revenue raised by the State and county tax was 
$271,000; in 1880, $285,000; in 1881, $710,000; 
in 1882, 1722,000; in 1883, $740,000; in 1884, 
$931,000; in 1885, $1,199,000; in 1886, $1,327,- 
000. The district tax in 1884 was 1346,521; in 
1885, $343,850, and in 1886, $445,563. The dis- 
trict tax is that voted by the people. 

Arkansas to-day gives the most liberal sup- 
port to her free schools, all else considered, of any 
State in the Union. It provides a two mill tax, a 
poll tax, and authorizes the districts to vote a five 
mill tax. This is the rule or rate voted in nearly 
all the districts, thus making a total on all taxable 
property of seven mills, besides the poll tax. 

The persistent neglect of school officers to re- 
port accurate returns of their school attendance is 
to be regretted. The number of pupils of school 
age (six to twenty- one years) is given, but no ac- 
count of attendance or enrollment. This leaves 
counties in the unfavorable light of a large school 
population, with apparently the most meager at- 
tendance. The following summaries exhibit the 
progress of the public schools: Number of school 
children, 1869, 176,910; 1870, 180,274; 1871, 
196,237; 1872, 194,314; 1873, 148.128; 1874. 168,- 
929; 1875, 168,929; 1876, 189, ISO; 1877, 203,567; 
1878, 216,475; 1879, 236,600; 1880, 247,547; 1881, 
272,841; 1882, 289,617; 1883, white, 227.538; 
black, 76,429; total, 304,962; 1884. white, 247,- 
173; black, 76,770; total, 323,943; 1885, white, 
252,290; black, 86,213; total, 338,506; 1886, 
white, 266,188; black, 91,818; total, 358,006; 
1887, white, 279,224; black, 98,512; total, 377,- 
736; 1888, white, 288,381; black, 99,747; total, 
388,129. The number of pupils enrolled in 1869 
was 67,412; 1888, 202,754, divided as follows: 
White, 1 52, 1 84 ; black, 50, 570. Number of teach- 



ers employed 1869, 1,335; number employed 1888, 
males, 3,431, females, 1,233. Total number of 
school houses, 1884, 1,453; erected that year, 263. 
Total number school houses, 1888, 2,452; erected 
in that year, 269. Total value of school houses, 
1884, $384,827.73. Total value, 1888, $705,- 
276. 92. Total amount of revenues received, 1868, 
$300,669.63. For the year, 1888: Amount on 
hand June 80, 1887, $370,942.25; received com- 
mon school fund, $315,403.28; district tax, $505,- 
069.92; poll tax, $146,604.22; other sources, 
$45,890.32; total, $1,683,909.32. 

While there were in early Territorial days great 
intellectual giants in Arkansas, the tendency was 
not toward the tamer and more gentle walks of lit- 
erature, but rather in the direction of the fiercer bat- 
tles of the political arena and the rostrum. Oratory 
was cultivated to the extreme, and often to the 
neglect apparently of all else of intellectual pur- 
suits. The ambitious youths had listened to the 
splendid eloquence of their elders — heard their 
praises on every lip, and were fired to struggle for 
such triumphs. Where there are great orators one 
expects to find poets and artists. The great states- 
man is mentally east in molds of stalwart pro- 
portions. The poet, orator, painter, and eminent 
literary character are of a finer texture, but usually 
not so virile. 

Gen. Albert Pike gave a literary immortality to 
Arkansas when it was yet a Territorial wilderness. 
Tlie most interesting incident in the history of 
literature would be a true picture of that Nestor of 
the press. Kit North, when he opened the mail 
package from that dim and unknown savage 
world of Arkansas, and turned his eyes on the 
pages of Pike' s manuscript, which had been offered 
the great editor for publication, in his poem en- 
titled "Hymn to the Gods." This great but mer- 
ciless critic had written Byron to death, and one 
can readily believe that he must have turned pale 
when his eye ran over the lines — lines from an un- 
known world of untamed aborigines, penned in the 
wilderness by this unknown boy. North read the 
products of new poets to find, not merit, but weak 
points, where he could impale on his sharp and 
pitiless pen the daring singer. What a play mast 



:f- 



^ — "L^ 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



97 



have swept over his features as his eye followed 
line after line, eager and more eager from the first 
word to the last. To him could this be possible — 
real — and not the day dream of a disturbed im- 
agination. This historical incident in the litera- 
ture of the wild west — the pioneer boy not only on 
the outer confines of civilization, but to the aver- 
age Englishman, in the impenetrable depths of a 
dark continent, where dwelt only cannibals, select- 
ing the great and severe arbiter of English litera- 
ture to whom he would transmit direct his fate as 
a poet; the youth's unexpected triumph in not 
only securing a place in the columns of the leading 
review of the world, but extorting in the editorial 
columns the highest meed of praise, is unparalleled 
in the feats of tyros in literature. The supremacy 
of Pike's genius was dulled in its brilliancy be- 
cause of the versatility of his mental occupations. 
A poet, master of belles lettres, a lawyer and a poli- 
tician, as well as a soldier, and eminent in all the 
varied walks he trod, yet he was never a book- 
maker — had no ambition, it seems, to be an author. 
The books that be will leave, those especially by 
which he will be remembered, will be his gathered 
and bound writings thrown off at odd intervals and 
cast aside. His literary culture could produce only 
the very highest type of effort. Hence, it is prob- 
able that Lord North was the only editor living to 
whom Pike might have submitted his " Hymn to 
the Gods " with other than a chance whim to de- 
cide its fate. 

There was no Boswell among the early great 
men of Arkansas, otherwise there would exist biog- 
raphies laden with instruction and full of interest. 
There were men and women whose genius com- 
pelled them to talk and write, but they wrote dis- 
connected, imcertain sketches, and doubtless often 
published them in the columns of some local news- 
paper, where they sank into oblivion. 

The erratic preacher-lawyer, A. W. Arrington, 
wrote many and widely published sketches of the 
bench and bar of Arkansas, but his imagination 



so out-ran the facts that they became mere fictions 
— very interesting and entertaining, it is said, 
but entirely useless to the historian. Arrington 
was a man of superior natural genius, but was so 
near a moral wreck as to cloud his memory. 

Years ago was piil)lished Nntall's History of 
Arkansas, but the most diligent inquiry among 
the oldest inhabitants fails to find one who ever 
heard of the book, much loss the author. 

Recently John Hallum published his History 
of Arkansas. The design of the author was to 
make three volumes, the first to treat of the 
bench and bar, but the work was dropped after 
this volume was published. It contains a great 
amount of valuable matter, and the author has 
done the State an important service in making his 
collections and putting them in durable form. 

A people with so many men and women com- 
petent to write, and who have written so little of 
Arkansas, its people or its great historical events, 
presents a curious phase of society. 

A wide and inviting: field has been neglected 
and opportunities have been lost; facts have now 
gone out of men's memories, and important histor- 
ical incidents passed into oblivion beyond recall. 

Opie P. Read, now of Cbicago, will be known 
in the future as the young and ambitious literary 
worker of Arkansas. He came to Little Rock 
from his native State, Tennessee, and engaged in 
work on the papers at that city. He soon had 
a wide local reputation and again this soon grew 
to a national one. His fugitive pieces in the news-/ 
papers gained extensive circulation, and in quiet 
humor and unaffected pathos were of a high order. 
He has written several works of fiction and is now 
rimning through his paper. The Arkansaw Traveler, 
Chicago, a novel entitled "The Kentucky Colonel, " 
already pronounced by able critics one among 
the best of American works of fiction. Mr. Read 
is still a comparatively young man, and his pen 
gives most brilliant promise for the future. His 
success as an editor is well remembered. 



^f 



98 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



M.ML 



The Churches of Ark a nsas— Appearance of the Missionaries— Church Missions Established in the 
Wilderness— The Leading Protestant Denominations— Ecclesiastical Statistics- 
General Outlook from a Religious Standpoint. 



No silver saints by dying misers giv'n 

Here bribed tlie rage of ill-requited Heav'n; 

But such plain roofs as piety could raise, 

And only vocal with the Maker's praise. — Pope. 




N al! histories of the early 
settlers the pioneer preach- 
j oi's and missionaries of the 
Church are of first inter- 
est. True missionaries, re- 
gardless of all creeds, are 
a most interesting study, 
and, in the broad principles of Chris- 
tianity, they may well be considered 
as a class, with only incidental refer- 
ences to their different creeds. The 
essence of their remarkable lives is 
the heroic work and suffering they so 
cheerfully undertook and carried on 
so patiently and bravely. Among the 
first of pioneers to the homes of the 
red savages were these earnest church- 
men, carrying the news of Mount Calvary to the 
benighted peoples. It is difficult for us of this 
age to understand the sacrifices they made, the 
privations they endured, the moral and physical 
courage required to sustain them in their work. 
The churches, through their missionaries, carried 
the cross of Christ, extending the spiritual empire 
in advance, nearly always, of the temporal empire. 
They bravely led the way for the hardy explorers, 
and ever and anon a martyr's body was given to 




the flames, or left iv the trackless forests, food for 
ravenous wild beasts. 

The first white men to make a lodgment in 
what is now Arkansas having been Marquette and 
Joliet, France and the Church thus came here 
hand in hand. The Spanish and French settlers 
at Arkansas Post were the representatives of Cath- 
olic nations, as were the French-Canadians who 
came down from the lakes and settled along the 
banks of the lower Mississippi River. 

After 1803 there was another class of pion- 
eers that came in — Protestant English by descent 
if not direct, and these soon dominated in the 
Arkansas country. The Methodists, Baptists and 
Cumberland Presbyterians, after the building of 
the latter by Rev. Finis Ewing, were the pre- 
vailing pioneer preachers. Beneath God's first 
temples these missionaries held meetings, traveled 
over the Territory, going wherever the little col- 
umn of blue smoke from the cabin directed them, 
as well as visiting the Indian tribes, proclaiming 
Christ and His cause. Disregarding the elements, 
swollen streams, the dim trails, and often no other 
guide on their dreary travels than the Drojecting 
ridges, hills and streams, the sun or the polar star; 
facing hunger, heat and cold, the wild beast and the 
far fiercer savage, without hope of money compen- 



^-4$* 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



m 



sation, regardless of sickness and even death, those 
men took their lives in their hands and went forth. 
Could anything be more graphic or pathetic of the 
conditions of these men than tlie extract from a 
letter of one of them who had thus served his God 
and fellow-man more than fifty years: "Inmylong 
ministry I often suffered for food and I spent 
no money for clothing. * * The largest 
yearly salary I received was $100." Were ever 
men inspired with more zeal in the cause of their 
Master ? They had small polish and were as rugged 
as the gnarled old oaks beneath whose branches 
they so often bivouacked. They never tasted the 
refinements of polite life, no doubt despising theiu 
as heartily as they did sin itself. Rude of speech, 
what eloquence they possessed (and many in this 
respect were of no mean order) could only come 
of their deep sincerity. 

These Protestant missionaries trod closely upon 
the footsteps of the pure and gentle Marquette in 
the descent of the Mississippi, and the visits to 
the Indians amid the cane-brakes of the South. 
Marquette's followers had been the tir.st to ascend 
the Arkansas River to its source in the far distant 
land of the Dakotas in the Northwest. Holding 
aloft the cross, they boldly entered the camps of the 
tribes, and patiently won upon them until they laid 
down their drawn tomahawks and brought forth 
the calumet of peace. These wild children gath- 
ered around these strange beings — visitors, as they 
supposed, from another world, and wherever a 
cross was erected they regarded it with fear and 
awe, believing it had supreme power over them 
and their tribes. 

He who would detract from the deserved im- 
mortality of any of these missionaries on account of 
their respective creeds, could be little else than a 
cynic whose l)lood is acid. 

Marquette first explored the Mississippi River 
as the representative of the Catholic Church. 

The old church baptismal records of the mis- 
sion of Arkansas Post extend back to 1 7(34, and the 
ministrations of Father Louis Meurin, who signed 
the record as "missionary priest." This is the 
olde.st record to be found of the church's recog- 
nition of Arkansas now extant. That Marquette 



held church service and erected the cross of Christ 
nearly one hundred years anterior to the record 
date in Arkansas is given in the standard histories 
of the United States. Rev. Girard succeeded 
Meurin. It may be gleaned from these records 
that in 1788 De La Valliere was in command of 
Arkansas Post. In 1786 the attending priest was 
Rev. Louis Guigues. The record is next signed by 
Rev. Gibault in 1792, and next by Rev. Jannin in 
1796. In 1820 is found the name of Rev. Chau- 
dorat. In 1834 Rev. Dupuy, and in 1838 Father 
Donnelly was the priest in charge. These remained 
in custody of the first mission at Arkansas Post. 
The second mission established was St. Mary's, 
now Pine Bluff. The first priest at that point was 
Rev. Saulmier. Soon after, another mission, St. 
Peter's, was established in Jefferson County, and 
the third mission, also in Jefferson County, was 
next established at Plum Baj'ou. In order, the 
nest mission was at Little Rock, Rev. Emil Saul- 
mier in charge; then at Fort Smith; then Helena, 
and next Napoleon and New Gascony, lespectively. 

The Catholic population of the State is esti- 
mated at 10,000, with a total numljer of churches 
and missions of forty. There are twenty-two 
church schools, convents and academies, the school 
attendance being 1,600. The first bishop in the 
Arkansas diocese was Andrew Byrne, 1844. He 
died at Helena in 186'2, his successor being the 
present incumbent, Bishop Edward FitzGerald. 
who came in 1867. 

From a series of articles published in the Ar- 
kansas Methodist, of the current year, by the emi- 
nent and venerable Rev. Andrew Hunter, D. D. , 
are gleaned the following important facts of this 
Church's history in Arkansas: Methodism came to 
Arkansas by way of Missouri about 1814, a com- 
pany of emigrants entering from Southeast Mis- 
souri overland, and who much of the way had to 
cut out a road for their wagons. They had heard 
of the rich lands in Mound Prairie, Hemi)stead 
County. In this company were John Henrey, a 
local preacher, Alexander and Jacob Shook, broth- 
ers, and Daniel Props. In their long slow travels 
they reached the Arkansas River at Little Rock, 
and waited on the opposite bank for the comple- 



■^ 



100 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



tion of a ferry boat then Iniilding. When these 
people reached their destination they soon set up 
a church, and erected the first Methodist "meet- 
inghouse" in Arkansas, called Henrey's Chajtel. 
' ' Father Heurey, "as he was soon known far and 
wide, reared sons, all preachers. This little col- 
ony were all sincere Methodists, and nearly all 
their first generation of sons became preachers, 
some of them eminent. Jacob Shook and three 
of his sons entered the ministry; Gilbert Alex- 
ander, his sons and grandsons, became ministers 
of God's word, as did two of Daniel Props' sons. 
The small colony was truly the seed of the church 
ill Arkansas. 

In 1838 two young ministers were sent from 
Tennessee to the Arkansas work, and came all 
the way to Mound Prairie on horseback. 

The church records of Missouri show that the 
conference of 1817 sent two preachers to Arkan- 
sas — William Stevenson and John Harris. They 
were directed to locate at Hot Springs. It is 
conceded that these two missionaries "planted 
Methodism in Arkansas." 

In 1818 the Missouri Conference sent four 
laborers to Arkansas, with William Stevenson as 
the presiding elder of the Territory. The circuits 
then had: John Shader, on Spring River; Thomas 
Tenuant, Arkansas circuit; W. Orr, Hot Springs; 
William Stevenson and James Lowrey, Mound 
Prairie. What was called the Arkansas circuit in- 
cluded the Arkansas River, from Pine Bluff to the 
mouth. After years of service as presiding elder, 
Stevenson was succeeded by John Scripps; the ap- 
pointments then were: Arkansas circuit, Dennis 
Willey; Hot Springs, Isaac Brookfield; Mound 
Prairie, John Harris; Pecan Point, William Town- 
send. The Missouri Conference, 1823, again made 
William Stevenson presiding elder, with three itin- 
erants for Arkansas. In 1825 Jesse Hale became 
presiding elder. He was in charge until 1829. He 
was an original and outspoken abolitionist, and 
taught and preached his faith unreservedly; so 
much so that large numbers of the leading fam- 
ilies left the Methodist Episcopal Church and 
joined the Cumberland Presbyterians. This was 
the sudden building up of the Cumberland Pres- 



byterian Church, and nearly f atallj' weakened the 
Methodist Church. Some irreverent laymen desig- 
nated Elder Jesse Hale's ministrations as the 
' ' Hail storm ' ' in Arkansas. Fortunately Hale 
was succeeded by Rev. Jesse Green, and he poured 
oil on the troubled waters, and saved Methodism 
in Arkansas. " Green was our Moses." 

The Tennessee Conference, 1831, sent eight 
preachers to Ai-kansas, namely : Andrew D. Smyth, 
John Harrell, Henry G. Joplin, William A. Boyce. 
William G. Duke, John N. Hammill, Alvin Baird 
and Allen M. Scott. 

A custom of those old time preachers now 
passed away is worth preserving. When possi- 
ble to do so they went over the circuit together, 
two and two. One might preach the regular ser- 
mon, when the other would ' ' exhort. ' ' Under these 
conditions young Rev. Smyth was accompanying 
the regular circuit rider. He was at first diffi- 
dent, and ' ' exhorted ' ' simply by giving his hearers 
" Daniel in the lion's den." As the two started 
around the circuit the second time, on reaching a 
night appointment, before entering the house, and 
as they were returning from secret prayer in the 
brush, the preacher said: "Say, Andy, I'm going 
to preach, and when I'm done you give 'em 
Daniel and the lions again." Evidently Andy and 
his lions were a terror to the natives. But the 
young exhorter soon went up head, and became a 
noted divine. 

The Missouri Conference, 1832, made two dis- 
tricts of Arkansas. Rev. A. D. Smyth had charge 
of Little Rock district, which extended over all the 
country west, including the Cherokee and Creek 
Nations. 

The formation of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, occurred in 1844. This is a well 
known part of the history of our country. In Ar- 
kansas the church amid all its trials and vicissi- 
tudes has grown and flourished. The State now 
has fifteen districts, with 200 pastoral charges, and, 
it is estimated, nearly 1,000 congregations. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church has a com- 
fortable church in Little Rock, and several good 
sized congregations in different portions of the 
State. This church and the Methodist Episcopal 



Vi' 



-^ s 



^, 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Chnrch, South, are separate and wholly distinct 
in their organization. 

The Baptists are naturally a pioneer and fron- 
tier church people. They are earnest and sincere 
proselyters to the faith, and reach very effectively 
people in general. The Baptist Church in Ben- 
ton celebrated, July 4, 1889, its fifty-third anni- 
versary. Originally called Spring Church, it was 
built about two miles from the town. The organi- 
zation took place under the sheltering branches of 
an old oak tree. One of the first churches of this 
order was the Mount Bethel Church, about six 
miles west of Arkadelphia, in Clark County. This 
was one of the oldest settled points by English 
speaking people in the State. The church has 
grown with the increase of population. 

Rev. James M. Moore organized in Little Rock, 
in 1828, the first Presbyterian Church in Arkan- 
sas. He was from Pennsylvania, eminent for his 
ability, zeal and piety. For some time he was 
the representative of his church in a wide portion 
of the country south and west. He was succeeded 
by Rev. A. R. Banks, from the theological sem- 
inary of Columbia, S. C, who settled in Hempstead 
County in 1835-36 and organized and built Spring 
Hill Church, besides another at Washington. The 
next minister in order of arrival was Rev. John 
M. Erwin. He located at Jackson, near the old 
town of Elizabeth, but his life was not sjjared long 
after coming. He assisted Revs Moore and Banks 
in organizing the first presbytery in Arkansas. 

In 1839 Rev. J. M. Moore, mentioned above, 
removed to what is now Lonoke County, and or- 
ganized a congregation and built Sylvania Church. 
His successor at Little Rock was Rev. Henderson, 
in 1840. The death of Rev. Henderson left no 
quorum, and the Arkansas presbytery became /((»c- 
/i(.s officio. 

Rev. Aaron Williams, from Bethel presbytery. 
South Carolina, came to Arkansas in 1842, and 
settled in Hempstead Coxinty, taking charge of a 
large new academy at that place, which had been 
built by the wealthy people of the locality. He at 
once re-organized the church at Washington, which 
had been some time vacant. Arkansas then be- 
longed to the synod of Mississippi. In 1842, in 



company with Rev. A. R. Banks, he traveled 
over the swamps and through the forests 400 miles 
to attend the Mississippi synod at Port Royal. 
Their mission was to ask the synod to allow Revs. 
Williams, Moore, Banks and Shaw to organize the 
Arkansas presbytery. They obtained the permis- 
sion, and mettiiig in Little Rock the first Sunday 
in January, 1843, organized the Arkansas presby- 
tery. The Rev. Balch had settled in Dardanelle, 
and he joined the new presbytery. In the next 
few years Revs. Byington and Kingsbury, Con- 
gregational ministers, who had been missionaries to 
the Indians since 1818, also joined the Arkansas 
presbytery. The synod of Memphis was subse- 
quently formed, of which Arkansas was a part. 
There were now three presbyteries west of Mem- 
phis: Arkansas, Ouachita and Indian. In 1830 
Arkansas was composed of four presbyteries — two 
Arkansas and two Ouachita. 

Rev. Aaron Williams assumed charge at Little 
Rock in 1843, where he remained until January, 
1845. There was then a vacancy for some years 
in that church, when the Rev. Joshua F. Green 
ministered to the flock. He was succeeded by 
Rev. Thomas Eraser, who continued until 1859. 
All these had been supplies, and in 1859 Little 
Rock was made a pastorate, and Rev. Thomas R. 
Welch was installed as first pastor. He tilled the 
position the next twenty-five years, and in 1885 
resigned on account of ill health, and was sent 
as counsel to Caniida, where he died. About the 
close of his pastorate, the Second Presbyterian 
Church of Little Rock was organized, and their 
house built, the Rev. A. R. Kennedy, pastor. He 
resigned in September, 1888, being succeeded by 
James R. Howerton. After the resignation of Dr. 
Welch of the First Church. Dr. J. C. Barrett was 
given charge. 

Rev. Aaron Williams, after leaving the synod, 
became a synodieal evangelist, and traveled over 
the State, preaching wherever he found small col- 
lections of people, and organizing churches. He 
formed the church at Fort Smith and the one in 
Jackson County. 

A synodieal college is at BatesviUe, and is 
highly prosperous. 



sr 



A 



102 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ma 



4-4-5- 



Ma.mes Illustrious in Arkansas History— Prominent Mention of Noted Individuals— Ambrose 

H. Sev^ier— William E. Woodruff— John Wilson— John Hemphill— Jacob Bakkman— Dr. 

Bowie— Sandy Faulkner— Samuel II. Hempstead— Trent, Williams, Siiinn Families, 

AND Others— The Conways— Robert Crittenden— Archibald Yell— Judge 

David AValker— Gen. G. D. Royston— Judge James W. Bates. 



The gen'ral voice 
Sounds him, foi- coLirtesy, behaviour, language 
And ev'ry fair demeanor, an example; 
Titles of honour add not to his worth. 
Who is himself an honour to his title. — Fo}'il. 



-i^-JX^-'-i^^. 




^O history of Arkansas, wortliy 
of the name, could ftiii to 
refer to the lives of a num 
ber of its distingnished 
citizens, whose relation to 
i^^ great public events has 
)?<%^ made them a part of the 
true history of their State. 
The following sketches of repre- 
sentative men will be of no little 
interest to each and every reader 
of the present volume. 

Ambrose H. Sevier, was one of 
the foremost of the prominent men 
of his day, and deserves especial 
mention. The recent removal of 
' ^ the remains of Gen. John Sevier from 
Alabama to Knoxville, Tenn. (June 19, 
1889), has awakened a wide-spread inter- 
est in this historic family name. The re-interment 
of the illustrious ashes of the first governor, found- 
er and Congressman of Tennessee, by the State he 
had made, was but an act of long deferred justice 
to one of the most illustrious and picturesque char- 
acters in American history. He founded two States 



and was the first governor of each of them; one of 
these States, Tennessee, he had, iu the spirit of dis- 
interested patriotism, erected on the romantic ruins 
of the other — the mountain State of "Franklin." 
A distinguished Revolutionary soldier, he was the 
hero of King's Mountain, where he and four broth- 
ers fought. He was first governor of the State 
of ' ' Franklin, ' ' sis times governor of Tennessee, 
three times a member of Congress, and in no in- 
stance did he ever have an opponent to contest 
for an ofiice. He was in thirty-five hard fought 
battles; had faced in bitter contest the State of 
North Carolina, which secretly arrested and ab- 
ducted him from the new State he had carved out 
of North Carolina territory; was rescued in open 
court by two friends, and on his return to his ad- 
herents as easily defeated the schemes of North 
Carolina as he had defeated, in many battles, the 
Cherokee Indians. No man ever voted against 
"Nolichucky Jack," as he was familiarly called — 
no enemy ever successfully stood before him in 
battle. A great general, statesman, and patriot, 
he was the creator and btiilder of commonwealths 
west of the Alleghanies, and he guided as greatly 
and wisely as did Washington and Jefferson the 



^c 



V 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



103 



new States and Territories he formed in the paths 
of democratic freedom, and now, after he has slept 
in an obscure grave for three quarters of a century, 
the fact is beginning to dawn npon the nation that 
Gov. John Sevier made Washington, and all that 
great name implies, a possibility. 

The name, illustrions as it is ancient, numer- 
ous and wide spread, is from the French Pyrenees, 
Xavier, where it may be traced to remote times. 
St. Francis Xavier was of this family, and yet the 
American branch were exiles from the old world 
because of their revolt against jsapal tyranny. 
Sturdy and heroic as they were in the faith, their 
blood was far more virile, indeed stalwart, in de- 
fense of human rights and liberty, wherever or by 
whomsoever assailed. 

In France, England and in nearly everj^ West- 
ern and Southern State of the Union are branches 
of the Xaviers, always prominent and often emi- 
nent in their day and time. But it was reserved 
to the founder of the American branch of the 
Seviers to be the supreme head of the illustrious 
line. He builded two commonwealths and was im- 
pelled to this great work in defense of the people, 
and in resistance to the encroachments of the cen- 
tral powers of the paternal government. 

In Arkansas the Seviers, Conways and Rectors 
were united by ties of blood as well as by the ever 
stronger ties of the sons of liberty, independence 
and patriotism. Here were three of the most 
powerful families the State has ever had, and in 
public affairs they were as one. The political 
friend and worthy model of Gov. John Sevier was 
Thomas Jefferson. Indeed, Gen. Sevier was the 
fitting and immortal companion piece to Jefferson 
in those days of the young and struggling repub- 
lic. The Seviers of Arkansas and Missouri were 
naturally the admirers of Andrew Jackson — cham- 
pions of the people's rights, watchdogs of liberty. 

Ambrose H. Sevier, was the son of John, who 
was the son of Valentine and Ann Conway Sevier, 
of Greene County, Tenn. Ann Conway was the 
daughter of Thomas and Ann Rector Conway. 
Thus this family furnished six of the governors of 
Arkansas. 

In 1821, soon after Mr. Sevier's coming to Ar- ] 



kansas, he was elected clerk of the Territorial 
house of representatives. In 1828 he was elected 
from Pulaski County to the legislature, and con- 
tinued a member and was elected speaker in 1827. 
He was elected to Congress in August, 1828, to 
succeed his uncle, Henry W. Conway, who had 
been killed in a duel with Crittenden. He was 
three times elected to Congress. When the State 
came into the Union, Sevier and William S. Fulton 
were elected first senators in Congress. Sevier 
resigned his seat in the Senate in 1848, to accept 
the mission of minister plenipotentiary to Mexico, 
and, in connection with Judge Clifford, negotiated 
the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo. This was the 
last as well as crowning act of his life. He died 
shortly after returning from bis mission. The 
State has erected a suitable monument to his mem- 
ory in Mount Holly Cemetery, Little Rock, where 
sleeps his immortal dust. 

How curiously fitting it was that the Sevier 
of Arkansas should follow so closely in the foot- 
steps of the great governor of Tennessee, his lineal 
ancestor, and be the instrument of adding so im- 
mensely to the territory out of which have grown 
such vast and rich commonwealths. As builders 
of commonwealths there is no name in American 
history which approaches that of Sevier. A 
part of the neglect — the ingratitude, possibly — of 
republics, is shown in the fact that none of the 
States of which they gave the Union so many boar 
their family name. 

William E. Woodi'uff was in more than one* 
sense a pioneer to Arkansas. He was among 
the distinguished men who first hastened here 
when the Territory was formed, and brought with 
him the pioneer newspaper press, and established 
the Arkansas Gazette. This is now a flourishing 
daily and weekly newspaper at the State capital, 
and one of the oldest pa[)ers in the country. Of 
himself alone there was that in the character and 
life of Mr. Woodruff which would have made him 
one of the historical pioneers to cross the ^lissis- 
sippi River, and cast his fortune and future in (his 
new world. But he was a worthy disciple and 
follower of Ben. Franklin, who combined with the 
art preservative of arts, the genius that lays found- 



jjs 



104 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ations for empires in government, and the j'et far 
greater empires in the fields of intellectual life. 

He was a native of Long Island, Suffolk Coun- 
ty, N. Y. Leaving his home in 1818, upon the 
completion of his apprenticeship as printer, with 
the sparse proceeds of his earnings as apprentice 
he turned his face westward. Reaching Wheel- 
ing, Va., he embarked in a canoe for the falls of 
the Ohio, now Louisville, where he stopped and 
worked at his trade. Finding no sufficient open- 
ing to permanently locate in this place, he started 
on foot, by way of Russellville, to Nashville, Tenn., 
and for a time worked at his trade in that place 
and at Franklin. Still looking for a possible 
future home further west, he heard of the Act of 
Congress creating the Territory of Arkansas, to 
take effect July 4, 1819. He at once purchased 
a small outfit for a newspaper office and started to 
the newly formed Territory, determined if possible 
to be first on the ground. He shipped by keel-boat 
down the Cumberland river, the Ohio and the 
Mississippi Rivers to Montgomery's Point, at the 
mouth of White River; thence overland to Arkansas 
Post, the first Territorial capital. Montgomery 
Point was then, and for some years after, the main 
shipping point for the interior points of the 
Arkansas Territory. From this place to the capi- 
tal, he found nothing but a bridle path. He 
therefore secured a pirogue, and with the services 
of two boatmen, passed through the cut off to 
Arkansas River and then up this to Arkansas Post, 
reaching his point of destination October 31, 1819. 
So insignificant was the Post that the only way he 
could get a house was to build one, which he did, 
and November 20, 1819, issued the first paper- — 
the Arkansas Gazette. He was the entire force of 
the office — mechanical, clerical and editorial. To- 
day his own work is his fitting and perpetual 
monument — linking his name indissolubly with 
that of Arkansas and immortality. 

His genius was in the direct energy and the 
impelling forces which drove it with the sure cer- 
tainty of fate over every opposing obstacle. Broad, 
strong and great in all those qualities which 
characterize men pre eminent in the varied walks 
of life; a true nation founder and builder, his 



useful life was long spared to the State, which will 
shed luster to itself and its name by honoring the 
memory of one of its first and most illustrious 
pioneers — William E. M'oodruff. 

Reference having been made to John Wilson 
in a previous chapter, in connection with his un- 
fortunate encounter with J. J. Anthony, on the 
floor of the hall of the legislature, it is but an act 
of justice that the circumstances be properly ex- 
plained, together with some account of the man- 
ner of man he really was. 

John Wilson came from Kentucky to Arkansas 
in the early Territorial times, 1820. His wife was 
a Hardin, of the noted family of that State — a sis- 
ter of Joseph Hardin, of Lawrence County, Ark., 
who was speaker of the first house of representa- 
tives of the Territorial legislature. The Wilsons 
and Hardins were prominent and highly respecta- 
ble people. 

When a very young man, John Wilson was 
elected to the Territorial legislature, where he was 
made speaker and for a number of terms filled that 
office. He was a member of the tir.st State legis- 
lature and again was elected speaker. He was the 
first president of the Real Estate Bank of Arkan- 
sas. Physically he was about an average sized 
man, very quiet in his manner and retiring, of dark 
complexion, eyes and hair, lithe and sinewy in 
form, and in his daily walk as gentle as a woman. 
He was devoted to his friends, and except for 
politics, all who knew him loved him well. There 
was not the shadow of a shade of the bully or des- 
perado about him. He was a man of the highest 
sense of personal honor, with an iron will, and even 
when aroused or stung by injustice or an attack 
upon his integrity his whole nature inclined to 
peace and good will. He was a great admirer of 
General Jackson — there was everything in the 
natures of the two men where the ' ' fellow feeling 
makes us wondrous kind." 

The difficulty spoken of occurred in 1836. Wil- 
son was a leader in the Jackson party. Anthony 
aspired to the lead in the Whig party. At that 
time politics among the active of each faction meant 
personality. It was but little else than open war, 
and the frontier men of those days generallj' went 



•£: 



HISTOllY OF ARKANSAS. 



1(1.-) 



armed, the favorite weapon being the bowie 
knife —a necessary part of a hunter's equipment. 
Unfriendly feelings existed between Wilson and 
Anthony. 

Upon the morning of the homicide (in words 
the substance of the account given by the late 
Gen. G. D. Royston, who was an eye witness) 
Mr. Wilson came into the hall a little late, evi- 
dently disturbed in mind, and undoubtedly ruf- 
fled by reason of something he had been told that 
Mr. Anthony had previously said about him in dis- 
cussing a bill concerning wolf scalps. A serio- 
comic amendment had been offered to the bill to 
make scalps a legal tender, and asking the presi- 
dent of the Eeal Estate Bank to certify to the 
genuineness of the same. Anthony had the floor. 
When Wilson took the speaker's chair he com 
manded Anthony to take his seat. The latter 
brusquely declined to do so. Wilson left the chair 
and approached his opponent, who stood in the 
aisle. The manner of the parties indicated a per- 
sonal encounter. As Wilson walked down the aisle 
he was seen to put his hand in the bosom of his 
vest. Anthony drew his knife. Gen. Royston said 
that when he saw this, hoping to cheek the two 
men he raised his chair and held it between them, 
and the men fought across or over the chair. They 
struck at each other inflicting great wounds, which 
were hacking blows. Wilson's left hand was nearly 
cut off in warding a blow from Anthony's knife. 
Wilson was |)hysically a smaller man than Anthony. 
Royston held the chair with all his strength be- 
tween the two now desperate individuals. So far 
.Vnthouy's longer arm had enabled him to give the 
greatest wounds, when Wilson with his shoulder 
raised the chair and plunged his knife into his 
antagonist, who sank to the floor and died immedi- 
ately. It was a duel with bowie-knives, without 
any. of the preliminaries of such encounters. 

Wilson was carried to his bed, where foi' a long 
time bo was confined. The house expelled him 
the next day. The civilized world of course was 
shocked, so bloody and ferocious had lieeii the 
engagement. 

Wilson removed lo Texas about 1842, locating 
at Cedar Grove, near Dallas, where he died soon 



after the close of the late war. Mrs. A. J. Gentry. 
his daughter, now resides in Clark County, Ark. 
The Hardins, living in Clark County, are of the 
same family as was Mrs. Wilson. 

John Hemphill, a South Carolinian, was born 
a short distance above Augusta, Ga. Ho immi- 
grated west and reached (now) Clark County, Ark., 
in 1811, bringing with him a large family and a 
number of slaves, proceeding ovc^rlaud to Bayou 
Sara, La., and from that point by barges to near 
where is Arkadelphia, then a settlement at a place 
called Blakeleytown. which was a year old at the 
time of Mr. Hemphill's location. He found living 
there on his arrival Adam Blakeley, Zack Davis, 
Samuel Parker, Abner Highnight and a few others. 

Mr. Hemphill was attracted by the salt waters 
of the vicinity, and after giving the subject intel- 
ligent inve.stigation, in 1814 built his salt works. 
Going to New Orleans, he procured a barge and 
purchased a lot of sugar kettles, and with these 
completed his preparations for making salt. His 
experiment was a success from the start and he 
carried on his extensive manufactory until his 
death, about 1825. The works were continued by 
his descendants, with few intermissions, until 1851. 
Jonathan O. Callaway, his son-in-law, was, until 
that year, manager and proprietor. 

There is a coincidence in the lives of the two 
men who were the founders of commerce and man- 
ufacturing in Arkansas, Hemphill and Barkman. 
in that by chance they became traveling compan- 
ions on their way to the new country. 

Two brothers, Jacob and John Barkman, came 
to Arkansas in 1811. They worked their passage 
in the barge of John Hemj)hill, from Bayou Sara, 
La., to Blakeleytown, near Arkadelphia. They 
were a couple of young Kentuckians, full of cour- 
age, hope, and strong sense, seeking homes in the 
wilderness. Their coming antedated that of the 
first steamboat on western waters, and the history 
of the river commerce of this State witb New Or 
leans will properly credit Jacob Barkman with 
being its founder. Considering the times and real- 
izing what such men as Jacob Barkman did, one 
is constrained to the belief that among the first 
settlers of Arkansas wore men of enterprise, fore- 



^fV 



^1 



106 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



sight and daring in commerce that have certainly 
not been surpassed by their successors. 

On a previous page the methods of this pioneer 
merchant in the conduct of his business have been 
noted. His miscellaneous cargo of bear oil, skins, 
pelts, tallow, etc., found a ready market in Nevp 
Orleans, which place he reached by river, return- 
ing some six months later well laden with commod- 
ities best suited to the needs of the people. In- 
deed his "store" grew to be an important institu- 
tion. He really carried on trade from New Orleans 
to Arkadelphia. In 1820 he purchased of the gov- 
ernment about 1,200 acres of land on the Caddo, 
four miles from Arkadelphia, and farmed exten- 
sively and had many cattle and horses, constantly 
addinff to the number of his slaves. Having 
filled the field where he was he sought wider op- 
portunities, and in 1840, in company with J. G. 
Pratt, opened an extensive cotton commission busi- 
ness in New Orleans, building large warehouses 
and stores. Mr. Barkman next purchased the 
steamboat "Dime," a side- wheeler, finely built 
and carrying 400 bales of cotton. He ran this in 
the interest of the New Orleans commission house ; 
owned his crews, and loaded the boat with cot- 
ton from his own plantation. In 1844 his boat 
proudly brought up at New Orleans, well laden with 
cotton. The owner was on board and full of hope 
and anticipated joy at his trip, and also to meet 
his newly married wife (the second), when these 
hopes were rudely dashed by the appearance of an 
officer who seized the boatj cargo and slaves, every- 
thing — and arrested Mr. Barkman and placed him 
in jail under an attachment for debts incurred by 
the commission house. His partner in his absence 
had wrecked the house. 

To so arrange matters that he might get out of 
jail and return to his old home on the Caddo, with 
little left of this world' s goods, was the best the poor 
man could do. He finally saved from the wreck- 
age his fine farm and a few negroes, and, nothing 
daunted, again went to work to rebuild his foi-tune. 
He erected a cotton factory on the Caddo River, 
and expended some $30,000 on the plant, having 
it about ready to commence operating when the 
water came dashing down the mountain streams in 



a sudden and unusual rise, and swept it all away. 
This brave pioneer spent no hour of his life in idle 
griefs at his extraordinary losses. Though unscru- 
pulous arts of business sharks and dire visitations 
of the elements combined to make worthless his 
superb foresight and business energy, he overcame 
all obstacles, and died about 1852, a wealthy man 
for that time. 

//^When Arkansas was yet a Territory, among its 
early pioneers was Dr. William Bowie, whose name 
has become familiar to the civilized world, though 
not in the way that most men are emulous of im- 
mortality. Dr. Bowie had located, or was a frequent 
visitor, in Helena, Ark. , and was a typical man of 
his times — jolly, careless and social, and very fond 
of hunting and fishing. 

1 Among the first settlers in Little Rock was a 
blacksmith, named Black. He possessed skill in 
working in iron and steel, and soon gained a wide 
reputation for the superior hunting knives he 
made. When nearly every man hunted more or 
less, and as a good knife was a necessity, it will 
be seen that Black was filling a general want. 
The material he worked into knives consisted of 
old files. 

One day while he was just finishing a superior 
and somewhat new style of hunting knife. Dr. 
Bowie happened to enter the shop. The moment 
he saw the article he determined to possess it 
at any price. Black had not really made it to 
sell — simply to gratify a desire to see how fine a 
blade he could make, and keep it. Bnt a bargain 
was finally arranged, the blacksmith to complete it 
and put Bowie's name on the handle. The inscrip- 
tion being neatly done read: "Bowie's Knife. " Its 
beauty and finish attracted wide attention, and all 
who could afford it ordered a similar one, the name 
of which was soon shortened into " Bowie Knife." 
Bowie died a patriot's death, fighting for the in- 
dependence of Texas, by the side of David Crockett. 

The one pre-eminent thing which entitles the 
Arkansas pioneer, Sandy Faulkner, to immortality 
is the fact that he is the real, original " 'Arkansaw 
Traveler. ' ' He was an early settler, a hunter, a wild, 
jolly, reckless spendthrift, and a splendid fiddler. 
He was of a wealthy Kentucky family, and settled 



^: 



'~^\ 



--±\iL^ 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS 



107 



first in Chicot. County and then on tho river only a 
few miles below Little Kock. By inheritance he 
received two or three moderate fortunes, and spent 
them royally. Of a roving nature, a witty and rol- 
licking companion, he would roam through the 
woods, hunting for days and weeks, and then en- 
liven the village resorts for a while. He was born 
to encounter just such a character as he did chance 
to find, playing on a three-stringed fiddle the first 
part of a particular tune. Now there was l)ut one 
thing in this world that could touch his heart with 
a desire to possess, and that was to hear the re- 
mainder of the tune. 

After meeting this rare character in the woods 
what a world of enjoyment Sandy did carry to the 
village on his next return! "With just enough 
and not too much," with fiddle in his hand, the 
villagers gathered about him while he repeated the 
comedy. His zest in the ludicrous, his keen wit 
and his inimitable acting, especially^ his power of 
mimicry and his mastery of the violin, enabled him 
to offer his associates an entertainment never 
surpa'^sed, either on or off the mimic stage. 

After the war Faulkner lived in Little Rock 
until his death in 1875, in straitened circumstan- 
ces, residing with a widowed daughter and one son. 
Another son was killed in the war; the two daugh- 
ters married and are both dead, and the son and 
only remaining child left this portion of the coun- 
try some years ago. 

Wlien Faulkner died — over eighty years of age 
— he held a subordinate office in the legislature 
then in session, which body adjourned and respect- 
fully buried all that was mortal of the "Arkansaw 
Traveler," while the little mnrccau from his 
harmless and genial soul will continue to travel 
around the world and never stop, the thrice wel 
come guest aliout every fireside. 

What a comment is here in this careless, aim- 
less life and that vaulting ambition that struggles, 
and wars and suffers and sows the world with 
woe that men' a names may live after death. Poor 
Siindy had no thought of distinction; his life was a 
laugh, so unmixed with care for the moiTow and 
so merry that it has filled a world with its cease- 
less echoes. 



Though there may be in this country no titled 
aristocracy, there are nobles, whose remotest de- 
scendants may claim that distinction of race and 
lilood which follows the memory of the great deeds 
of illustrious sires. It is the nobles whose lives 
and life's great work were given to the cause of their 
fellowmen in that noblest of all human efforts — 
liberty to mankind. There is something forever 
sacred lingering about the graves, nay, the very 
ground, where these men exposed their lives and 
struggled for each and all of us. All good men 
(and no man can really be called good who does not 
love liberty and independence above everything in 
the world) cannot but feel a profound interest in 
the lineal descendants of Revolutionary fathers. 
" My ancestor was a soldier in the war for inde- 
pendence!" is a far nobler claim to greatness than 
is that of the'most royal blue blood in all heraldry. 

W. P. Huddleston, of Sharp's Cross Roads. 
Independence County, has the following family 
tree: Israel McBee was for seven years a soldier 
in a North Carolina regiment in the Revolutionary 
War. He died in Grainger County, Tenn. , aged 
110 years. He was the father of Samuel McBee, 
who was the father of Rachel McBee. who married 
John Huddleston, the grand father of W. P. Hud- 
dleston, Jr. The McBees were originally from 
Scotland. 

Samuel S. Wellwrn, of Fort Douglas, Johnson 
County, was the youngest son of Elias. Samuel 
was born December 30, 1842. His grandfather. 
Isaac Welborn, was seven years a soldier in a 
Georgia regiment, and died at Hazel Green, Ala., 
in 1833, aged eighty four years. 

Samuel H. Hempstead is a name illustrious in 
Arkansas outside of the fact that it is descended 
directly from a soldier in the war for independ- 
ence. The above-named was born in New London. 
Conn., in 1814, and died in Little Rock in 1862. 
He was a son of Joseph Hempstead, born in New 
London in 1778, and died in St. Louis in 1S31. 
Joseph was a son of Stephen Hempstead, born in 
New London in 1742, and died in St. Louis in 
1832. Stephen was a soldier in the American 
Revolution, serving under Col. Ledyard at the 
battle of Fort Griswold, near New Londoti, when 






108 



HISTORY or AKKANSAS. 



these towns were captured by the British under 
Benedict Arnold, September 6, 1781. Hempstead 
was wounded twice during the engagement — a 
severe gunshot wound in the left elbow disabling 
him in the arm for life. He wrote and published 
in the Missouri Republican in 1826, a detailed ac- 
count of the battle. 

Stephen Hempstead's father was also Stephen 
Hempstead, born in ITOu and died in 1774. The 
records of Connecticut, Vol. VII, show that he 
was made an ensign in a train liand comj)any, 
by the colonial council, in October, 1 787, where he 
stM'ved with distinction through this war, known as 
King George's War. In May, 1740, he was made 
surveyor by the council. He was the son of 
Joshua Hempstead, born in 1678, and died in 
1758. He was a representative in the Connecticut 
council in October, 1709; a member of the Royal 
council in October, 1712; ensign in train band com- 
pany in 1721; lieutenant in same company in May, 
1724; auditor of accounts in May, 1725. He was 
the son of Joshua Hempstead, Sr. , born in 1649, 
and died in 1709; Joshua Hempstead, Sr. , was a 
son of Robert Hempstead, born in 1600 and died 
in 1665. The last named was the immigrant to 
America, one of the original nine settlers of New 
London, Conn. , the founder of the town first called 
Hempstead, on Long Island. In 1640 Robert 
Hempstead built a house at New London for a res- 
idence, which is still standing, an ancient relic of 
great interest. It is occupied by descendants of 
the builder, named Caits, from the female branches. 
Though much modernized the old house still shows 
the port- holes used for defense against the Indians. 
A daughter of Robert Hempstead, Mary, was the 
first white child born in New London, March 26, 
1647. 

Fay and Roy Hempstead, Little Rock, are de- 
•scendants of this family. Other descendants live 
in St. Louis, Mo. 

Jesse Williams, of Prince William County, Va., 
enlisted under Dinwiddle's call in the French- 
Indian War on the English settlers in 1754, 
under then Lieut. -Col. Washington, of the First 
Virginia Regiment of 150 men. The command at- 
tempted to reach where is now Pittsburg to relieve 



Trent' s command at that place. Two descendants 
of the Trents now live in Washington County. In 
this hard march to Fort Duquesne the men dragged 
their cannon, were without tents and scant of pro- 
visions, and deprived of material or means for 
bridging rivers. They fought at Fort Necessity. 
Washington cut a road twenty miles toward Du- 
quesne. On July 3 the light took place, and July 
4 Washington capitulated on honorable terms. 

In 1755 Jesse Williams again entered the ser- 
vice under Washington and joined Braddock at 
Fort Cumberland. In 1758 he was once more with 
Washington when Forbes moved on Fort Duquesne, 
being present at the capture, and helped raise the 
flag and name the place Pittsburg. 

In the Revolutionary War he was one of the 
first to enlist from Virginia, and was commissioned 
captain, and was present in nearly all the battles 
of that long war. 

The maternal ancestor of the Williams family 
was Thomas Rowe, of Virginia, a colonel in the war 
for independence, who was at the surrender of 
Yorktown. 

David Williams, a son of Jesse, married Betsy 
Rowe. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and 
served with distinction, and also in the Seminole 
War. He settled in Kentucky, Franklin County. 
His children were Jacob, Urban V., Betty, Mil- 
lie, Hattie and Susan; the children of Urban V. 
Williams being John, Pattie and Minnie. Bettie 
married Jeptha Robinson, and had children, David, 
Owen, Austin, May, Hottie, Ruth, Sue, Jacol), 
Frank and Sallie. Hettie married Dr. Andrew 
Neat, and had children, Thomas, Estelle (Biink- 
ley), Ella (Ford). Addis and Ben. Sue married 
George Poor, and had children, George, Lizzie, 
Sue and Minnie. Jacob Williams, the father of 
Mrs. Minnie C. Shinn (wife of Prof. J. H. Shinn, 
of Little Rock), Otis AVilliams and Mattie Mil- 
liams. Little Rock; Joseph Desha Williaius and 
Maggie Wells, Russellville; Lucian and Virgil. 
Memphis, are all of this family. Jacob AVilliams 
was a private in the Fifth Kentucky, in the late 
war, under Humphrey Marsball. 

Among the pioneers of what is now the State 
of Arkansas, there was perhaps no one family that 



^; 



ihL^ 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



imt 



furnished so lUtany iiotod characters and citizens 
as the Conway family. Their genealogy is traced 
' ' back to the reign of Edward I, of England, in the 
latter part of the thirteenth centiiiy, to the cele- 
brated Castle of Conway, on Couway River, in 
the north of Wales, where the lords of Conway, 
in feudal times presided ia royal style." Thomas 
Conway came to America about the year 1740, 
and settled in the Virginia colony. Henry Conway 
was his only son. The latter was lirst a colouel 
and afterwai'd a general in the Revolutionary War. 
His daughter, . Nellie, after marriage, became the 
mother of President Madison, and his .son, Mon- 
cure D., was brother-in law to Gen. Washington. 

Thomas Conway, another son of Gen. Henry 
Conway, settled, during the Revolutionary period, 
near the present site of Greenville, Tenn. He 
married Ann Rector, a native of Virginia, and 
member of the celebrated Rector family. To this 
union seven sons and three daughters were born, 
and all were well reared and well educated. 

In 1818, Gen. Thomas Conway moved with 
his family from Tennessee to St. Louis, in the 
Territory of Missouri, and soon after to Boone 
County, where he remained until his death, in 
1835. Henry Wharton Conway, the eldest son, 
was born March 18, 17U3, in Greene County, 
Tenn., and served as a lieutenant in the War of 
1812-15; subsequently, in 1817, he served in the 
treasury department at Washington, immigrated 
to Missouri with his father in 1818, and early in 
1820, after being appointed receiver of public 
moneys, he immigrated in company with his next 
younger brother. James Sevier Conway, who was 
born in 171t8, to the county of Arkansas, in the 
then Territory of Missouri. These two brothers 
took and executed large contracts to survey the 
{)ublie lands, and later on James S. became 
surveyor- general of the Territory. During the 
twenties Henry W. Conway served two tonus as a 
delegate in Congress, and received the election 
in 1827 for the third term, but on the 29th of 
Octol)er of that year, he was mortally wounded in 
a duel with Robert Crittenden, from the effects of 
which he died ou the 9th of November, following. 
[See account of the duel elsewhere in this work. ] 



A marl)l(i shaft with an elal)orate inscription, 
erected by his brother, James S. Conway, stands 
over his grave in the cemetery at Arkansas Post. 

James S. Conway became the first governor 
of the State of Arkansas, upon its admission into 
the Union, serving as such from 1836 to 1840, 
after which he settled on his princely possessions 
on Rod Rivfu- in the southern part of the State. 
He was a largo slave holder and cotton planter. 
He died on the 3d of March, 1855, at Walnut 
Hill, his country seat, in Lafayette County. 

Frederick Rector Conway, the third son of 
Gen. Thomas Conway, was a noted character in 
Missouri and Illinois. John Rector Conway, the 
fourth son, was an eminent physician, who died in 
San Francisco in KSHS. William B. Conway was 
born at the old homestead in Tennessee, about 180<). 
He was thoroughly educated, read law under 
John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, and commenced 
the practice at Elizabethtown in that State. He 
moved to Arkansas in 1840, and in 1844 was 
elected judge of the Third circuit. In December, 
1846, he was elected associate justice of the 
supreme court. He died December 29, 1852, and 
is buried by the side of his noble mother, in 
Mount Holly Cemetery. Little Rock. The sixth 
son, Thomas A., died in his twenty-second year in 
Missouri. 

The seventh and youngest son. Gov. Elias N. 
Conway, was born May 17, 1812, at the old home- 
stead in Tennessee, and in November, 1833, he 
left his parents' home in Missouri, and came ta 
Little Rock, and entered into a contract to survey 
large tracts of the public lands in the northwest- 
ern part of the State. Having executed this con- 
tract, he was, in 1836, appointed auditor of State, 
a position which he held for thirteen years. In 
1852 and again in 1856, he was elected on the 
Democratic ticket as governor of the State, and 
served his full two terms, eight years, a longer 
period than any other governor has ever served. 
Much could be said, _did space permit, of the emi 
nent services this man has rendered to Arkansas. 
Of the seven brothers named he is the only one 
now living. He leads a retired and secluded life 
in Little Rock, in a small cottage in which he has 



y: 



J, 



no 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



resided for over forty years. He has no family, 
having never been married. 

Robert Crittenden, youngest son of John Crit- 
tenden, a major in the Revohitiouary War, was born 
near Versailles, Woodford County, Ky. , January 
1, 1797. He was educated by and read law with 
his brother, John J. Crittenden, in Russellville, 
that State. Being appointed first secretary of 
Arkansas Territory, he removed to Arkansas Post, 
the temporary seat of government,' where on the 
3d day of March, 1819, he was inaugurated and 
assumed the duties of his office. On the same 
day James Miller was inaugurated first governor 
of the Territory. It seems, however, that Gov. 
Miller, though he held his office until succeeded by 
Gov. George Izard, in March, 1825, was seldom 
present and only occasionally performed official 
duties. This left Crittenden to assume charge of 
the position as governor a great portion of the 
time while Miller held the office. Crittenden con- 
tinued as secretary of the Territory until succeeded 
by William Fulton, in April, 1829, having served 
in that capacity a little over ten years. In 1827 
he fought a duel with Henry W. Conway, the ac- 
count of which is gjiven elsewhere. Accordinar to 
Gen. Albert Pike, with whom he was intimately 
associated, ' ' he was a man of fine presence and 
handsome fa^e, with clear bright eyes, and unmis- 
takable intellect and genius, frank, genial, one to 
attach men warmly to himself, impulsive, generous, 
warm hearted. ' ' He was the first gre(it leader of 
the Whig party in the Territory, and continued as 
such until his death, which occurred December 18, 
1834, at Vicksburg, Miss., whither he had gone 
on business. He died thus young, and before the 
Territory, which he had long and faithfully served, 
became a State. 

Archibald Yell, not unfamiliar to Arkansans, 
was born in North Carolina, in August, 1797, and 
while very young immigrated to Tennessee, and 
settled in Bedford County. He served in the Creek 
War as the boy captain of the Jackson Guards, 
xinder Gen. Jackson, also under the same general 
in the War of 1812-13, participating in the battle 
of New Orleans, and also in the Seminole War. 
He was a man of moderate education, and when 



the War of 1812 closed, he read law and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in Tennessee. After the close of 
the Seminole War, he located at Fayetteville, Lin- 
coln County, Tenn. , and there practiced law until 
1832, when President Jackson gave him the choice 
to fill one of two vacancies, governor of Florida 
or Territorial judge in the Territory of Arkansas. 
He chose the latter and in due time located at 
Fayetteville, in Washington County. He was a 
man of fine personal appearance, pleasant and 
humorous, and possessed the faculty of making 
friends wherever he went. He was elected and 
served as grand master of the Masonic fraternity 
in the jurisdiction of Arkansas; was a Democrat 
in j)olitics, and the first member of Cougr'?ss from 
the State of Arkansas; was governor of the State 
from 1S40 to 1844; was elected again as a member 
of Congress in 1844, and served until 1846, when 
he resigned to accept the colonelcy of an Arkansas 
regiment of volunteers for the Mexican War. He 
was killed in the battle of Buena Vista, February 
22, 1847. 

In his race for Congress in 1844, he was op- 
posed by the Hon. David Walker, the leader of the 
Whig party, and they made a joint canvass of the 
State. Yell could adapt himself to circumstances 
— to the different crowds of people more freely than 
could his antagonist. In 1847 the Masonic fra- 
ternity erected a monument to his memory in the 
cemetery at Fayetteville. Gov. Yell was a man of 
great ability, and one of the great pioneer states- 
men of Arkansas. 

The eminent jurist, Judge David Walker, de- 
scended from a line of English Quakers, of whom 
the last trans-Atlantic ancestor in the male line 
was Jacob Walker, whose son George emigrated to 
America prior to the war of the Revolution, and 
settled in Brunswick County, Va. Here he mar- 
ried a lady, native to the manor born, and be- 
came the first American ancestor of a large and 
distinguished family. One of his sons, Jacob 
Wythe Walker, born in the decade that ushered 
in the Revolution, early in life removed to and 
settled in what is now Todd County, Ky. Here, 
on the 19th day of February, 1806, was born un- 
to him and his wife, Nancy (Hawkins) Walker, 



^^ 



^ft 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



the subject of this sketch — David Walker. Young 
Walker's opportunities for obtaining a school edu- 
cation in that then frontier country were limited, 
but, being the son of a good lawyer, he inherited 
his father's energetic nature, became self-educated, 
read law and was admitt(>d to the bar in Scotts- 
ville, Ky. , early in 1829, and there practiced 
until the fall of 1830, when he moved to Little 
Rock, Ark., arriving on the 10th of October. 
Soon after this he located at Fayetteville, Wash- 
ington County, and remained there, except when 
temporarily absent, until his death. From 1833 
to 1835 he was prosecuting attorney in the Third 
circuit. He was one of the many able members of 
the constitutional convention of 1836. In 1840 he 
rode "the tidal wave of whiggery " into the State 
senate, in which he served four years. In 1844 he 
led the forlorn hope of his party in the ever memor- 
able contest with Gov. Yell for Congress. In 
1848, while on a visit to Kentucky, and without 
his knowledge, a legislature, largely Democratic, 
elected him associate justice of the supreme court 
over strong Democratic opposition, embracing such 
men as Judges English and William Conway, both 
of whom afterwards succeeded to the office. 

He had always been a lover of the Union, but 
when the Civil W^ar came on, having been born 
and reared in the South, and having become 
attached to its institutions, he finally chose rather 
to cast his fortunes with the proposed Confederacy 
than with the Federal Union. In February 1861, 
he was elected a delegate to the State convention 
which convened on the 4th of March, and finally, 
at its adjourned session, passed the ordinance of 
secession. He and Judge B. C. Totten were can- 
didates for the chairmanship of this convention, 
the former representing the Union strength, and 
the latter the disunion element as it was then 
developed. Walker received forty out of the sev- 
enty-five votes cast, and thereupon took the chair; 
but owing to the rapid change of sentiment all of 
the majority, save one, finally voted with the 
minority, and Arkansas formally withdrew from the 
Union, with Judge Walker as a leader. In 1S66 
he was elected chief justice of the State, but in 
less than two years was removed from the ntficeby 



military power. At the close of the reconstruction 
pi^riod he was again elected to the supreme bench 
and served thereon until September, 1878, when 
he resigned at the age of seventy -two, and retired 
to private life. He died September 30, 1879. He 
was a pious and conscientiovis man, an able jurist, 
a pioneer of Arkansas, highly respected by its citi- 
zens. 

Gen. Grandison D. Royston, a son of Joshua 
Royston and Elizabeth S. (Watson) Royston, na- 
tives, respectively, of Maryland and Virginia, and 
both of pure English descent, was born on the 
9th of December, 1809, in Carter County, Tenn. 
His father was an agriculturist and Indian trader 
of great energy and character, and his mother 
was a daughter of that eminent Methodist divine. 
Rev. Samuel Watson, one of the pioneers of 
the Holstein conference in East Tennessee. He 
was educated in the common neighborhood schools 
and in a Presbyterian academy in Washington 
County, Tenn. In 1829 he entered the law office 
of Judge Emerson, at Jonesboro, in that State, 
and two years after was admitted to the bar. Sul)- 
sequently he emigrated to Arkansas Territory, and 
in April, 1832, located in Fayetteville, Washing- 
ton County, where he remained only eight months, 
teaching school five days in the week and practic- 
ing law in justices' courts on Saturdays. He then 
moved to Washington, in Hempstead County, 
where he continued to reside until his death. In 
the performance of his professional duties he trav- 
eled the circuits of the Territory and State in that 
cavalcade of legal lights composed of such men as 
Hempstead, Fowler, Trapnall, Cummins, Pike, 
Walker, Yell, Ashley, Bates, Searcy and others. 

In 1833 he was elected prosecuting attorney 
for the Third circuit, and performed the duties of 
that office for two years. In January, ]83(), he 
served as a delegate from Hempstead County in 
the convention at Little Rock, which framed the 
tir.st constitution of the State; and in the fall of 
the same year he was elected to represent his 
county in the first legislature of the State. After 
the expulsion of John Wilson, speaker of the house, 
who killed Representative John J. Anthony, Roy- 
ston was on joint ballot elected to fill the vacant. 



It 

I 



112 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



speakership but declined the office. In 1841 
President Tvler appointed him United States dis- 
trict attorney for the district of Arkansas, which 
office he held a short time and then resigned it. 
In 1858 he represented the counties of Hempstead, 
Pike and Lafayette in the State legislature, and 
became the author of the levee system of the State. 
In 1801 he was elected to the Confederate Con- 
gress, serving two years. In 1874 he was a dele- 
gate from Hempstead County to the constitutional 
convention, and was elected president of that 
body. In 1876 he represented the State at large 
in the National Democratic convention at St. Louis, 
and voted for Tilden and Hendricks. He was al- 
ways a Democrat, a man of culture, refinement and 
winning manners, and enjoyed in a large degree 
the confidence of the people. He obtained his 
title as general by serving on the staflf of Gov. 
Drew with the rank of brigadier -general. He 
died August 14, 1889, in his eightieth year. He, 
too, was one of the last prominent pioneers of Ar- 
kansas, and it is said he was the last surviving 
member of the constitutional convention of 1830. 
Judge James Woodson Bates was born in 
Goochland County, Va. . about the year 1788. He 
was educated in the Yale and Princeton Col- 
leges, graduating from the latter about 1810. 
^\hen quite young he attended the trial of Aaron 
Burr, for treason, at Richmond. Soon after grad- 
uating he read law. In the meantime his brother, 
Frederick Bates, was appointed first secretary of 
Missouri Territory, and was acting governor in 
the absence of Gov. Clark. About 18ir) he fol- 
lowed his brother to the West, and settled in St. 
Louis. In 1820 he removed to the Post of Arkan- 
sas and there began the practice of his profession, 
but had scarcely opened his office when he was 
elected first delegate to Congress from Arkansas 
Territory. In 1823 he was a candidate for re 



election, but was defeated by the celebrated Hunry 
W. Conway, an able man, who commanded not 
only the influence of his own powerful family, but 
that of the Rectors, the Johnsons. Roanes and 
Ambrose H. Sevier, and all the political adherents 
of Gen. Jackson, then so popular in the South 
and West. The influence and strength of this 
combined opposition could not be overcome. 

After his short Congressional career closed, he 
moved to the newly settled town of Batesville, and 
resumed the practice of his profession. Batesville 
was named after him. In November, 1825, Presi- 
dent Adams appointed him one of the Territorial 
judges, in virtue of which he was one of the 
judges of the superior or appellate court organized 
on the plan of the old English court in banc. On 
the accession of Gen. Jackson to the presidency, 
his commission expired without renewal, and he 
soon after removed to Crawford County, married 
a wealthy widow, and became stationary on a rich 
farm near Van Buren. In the fall of 1835 he 
was elected to the constitutional convention, and 
coutril)uted his ability and learning in the forma 
tion of our first organic law as a State Soon 
after the accession of John Tyler to the presidency, 
he appointed Judge Bates register of the laml 
office at Clarksville. in recognition of an old 
friend. He discharged every public trust, and 
all the duties devolved on him as a private citizen. 
with the utmost fidelity. Strange to say, whilst 
he possessed the most fascinating conversational 
powers, he was a failure as a public speaker. He 
was also a brother to Edward Bates, the attorney- 
general in President Lincoln's cabinet. He was 
well versed in the classics, and familiar with the 
best authors of English and American literature. 
He died at his home in Crawford County in 184(), 
universally esteemed. 




^±=^ 



■^ "JL^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



113 



> ♦ < « 



White County— Location and Description— Boundary Lines— Topography and Geology— Water 
Supply— Drainage— Streams— Timber— Soil— Resourcks— Lumber Intkkests— Census Enu- 
meration— Taxable Property— Live Stock Industry— Real and Personal Property 
—Railroad Facilities— Population— Era of Settlement— County Organiza- 
tion—Seat or Justice and Public Buildings— County Officers— Poli- 
tics— Court Affairs— Roll of Attorneys— Ciyil War History- 
Towns AND Villages— SoHOOLS—CiiURCHES— Biographical. 



-■»*"=►• 




O the pleasant days of old, which so often people praise! 

True, they wanted all the luxuries that grace our modern days; 

Bare floors were strewed with rushes, the walls let in the cold; 

O how they must have shivered in those pleasant days of oV\. —Brown. 



;c:v:v. 



HITE COUNTY is located in 
the northeast part of 
Central Arkansas, and is 
bounded north by Cle- 
burne.Independence and 
Jackson Couuties.east by 
Woodruff, south by Prai- 
rie and Lonoke, and west by Faulkner. 
Its boundary lines are as follows: Be- 
i^inning in Eange 3 west, at the point 
where White River crosses the line di- 
viding Towiiships 9 and 10 north; thence 
west on the township line to the line di- 
viding Ranges 5 and 6 west; thence north 
on the range line to the line dividing 
Townships 10 and 11 north; thence west 
on the township line to the line dividing Ranges 
7 and 8 west; thence south on the range line to 
Little Red River; thence up said river, in a west- 
erly direction, following its meanders, to the mid- 
dle of Range 8 west; thence south on section lines 
to the line dividing Townships 8 and 9 north ; thence 
west on the township line to the lino dividing 




Ranges 10 and 11 west; thence south on the range 
line to Cypress Creek in Township 5 north; thence 
down Cypress Creek following its meanders to the 
line dividing Ranges 5 and 6 west; thence north 
on the range line to the line dividing Townships 5 
and north; thence east on the township line to 
White River; thence up White River following its 
meanders to the last crossing of the line dividing 
Townships 7 and 8 north; thence west on the 
township line to the southwest corner of Section 
35, Township 8 north. Range 4 west; thence north 
on section lines until White River is again inter- 
sected; thence up the river following its meanders 
to the place of beginning; containing an area of 
1,015 square miles, or 650,000 acres. Of this 
about 12,000 acres belong to the United States, 
27,000 to the State, 81,000 to the St. Louis, Iron 
Mountain & Southern Railway Company, and the 
balance to individuals. Only about 10 per cent of 
the land is improved. Prices range from S5 to 
$25 per acre for improved, and from $1 to §10 for 
unimproved property. 

The face of the county is somewhat rolling, 



^ 



114 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



with three-fifths hilly, and two-fifths level. The 
course of the streams show that the general trend 
is toward the southeast; White River, forming the 
eastern boundary line, is navigable for large ves- 
sels to points above. All the other streams of the 
county empty into this river. Little Red River en- 
ters fi-om the northwest, and flows in an easterly 
and southeasterly direction through these limits 
and empties into White River near the line divid- 
ing Townships 6 and 7 north. It so divides the 
county as to leave about one-third of its area to the 
northeast and two-thirds to the southwest. Glaize 
Creek makes its appearance from the north, in 
Range 5 west, and flows thence in a direction east 
of south, emptying into White River a short dis- 
tance above the mouth of Red River. Bayou Des 
Arc rises in the coimty' s western part and, flowing 
southeasterly, finds an outlet in Cypress Creek at 
the southern boundary near the line between 
Ranges 6 and 7 west. Cypress Creek, which 
forms most of the southern boundary, runs in a 
general eastern direction and empties into White 
River at a point southeast of the county. These, 
the principal streams in this territory, together 
with their several tributaries, supply the entire 
drainage of the immediate region. Little Red 
River is navigable at all seasons of the year as 
far as West Point, and in high water it has been 
ascended to a point opposite Searcy. The United 
States has recently completed a dredge and two 
other boats at Judsonia, making necessary prep- 
arations to dredge and enlarge the river that it 
may be navigable at all seasons up to Judsonia. 

There are numerous springs throughout the 
county, from which flows the purest of water. The 
most noted possessing mineral properties are the 
White Sulphur, Chalybeate and Alum Springs, 
at Searcy; the Armstrong Spring, nine miles 
west, and Grifiin' s Spring, four miles south. Well 
water of the best quality can be obtained at nearly 
all points at a moderate depth. The supply of 
water for family use is had from wells, springs and 
cisterns. Of timber, many varieties are common 
here, such as white, black, red, post, Spanish and 
overcup oak, black walnut, hickoiy, ash, cedar, 
pine, pecan, cypress and sweet and black gum. 



Valuable white oak grows abundantly in nearly all 
parts of the county. 

The most conspicuous geological feature of the 
county is the escarpment of sandstone along the 
bluffs of Little Red River, known as the "Bee 
Rock." The sandstone forming the cliffs in the 
foreground of this landscape is part of the con- 
glomerate and millstone grit formation that inter 
venes between the overlying coal measures proper, 
and the underlying subcarboniferous limestone. 
The pebbly sandstones and millstone grit, which 
occur along the escarpments of Little Red River, 
attaining a thickness of from 150 to 200 feet, im- 
part wild and romantic scenery for many miles 
along the banks of the stream. The dip of these 
sandstones at the old Patterson Mill is one and one- 
half to two degrees to the south, or a little west of 
south. In digging wells in the vicinity of Searcy, 
a blackish gray, indurated, argillo-siliceous shale 
is encountered, containing small scales of dissemi- 
nated mica. This material is brittle and crumbles, 
by exposure, to a clay. Similar shales are struck, 
usually ten feet below the surface, under the red 
land situated west of Searcy. The first ten feet 
passed through, generally consists of soil, subsoil 
and gravel overlaying the shales. The red soil of 
these level farming lands is quite productive, yield- 
ing good crops of cotton, com, wheat and the finest 
oats in ordinary seasons: 800 to 1,500 pounds of 
cotton in the seed to the acre, 20 to 25 bushels of 
wheat, and 40 to 60 bushels of oats, when there are 
seasonable rains.* This description of land covers 
a large proportion of the area of the county. The 
bottom lands along the streams are largely alluvial 
and exceedingly productive. The soil of that por- 
tion not previously mentioned, is comjiosed of veg- 
etable mold, sand and clay, and with proper cul- 
tivation all the lands of the county, excepting 
some thin soil on the ridges, yield abundantly. 

There are some mineral deposits, such as iron, 
manganese, lead and coal here, but they have not 
yet been developed in paying quantities. It is 
thought, however, that a few of these ores may be 
found to exist to that extent which will warrant 
their mining. 

* Quotations from State Geological Report. 



WHITE COUNTY. 



115 



Among the resources of the county, himberiug 
constitutes a considerable industry, there being 
many saw and shingle mills throughout its terri- 
tory. Manufacturing has also been commenced; 
there is a wagon factory at Searcy, and a fruit-can- 
ning factory, and a factory for the manufacture of 
fruit boxes and crates at Judsonia. 

Agriculture is here, as elsewhere, the leading 
occupation, but both horticulture and the raising 
of live stock are beginning to receive attention. 
The agricultural products are cotton, corn, wheat, 
oats, rye, peas, grass, potatoes, turnips, sorghum, 
etc. "Cotton is King," and is raised largely to 
the exclusion of other crops. Farming might, 
perhaps, be carried on more scientifically, as the 
lands have been cropped from year to year, some 
of them for half a century, without a proper rota- 
tion, with but very little fertilizing matter being 
returned to the soil. Clover and the tame grasses 
succeed well, and are most profitable for refertiliz- 
ing the lands. 

In 1880 there were 2, 319 farms in White County, 
83,679 acres of improved lands, and the value of 
all farm products for the year 1879 amounted to 
$925,392. The cereal and vegetable productions 
were as follows: Indian corn, 444,893 bushels; 
oats, 95,359 bushels; rye, 399 bushels; wheat, 17,- 
220 bushels; hay, 295 tons; cotton, 11,821 bales; 
Irish potatoes, 14,876 bushels; sweet potatoes, 
23,098 bushels; tobacco, 28,184 pounds. These 
actual statistics taken from the reports of the United 
States census show conclusively what the soil is 
best adapted for. 

In the cultivation of sweet potatoes and tobac- 
co the county then ranked as third in the State, 
in Irish potatoes fifth, and in cotton fourteenth. 
The number of head of live stock, as given by the 
same census report, was: Horses 3,04S; mules and 
asses 1,860; neat cattle 15,944; sheep 5,388; hogs 
29,936. The abstract for taxable property for 
1888 shows the following: Horses 4,157; mules 
and asses 2,052; neat cattle 19,839; sheep 3,678; 
hogs 23,330. Of the first four grades of animals 
there was a large increase from 1880 to 1888, a 
probable decrease l^eing noticed in the other two. 
Perhaps the decrease in sheep is real, while that 



in hogs is only apparent, for the reason that the 
abstract of taxable property shows the number on 
hand when the property was assessed and does not 
include those slaughtered and sold during the 
year, as is the case with the census report. 

Live stock is receiving considerable attention 
of late, and the county is well adapt* d to its 
growth. Improved breeds are being introduced 
to a great extent. Horses, mules, cattle and hogs 
succeed best, and sheep do tolerably well. The 
stock business is steadily increasing and will be 
one of the most profitable industries of this local- 
ity in the near future. 

The county's horticultural resources (especial- 
ly the raising of small fruits) are being devel- 
oped to a consideral)le extent along the line of 
the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern l^ail- 
way. Peaches, plums, strawberries, raspberries 
and blackberries are already quite extensively 
raised and shipped from Bradford, Eussell, Jud- 
sonia and Beebe. These fruits are all grown to 
perfection; apples and pears, however, do not suc- 
ceed as well. Grapes are also grown and used to 
some extent in the manufacture of domestic wine. 
The increasing demand for fruits will make this 
variety a leading industry here. 

It is very evident that owing to natural re- 
sources, mildness of climate, the trifling cost of 
fuel, and the small amount of feed and care re- 
quired to winter live stock, a farmer can live much 
cheaper and with greater pecuniary profit here- 
abouts, than in the cold settlements of the north 
and northwest. The industrious poor man desir- 
ing to emigrate to a new country, where may l)e 
had a home of his own, will do well to investigate 
the many advantages offered by this and contigu- 
ous portions of Arkansas, before venturing with 
his all into cold and forl)idding regions of less fa- 
vored localities. Let a farmer practice the same 
economy and industry here that usually prevail in 
Indiana, Illinois and other Northern States and 
he will find it comparatively easy to gain a compe- 
tency within a few years. 

In 1880, the real estate of A\'hite County was 
assessed for taxation at $1,850,394 and the per- 
sonal property at $744,821, making a total of 



-. V 



J®—— ^ 



110 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



$2,595,215, on which the total amount of taxes 
charged for all purposes was $32,633. In taxable 
wealth it then ranked as fourth in the State. In 
1888, the real-estate assessment was $2,440,883, 
and personal property $1,252,715,^ aggregating 
$3,693,598. The total amount of taxes charged 
thereon for all purposes was $56,407.88. These 
figures bear evidence that from 1880 to 1888 the 
taxable wealth of the county increased a little over 
42 per cent — a most encouraging showing. 

The St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Rail- 
road enters White County about five miles west of its 
northeast corner, and runs thence through the limits 
in a southwesterly direction, its length here being 
about thirty-nine miles. It was completed in 1872. 
Soon after the Searcy & West Point Railroad was 
constructed, running from West Point to Searcy, 
and crossing the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & South- 
ern at Kensett. The cars on this road are drawn 
between Searcy and Kensett by an engine, and be- 
tween Kensett and AVest Point by horses. Its 
length is ten and a half miles. The Memphis 
branch of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & South- 
ern Railroad connects Memphis with the main line 
at Bald Knob in the county's northeast j)art, its 
length being about ten miles, thus making the 
combined length of railroads within the connty 
sixty-one miles or more. These roads, together 
with White River as a navigable outlet, afford ex- 
cellent transportation facilities. 

The population of White County, according to 
the United States census reports, has been as fol- 
lows at the various decades mentioned: 1840, 920; 
1850, 2,619; 1860, 8,316; 1870, 10,347; 1880, 
17,794. Immigration to the county since 1880 
has been so large that at the present its population 
must considerably exceed 20.000. The colored 
population was, in 1860, 1,435; in 1870, 1,200; 
in 1880, 2,032, at about which figure it still re- 
mains. 

The Royal Colony, consisting of several fam- 
ilies from Tennessee, was founded by James Walker 
and Martin Jones at the head of Bull Creek, in 
the northwest part of what is now White County. 
Lower down on Bull Creek were the settlements of 
Fielding and Frederick Price. Lewis Vongrolman i 



founded a German settlement on Big Creek and 
Little Red River with John Magness, Philip Hil- 
ger, James King, the Wishes, Yinglings and others. 
Philip Hilger established and kept the " Hilgers 
Ferry ' ' across Little Red River, on the old mili- 
tary road leading from Cape Girardeau to Little 
Rock. Farther north, near the Independence 
County line, was the Pate Settlement, founded by 
Lovic Pate. Alfred Arnold, John Akin and John 
Wright founded the settlement on Little Red 
River below where W'est Point is situated. Near 
the present town of Judsonia was a settlement 
founded by William Cook and Henry R. Vanmeter. 
Reuben Stephens settled in the Pate Settlement 
on the creek that now bears his name. Samuel 
Guthrie and John Dunaway also settled in that 
neighborhood. 

The list just given includes the names of some 
of the most prominent pioneer settlers, all of whom 
according to the best information now obtainable, 
located in their respective places during the decade 
of the 20' s. Others soon followed, and by the 
date of the organization of the county, 1836, all 
parts of the territory composing it were more or 
less sparsely settled. By reference to the popula- 
tion previously stated it will be seen that the set- 
tlement, until since the close of the Civil War, con- 
tinued slow and gradual. Since 1880 there has 
been a large influx fi-om the northern and eastern 
States. Most of the early settlers came from Ten- 
nessee and other southern States. The early coun- 
ty oflicers and all mentioned elsewhere in connec- 
tion with the organization of the countj' were, of 
course, pioneer settlers. The names of those like- 
wise prominent in couuty afPairs will be found in 
subsequent pages of this volume. 

White County was organized in accordance 
with the provisions of an act of the legislature of 
Arkansas Territory, approved October 23, 1835. 
The first sessions of court were held at the house 
of David Crise, on the place now known as the 
McCreary farm, three and a half miles east of 
Searcy. The organization of the couuty was com- 
pleted early in 1836. 

The place where the courts were first held, and 
the site of Searcy became competing points for 



V 



>'*, 



WHITE COUNTY. 



117 



tbe location of the permanent seat of justice. 
The commissioners who located the seat of justice 
were John Arnold, Jesse Terry, Byram Stacy, Da- 
vid Crise and Keuben Stephens. A majority of 
them were in favor of locating it at Searcy, where 
it has ever since remained. Soon after the site 
was selected, a log- cabin court house was erected 
at a point about 100 yards southwest of the pres- ■ 
ent court house, and the first term of the circuit 
court was held therein in November, 1838. The 
next court house was a two- story frame, erected 
on the site of the present one. A short time be- 
fore the Civil War this was moved away prepara- 
tory to erecting a new one. It now stands two 
blocks south of the public square and is known as 
the Cbumbliss House. The war coming on, the 
proceedings for the erection of the new court 
house were stopped, and until the present one was 
erected, the courts were held in the Masonic Hall 
at the southeast corner of the public square. In 
1868 the county court appropriated !J25,000 for 
the erection of a new court house, and for that 
amount the contract was let to Wyatt Sanford of 
Searcy, who erected the present court house in 
1809-70. It is a large and substantial two- story 
building, the first story containing cross halls, 
a large fire-proof vault and county offices, being 
constn^cted of stone, and the second, containing 
the court room, of brick. Above the center of the 
building is a handsome tower containing a ''town 
clock." 

The first county jail was made of hewed logs, 
ten inches square, and was two stories high. The 
first story or "dungeon" was entered by means 
of a trap door from above. It stood on the same 
lot on which the present jail stands. The second 
jail, built on the same lot, was a one-story brick 
building containing four iron cells and cost §1,800. 
Becoming unsafe it was removed. The present 
jail and jailer's residence, standing about 100 
yards northwest of the court house, was erected 
in 1882-83 by James E. Winsett at a cost of 
about $3,800. It is a two- story brick building 
containing three iron cells, a dungeon, and jail- 
er's residence. The county owns a "poor farm" 
on which the paupers are su2)ported. It consists 



of 120 acres, with ample buildings, and is located 
one and a half miles east of Searcy. 

The following official directory contains names 
of the coimty's public servants with date of term 
of service annexed from date of organization to 
the present: 

Judges: Samuel Guthrie, 1836-42; William 
Cook, 1842-44; Samuel Guthrie, 1844-46; M. 
Sanders, 1840-50; P. H. McDaniel, 1850-52; J. 
F. Batts, 1852-54; John Hutches, 1854-56; L. 
S. Poe, 1856-58; William Hicks, 1858-60; R. M. 
Exum, 1860-61; John Hutches, 1861-62; M. 
Sanders, 1862-64; John Hutches, 1864-66; M. 
Sanders, 1866-72; A. M. Foster, 1874-78; L. M. 
Jones, 1878-82; F. P. Laws, 1882-84; R. H. 
Goad, 1884-88; N. H. West, present incumbent, 
elected in 1888. 

Clerks: P. W. Roberts, 1836-38; J. W. Bond, 
1838-44; E. Guthrie, 1844-46; J. W. Bond, 
1846-48; Samuel Morgan, 1848-52; R. S. Bell, 
1852-56; Dandridge McRae, 1856-62; J. W. 



Bradley, 1862-68 
Sanders, 1872-80 
Canfield, 1884-88 



J. A. Cole, 1868-72; A. P. 

J. J. Bell, 1880-84; L. C. 

C. S. George, present incum- 
bent, elected in 1888. From 1872 to 1874, Allen 
Mitchel was circuit clerk, and fi-om 1880 to 1882, 
T. C. Jones was county clerk, and from 1882 to 
1884, J. R. Jobe was county clerk, and from 1884 
to 1886, R. H. McCullough was circuit clerk. J. 
J. Bell is the present circuit clerk. 

Sheriffs: P. Crease, 1836-38; William Cook,' 
1838-40; Milton Sanders, 1840-44; T. J. Lind 
sey, 1844-46; J. G. Bobbins, 1846-50; J. M 
Bowden, 1850-52; J. G. Bobbins, 1852-54; R 
M. Exum, 1854-60; J. W. Bradley, 1860-62; B 
B. Bradley, 1862-64; W. C. Petty, 1864-66; J 
G. Bobbins, 1866-67; W. C. Petty, 1867-72; N 
B. Petty, 1872-78; B. C. Black, 1878-84; J. H, 
Ford, 1884-88; R. W. Carnes, present incum 
bent, elected in 1888. 

Treasurers: Michael Owens, 1836-38; John 
Arnold, 1838-42; James Bird, 1842-44; T. R. 
Vanmeter, 1844-46; J. Belew, 1846-48; J. M. 
Johnson, 1848-50; E. Neavillo, 1850-52; W. T. 
Gilliam, 1852-54; W. B. Isbell, 1854-56; John 
Critz, 1856-60; S. B. Barnett, 1860-68; R. J. 



i^ 



118 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Rogers, 1868-72; W. A. B. Jones, 1872-74; M. 
B. Pearson, 1874-80; D. L. Fulbright. 1880-84; 
J. M. Smith, 1884-88; J. G. Walker, present in- 
cumbent, elected in 1888. 

Coroners: M. H. Blue, 1836-40; Hiram 
O'Neale, 1840-42; Samuel Beeler, 1842-44; D. 
Dobbins, 1844-46; E. K. MiUigan, 1850-52; G. 
W. Davis, 1852-56; Alex Cullum, 1856-58; T. 
T. Britt, 1858-60; W. G. Sanders, 1860-72; T. 
L. Miller, 1872-74; Z. T. Haley, 1874-82; J. P. 
Baldock, 1882-84; J. H. Claiborne, 1884-86; J. 
M. Carter, 1886-88; Frank Blevins, present in- 
cumbent, elected in 1888. 

Surveyors: S. Arnold, 1836-52; T. M. Moore, 
1852-54; Thomas Moss, 1854-50; W. B. Holland, 
1856-60; Thomas Moss, 1860-64; W. B. Holland, 
1864-66; Thomas Moss, 1866-68; J. O. Hurt, 
1868-72; Pres. Steele, 1872-74; J. P. Steele, 
1874-76; Thomas Moss, 1876-80; B. S. Wise, 
present incumbent, elected in 1880, and served 
continuously since. 

Assessors:* T. W. Leggett, 1868-70; I. S. 
Chrisman, 1870-72; J. H. Black, 1872-74; D. L. 
Fulbright, 1874-76; B. B. Bradley, 1876-84; J. 
J. Deener, 1884-88; G. "VV. Dobbins, present in- 
cumbent, elected in 1888. 

Delegates in Constitutional Conventions: 1836, 
W. Cummins, A. Fowler and J. McLean, for Pu- 
laski. White and Saline Counties; 1861, held 
March 4 to 21, and May 6 to June 3, J. N. Cy- 
pert; 1864, held January 4 to 23, not represented; 
1868, J. N. Cypert and Thomas Owen; 1874, J. 
N. Cypert and J. W. House. 

The first State senator for White County was 
R. C. Byrd, and the first representative in the 
house was Martin Jones. 

The number of votes cast at the late elections 
for several candidates, as stated below, will show 
the political aspect of the county. At the Sep- 
tember election 1888, for Governor, James P. 
Eagle, Democrat, 1,608; C. N. Norwood, combined 
opposition, 1,949. November election in 1888, for 
president, Cleveland, Democrat, 1,948; Harrison, 
Repiiblican, 550; Streeter, Union Labor, 249; 
Fiske, Prohibition, 45. 

* This office was not established until 1868. 



The various courts held in the county are coun- 
ty, probate, circuit and chancery. The regular 
sessions of these bodies are held as follows: Coun- 
ty court, commencing on the first Monday of Jan- 
uary, April, July and October; probate, on the 
second Monday of the same months ; circuit, on the 
third Monday of January and July; chancery, on 

I- the second Monday of June and December. The 

j chancery court was made a separate court by an 
act of the General Assembly approved March 15, 
1887, and was attached to the First chancery dis- 
trict, composed of Lonoke. Pulaski, Faulkner and 
White Counties. Prior to that time the circuit 
court had jurisdiction of all chancery business. 

The legal bar (local) of White County is com- 
posed of the following- named attorneys: W. R. 
Coody, J. N. Cypert, D. McRae, B. Isbell, John 
B. Holland, S. Brundidge, Jr., J. F. Rives, Sr., 

I J. F. Rives, Jr. , E. Cypert, John M. Battle, John 
T. Hicks, J. D. DeBois, C. D. James and J. E. 
Russ. 

Upon the approach of the Civil War a strong 
Union sentiment prevailed in White County, and 

I when the Hon. J. N. Cypert was elected repre- 
sentative in the State convention held in March. 

j 1861, he was instructed to, and did, vote against 
the secession of the State from the Federal Union. 

; Afterward, when the ' ' dogs of war ' ' were let 
loose, and President Lincoln called upon the State 
for its quota of the first 75,000 troops for the 
Union army, the sentiment materially changed, 

I and the people concluded to cast their lot in gen- 
eral with the Southern project of establishing a 
separate Confederacy. To this end companies of 
soldiers began to be organized, and in 1861, five 
companies first commanded, respectively, by Capts. 
F. M. Chrisman, John C. ^McCanley, Henry Blake- 
more, J. N. Cypert and J. A. Pemberton, and in 
1862 three companies first commanded, respective- 
ly, by James McCauley, B. C. Black and Boothe 
Jones, were enlisted and organized within the 
county for the Confederate army. All were in- 
fantry companies except that of Capt. Chrisman, 
which was cavalry. Capt. James McCauley' s 
company was mounted infantry. Some individuals 

, joined commands outside of the county. No troops 



— 9 



^l^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



119 



were organized within this territory for the Federal 
army, but a verj' few persons who refused to yield 
their Union sentiments left the county and enlisted 
as their principles dictated. 

In 1802, when a division of the Federal army 
was moving from Batesville to Helena, an escort 
of its forage train, numbering about 500 men, was 
suddenly attacked at Whitney's Lane, five miles 
east of Searcy, by about 150 Confederates under 
Capt. Johnson. The latter made a bold and sud- 
den attack and then retired, losing onh' about live 
men, while the Federals lost from fifty to 100. 
This was the only fight worthy of mention within 
the county. The county was overrun by scouting 
and foraging parties of both armies, and much 
provision was thus taken from the citizens. Three 
or four men were killed in the county during the 
war by scoixts. 

White County contains within its territory a 
number of towns of prominent local importance, 
besides those whose size has given them substan- 
tial reputation in the outside world. Of these 
Beebe is a flourishing place situated on the St. 
Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad, about 
sixteen miles southwest of Searcy. It began to 
build in the spring of 1872 (upon the comple- 
tion of the railroad), but did not improve much 
until 1880, when it had reached a population of 
428, and since then it has more than doubled 
in population. It has ten general, four grocery, 
three drug, two hardware, one ftirniture, two mil- 
linery and one notion store; also the White Coun- 
ty Bank, two hotels, several boarding houses, two 
meat markets, two blacksmith and wagon shops, 
one saw and grist mill combined, two cotton-gins, 
two livery stables, railroad depot, postoffice, one 
photograph gallery, a fruit evaporator, five church 
edifices for the white and two for the colored peo- 
ple, a public school-house, five physicians, a den- 
tist, two weekly newspapers, etc. , etc. The Beebe 
Argus, published liy W. B. Barnum, is an eight- 
column folio. Democratic in politics, and has for 
its motto: "A school-house on every hilltop and 
not a saloon in the valley." The Arkansas Hub is 
a seven-column folio, published by Sam J. Crab- 
tree, and is independent in politics. Both of these 



papers are ably edited and are well 8U.stained, 
proving important factors in the influence of the 
community. Beebe is the center of one of the best 
fruit growing regions on the line of the St. Louis, 
Iron Mountain & Southern Railway, and ships a 
vast amount of fruit, especially small fruits, berries, 
tomatoes and the like, to the city markets. It is 
incorporated and has a full line of corporate offi- 
cers. It also has lodges of the Masonic and Odd 
Fellow fi-aternities. It is thirty- three miles from 
Little Rock. 

Bradford is a shipping station on the St. 
Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad, near 
the northern boundary of the county. It contains 
four general, one drug and one millinery store, 
one grist and one saw mill, a public school-house, 
two blacksmith shops, two physicians and a lodge 
each of Masons, Knights of Honor and Triple 
Alliance. The school-house is used for religious 
meetings. The population is about 100. 

Bald Knob is situated in the northeastern part 
of White County, on the St. Louis, Iron Mount- 
ain & Southern Railroad at the junction of the 
Memphis branch. It contains three general, one 
hardware and grocery, one grocery, one drug and 
grocery and a millinery store, a grist-mill and a 
saw-mill, school-house, etc., etc. 

Garner and Higgiuson are shipping .stations on 
the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad, 
the former about ten miles south of Searcy, and 
the latter five miles southeast. 

Judsonia, formerly Prospect Bluff, is located 
on the west side of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain 
& Southern Railroad, and on the north bank of 
Little Red River. It is a comparatively old town. 
About the year 1870 a colony from the East set- 
tled there, and secured the change of the name of 
the town from Prospect Bluff to that of Judsonia. 
The place now contains four general, one dry 
goods, three grocery, one hardware, one hardware 
and furniture, one harness, one millinery and two 
drug stores; also a music store, meat market, two 
blacksmith shops, a wagon shop, a fruit and vege- 
table canning factory, fruit-box factory, two saw- 
mills, a grist mill and cotton-gin, a grist-mill and 
wool-carding mill, a tanvard, two hotels, a restau- 



r 



120 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



rant, a bakery, two livery stables, two church edi- 
fices for the white and two for the colored people; 
also a public school -house for the white and an- 
other for the colored people, three physicians, a 
lod}^e each of several secret and benevolent socie- 
ties, a newspaper, the Judsonia "Weekly Advance, 
etc. , etc. The Advance is a six-coluron folio pub- 
lished by Berton W. Briggs, and has for its motto, 
' ' Overcome prejudice. Let free thought and free 
speech be encouraged." The Judsonia Univer- 
sity is also located at this place. [See Schools. ] 

The White County Agricultural and Industrial 
Fair Association was organized at Judsonia in 
1883, and grounds fitted up where exhibitions are 
held in the fall of the year. 

The first fair was held in October, 1 SS3. That 
of the past fall was a successful one. The present 
officers are Capt. D. L. McLeod, president; James 
L. Moore, vice-president; Charles D. James, sec- 
retary, and J. S. Kelley, treasurer. Messrs. D. 
L. McLeod, J. D. DeBois. J. S. Eastland, S. N. 
Ladd, Willis Meadows, James L. Moore, E. C. 
Kinney and J. S. Kelley are directors. 

Judsonia' s location in the midst of a wonderful 
fruit-growing community gives it prominent inter- 
course with the outside world. In 1889 immense 
shipments of fruit were made from this point, and 
in 1888 some 96,000 packages found their way to 
different sections. This will be the head of navi- 
gation on Little Red River when the Government 
shall have finished its work of improvement, for 
which appropriation was made. 

Judsonia, like Beebe, is located in the center 
of a great fruit-growing region, is surrounded with 
many small fruit farms, and ships immense quan- 
tities of friiits, berries, tomatoes, etc., to the city 
markets. The town is incorporated and has a 
mayor and other corporate officers. It had a popu- 
lation of 267 in 1880, and now boasts of about 600, 
besides a dense population on the small fruit farms 
adjoining and surrounding it. 

Kensett is situated on the St. Louis, Iron 
Mountain & Southern Railroad, at the crossing of 
the Searcy & West Point Railroad, four and a half 
miles east of Searcy. It contains the railroad 
depot, a general store, postoffice, hotel, a grocery. 



blacksmith shop, a church edifice and a few dwell- 
ing houses. 

Russell is a station on the St. Louis, Iron 
Mountain & Southern Railroad, between Bradford 
and Bald Knob. It contains two general stores, a 
drug and a millinery store, a saw-mill, grist-mill, 
cotton-gin, railroad depot, postoffice, etc. 

There are some other small villages in the 
county containing a postoffice, general store, etc. 

Searcy, the county seat, is situated in the geo- 
graphical center of the county, at the western ter- 
minus of the Searcy & West Point Railroad. Its 
origin has been given in connection with the organ- 
ization of the county. It was established in 1836, 
and a Mr. Howerton opened the first hotel in a 
double log-house south of what is now Spring 
Park. Moses Blew opened the first store, and was 
soon joined in the mercantile business by John W. 
Bond. At the beginning of the Civil War the 
place contained about six business places facing 
the public square. Its business was almost wholly 
destroyed during the war period, but revived soon 
thereafter. It now contains thirteen general, four- 
grocery, three drug, two hardware, one furniture, 
one undertaking, one harness and saddle, two mil- 
linery stores, two meat markets, two restatirants, 
a bakery, two hotels and several boarding-houses, 
two grist and planing mills and cotton-gins com- 
bined, a wagon factory, two livery stables, six 
church edifices — three for the white and three for 
the colored people — a lodge each of Masons, Odd 
Fellows and Knights and Ladies of Honor, a 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Woman's 
Aid and Woman's Missionary Society, seven phy- 
sicians, a dentist, three tailors, jewelers, etc. In 
addition to the interests mentioned, there are the 
Searcy Male and Female College, the Galloway 
Female College and three public schools — two for 
white and one for the colored people. One of the 
public school -houses, iised by the former, was 
built for a male and the other for a female acad- 
emy. Two weekly newspapers are also published 
here, the Arkansas Beacon and the White County 
Wheel. The former is a five-column quarto, pub- 
lished by Holland & Jobe. It is now in its elev- 
enth volume, and is Democratic in politics. The 



) 1^ 




Wdodruff County, Arkansas. 



WHITE COUNTY. 



123 



latter is also a five-column quarto, published by K. 
A. Dowdy. It is in its second volume, and is pub- 
lished in the interest of the labor movement. These 
journals faithfully represent the interests of this 
section. 

Spring Park, at Searcy, inclosing several acres, 
is located near the center of the city. It contains 
three never-failing mineral springs — White Sul- 
phur, Chalybeate and Alum. The former of these 
have the most health-giving qualities, aiding di- 
gestion and curing constipation. This park con- 
tains bath houses, is shaded by natiiral forest trees 
and is a very pleasant retreat for all persons. The 
town of Searcy is laid out ' ' square with the 
world," its streets running east and west and 
north and south. It is beautifully located and is 
substantially built up, both in its churches, col- 
leges, residences and business houses — the latter 
being mostly of brick. The healthfulness of loca- 
tion of the place is all that could be desired. The 
city is an educational center, and, especially a sum- 
mer health resort, as many health and pleasure- 
seekers spend their summer months here. Its 
population is estimated at from 1,500 to 2,000. 
The residences are generally owned by the occu- 
pants, and there are very few renters, probably 
less than in any town of its size in the State. The 
town is incorporated and has a full complement of 
corporate oflScers. 

West Point is situated on an eminence on the 
south side of Little ited River, at the eastern ter- 
minus of the Searcy & West Point Railroad. It 
was laid out in 1850 by J. M. West, hence its 
name, West Point, it being the point to which the 
rivet was navigable at all seasons of the year. At 
the beginning of the Civil War it had attained a 
population of 350 and did an immense amount of 
business, being the distributing point for a large 
scope of country to the westward. During the 
war period it lo.st nearly all its business, but after- 
ward revived and flourished until the Iron Jlount- 
ain Railroad was completed through the county. 
Then it again lost its prosperity, and in 1880 its 
population had run down to 123. Its population 
is now about 150. It contains three general stores, 
a drug store, a grist mill and cotton-gin, a black- 



smith and wood shop, a church edifice, a public 
school-house and the railroad depot. It is supplied 
with a daily mail. 

The advancement made in the cause of educa- 
tion in White County, under the free school sys- 
tem, is best shown by the following statistics as 
given in the report of the State superintendent of 
public instruction for the year ending June 30, 
1888: 

Scholastic population: White, males 3,384, fe- 
males 3,173, total 6,557; colored, males 410, fe- 
males 404, total 814. Number of pupils taught 
in the public schools: White, males 2,159, females 
1,971, total 4,150; colored, males 295, females 
283, total 578. Number of school districts, 101; 
districts reporting enrollment, 76; number of dis- 
tricts voting tax, 44. Number of teachers em- 
ployed: Males 86, females 41, total 127. Average 
monthly salaries paid teachers: First grade, males 
$50, females $40; second grade, males $45, fe- 
males $35; third grade, males $30, females $27.50. 
Amount expended for the support of the public 
schools: For teachers' salaries, $20,500.79; for 
building and repairing, .$3,275; for treasurers' 
commissions, $565.60; total $24,341.39. 

Assuming these statistics to be correct, only 
63 per cent of the white and 71 per cent of the 
colored scholastic population were taught in the 
public schools. It must be noticed, however, that 
out of the 101 school districts, twenty-five failed to 
report the enrollment in the schools, which if as- 
certained and added to those that made reporta» 
would largely increase the per cent of scholastic 
population attending. The fact that the school 
law does not compel full statistical reports to be 
made, is a strong argument in favor of its revision. 
Education for the masses is growing in popularity. 

On July 23, 1888, a normal institute was 
opened at Searcy by Prof. T. S. Cox, conductor. 
This institute was in all respects a grand success. 
Its beginning noted the presence of thirty-four 
teachers, though seventy-one were in attendance at 
the close. A strong effort had been put forth by 
the county examiner, Mr. B. P. Baker, to secure 
a large attendance, and his energies in the work 
was the cause of bringing out nearly all the pro- 



124 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



gressivG teachers of the county, and many others 
friendly to education. Great interest was mani- 
fested, and much good work accomplished. 

The Searcy Male and Female College is a char- 
tered institution for the higher education of young 
men and women. The building is located within a 
campus of live acres, on a beautiful site in Searcy, 
convenient to the public square, and yet suffi- 
ciently removed to avoid the noise and bustle of 
business. It was organized in 1883, by Prof. W. 
H. Tharp (who conceived the idea of starting a 
reputable educational institution), and it at once 
become recognized as a school of a high order. 
Gen. D. McRae is president and Col. V. H. Hen- 
derson is secretary and treasurer of the board of 
trustees, and W. H. Tharp is president of the 
faculty. The members of the faculty are selected 
from colleges and universities of national reputa- 
tion and most of them have supplemented their 
college or university coiuse by thorough normal 
training, and hence in their teaching are prepared 
to use the most approved methods. Following the 
Preparatory Department is the Collegiate Depart- 
ment, divided into these Schools: Ancient Lan- 
guages, Modern Languages, History, Natural Sci- 
ences, Mathematics, Philosophy and Belles-Lettres, 
Engineering, Elocution, Biblical History, Piano- 
forte, Vocal Culture, Harmony, Theory and Art. 

A Normal Class is also taught, and the college 
cadets are organized into a company iinder the 
immediate supervision of the instructor in- military 
tactics, Lieut. Albert J. Dabney (U. S. Naval Acad- 
emy) commanding company. 

The buildings consist of college hall, presi- 
dent's office and mathematics, a two-story board- 
ing hall, music and art department, primary de- 
partment, president's residence and cooking de- 
partment, all separate, the dining-hall being un- 
der college hall. The history of the founding of 
this institution is most interesting. Prof. Tharp 
was aided in his work of starting the school by 
Prof. Conger of Ouachita College, Arkadelphia, 
the latter serving eighteen months as one of the 
principals. Subsequently Prof. Tharp was left in 
entire charge. Upon starting thirty-seven pupils 
were enrolled. A noticeable growth attended the 



worthy efforts of the founder and last year 204 
pupils were in attendance. The capacity of the 
college has been doubled and still more room is 
needed. Its graduates have included persons of 
ability and influence, who have attained to promi- 
nence in their varied walks. The collegiate course 
is being strengthened and improved yearly, and 
every effort is being made to make this the leading 
educational institution of the State. 

Galloway Female College was organized in the 
spring of 1888, under supervision of the several 
Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, in the State of Arkansas. The citizens of 
Searcy secured its location by subscribing .?25,000 
toward its erection. The college building stands 
between a half and three-fourths of a mile south- 
east of the court house, on an eminence in a beau- 
tiful native forest, consisting of eighteen acres. 
It was erected in 1888-89, and consists of the 
main building and an east, west and north wing, 
with the kitchen department on the east side of 
the north wing, and its entire length from east to 
west is about 200 feet. Above the southern or 
fi'ont entrance is a tower eighty feet high. The 
building, the walls of which are constructed of 
brick on a rock foundation, has four stories above 
the basement, and contains a chapel 48x00 feet in 
size and twenty feet in height, five recitation 
rooms, a dining-room forty-eight feet square and 
twelve feet high, two double parlors, four recep- 
tion halls, sixty- four bed-rooms, three bath- rooms, 
eleven halls and a kitchen with four rooms, store- 
room and pantry. In the basement is the furnace 
room with two engines. The building in general 
is heated with steam, the rooms are all supplied 
with fire-places, and it is lighted with gas. The 
corner, or memorial stone, sets in the south wall, 
east of the main entrance, and has on its face the 
following inscription: 

Galloway Female College. 
C. B. Galloway, Bishop. 

Building Committee. 
P. A. Kobertson, G. B. Greer. 
B. P. Baker, A. W. Yaniell, 

J. E. Skillern. 



Elliott & Elliott, 
Builders, 



A. B. Melton, 
Architect. 



WHITE COUNTY. 



125 



Near the building is a superior bored well, 
ninety -three feet deep, with sixty feet of water 
in it. The grounds cost $2,000, and the building 
about !i?32,000. The building is well supplied with 
piazzas, and is exceedingly well ventilated. R. W. 
Erwin is president of the college. The first ses- 
sion ojiened in September. 1889. Too much can 
not be said in favor of the location of this college, 
on account of the healthfulness of Searcy, the mo- 
rality of its people, and many other advantages. 

Judsonia University is a Baptist school located 
at Judsonia. It was founded by the colony that 
came from the East and located about the year 
1870. The school-house is a large frame struct- 
ure. The faculty is composed of tive teachers. 
It is a good school and has the advantages of being 
in a quiet, moral town, removed from the vices 
and temptations of large cities. 

The several religious denominations of White 
County are the Methodist Episcopal, Methodi-st 
Episcopal, South, Baptist, Presbyterian, Cumber- 
land Presbyterian and Christian. 

Of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
there are the following: Searcy Station, Rev. J. 
M. Talkington, pastor, with a membership of 210; 
Searcy Circuit, consisting of six appointments. 
Rev. E. M. Baker, pastor, member-ship 386; El 
Paso Circuit, consisting of four appointments. 
Rev. H. F. Harvey, pastor, membership about 
250; Lebanon Circuit, consisting of seven appoint- 
ments, Rev. W. A. Pendergrass, pastor, member- 
ship 356; Bradford Circuit, consisting of seven 
appointments, Rev. C. H. Gary, pastor, member- 
ship lfi4': Beebe and West Point, C. H. Gregory, 
pastor, membership 225; Red River Circuit, only 
three appointments in this county, Rev. James A. 
Brown, pastor, membership about 150; and Ken- 
tucky Valley Circuit, with six appointments, Rev. 
M. B. Corrigan, pastor, membership 359; thus 
making an aggregate of 2, 100 members. The 
Sunday-schools of this denomination have also a 
large membership. These organizations all belong 
to Searcy District of the White River Conference, 
of which Rev. George M. Hill is the presiding 
elder. 

Of the Methodist Episcopal Church there is 



Beebe Station, Rev. R. R. Fletcher, pastor, mem- 
bership 44; Judsonia Station, Rev. George H. 
Feese, pastor, membership 118; and Bald Knob 
Circuit, consisting of four appointments in White 
County and one in Jackson, Rev. F. M. Hughes, 
pastor. These comprise all the organizations of 
this denomination within White County, and all 
belong to the Little Rock District of the Arkansas 
Conference. 

The Baptist Church organizations, pastors and 
memberships within the county, are as follows: 
Beebe, Isom P. Langley, 134; Bethlehem, W. H. 
Hodges. 27; Cane Creek, W. J. Kirkland. 20; 
Centre Hill, J. D. Doyle, 141 ; Elon, same pastor, 
55; El Paso, same pastor, 206; Garner, L. F. 
Taylor, 12; Hepsibah, W. H. Hodges, 32; Hig- 
ginson, R. J. Coleman, 13; Judsonia, B. F. Bar- 
ties, 116; Kensett, J. M. Davis, 88; Kentucky 
Valley, J. A. Chamblee, 39; Liberty, J. M. Davis, 
112; Plateau, John Stephens, 26; Rose Bud, M. 
T. Webb, 78; Searcy, 137; Shiloh, W. J. Kirk- 
land, 76; South Antioch, J. A. Chamblee, 57; 
Wake Forest, W. J. Kirkland, 13; West Point, J. 
M. Davis, 54. All of these belong to the Caroline 
Baptist Association, from the last published pro- 
ceedings of which the above information has mostly 
been taken. Since then some changQs may have 
been made in pastors, and the memberships may 
have increased. The aggregate membership as 
above given is 1,386. 

There are two Presbyterian Church organiza- 
tions within the count}', one at Searcy, Rev. Rich- 
ard B. Willis, pastor, with a membership of 53, 
and one near Centre Hill, Rev. W. S. W^illbanks, 
pastor, and a membership of 14. 

Below is the list of Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church organizations in White County, together 
with names of pastors and membership of each 
annexed: Beebe, Finis W'ylie, 60; Stony Point, 
J. A. Pemberton. 40; Antioch, same pastor, 86; 
Pleasant Grove, same pastor, 40; Gum Spring, 
Finis W'ylie, 60; New Hope, J. C. Forbus, 40; 
Good Springs, Rev. Barlow, 60; aggregating a 
closely estimated membership of 386. 

Of the Christian Church there are Beebe, Clear 
Water, Garner and Bald Knob. The first has a 



^f- 



126 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



membership of 70, and the others have a fair 
membership. Elder J. B. Marshall is pastor of 
the Beebe organization, and Elder Brown of 
Clear Water and Garner. 

There are also a number of church organiza- 
tions among the colored people, at Searcy, Beebe, 
Jtidsonia and other places. Sunday-schools are 
taught with much success in connection with most 
of the churches, and all in all much is accom- 
plished in the cause of Christianity. 

Saloons for the selling of intoxicating drinks 
are not allowed in the county. 

The people are generally moral and law-abid- 
ing, and cheerfully extend the hand of welcome to 
all honest and industrious newcomers. 



H. K. Adams, merchant at El Paso, Ark., and 
one of the leading citizens of that city, was born in 
Rockingham County, N. C, January 29, 1846, be- 
ing the son of Samuel and Francis (Reid) Adams. 
Samuel Adams was a farmer by occupation, and a 
native of Virginia, but most of his life was passed 
in North Carolina. He was married in that State 
(where he had a fine farm), and died there in 1870, 
at the age of sixty-three years. He was magis- 
trate for a number of years, and an energetic, en- 
terprising citizen, and in whatever place he resided 
that locality might well consider itself the better 
for his citizenship. His wife died in 1854. She 
was a sister of Ex-Gov. Reid, of North Carolina, 
and her mother was a ladj^ of national fame, who 
had near relatives on the supreme bench of 
Florida. H. K. Adams is the fifth in a family of 
eight children, five of whom are now living: Fan- 
ny B. (wife of J. W. Thomi^son, teacher in the 
Edinburgh High School, in Cleburne County, 
Ark.), Henrietta (wife of W. P. Watson, a farmer 
of Monroe County, Ark.), Reuben (a teacher in 
Prattsville) and Frank R. (a printer, married, and 
residing in Texas.) Those deceased are: Samuel 
F. (who lost his life at the hands of raiders, in 
1865), David R. (died in college at Madison, 
N. C, aged eighteen) and Annie E. (who died in 
infancy.) H. K. Adams was reared on a farm, re- 
ceiving a good common-school education at the 



district schools, and at the age of twenty-one 
launched his bark and began life for himself. He 
had nothing with which to Cupe with the world 
but a stout heart and his wit, and though it was 
rather discouraging, he never lost heart, and as a 
natural result was successful. He began first as a 
cleit in a country store at Boyd's Mill, N. C. A 
year later he enlisted in Company E, Forty-fifth 
North Carolina Regiment, and served until the 
surrender, in May, 1865, participating in the battle 
of the Wilderness and numerous other skirmishes, 
but through his entire* career was never wounded. 
At the battle of Spottsylvania he was taken pris- 
oner and held at Point Lookout and Elmira, in all 
about six months. He was again captiu-ed on the 
retreat from Petersburg, a few days before the sur- 
render of Gen. Lee, and carried to Point Lookout, 
and remained in prison six weeks after the close of 
the war. After this Mr. Adams returned to his 
native State and engaged in farming until 1869, 
then coming to Arkansas (St. Francis County) 
where he resided two years. His next move was to 
El Paso, and after tilling the soil some two years 
he was engaged as clerk for W. H. Grisard, a 
prosperous merchant, for several years. For two 
years he was with C. P. Warren, and at the end of 
that time (1884) formed a partnership with J. T. 
Phelps and J. C. Harkrider, under the firm name 
of Adams, Phelps & Co. A short time later Mr. 
Phelf)s sold his interest to the other gentleman, 
the firm name becoming Adams & Harkrider. 
Mr. Adams eventually purchased the entire stock, 
and after a time formed a partnership with B. A. 
Neal, whose interest he bought, and then Mr. J. T. 
Booth purchased an interest, and since that time 
the firm has been known as Adams & Booth. They 
are doing a splendid business, and carry a well- 
assorted stock of general merchandise. Being 
wide-awake merchants and eminently responsible 
they command the respect of the entire community. 
Mr. Adams was united in marriage June 7, 1874, 
to Miss Florence Harki'ider, a native of Alabama 
and a daughter of W. H. Harkrider, a farmer and 
mechanic of White County. Their union has been 
blessed with ten children, six of them now living: 
Martha F. (born in April, 1875), William S. (born 



^?p- 



liL 



WHITE COUNTY. 



127 



in July, 1876, died in August, 1883), Hugh K., 
Jr. (born in March, 1878, and died in September, 
1879), David C. (l)orn in November, 1879), Dean 
(born in May, ISSl, died in August, 1883), Eva E. 
(born in November, 1882), Horace E. (born in July, 
1884), Sarah Florence (born in November, 1885, 
died in July, 1886), Myrtle I. (born in January, 
1887), and Grace (born in February, 1889). Mr. 
Adams is giving his children all the advantages of 
good schools, and is determined that they shall 
have every opportunity for an education, regard- 
less of expense. Himself and wife are members 
of the El Paso Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
Mr. Adams is at present a member of the school 
board and a notary public. He has served his town- 
ship as bailiff for a number of years. In addition 
to his mercantile business he owns a small farm, 
which is carefully cultivated and yields excellent 
crops. In his political views he is a Democrat, but 
not an enthusiast. 

James H. Adkins, a man of good repute and 
thoroughly respected in his community, is a Ten- 
nesseean by birth and is the son of Elcaney N. and 
Elizabeth (Hughes) Adkins. The mother of the 
subject of this sketch was a daughter of Harden 
and Sarah Hughes, of Tennessee. Mr. Adkins 
followed farming in Tennessee, and in 1845 im- 
migrated to White County, Ark. , and died shortly 
after his removal to this county, leaving three chil- 
dren: James H. , William and Visey. James H. 
was born in 1844, and enlisted in the cavalry serv- 
ice when eighteen years old, in the Confederate 
army, and saw some hard fighting from the time of 
his enlistment, in 1864, until peace was declared. 
After the war he returned to this county and 
bought eighty acres of land and commenced to 
farm for himself. He now owns 140 acres, with 
over one half of it in a good state of cultivation, 
and he vouches that his farm will produce almost 
everything. Mr. Adkins was married, in 1866, to 
Frances E. WootUe, a daughter of Turner and 
Catharine (Matthews) Woodle. Mrs. Adkins died 
September 3, 18(57, leaving one daughter, Scepro- 
ney B. Mr. Adkins took unto himself a second 
wife (their marriage being solemnized in 187<)), 
Mary F. Cullum. a daughter of Matthew and Mar- 



garet C. (Childers) Cullum, natives of Tennessee. 
Mr. and Mrs. Adkins are the parents of eight chil- 
dren: Dora A., Martha A. (deceased), William O. 
(deceased), Henry B. , James S., Cynthia L. (de- 
ceased), Robert C. and Ella A. Himself and wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. Mr. Adlvins is an A. F. & A. M., belong- 
ing to the Mount Pisgah lodge No. 242. He takes 
a prominent part and is deeply interested in all 
work beneficial to the community. 

Hon. John M. Allen, well and favorably known 
in this vicinity as a prosperous farmer, and, in- 
deed, throughout this portion of the State, was 
born in Tennessee, in 1839, being one of two chil- 
dren born to the marriage of Thomas J. and Anna 
E. (Black) Allen, the father a native of Tennessee, 
born about 1812, and a son of Daniel Allen, who 
was a descendant of the famous Ethan Allen. 
Thomas J. was reared and married in his native 
State, the latter event taking place about 1834, 
and there he reared the following family of chil- 
dren: William, John, Neal S., Eichard J., Allie, 
Mary and Hall B., who is deceased. Mr. Allen 
was a farmer throughout life, and is now living 
in Arkansas with his son John, and is about eighty 
years of age. He is a member of the Agricultural 
Wheel, and he and his wife, who died in 1872, were 
members of the Baptist Church. John M. Allen 
received excellent educational advantages in Ten- 
nessee, and completed his education in Pulaski 
College, after which he (in 1856) started out to 
tight the battle of life for himself and engaged in 
farming, and this occupation has received his at- 
tention up to the present time. In 1859 he mar- 
ried Emma Sparkman, a daughter of William 
Sparkman, of Tennessee, but in 1877 he was 
called upon to mourn the death of his wife, she 
having borne him a family of five children: Will- 
iam (who is married and resides in Beebe), Lizzie 
(Mrs. Hubbard, residing in Dogwood Township), 
Arch, Claude and Eugene. Later Mr. Allen wed- 
ded Mrs. Hannah (Walker) Seawell, and by her 
has three children: Adella, Eula and Lonnie. In 
1860 Mr. Allen moved with his family to Butler, 
Mo., and from there, in 1861, enlisted in Company 
B, Col. Lowe's regiment, as captain, and was 



;?p 



4 



128 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



shortly promoted to the rank of major. After the 
battle of Belmont his company was disorganized 
and his regiment transferred to the Army of the 
Tennessee and was in nearly all the principal bat- 
tles of the war from that time until the close. He 
returned to Missouri after peace was declared and 
engaged in farming and the mercantile business, 
but becoming dissatisfied with his location he came 
to White County, Ark., in 1880, and a year later 
purchased the farm of 320 acres now belonging to 
him in Dogwood Township. He has 150 acres un- 
der cultivation, but, as his home is in Beebe, he 
only goes to his farm to attend to the gathering of 
his crops. He has always been found ready to 
assist worthy enterprises, and for years past has 
given much of his attention to politics, and is a 
member of the Farmers' and Laborers' Union of 
America, and is the present representative of that 
party in the State legislature from White County, 
Ark. He belongs to the State executive committee 
and is a Mason, holding a demit from Faithful 
Lodge No. 304r. He and wife are members of the 
Baptist Church. Through his grandmother he is 
a distant relative of Chief Justice Hale. 

Thomas Smith Anderson, a prosperous mer- 
chant and cotton dealer, of El Paso, Ark., was 
born in Madison County, Tenn., August 2, 1832, 
and is a son of Samuel Lindsay Anderson, who is 
of Scotch-Irish descent and was born in the ' ' Pal- 
metto State." His ancestors, as well as his wife's 
(Eliza Braden), came to this country while it was 
still subject to the British crown and fought in the 
Revolutionary War. The paternal grandparents 
were married in Newberry District, S. C, and re- 
moved to Tennessee between ISOO and 1812, their 
son, Samuel L. , being born in 1800, and died May 
22, 1884, his wife dying in Tennessee in 1847. A 
great uncle, Joshua Anderson, was under the juris- 
diction of Gen. Jackson during the War of 1812, 
and took part in the battle of New Orleans. In 
1858 our subject came to Arkansas and located in 
Pulaski County (now Faulkner), where, in com- 
pany with his brother, James A. Anderson, he pur- 
chased 420 acres of land, and at the time of his 
brother's death, in June, 1885, had cleared about 
100 acres. In July, 1861, Thomas S. Anderson 



enlisted in Company B, Tenth Arkansas Infantry, 
Confederate States army, and served as sec- 
ond sergeant until the fall of 1862, when he was 
promoted to brevet second lieutenant, remaining 
such until the summer of 1865. He was at the 
battle of Shiloh in charge of the commissary de- 
partment of his regiment. He was captured at 
Port Hudson, La., and was a prisoner of war for 
twenty-one months, being confined at Johnson's 
Island, Lake Erie, Point Lookout (Md.), and then 
transferred to Fort Delaware, about forty miles 
from Philadelphia. He was exchanged at Rich- 
mond, Va. , and started to rejoin his command at 
Marshall, Tex., but in his attempt to regain his 
regiment he was compelled to endure many hard- 
ships, and, owing to exposure, he contracted rheu- 
matism, but finally managed to reach Shreveport, 
that garrison being under command of Gen. Kirby 
Smith, and with him surrendered. He arrived at 
home the middle of June, and again, in company 
with his brother, who had also been in the Confed- 
erate army, took up farming. On May 12, 1868, 
he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Ann 
Laws, of Haywood County, Tenn., origin, and a 
daughter of J. P. and Minerva (Leathers) Laws, 
who were born in North Carolina. In 1878 Mr. 
Anderson j)urchased a stock of general merchan- 
dise and opened a store at El Paso, where he has 
successfully conducted business ever since, and, in 
connection with this, keeps a line of such furniture 
as is demanded in his community. He is also an 
extensive dealer in cotton, and his annual sales for 
this commodity amount to $10,000 to $12,000. 
Mr. Anderson votes with the Democratic party, and 
while a resident of Faulkner County, and since the 
war, he has served as justice of the peace. He is 
a Mason, having been initiated into that society in 
1859; was secretary of El Paso Lodge for several 
years, but has been demitted to Velonia Lodge, 
being its Master one year. He and wife are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

Moses E. Andrews has been actively and suc- 
cessfully engaged in farming in White County 
since twenty-one years of age. He was born in 
Lincoln County, Tenn., in 1844, to the union of 
Samuel and Marion (Adking) Andrews, natives of 



"® Pv 



13 



WHITE COUNTY. 



129 



Virginia and Tennessee, respectively. They were 
married in Lincoln County, Tenn. , and there re- 
mained until 1851, when they removed to Arkan- 
sas, and located in White County, near the place 
upon which the village of Judsonia is now located. 
This was then in the woods, but Mr. Andrews 
cleared up a good farm and made a home. He 
was a prominent Democrat, and served as justice 
of the peace for several years, and died May 20, 
1867, at the age of fifty-six. Mrs. Andrews died 
in 1864, leaving a family of seven children, two of 
whom only are living: Moses E. (our subject) and 
Joseph D. (who is a farmer of White County. ) 
Moses E. Andrews was married in 1873 to Eliza- 
beth Eaton, a daughter of E. S. Eaton, an old set- 
tler of White County. She was born in 1851. 
They are the parents of two children: Benjamin 
W. and Rosella. Mrs. Andrews is a member of the 
Missionary Baptist Church. Mr. Andrews is a 
prominent Democrat and a leading citizen. 

Moses Morgan Aunsspaugh, farmer and stock 
raiser of Little Red, Ark., is one of the much 
respected and esteemed residents of Denmark 
Township, where he has made his home for many 
years. He is the son of Benjamin and Ruhama 
(Hartley) Aunsspaugh, the former of German de- 
scent and a native of Pennsylvania. George 
Aunsspaugh, the great-gi'andfather of the subject 
of this sketch, came from Germany at an early 
day, located in Pennsylvania, and served in the 
Colonial army from that State in the capacity of 
drum-major in Gen. Washington's immediate com- 
mand. The great-grandfather Hartley was a na- 
tive born Englishman, came to America before the 
Revolution, settled in Pennsylvania, and served 
as a private soldier. Grandfather Aunsspaugh 
was a soldier in the War of 1812, and arrived in 
New Orleans the day after the battle, having 
served with the Ohio State troops. Benjamin 
Aunsspaugh came to Arkansas in 1833, in company 
with John Hartley and his family, and located in 
Jefferson County, of that State, all having trav- 
eled from Zanesville, Ohio, on a keel boat, leaving 
that point in the early part of the fall of 1833, and 
arriving in the above county in December of the 
same j'ear. Benjamin married Miss Ruhama 



! Hartley in Jefferson County, Ark. , and the follow- 
ing children were born to this union: Jobe (born 
1834), Moses Morgan (born 1835), John (born 
1837), George (born 1839) and Amoa (born 1840). 
The mother of these children died in the last of 
June, 1845, in White County, Ark., whither Ben- 
jamin Aunsspaugh had moved with his family in 
October of the previous year, and here the father 
also died in 1876. In this county Jobe, Moses 
and John grew to manhood. Moses Morgan Auns- 
spaugh was born on the keel- boat, upon which his 
father and the Hartley family journeyed from 
Ohio, on April 12, 1835. He attended school 
about three weeks and had got as far as " baker ' ' in 
his spelling book when his school days suddenly 
terminated. He learned the blacksmith trade with 
his father and followed this occupation for a num- 
ber of years. On January 17, 1858, he was wed- 
ded to Miss Sarah Winford, a native of Tennessee, 
and the daughter of Samuel and Martha (Morris) 
Winford, who came to Arkansas in 1844, settled 

' in Poinsett County, where the father died the same 
year. The Winford family consisted of these 
children: Margaret (married Thomas Anderson 
and became the mother of eight children ; she died 
in 1859), Jane (married Dave Ellster, and has one 
child) and Sarah. To Mr. and Mrs. Aunsspaugh 
were born three children: Martha Ann Ruhama 
(born November 4, 1858), Samuel Benjamin Frank- 
lin (born August 31, 1862) and George Washing- 
ton (born April 25, 1872). Martha Ann Ruhama 
married Albert M. Bryant on August 4, 1874, and 
became the mother of four children : John Thomas, 
Lindsay E., Oliver and Mary Ella. Samuel B. F. 
married Miss Martha Porter on March 4, 1879, 
and became the father of three childi-en. He, his 
wife and all his children are deceased. Benjamin 
Aunsspaugh bought eighty acres of land in White 
County, improved it, and in 1846 moved to Searcy, 
where he carried on his trade as blacksmith. He 
and his son Moses ironed the first wagon sent out 
of White County to California in 1849. In 1851 
he returned to the neighborhood of his old home, 
and there bought 160 acres of land, subsequently 
adding to this until he at one time owned 320 
acres. At the time of hi.s death he owned 240 






-^ » 



130 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



acres, with thirty acres under cultivation, and in 
connection with tilling the soil he also carried on 
the blacksmith trade up to that time. Benjamin 
Aunsspaugh was married the second time in 1853 
to ]\Irs. Jane McDonald, a native of Alabama, and 
these children were the result: William (born 
1854), twins (born 1855), James and an infant 
who died unnamed and another infant died un- 
named. James W. married Mrs. Jennie Cope- 
land, who bore him three children, two living. 
He resides on a farm in White County. Moses 
M. Aunsspaugh made his first purchase of land in 
1858, paying 50 cents an acre for eighty acres. 
In 1862, much against his will, he was conscripted 
by the Confederates, and served three years in 
that army, participating in the battle of Helena, 
but did not fire a gun. He served his company 
in the capacity of cook, and returned home in 
1864. He sold his first purchase of land in 1860, 
and in 1861 purchased 160 acres near Searcy, 
which was partly improved. He then cleared 
twelve acres, erected a log-house 16x16 feet and 
lived there for eight years, two and a half years 
of which time he rendered Union service in the 
Confederate army. In 1869 he sold his farm and 
moved to his present property, where he has since 
made his home. He first purchased 170 acres, 
but afterward added to this eighty acres, and soon 
had fifteen acres under cultivation, and resided in 
a log-house for six years. In 1875 he erected his 
present comfortable house, and there he has since 
resided. The same year he noticed a peculiar 
looking stone on his place, picked it up, called the 
attention of an experienced geologist to it, and it 
was pronounced gold quartz. Mr. and Mrs. Auns- 
spaugh are members of the Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church, and their daughter Martha D. and 
her husband are members of the United Baptist 
Church. Mr. Aunsspaugh is a member of the 
Agricultural Wheel No. 176. 

William C. Barclay, postmaster and merchant 
of Russell, Ark., of Jackson County, Ala., nativ- 
ity, and whose birth occurred January 28, 1858, 
is the son of James C. and Melinda (Wright) Bar- 
clay, natives of Alabama. James C. Barclay is 
still a citizen of Alabama, and follows farming for 



a livelihood. The wife of James C. died in No- 
vember, 1864, having borne him eight children: 
Anna, Penelope, Tommie, John P., James P., 
William L. , Jane and Sarah, all living. Mr. Bar- 
clay again married, choosing for his second wife 
Miss Ransom of Jackson County, Ala., and the 
result of this marriage is one child, Wiley F. Bar- 
clay, born in 1868. In February, 1875, Mr. Bar- 
clay was married 'the third time to Miss Galbreath 
of De Kalb County, Ala., and to them has been 
given one child. The grandparents of William C. 
came direct fi'om Ireland to Alabama. Our sub- 
ject was reared in Jackson County. His advan- 
tages for learning were limited in his youth by 
reason of the Civil War and its attendant and sub- 
sequent hardships. But b^^ constant study and 
close observation, he is well informed on the im- 
portant events of the day. Mr. Barclay began for 
himself in July, 1870, as a farm hand, then as a 
salesman in a general merchant mill in Alabama. 
In 1877 he moved to Arkansas, settling in White 
County, and engaging in farming followed it for 
two years. At the expiration of the two years he 
accepted a position as salesman in Russell, but 
soon after accepting this he was appointed railroad 
and express agent of that city, which office he 
filled for one year. Mr. Barclay then started a 
general merchandise business, in this meeting with 
flattering success. He carries a good stock, which 
is valued at $2,500 to S3, 000, and by his court- 
eous manner and upright dealing has obtained a 
liberal patronage from the surrounding commu- 
nity. Mr. Barclay was united in matrimony, Decem- 
ber 23, 1880, to Miss Fannie N. Watson, a daugh- 
ter of Hiram B. and Henrietta (Bankston) Watson, 
of Columbus County, Ga. By this marriage two 
children have been born: Fred B. (born August, 
1881, now deceased), and Frank Carlton (born 
November 28, 1884). Mr. Barclay received the 
appointment of postmaster at Russell in 1881, 
holding that position until 1885, when he was re- 
elected, and is still filling the office, discharging 
the duties that devolve upon him in a manner that 
is entirely satisfactory to all and commendatory 
to one in that responsible position. He is presi- 
dent of the school board, and takes an active part 



:^; 



^IV 



WHITE COUNTY. 



131 



in all educational interests; contributes liberally 
to the relief of the poor, and is a tborongh worker 
in all public enterprises. He is a Democrat in his 
jiolitical views and a Methodist in religious belief, 
though not a member of the church. Mr. Barclay 
is a Master Mason in good standing, also belongs 
to the Triple Alliance, a mutual benefit associa- 
tion. 

John M. Bartlett is the son of George Bart- 
lett, who was born in Kentucky in 1811, being 
married in Illinois, about 1830, to Mahala Gow- 
ens. She was brought np among the Indians 
and had Indian blood in her veins, her mother be- 
ing a half Cherokee. Mr. Bartlett after his mar- 
riage settled in Illinois, where he remained three 
years. He then moved to Kentucky and remained 
there until his death, which occurred in May, 
1864, his wife also dying within a few days. 
They were the parents of six children: Martha 
J., William, Thomas J., John M., Diidley and 
Elizabeth P. Thomas and Dudley are deceased. 
John M. Bartlett was born in Fulton County, Ky., 
in 18-13. At the outbreak of the war, inspired by 
patriotism, he enlisted. May 1861, in the Fifth 
Tennessee Infantry and participated in the battle 
of Shiloh and in a number of skirmishes. After 
his term of service had expired he returned home 
before the close of the war and engaged in farm- 
ing, and married, in 1864, Miss Josephine Bal- 
dridge. a daughter of one of the early pioneers of 
Kentucky. Following his iinion Mr. Bartlett im- 
migrated to Arkansas, and settled in Van Buren 
County and three years later, came to White 
County, where he has since made his home. He 
has a line farm of 120 acres, seventy-five of which 
are under cultivation. Mrs. Bartlett was a Free 
Will Baptist, and died in 1883. leaving four chil- 
dren: George (deceased), Jennie, Ida and Joseph- 
ine. Mr. Bartlett was married the second time to 
Mrs. Sutton, a widow. By his second marriage 
he has one boy: Edgar. Mr. Bartlett is a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church, and is a member and 
the vice-president of the County Wheel. His in- 
fluence in the affairs of this community has been 
of decided good. 

Judge J. J. Bell, the present efficient clerk of 



the circuit court and recorder of White County, 
is a native of Arkansas and a son of Robert S. and 
Loiiisa (Jacobs) Bell, natives of Kentucky and Ver- 
mont, respectively. Robert S. Bell was born in 
1805, and when a young man moved to Arkansas 
and located in Monroe County, being one of the 
early settlers of that locality. In 1850 he became 
settled in White County, where he was engaged in 
his work as a Presbyterian minister, also serving 
as county clerk for four years. While in Monroe 
County he served as county clerk, and besides oc- 
cupied the office of county judge for several years. 
He remained in White County ten years, but sub- 
sequently removed to the Chickasaw Nation, going 
there as a missionary and a teacher to that tribe. 
In their midst he remained until his death, which 
occurred in 1880. He was a son of James Bell, of 
Irish descent, who was a missionary Baptist min- 
ister, and died in White County. Louisa Jacobs 
was a daughter of Joseph Jacobs, of Vermont, who 
came to Monroe County at an early day, being one 
of the early settlers, and where he died. Mrs. 
Bell died in 1848, after which Mr. Bell married 
Arvilla A. Waterman, who is still living. By his 
first marriage he was the father of six children, our 
subject being the only one living. By his second 
marriage there are two children: Robert S., Jr. 
(who is a resident of the Indian nation), and Albert 
G. J. J. Bell first saw the light of day in Monroe 
County December 11, 1841, but accompanied his 
parents to White County when nine years of age. 
When sixteen years old he commenced farming for 
himself, at which he was occupied until the break- 
ing out of the war, when he enlisted in the Eighth 
Arkansas Infantry, serving as second lieutenant of 
Company K, and participating in the battles of 
Murfreesboro,Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, At- 
lanta, and a number of others. He was captured 
at Jonesboro, Ga., Se})tember 1, 1864, and was held 
twenty-one days when he was exchanged and re- 
joined his regiment. At the battle of Murfreesboro 
he was wounded by a gunshot in the forehead, and 
at the battle of Nashville ho was again slightly 
wounded in the head. After the war he went to 
Tyler, Tex. , then to Ouachita County, Ark. , and in 
1870 returned to White County, when he again 



132 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



turned his attention to farming. In 1880 Mr. Bell 
was elected clerk of the circuit court, which office 
he held for four years. In 1887 he was elected to 
fill the imexpired term in the office of county judge, 
and in 1888 was again elected clerk of the circuit 
court. His official duties have been discharged in 
a manner above reproach, and to the satisfaction of 
all and his own credit. Mr. Bell was married May 
22, 1865, to Miss Sarah A. Banks, who was born 
in Alabama August, 1846. She came to White 
County with her parents when a child. Mr. and 
Mrs. Bell became the parents of eleven children, 
eight of whom are still living; "William H. , George 
H. , Franklin, Charles E., Joseph T., Richard L., 
Sarah A. , and Katie. Mr. Bell is a member of the 
Agricultural ^\'heel and is a strong Democrat. He 
and his wife are also associated with the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church. 

John W^. Benton has been worthily identified 
with White County's affairs for a long period. 
His parents, William and Malinda E. (Wilson), 
were natives of Virginia and Georgia, respectively. 
The former was born in 1803, and was a son of 
John Wilson, who moved from Virginia to Georgia 
when the father of our subject was a boy. Will- 
iam Wilson married in 1824, and was engaged in 
the milling business all of his life. He became the 
father of eight children: Willis R., James W. , 
Catharine, William M., Lucinda, John W., Steven 
and Martha. Mr. Benton died in 1887, and his 
wife in 1843. John W. Benton's birth occurred 
in Georgia in 1839, he spending his early life in 
the mill of his father. In 1858 he was married to 
Rachel Burket, a daughter of William and Rachel 
(Hughs) Burket, in White County, Ark., whither 
he had moved some two years before. Mr. and 
Mrs. Benton are the parents of thirteen children: 
Linda E. (who married David Voleuteer), Francis 
B. (who married Frances Nipper), John Steven 
(married to Katie Coffey), James AV. (married to 
Emma Horton), William M. (who married Etta 
Scruggs), Willis R. (married Jennie Copper), Jes- 
sie A., David H., Fannie S. , Elneo L. , Charley 
W., Mamie L. and Henry V. Mr. Benton enlisted 
during the war (in 1863) in Capt. Thompson's com- 
pany, and took part in the Missouri raid, being 



ca])tured at Van Buren and taken to Little Rock. 
Mr. Benton has a tine farm of 100 acres, with over 
half of it cleared. Himself and wife are members 
of the Pre.sbyterian Church, Mr. Benton being one 
of the elders. He is a Democrat in politics, and 
an esteemed citizen. 

T. B. Bobbitt, M. D., is one of the most 
worthy men engaged in the practice of medicine 
in AVhite County, and is much esteemed and re- 
spected by all his medical lirethren. He was born 
in Gibson County, Tenn., November 8, 1849, and 
while assisting his father on the farm, he attended 
school at every opportunity, and by applying him- 
self closely to his books he, at the age of twenty 
years, had a much better education than the aver- 
age farmer's boy. Not being satisfied with the 
education thus acquired, he entered the high 
school at Gibson, Tenn., and formed while there a 
desire to enter the medical profession. In 1872 
he entered the Nashville Medical College, gradu- 
ated in the class of 1878 and the following year 
engaged in selling drugs. He next farmed one 
year and in 1876 began the practice of medicine 
in Madison County, Tenn. , continuing there until 
1879, when he settled in White County, at Anti- 
och Church, and in 1886 came to Beebe. Since 
his residence here he has practiced his profession, 
kept a di'ug store and has farmed, and in all these 
enterprises has been successful, being now the 
owner of 500 acres of good farming land, lying in 
several different farms, and has 200 acres under 
cultivation. In 1873 he was united in marriage to 
Miss Eddie James, a daughter of Edward James, 
a native of Tennessee. They have four children: 
Nora (born March 1, 1875), Pinkie (born in 1879), 
Lawson (born in 1881) and Edgar (born in 1886). 
The Doctor is a member of the A. F. & A. M. and 
was a member of the K. of L. He and his wife 
and eldest daughter are members of the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church. His parents, T. J. 
and Elizabeth (Wallace) Bobbitt, were born in 
South Carolina and Tennessee, respectively, and 
the former at the age of seven years was taken to 
Tennessee by his father, James Bobbitt, who had 
previously been an influential planter of South 
Carolina. They were man-ied in Gibson County, 



ft^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



133 



Tenn., in 1835, and reared the following family: 
William H. la lawyer of Humboldt, Tenn.), Caro- 
line (wife of W. F. Lawson, at present mayor of 
Eureka Springs. Ark. ), James (a carriage and 
wagon maker of Joplin, Mo.), Mattie (who died at 
the age of twenty at Eureka Springs, Ark. ), Ellen 
(wife of H. M. Brimm, a druggist at Eureka 
Springs), Mollie (wife of W'illiam Boyd, an editor 
of Seneca, Mo.) and Lena (who died in infancy). 
Both parents are living in retirement at Eureka 
Springs and are members of the Cumberland Pres- 
byterian Church, the former a Mason and a mem- 
ber of the f nion Labor party. J. N. Wallace, 
the maternal grandfather of our subject, was a 
soldier in the War of 1812, was a farmer and one 
of the pioneers of Tennessee. 

Robert I. Boggs, a leading planter and stock 
raiser of White County owes his nativity to the 
State of Mississippi, and was born in June, 1843, 
being the son of John W. Boggs, of South Caro- 
lina. The former was born in 1815 and received 
his education in Yorktown, S. C, immigrating to 
Mississippi in 1840, where he married Catherine 
J. Smith in 1841. Mrs. Boggs was a daughter 
of John and Martha Smith, and a devout member 
of the Methodist Church. Her death occurred in 
1889. Mr. and Mrs. Boggs were the parents of 
fifteen children: Mandy, Joseph W. (deceased), 
Robert I., James P., Newton J. (deceased), John 
(deceased), Martha (deceased), Lucy and Sarah 
(died at the ages of twenty-five and twenty-three, 
respectively), Franklin L. George P., Charley W. , 
Margaret M., Addie E. and Harrison B. Mr. 
Boggs was a Democrat, and a man who man- 
ifested a great interest in all church and educa- 
tional matters. He helped to organize the first 
church at Mount Pisgah. Mount Pleasant and Oak 
Grove, and has acted as class-leader in the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church for fifty years. He is a 
member of the Wheel and also the Grange, and is 
enjoying good health, though passed his seventy- 
fourth year. Robert I. received his education in 
the county schools of White County near Searcy, 
and there manied November 12, 1867, Miss Eliza 
J. Whisenant, of Mississippi, and a daughter of 
Nicholson and Nanev Whisenant, natives of South 



Carolina. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Boggs 
six children have been born: Ida M., James M. , 
Edward, Robert C. , Annie J. and John W. Ida 
and Edward are deceased; the rest reside at home. 
Mr. Boggs owns about 150 acres of good land, 
sixty in cultivation, and well stocked with all that 
is requisite to successfully operate a farm of that 
size. He is a member of the Wheel, in which he 
has held the office of president and vice-president, 
discharging in a highly commendable manner the 
duties of that otfice. He served in the late war on 
the Confederate side and entered in October, 1802, 
returning home in 1863, but again enlisted, re- 
maining only a short time. In 1864 he enlisted 
again under Gen. Dobbins, his first hard tight 
being at DeVall's Bluff. He was wounded in the 
Big Blue Fight by a ball which struck him in the 
left cheek, but did not prove serious. Mr. Boggs 
received an honorable discharge and at once re- 
turned home, engaging in farming, which has 
been his occupation ever since, and proving very 
successful. He is a member of twenty years' 
standing in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
his wife has held a membership in the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church for twenty-three years. 

M. Love Booth, retired farmer and merchant, 
■was born in Middle Tennessee, Bedford County, in 
1819, but owing to his father's early removal to 
Haywood County, he was reared there. The par- 
ents, James and Mary (Lofton) Booth, were both 
Virginians, and after residing in Tennessee for 
many years they removed to White County, Ark., 
and died at the home of their son in 1801. He was 
a member of the Baptist Church, a Mason, a life- 
long Democrat, and was for years sherifF of Bed- 
ford Coimty. After his wife's death, which oc- 
curred in 1851, he married again and came to 
Arkansas. M. Love Booth is the third of their six 
children, four now living: John (deceased, who 
was a farmer in Tennessee), William (a farmer of 
West Tennessee), Samira (deceased), M. Love, 
Susan (the wife of Henry Bacon, of Mississippi) 
and Louisa (who is the wife of a Tennessee farmer). 
Our subject has been familiar with farm work from 
his earliest boyhood, but his early advantages for 
acquiring an education were not so good. At the 



■ K *■ 



V 



gjv*- 



134 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



age of twenty he was a farm hand, later a trader 
and stock breeder, and after his marriage to Miss 
Elizabeth Budrell he became an overseer, and sue 
cessfully followed that occupation for forty years. 
He then gave up that work and built a livery stable 
in Brownsville, his establishment there being the 
largest of the kind in the State. In 1858 he came 
to Arkansas and purchased 320 acres of land near 
El Paso, seventy acres of which he cleared the first 
year. He was signally successful until the war 
broke out, when all his personal property was lost. 
He did not espouse either cause, and was not mo- 
lested during those turbulent times. When he 
came to El Paso there were only two farms open 
here, but now the greater part of the land is in a 
high state of cultivation. After the war he, with 
Thomas Warren, built a large mill, which was de- 
stroyed by fire, when he returned to his farm, 
which he again began to till. He became the 
possessor of 1,000 acres, and has cleared over 300 
acres, and since giving each of his children a 
farm he still holds 310 acres. His wife died Oc- 
tober 1, 1887, and since that time he has made 
his home with his children, and is at present living i 
with J. T. Phelps, his son-in-law, in El Paso, 
where he has an interest in the store of M. L. 
Phelps & Co. Mr. Booth was the first man to . 
build a store in El Paso after the war, and is now I 
managing a livery stable in that place, and, al- 
though he has attained the age of seventy years, 
he is an excellent business manager and is very 
active. Although quiet in his habits of life, he 
has always been interested in the public affairs of 
the county, and has done his full share in making 
the county what it is. He joined the Masons while 
in Tennessee, and he as well as his children are 
members of the Baptist Church. His children's 
names are here given: Nancy (is the wife of Mon- 
roe Oakley, a prosperous farmer of White County), 
Rebecca (is the wife of John C. Harkness. a farmer 
of El Paso), Elizabeth L. (is the wife of Thomas 
K. Nolaud, a farmer of the county). Narcissus (is 
the wife of John Russ, a farmer and president of 
the State Wheel), Martha A. (is the wife of J. T. 
Phelps, a merchant of El ,Paso), Mosella B. (de- 
ceased) and three infants, deceased. 



Gilliam Harper Booth, known to the citizens of 
^^'hite County as one of its wide-awake, energetic, 
ever-pushing men, is of Tennessee nativity, and a 
son of William A. and Delia Jane (Leathers) Booth, 
who claim Virginia and North Carolina, respect- 
ively, as the land of their birth. William A., the 
father of our subject, was born in 1811, and when 
a young man came with his parents to Mississippi, 
and later on removed to Fayette County, Tenn. , 
and thence to Haywood County. He was mar- 
ried in Fayette County. In 1856, after the elec- 
tion of James Buchanan to the presidency of the 
United States, they removed to Arkansas. He was 
an emphatic Democrat, casting his vote with that 
party, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South. William A. Booth was a son of 
Harper Booth, a Revolutionary War veteran, who 
served in that memorable conflict, and who died 
in 1859 at an extreme old age. The grand- 
father was a Virginian by birth, and a descend- 
ant of the Harper family from whom Harper's 
Ferry derives its name. Delia Jane Leathers was 
born in 1817, and was taken to Tennessee by her 
mother when a child of seven years. Mr. and Mrs. 
Booth were the parents of twelve children, four 
of whom are still living: Isabella J. (the wife of 
Dr. W. P. Lawton), Martha Ann (the wife of Capt. 
Rayburn, deceased), Gilliam H. (our subject) and 
Charles L. Gilliam H. Booth received his educa- 
tion at the public schools of West Point and at 
Judsonia University. His birth occurred August 
26, 1850, in Haywood County, Tenn. He has been 
actively engaged in teaching school, clerking and 
farming, and owns a fine farm of 856 acres, with 
150 under cultivation. In religion he is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and a 
Prohibitionist, but, being a radical free trader, in- 
clines toward the Democratic party, voting that 
ticket. In the community in which he lives he is 
regarded as a highly respected citizen. 

William F. Bradley is a traveling salesman for 
a Lynchburg (Va.) tobacco firm, and is a gen- 
tleman who enjoys the respect and esteem of the 
people of White County. He was born in Cald- 
well County, N. C. , June 6, 1847, and is a son of 
Jackson and Martha (Ferguson) Bradlej-, who were 



-^i 



-k^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



135 



born, reared and married in that State, the latter 
event taking place in 1841. Mrs. Bradley was 
bom in 1825, was of Scotch descent, her grand- 
father having emigrated from Scotland to North 
Carolina before it became a State, and took part 
in the Revolutionary War, being in sympathy with 
the cause of the Americans. .Jackson Bradley was 
born in 1818, and was of Welsh descent, his an- 
cestors having come to America long before the 
Revolution. After his marriage he was engaged 
in farming in his native state until 1855, and after 
residing successively in Mississippi, Georgia, and 
Missouri, he came to Arkansas in 1861, and to 
White County in 1875. He resided on a farm 
two miles east of Beebe till his death in March, 
1887, his wife preceding him to the grave by ten 
years. Both worshiped in the Missionary Baptist 
Church. A\illiam F. Bradley was the third in a 
family of seventeen children, the following of 
whom are living: Madelia (Mrs. Thomas), Amelia 
(Mrs. Mosier), Susan (Mrs. Bailey), Burton and 
William F. The latter received his education in 
the various States in which his father lived, and 
after attaining his twenty-first year, he worked as 
a farm hand for two years, then attended school 
at Butlerville, Lonoke County, for ten months. 
After teaching one term of school he engaged as 
a clerk at Beebe, at the end of six years engaging 
in the same business in partnership with J. T. 
Coradine, under the firm name of Bradley & Cor- 
adine. At the end of two years they took a Mr. 
Burton into the business, the firm then becoming 
Bradley, Coradine & Co., continuing such one 
year. Mr. Bradley then sold his interest, and be- 
came associated with Richard S. Bradley under 
the firm name of W. F. & R. S. Bradley, general 
merchants; but a few months later they made an 
assignment, losing all their goods. After this mis- 
fortune Mr. Bradley began working as a salesman, 
then secured a position as traveling salesman for 
Charles G. Peper & Co. of St. Louis, but at the 
end of a few months was compelled to give up this 
position on account of poor health. After recover- 
ing he worked for some time as a railroad clerk, 
then resumed clerking, continuing until May 1, 
ISS'.i. when he accepted his present position with 



J. W.West &Co. , tobacco manufacturers of Lynch- 
burg, Va. He is nicely situated in the town of 
Beebe, and has a pleasant and comfortable home, 
and socially is a member of Beebe Lodge No. 
145, of the A. F. & A. M. He has belonged to 
the city board of aldermen, and he and wife, who 
was a Miss Emma S. Dement, and whom he mar- 
ried November 4, 1874, are members of the Mis- 
sionary Baptist Church. They have a charming 
young daughter, Maud E., who was born October 
26, 1876, and is attending the schools of Beebe. 
Mrs. Bradley is a native of De Soto County, Miss. , 
and is a daughter of James T. and Ellen (Binge) 
Dement, the former of Alabama, and the latter of 
Tennessee. Mr. Dement was a farmer, and in 
1872 came with his family to White County, dying 
there a year later, at the age of forty-five years. 
His wife survives him, and lives with Mrs. Mcintosh 
in Beebe. The following are her children: Betty 
J. (born in 1857, the wife of Dr. Mcintosh, the 
leading physician of Beebe), Emma S. (Mrs. Brad- 
ley, born June 24, 1859), Ella (born 1861, wife of 
A. M. Burton, a prosperous merchant of Beebe), 
Jennie (wife of Maxwell Welty, a railroad agent 
at Beebe), and James T. (who was born in Febru- 
ary, 1874, and is attending the high school at 
Beebe). 

William Sackville Brewer. Ever since his 
connection with the agricultural aiJairs of White 
County, Ark., Mr. Brewer has displayed those 
sterling characteristics- — industry, perseverance and 
integrity, that have resulted in awarding him a 
representative place in matters pertaining to this 
community. The paternal ancestors came to 
America prior to the Revolutionary War and set- 
tled in Virginia, the grandfather, Barrett Brewer, 
an Englishman, participating in that struggle. He 
married Malinda Pollard, and by her became the 
father of four children: Martha (Mrs. Sanders), 
Sarah (who first married a Mr. Harder, and after- 
ward a Mr. Scott), Benjamin and John Pollard 
(the father of our biographical subject). The ma- 
ternal ancestors were also English, and came to 
America while it was still subject to the crown. 
The maternal grandmother was a Sackville, belong- 
ing to the distinguished English family of that 



r 



.'"A" — ^ 



' „ ► ■ 



136 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



name. John Pollard Brewer was married to Susan 
Jefferson Townseod September 1, 1833, and to 
them the following children were born: "William 
Sackville (born June 10, 1834), Martha M. (born 
July 18, 1836), James M. (born July 3, 1838), 
Pollard J. (born October 24, 1840), Sarah W. 
(born March 5, 1843), Andrew T. (born November 
19, 1845), Benjamin A. (born May 19, 1848), John 
B. (born January 22, 1851), Mary E. (born Sep- 
tember 19, 1853) and Karilla W. (born July 2, 
1855). The father and mother of these children 
were born October 15, 1812, and March 14, 1817, 
respectively, the latter being of German descent, 
and a daughter of Andrew (Jriswell and Elizabeth 
(Barnett) Townsend. The father was one of the 
early settlers of Alabama, and represented Pike 
County in the State legislature. William Sackville 
Brewer was born in Pike County, Ala., and was 
educated in the subscription schools and reared on 
a farm. At the age of nineteen years he left home 
and united his fortunes with those of Miss Eliza 
H. Clayton, their union taking place October 10, 

1852. She was born in Fayette County, Ga. , 
June 6, 1834, and is a daughter of Richard and 
Jaae (Carter) Clayton, the paternal ancestors be- 
ing emigrants from Ireland to America prior to the 
Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Brewer have a family 
of ten children: Susan E. (born September 6, 

1853, became the wife of W. J. Turner in 1872, 
and died in 1883, leaving two children), Howell C. 
(born December 8, 1855, and died September 3, 
1863), John William (born January 8, 1858), Ara 
Anna (born March 30, 1860, and died September 
12, 1864), James R. (born September 18, 1862), 
Lela Lewis (born January 8, 1865, married D. A. 
King in 1882 and became the mother of two chil- 
dren), Henry W. (born September 1, 1867, and 
died June 8, 1871), Minnie Lee (born August 4, 
1870), Robert B. (born March 23, 1872) and Rich- 
ard J. (born December 24, 1874). Mr. Brewer 
has been a resident of Arkansas since 1873, and 
for two years farmed on rented land near Searcy. 
He continued to farm rented land until 1878, when 
he bought the farm of 129 acres where he now 
lives, of which al)ont thirty-five acres are under 
cultivation. Tlie buildings on the place were badly 



dilapidated, but Mr. Brewer now has all the build- 
ings in excellent repair and his farm otherwise 
well improved. Mr. Brewer and his wife are pro- 
fessors of religion, and he at one time belonged to 
the Masonic fraternity, and is now a member of the 
Agricultural Wheel. 

Charles Brown, M. D., was a native of Vir- 
ginia, and was born May 3, 1783. He was the son 
of Bernard and Elizabeth (Dancy) Brown. He re- 
ceived his early education in Virginia, and later 
attended the Jefferson Medical College at Phila- 
delphia, from which he graduated about 1807, 
subsequently settling in Charlotteville, Albemarle 
County, Va. , and commenced the practice of med- 
icine. Mr. Brown was married April 1. 1813, to 
Mary Brown, a daughter of Bezakel and Mary 
(Thompson) Brown, originally of Virginia, who 
was born April 24, 1790. They were the parents 
of the following children: Bernard O. (deceased), 
Elvira (deceased). Elizabeth D. (now Mrs. Jones, of 
Virginia), Bezaleel T. (deceased). Charles T., Alger- 
ion R. and Ezra M. Mr. Brown held the office of 
high sheriff of his county for two terms. His death 
occurred in 1879, at the age of ninety-six years; 
at the time of his death he was still a strong man 
with a wonderful memory. Algerion R. Brown 
was born in Albemarle County, Va., March 5, 1831. 
He attended the University of Virginia and in 1850 
left it and studied medicine with his father a short 
time, and in 1852 went to Marshall County, Mis- 
sissippi, where he engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness until the war broke out. Mr. Brown was mar- 
ried January 26, 1855, to Mary F. Williams, a 
daughter of Alexander and Martha (Delete) Will- 
iams, of North Carolina nativity. Mrs. Brown 
was a native of Tennessee. Mr. Brown enlisted in 
1861 for three years or during the war, in Com- 
pany F, of the Thirty-fourth Mississippi Infantry 
in the Army of Tennessee. During the first twelve 
months he was first lieutenant, afterward was on 
staff of "general inspector," and after the battle 
of Lookout Mountain he went back to his regi- 
ment and was jjlacod in command of three com- 
panies for some time and was then promoted to 
captain of the engineer department of staff duty, 
tilling this position till the time of surrender. He 



^l 



WHITE COUNTY. 



137 



participated iu tho battles of Shiloh, Murfrees- 
boro. Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary 
Ridge, and nearly all of the principal battles dur- 
ing the terrible conflict. Mr. Brown removed from 
Mississippi to Tennessee in 1881, remaining th'ere 
four years, then moved to M'hite County, Ark., 
settling in Cane Township on eighty acres of land, 
where he now has about thirty acres under cultiva- 
tion. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have a family of five 
children and one deceased; Martha E. (deceased), 
Mary W., Susan W., Charles E., Samuel H., Wal- 
ter L. Himself and wife are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. Brown 
has served as delegate to the district and annual 
conferences, and is one of the stewards of the 
church. He is an energetic and well-educated man, 
and a fine talker, and takes an interest in all school 
and religious work. He was one of the committee 
fi'om Mississippi to the New Orleans fair in 1883. 
Dr. K. L. Browning, physician and surgeon, 
Judsonia, Ark. Prominent among the compara- 
tivel}' young men of White County, whose career 
thus far has been both honorable and successful, 
is the subject of the present sketch. His father, 
R. C. Browning was a native of Kentucky, and 
while attending school in Indiana, met and married 
the mother of the Doctor, her maiden name being 
Miss Eliza Frady. She was born in North Caro- 
lina, but was reared in Indiana. After their mar- 
riage the parents settled in Kentucky, and here 
the father followed teaching until 1849, when he 
moved to Sac County, Iowa, where he followed 
agricultural pursuits for a means of livelihood. 
He took an active part in politics, was county 
treasurer of Sac County one term, and in the fall 
of 1870 moved to Judsonia, where he continued 
tilling the soil. In 1877 he engaged in merchan- 
dising and still continues in that business. He 
and wife reside in Judsonia. Their family con- 
sisted of the following children: J. H. (married 
and living in Judsonia), W. C. (married and re- 
siding in Kirksville, Mo. , ^ngaged in merchandis- 
ing), R. L., Maggie (now Mrs. Marsh, of Jud- 
sonia), Viola (now Mrs. Drake, of Judsonia). Dr. 
R. L. Browning was born in Sac County, Iowa, in 
1859, assisted his father on the farm, and received 



his education in tho Judsonia University, one of 
the best schools of the county. He commenced 
reading medicine in Judsonia in 1877, and in 
1878-79 took a course of lectures at the Cincin- 
nati Eclectic Medical Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio, 
graduating in the class of 1882. He then came 
back and commenced the practice of medicine, 
where he was reared, and continued the same 
until the summer of 1S82, having met with success 
and built up a big practice. He was married in 
Judsonia, Ark., on November 27, 1882, to Miss 
Emily B. Ellis, a native of New York, and the 
daughter of John Ellis, of English origin. Mr. 
Ellis came to this country, settled in New York, 
was civil engineer, and also engaged in horticult- 
ure. He came to Judsonia, Ark., in 1882, and 
died the same year in San Francisco, Cal. , the 
mother dying in New York in 1872. To the union 
of Mr. and Mrs. Browning were born two children 
(only one now living) : Harry R. (who was born in 
1887), and Carroll Ellis (who died in 1884, at the 
age of eight months and twelve days). Dr. Brown- 
ing is not very enthusiastic in regard to politics, but 
his vote is cast with the Republican party. Socially 
he is a member of Judsonia Lodge No. 45, 1. O. O. 
F., at Judsonia, and has been Noble Grand of the 
order. He belongs to the Missionary Baptist Church 
and Mrs. Browning to the Episcopal Church. The 
Doctor is secretary of the Building Association, 
also of the board of Judsonia University, and is 
one of the first men of the county. He has been 
unusually successful in his practice and has wop 
the confidence and esteem of all. 

Prof. Augustine W. Bumpass, a prominent citi- 
zen and teacher of White County, is a native of 
Madison County, West Tenn. , where he was born, 
near Jackson, on Janiiary 22, 1851. He is the 
eldest son of Dr. E. L. and Lucinda E. (Young) 
Bumpass. His father was a native of Giles Coun- 
ty, Tenn., where he was born April 15, 1810, being 
reared in Lauderdale County, Ala., and there edu- 
cated both in literature and medicine. Graduating 
at the Louisville Medical College, iu the class of 
1841—42, with the highest honors, he was for many 
years a prominent physician in Alabama, but re- 
moved to Madison County, Tenn. , in the latter part 



;|t^ 



<3 k. 



138 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



of 1850, where he resided until 1856, at which 
time he removed to Arkansas and settled in Prairie 
(now Lonoke) County. Here, in a wild and un- 
settled country, he purchased laud and opened up 
a farm, which he conducted in connection with his 
practice until his death, December 3, 1883. He 
was a man of generous and humane impulses, a 
warm-hearted and devoted Christian, and a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church. He was a Master 
Mason and a member of the I. O. O. F., standing 
high in both of those societies. An old line Whig 
until the dissolution of that party, he then affiliated 
with the Democratic jjarty until his death. The 
mother of our subject, Lucinda E. (Young) Bum- 
pass, was a native of Alabama, where she was 
reared, educated and married. She was the daugh- 
ter of Elder James Young, a prominent minister 
of the Christian Church in Alabama. He died in 
1852. Mrs. Bumjjass died on December 5, 1881, 
aged fifty-nine years, eight months and nine days. 
Dr. Gabriel Bumpass, grandfather of Augustine 
W., was a native of North Carolina and died'in 
Lauderdale County, Ala., in 1875, aged one hun- 
dred and seventeen years. He was the oldest phy- 
sician in America, if not in the world, having prac- 
ticed medicine for more than eighty years. He 
was a remarkable man in many respects, and as 
physician, farmer or merchant, was very success- 
ful. Our subject's parents were married in Lau- 
derdale County, Ala., on May 18, 1845. To their 
marriage seven children were born, five sons and 
two daughters, five of whom are living, as follows: 
Mary E. (at Pine Bluff, Ark.), Augustine "\V. (near 
Searcy, in White County, Ark.), Samuel J. (at 
Lonoke, (Ark.), Edward K. and Ross H. (at Pine 
Bluff, Ark. ). The two last named are mechanics and 
buggy and carriage manufacturers; Samuel J. is a 
farmer, stock raiser and trader. Romelia C. , the 
eldest, a daughter, and Robert W., the fourth 
child, are dead. A. W. Bumpass was reared in 
Tennessee to the age of five years, and from that 
time in Arkansas, where he was educated, obtain- 
ing a good academic instruction and preparing 
himself for the profession of law. However, he 
began teaching early in life and has paid but little 
attention to the law, except in the lower courts. 



Commencing for himself at the age of eighteen as 
a teacher in the public schools of his State, he has 
been occupied in teaching more or less for twenty 
years, gaining an enviable reputation in many 
coimties where he has been engaged in the public 
and private schools and academies. He is a poli- 
tician of some note, and represented his county 
(Lonoke) in the legislature, in 1879 and 1880, tak- 
ing always an active interest in the campaigns of 
his party. Democratic. He was married in Lonoke 
County, Ark., on April 25, 1875, to Miss Virginia 
C. Kirk, a native of Marshall County, Miss. , born 
April 11, 1856, a daughter of Richard L. and 
Virginia (Hayes) Kirk. Her father is dead, but 
her mother is a resident of White County, at the 
home of her daughter. Prof. Bumpass and wife 
have five children, four sons and one daughter: 
Edward W. , Herbert R. , Robert H. , Prentice and 
Mary Moyner. The Professor is a member of the 
Christian Church and takes an active interest in 
church and Sunday-school matters. He has been 
Sunday-school superintendent for many years, was 
notary public fi'om 1885 until 1889 in White Coun- 
ty, and is a highly educated, intelligent gentleman, 
having the respect and confidence of those with 
whom he comes in contact. Generous to a fault, 
he aids all worthy enterprises to the extent of his 
time and means. 

Patrick Burns was the second settler in A\'hite 
County, and for this reason, if for no other, de- 
serves prominent mention in the jjresent volume. 
Now the oldest resident of the county, he came 
here in 1844 and located some land, having to 
make the journey from Springfield on foot and 
passing about fifteen days en route. His arrival 
was in September and he remained in the wilder- 
ness country until the following February, when 
he returned on foot to Sangamon County, 111., go- 
ing thence to Ohio in the same manner. After 
about one year's stay in the Buckej'e State he 
again came to White County and was engaged in 
farming until 1863. Going to Missouri he worked 
there at farm labor also, and in 1865 settled per- 
manently on the farm where he now lives. His 
career since that time has been one of which he 
need not feel ashamed. Mr. Burns was born in 



ILl. 



WHITE COUNTY. 



139 



Washington, D. C , in 1814, being a son of 
Thomas and Katie (Larner) Burns, of Irish de- 
scent. Thomas Burns was a laborer, and after 
marriage settled in Washinjrton, where he died 
fi'om the cholera, in 1833. His wife had preceded 
him a few years. Patrick was reared uj) to ten 
years of age in Washington, and then passed his 
time on a farm in Virginia, attending the subscrip- 
tion schools of that State. He went to Ohio in 
1835, but one year later removed to Morgan Coun- 
ty, 111. Three years following he became settled 
in Sangamon County, 111., his home until 18-14. 
His subsequent travels have been noticed. Mr. 
Burns first opened up a farm of 120 acres here, 
which he has given to Mr. Sparrow, his father-in- 
law. Mr. Burns was married in 1850, in Pulaski 
County, to Edith Sparrow, a native of North Caro- 
lina. He was formerly a member of the Grange, 
and is now connected with the Agricultural Wheel. 
George T. Burton, like so many agriculturists 
of White County, Ark., is also engaged in fruit 
culture, and has been exceptionally successful in 
these occupations. His birth occurred in Jndiana, 
in 1849, and he is one of nine childi'en born to Eli 
and Mahala (Conley) Burton, the father having 
been born in North Carolina in 1812, the youngest 
child of John P. and Mary Burton, who were bom 
in the "Old North State." After living in his 
native State until he reached manhood, he moved 
to Indiana, settling in Lawrence County, where 
he followed farming and coopering and was mar- 
ried in 1834, his wife being a daughter of John 
Conley, who was born in North Carolina and came 
to Indiana at an early day. They reared a large 
family of children: Simpson, Wiley G. , Catherine, 
Rebecca, Isom, John W'., William H., George T. 
and Milton P. The father is a Ilepublican in pol- 
itics, and has held many public offices in the State 
of Indiana, and is still living. His wife died in 
1852. George T. Burton received his education 
in the State University of Indiana, and in 1872, 
started out in life for himself, following the occu- 
pations of farming and fruit growing, which call- 
ings have received his attention up to the present 
time. After his marriage, in 1877, to Miss Mary 
E. Bundy, a daughter of William and Sarah (Cob- 



bell) Bundy, of that State, he came to White 
County, Ark., and bought a farm of 160 acres, 
seventy-five acres of which he devotes to corn and 
fruit of various kinds, being esjjecially successful 
in the cultivation of strawberries and grapes. He 
takes a deep interest in all matters pertaining to 
the good of the county and is agricultural reporter 
of White County for the Government. He is an 
earnest member of the Baptist Church and politi- 
cally is a Republican. His children are: Eli N. , 
Morton, Ethel B. and Benjamin H. Mr. Burton 
is a Mason and is a demitted member of the Grand 
Lodge of the State. 

Robert W. Canada, a well-to-do farmer and 
stockman, residing near Beebe, Ark., has been a 
resident of White County for a period of time. He 
was born in Madison County, Tenn., April 3, 1829, 
and is a son of Hugh and Melissa R. (Duckworth) 
Canada, who were born in North Carolina, in 1808 
and 1810, respectively. They were married in 
1828, and in 1832 removed from Madison to Hay- 
wood County, Tenn. , and here the father' s death 
occurred in 1850. Their children are Robert W., 
Catherine (born January 1, 1881, and died at the 
age of four years), William J. (was born on May 
10, 1833, and lost his life in the Confederate 
service, being killed in the battle of Atlanta, in 
1864, and is now filling an unknown grave), Jo- 
seph V. (was born April 16, 1835, and died Feb- 
ruary 17, 1879, a farmer of White County), James 
R. (was bom July 27, 1837, and died at El Paso 
in December, 1879, a merchant by occupation), 
John F. (who was born February 8, 1840, and died 
at Okolona, Miss., in 1863, being a soldier in the 
Confederate army), Alpha C. (was born April 16, 
1842, and died August 8, 1881, the wife of A. L. 
Fisher, a farmer of Union Township i, Mary E. 
(was born February 21, 1844, and is the wife of 
Richard Hill, a farmer of El Paso, Ark.) and 
Miles C. (who was born on September 20, 1846, 
and is now a farmer near Stony Point). Robert 
W. Canada spent his youth on his father's farm 
and attended the old subscription schools of his 
youth. At the age of twenty-one he began life for 
himself, and spent the first few years of his freedom 
as an overseer. This he followed in connectioQ 



-®IV 



140 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



I 



with farming until coming to White County. Ark., 
and a few months later entered 160 acres of land 
three miles east of El Paso, which he began to de- 
velop. Four years later he sold this farm and 
bought eighty acres near Beebe, but after residing 
here a term of four years he went to Illinois, and 
there made his home during 1865. In 1867 he 
made the purchase of his present farm of 100 
acres, and by good management has increased his 
acreage to 500, and has 200 acres under cultiva- 
tion, his land being well adapted to raising corn, 
cotton and fruits. Small grain does well also, and 
strawberries grow to perfection and are one of his 
most profitable crops. Since his residence in the 
State he has cleared over 200 acres of land and has 
built more good barns than any other man in the 
section of White County. Although his principal 
occupation has been farming he has been engaged 
in other occupations at different times, and in 1873 
erected a livery stable in Beebe, the first establish- 
ment of the kind ever erected there. He man- 
aged this a few months and at the same time 
acted as constable, and later served as justice of 
the peace for eight years. In 1882 he kept a 
grocery in Beebe and during this time, and for 
three subsequent years, he acted in the capacity of 
postmaster of the town, having received his ap- 
pointment in 1881. He has been a Republican 
since that party has been in existence, but he has 
never been an office seeker. He is a member of 
Beebe Lodge No. 145, of the A. F. & A. M., and 
has held all the offices of his lodge with the ex- 
ception of Senior Warden. He is a member of the 
Agricultural Wheel, and is one of the influential 
men of the county, and although he differs from 
the most of the citizens in his political views, yet 
he is highly esteemed and his opinions respected. 
When Gen. Grant was elected to the presidency 
Mr. Canada was the only man in Union Township 
who voted for him. He has always been an advo- 
cate of schools and has contributed liberally to the 
building of churches, school-houses and to the 
general imj^rovement of the county. October 28, 
1851, he was married to Miss Mahala Hendrix, 
a native of Hardeman County, Tenn., born Octo- 
ber 24, 1838, a daughter of William and Nancy 



(Clements) Hendrix, who removed from their na- 
tive State of South Carolina to Tennessee in 1856, 
and were among the pioneer settlers of White 
County. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Canada 
are Sonora E. (born October 27, 1852, and died 
December 7, 1856), Almeda (born November 10, 
1855, and died June 3, 1857), William R. (born 
April 26, 1858; is a merchant in business with C. 
A. Price, of Beebe), Joseph B. (was born Septem- 
ber 17, 1860, and is a farmer of Union Township), 
Martha A. (was born October 15, 1869, and is a 
school teacher, residing with her parents) and 
Mary M. (who was born September 24, 1874, and 
died August 29, 1876). Mr. Canada has given all 
his children good educational advantages, and he 
and his family attend the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, he having been a steward in that 
church for the past thirteen years. Mr. Canada's 
mother still lives and makes her home with him. 

R. W. Carnes, sheriff, Searcy, Ark. This gen- 
tleman was elected to his present office in Septem- 
ber, 1888, and has filled that position in a capable 
and efficient manner ever since. He owes his origin 
to Carroll Coiinty, Tenn., where his birth occurred 
in 1849, and is the second in a family of five chil- 
dren born to John D. and Sarah (Dunn) Carnes, 
natives of Tennessee. The father was a physician 
and surgeon and died in Tennessee in 1857. He 
took quite an active part in politics in the early 
history of the countrj'. The mother came to White 
County, Ark., in 1868, settled on a farm near 
Searcy, and here her death occurred in 1885. Of 
their family five are now living: R. W., Barbara 
A. and Alice (now Mrs. Magness), still residing in 
White County. R. W. Carnes passed his early 
life in duties upon the farm and in securing an 
education in the common schools of Tennessee. 
In 1868 he came to White County, following farm- 
ing until 1882, when he engaged in general mer- 
chandising at Centre Hill, White County, and 
there continued for three years. In 1885 he em- 
barked in the same business at Searcy, and contin- 
ued at that for some time. He is not very active 
in jjolitics, but votes independently and for the 
best man in the county, and in national affairs votes 
with the Democratic party. Ho is also deejjly 



^-^ 



'MQ w. 



L 



MHITE COUNTY. 



141 



interested in odueational affairs and is a inemhor of 
the school board. Socially he is a member of Searcy 
Lodge No. 49, A. F. & A. M. , and has been Wor- 
shipful Master of the lodge. He was married in 
\\'hite County in 1875 to Miss Anna Montgomery, 
a native of White County and daughter of J. W. 
and Ophelia A. (^^'est) Montgomery, the former of 
North Carolina and the latter of Monroe County, 
Ark. The father is now deceased. Mrs. Mont- 
gomery resides on a farm. Mr. Carnes lost his 
wife in ISSO and was left with two children: Anna 
Belle and John D. His second marriage took 
place in White County in 1S84, to Miss Elnora 
Neelly, a native of White County and daughter of 
Samuel D. and Sally (Montgomery) Neelly, na- 
tives of Tennessee and North Carolina, respect- 
ively. Her parents came to White County in 1S55, 
and there their deaths occurred a number of years 
ago, the mother in about 1874, and the father in 
1885. They were the parents of three children: 
Sally Mattie, Neelly and an infant. Mr. Carnes 
has seen many changes in the country since coming 
here in 1868, and has always taken an interest in 
the country. He is one of the prominent and rep- 
resentative men of the county. 

William H. Carodine, known to be reliable and 
honorable, is a liveryman and planter of White 
County, and a native of Mississippi, being born 
October 3, 1843, in De Soto County. His father, 
William Carodine, was born in Tennessee, but im- 
migrated to Mississippi, where he married Miss 
Emily Hall, also of Tennessee. Soon after their 
marriage they came to Arkansas (in 1860) and set- 
tled first in White County, but subsequently moved 
six miles west of Beebe, and in 1873 moved two 
miles south of this town, where the remainder of 
their life was spent. William H. was reared on a 
farm and passed his boyhood days in the pioneer 
schools, obtaining a good education there and in 
the common schools of Mississippi and Arkansas. 
In 186'J he started out in this world for himself, 
their first venture from home being to enlist in 
the Confederate army, under Col. Glenn McCoy's 
brigade, in which he served four years. He was 
in the battles of Prairie Grove, Pilot Knob, Jef- 
ferson City, Boonville, Lexington, Independence, 



and at Wilson's Creek, in Missouri. Ho was with 
Price on his raid through Missouri, and also at the 
battle of Helena, where he was slightly wounded, 
but during his entire service in the war he was 
never once captured. At the time of the final sur- 
render he was home on a furlough. At the close 
of the struggle Mr. Carodine rented a farm and 
began working it with nothing but his own exer- 
tion to depend on, yet it is not strange that he 
succeeded, for with his great determination of pur- 
pose, the lack of " tilthy lucre " would not prevent 
him at least from making an attempt to cope with 
the many hardships incident to his start in life. 
In October, 1867, he was married to Miss Eliza- 
beth Massey, a native of Tennessee, but whose 
parents came to Arkansas in 1858. To their union 
three children have been born, two of them now 
living: Mary Jane, William (deceased) aad Jones 
D. Shortly after his marriage Mr. Carodine pur- 
chased his father's homestead and conducted that 
place for several years, but in 1878 he traded his 
farm for town property in Indiana, which he still 
owns. It consists of a lot and good residence in 
Bainbridge, Putman County, Ind. In 1878 he 
bought what is known as the Massey place (160 
acres) and took up his residence at that place, re- 
maining there vintil the fall of 1888. He then 
purchased the rolling stock in the livery business, 
which he is now successfully conducting. In con- 
nection with his other property he now owns eighty 
acres of land, two miles east of Beebe, and of that 
farm fifty acres are cultivated. The farm is in an 
excellent locality, and is adapted to all kinds of 
crops. Since his residence in White County he 
has opened over 160 acres of land, and has done 
his full share in developing the country round him, 
and it is to his credit, be it said, that very few 
have done as much. In 1875 Mr. and Mrs. Caro- 
dine took an extended trip through Texas, for the 
latter' 8 health, and after an absence of a year they 
returned, her health being greatly improved. Mr. 
Carodine thought Texas a very fair country, but 
concluded that, as far as ho had been able to judge, 
Arkansas had no superior. He is a member of 
Beebe Lodge No. 146, A. F. & A. M., also at one 
time was a Wheeler. In his political views ho 



^5 



V 



142 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



sides with the Democratic party. He has been a 
member of the school board for a number of years, 
and with his family worships at the Beebe Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. 

W. B. Carter, Searcy, Ark. Among the most 
skilled and reliable druggists of Searcy may be 
classed Mr. Carter, who is a member of the well- 
known firm of Carter & Son. This firm is doing a 
good business and carries a full line of drugs, 
chemicals and everything kept in a first-class drug 
store. He came to Searcy in 1S51, engaged in 
the dry goods and boot and shoe business, where 
the Perry Block is building, then purchased a frame 
building across the street, and later moved to the 
north side of the public square, where he erected 
the second brick building in Searcy. At this time 
the firm title was Carter, McCanley & Co., under 
which it continued until sometime during the war. 
From 1861 to 1865 Mr. Carter was out of busi- 
ness, and in 1867 he engaged in general merchan- 
dising under the firm name of J. C. McCanley &, 
Co. He continued with him until 1873, when he 
embarked in his present business on the north side 
of the square, and in 1884 moved to bis present 
location. Mr. Carter was born in Prince William 
County, Va., in 1822, and was the eldest in a 
family of six children born to James P. and E. J. 
(Davis) Carter, natives of the Old Dominion. The 
father was a planter and opened up a large farm 
in Virginia, where he remained until 1838 and 
then moved to Independence County, Ark., where 
he entered land and there passed his last days. 
His death occurred in about 1860. His wife die'd 
in 1876. Of their family these children are now 
living: W. B. (subject) and T. E. Carter (who is 
married and resides on a farm near Sulphur Rock, 
Ark.). W. B. Carter was early initiated into the 
duties of farm life, and received his education in 
the schools of Virginia. He moved to Pike County, 
Mo., in 1837, engaged in farm labor, and in 1838 
moved to Independence County, Ark., where he 
engaged in agricultural pursuits. He purchased 
land in that county, but sold it and in 1851 came 
to Searcy, then a very small rough place, but soon 
after a class of settlers moved in and the town was 
soon built up. Mr. Carter was an enrolling officer 



for some months during 1863, was taken prisoner 
and held during the winter of 1863 and 1864 at 
Johnstown Island. He was paroled in March of 
the last-njentioned year and taken to Point Look- 
out, thence to Richmond, and finally went on foot 
from Mississippi across the swamps to Southern 
Ark., where he joined the army. After the sur- 
render he returned to Searcy. In 1867 he en- 
gaged in business continuously for thirty- four 
years, and is one of the oldest and most reliable 
merchants in Searcy. He is not active in politics 
but votes with the Democratic party, and held the 
office of justice of the peace for about four years. 
He was appointed postmaster under President Bu- 
chanan and served four years. He was married in 
"White County in 1853 to Miss E. J. McCanley, 
a native of Tennessee, and the daughter of James 
and Mary (Fletcher) McCanley, natives of North 
Carolina. Her parents immigrated at an early day 
to Tennessee, and in 1851 came to ^\'hite County, 
Ark., where both passed their last days. Four 
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Carter: Ella 
(now Mrs. Patterson, of Little Rock), and W. F. 
(who is married and resides in Searcy) and two 
deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Carter are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and 
socially Mr. Carter is a member of the Searcy 
Lodge No. 49, A. F. & A. M., of which he has 
been secretary and warden for many years. He is 
a member of Tillman Chapter No. 19, R. A. M., 
of which he is King. He is also a member of the 
council, and has been for some time. 

Alfi'ed T. Carter, a leading citizen and of an 
old and highly respected family, was a native of 
Mississippi, and was a son of Alfred and Drucilla 
(Willkins) Carter, of Tennessee nativity. Alfred 
Carter first saw the light of day in 1812, and 
lived in Tennessee (where he was married) until 
1830, when he moved to Panola County, Miss., 
and in 1859 came to Arkansas, locating in "White 
County, where his wife died in 1871, at the age of 
fifty-nine. He then married a Mrs. Conner, a 
widow, who is still living. The senior Carter was 
the father of seven children by his first wife, three 
of whom are still living: S. R. (a farmer of Lo- 
gan County, Ark.), Alfred T. (our subject) and 



V 



.^ s 



iU 



WHITE COUNTY. ' 



143 



Sarah (the wife of W. H. Bailey). By his second 
marriage he became the parent of two children, 
both living: Fannie and Alfred. Mr. Carter be- 
longs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, as did 
also his first wife. He died in 1878. Alfred T. 
Carter was born in Panola County, Miss. , on Feb- 
ruary 3, 1851, but has resided in Arkansas since 
eight years of age. At the age of twenty he com- 
menced farming for himself, and in the fall of 
1870, bought forty acres of land in the woods, and 
began clearing it. He now is the owner of 280 
acres, with ninety under cultivation, which he has 
made by hard work and economy. On August 28, 
1870, he was married to Miss Emma Ward, also 
a native of Panola County, Miss., and who was 
born April 22, 1854. They are the parents of 
eleven children, six of whom are still living: Ella 
J., Sallie M., Albert J., George O., John T. 
and Penina. Mr. Carter is a prominent Demo- 
crat, and was elected to the office of constable in 
1 882, which office he held for six years. Mr. and 
Mrs. Carter belong to the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, of which he is trustee, and offici- 
ated as class leader for several years. 

J. M. Cathcart, one of the members of the 
popular and well-known Enterprise Basket and 
Box Company, manufacturers of fruit and vegeta- 
ble boxes, etc., was born in Elkhart County, Ind., 
in 1844, and was the youngest of three children 
born to B F. and Joanna (Calkins) Cathcart, the 
former having been born in that State in ISIS, his 
youthful days being also there. His children are 
Royal (who died in infancy) and Harrison (who 
served in Company K, Ninth Indiana Regiment, 
and was killed at the battle of Shiloh). The 
mother of these children, who was a daughter of 
Caleb Calkins, died in 1845, and the father mar- 
ried again, his second wife being a Mrs. Mary 
(Newell) Ireland, daughter of John and Mary 
(Crockett) Newell, a native of Kentucky. She 
bore him one child, J. F., who resides in Arkan- 
sas, and is in business with our subject, J, M. 
Cathcart. After her death he wedded Sarah J. 
Calkins, an aunt of his first wife, the children of 
this marriage being Anna and Royal W. and Rosa 
(twins). Mr. Cathcart is still living, but his par- 



ents, James and Paulina, have long been dead. 
J. M. Cathcart' s youth was spent in following the 
plow on his father's farm in Indiana, and in at- 
tending the district schools, l)ut these sober pur- 
suits he put aside upon the opening of the Rebell- 
ion, and at the age of seventeen years he enlisted 
in Company C, Ninth Indiana Regiment, and after 
participating in a number of engagements he was 
captured and confined in the county jail at Stan- 
ton, Va., one month and in Libby two months. 
After being paroled he went back to Indiana, and 
was married there, in 1872, to Miss Anna Snyder, 
a daughter of William and Lavina (Knight) Sny- 
der, natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. Cathcart was 
in the railroad business for about thirteen years, 
as clerk and station agent on the Lake Shore & 
Michigan Southern Railroad. Resigning his posi- 
tion as agent in 1881, he engaged in the manu- 
facturing business with his brother, J. F., at 
Bristol, Ind. In 1885 they moved their machinery 
to White County, Ark. , and established the Enter- 
prise Basket and Box Company, known as the 
Cathcart Bros. They employ on an average about 
thirty hands, and during the fruit season have a 
much larger force. Mr. Cathcart is a member of 
the G. A. R., a Republican in his political views 
and is one of the aldermen of Judsonia. The 
junior partner of the firm, J. F. Cathcart, married 
Miss Flora Boyer, by whom he had two sons, John 
and James, born in 1880 and 1884, in Indiana. 
John F. spent his youthful days on a farm raising 
fruit and in attending the public schools of Indi- 
ana. He engaged in the manufacturing business 
while still a resident of his native State, and after 
coming to Arkansas in 1885, engaged in the same 
calling. He is the inventor of the Cathcart' s ven- 
tilated berry case, which has proved a decided 
success. His wife, who is a member of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, is a daughter of John and 
Hannah Boyer, the former a Pennsylvanian. Mr. 
Cathcart is an excellent musician and is the leader 
of the band in Judsonia. 

R. W. Chrisp, farmer, Searcy, Ark. This prom- 
inent agriculturist owes his nativity to Gibson 
County, Tenn., where his birth occurred in 1835, 
and is the ninth of seventeen children born to the 



144 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



union of William and Mary J. (Elder) Chrisp, na- 
tives of the Old Dominion. The father was a tiller 
of the soil, and moved to Rutherford County, 
Tenn., entered land, and there remained until 
1831. He then settled in Gibson County, Tenn., 
and made that county his home until his death, 
which occurred in 1803. He was in the War of 
1812, and took quite an active part in politics. 
His wife died in Searcy in October, 1884. Of their 
family the following children are now living: R. 
W., Frances AV. (now Mrs. Lane, of Gibson Coun- 
ty, Tenn.), Horace (married, and resides in Hig- 
ginson Township) and L. M. (who is married, and 
resides on a farm in the last named township). 
One son; John W., enlisted in the army from Gib- 
son County, Tenn. , was Gen. Pillow' s commissary, 
and died of pneumonia in 1863, at Memphis, Tenn. 
Another son, William B., was a member of the One 
Hundred and Eleventh Tennessee Infantry, and 
after the .war was a cotton factor of Memphis. His 
death occurred in 1870. Two other sons, Henry 
and Starks, were in Gen. Forrest's cavalry, and 
both died in 1883. R. W. Chrisp was early taught 
the duties of farm life, and received his education 
in the subscription schools of Tennessee. In 1857 
he came to White County, Ark. , then being a single 
man, and taught the Gum Spring schools during 
1858-59. He was married in White County in 
the last-named year, to Miss Sarah F. Neavill, a 
native of Jackson County, Ala. , and the daughter 
of Elihu and Margaret (Jones) Neavill, natives of 
Alabama. Her father was in the Florida War, 
came to White County in 1844, and was for many 
years engaged in farming and in the tannery busi- 
ness, becoming quite wealthy. His death occurred 
in 1851 and the mother's in 1887. They resided 
in White County for over forty years. After mar- 
riage Mr. Chrisp settled in Gray Township on a 
timber tract of land, which he rented for a few 
years, and then, in 1807, purchased 240 acres, 
partly improved. This ho sold, and bought forty 
acres in the timber which he immediately com- 
menced clearing, erecting buildings, and added to 
this land fi'om time to time until he now has 280 
acres, with 100 acres under cultivation, besides a 
home farm of twenty acres just outside the corpora- 



tion. Mr. Chrisp lost his excellent wife, October 
9, 1887. The result of this union was the birth 
of the following children: William H. (married, 
and resides on the subject's farm). Vinnie R. (at 
home, attending Galway College), James Everett, 
Henry Beecher and Benjamin Clark. July 4, 1801, 
Mr. Chrisp was elected second lieutenant of Com- 
pany K, but held first position in the Seventh Ar- 
kansas Infantry, commanded by Robert Shaver. He 
was in the battle of Shiloh, after which the com- 
pany was reorganized, and he came to Searcy to 
recruit for the Trans-Mississippi Department. He 
then entered the ranks as private in the cavalry, 
and was temporarily promoted to the rank of lieu- 
tenant-colonel in front of Helena. He was in the 
Missouri raid, participated in the battles of Pilot 
Knob, Ironton, Jefferson City, Newtonia and Mine 
Creek. He returned to White County, Ark. , from 
Fayetteville, and engaged in farming, but later 
was occupied for about a year in merchandising 
in Searcy. He has taken an active part in politics, 
and although originally a Whig, votes with the 
Democratic party. He has taken an active interest 
in schools and has been a member of the school 
board for twenty years. In 1883 he was sergeant- 
at-arms for the State of Arkansas. He received 
the nomination for representative, but was declared 
disfranchised in the reconstruction days. Mr. 
Chrisp is a member of Searcy Lodge No. 49, A. F. 
& A. M. , and is also a member of Tillman Lodge 
No. 19. He has been Worshipful Master of Searcy 
Lodge, and has held office in Chapter. He is 
practically a self-made man and all his property is 
the result of his own industry. Although lifty- 
five years of age he has never drank a drop of 
liquor. 

Arthur Smith Claiborn, eminently fitted and 
well worthy to be numbered among the successful 
farmers and stockmen of White County, Ark. , is a 
son of John B. and Perlina E. (Thomason) Clai- 
born, the former a Tennesseean of Irish descent 
and the latter a native of North Carolina. They 
were married in Tennessee, and in 1859 moved to 
Kansas, purchasing a partly improved farm, con- 
sisting of 160 acres, in Prairie County. After con- 
siderably improving this land they moved to White 



»[^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



145 



County, settling on a tract of railroad land, where 
the father died seven years later, September 17, 
1874, bis wife having died October 16, 1870. 
Their children are as follows: Mary Jane (who be- 
came the consort of L. D. Hendrickson, deceased, 
and is living in Kentucky with her live children), 
Millie C. (married Jasper Scott, and in 1856 
moved to Illinois; her husband was killed at the 
battle of Nashville, in 1865, leaving her with six 
children), W. B. (was killed at Franklin, Ky., 
while a member of the Eighth Tennessee Regi- 
ment), Mary F. (was married to R. H. Ferguson, 
but died after having borne two children), John H. 
(residing in Texas, and by his wife, who was Miss 
Mary AVai-e, is the father of six children), Perlila 
C. (was wedded to John Hodges, and upon her 
death left two children). Pleasant T. (died at Jack- 
son, Miss., while serving in the Confederate army), 
Arthur Smith (our subject), Thomas J. and Samuel 
B. Arthur Smith Claiborn was born in De Kalb 
County, Tenn., February 3, 1847, and was edu- 
cated in the subscription schools of his native 
county, but it must be acknowledged that his ad- 
vantages were very meager, and at the time he had 
attained his twenty-first birthday he had only re- 
ceived three months' schooling. He immediately 
began business for himself upon attaining his ma- 
jority, and for two years raised crops of cotton and 
corn on shares, and at the end of this time was 
married to Miss Martha J. Hale, a native of Mis- 
sissippi and daughter of Francis J. and Louisa 
(White) Hale, who were among the old settlers of 
Arkansas, having come to the State in 1859. 
Their marriage took place December 2, 1809, and 
of eight children born to their union seven are liv- 
ing: Elnora (born October 7, 1870), William B. 
(born August 20, 1872), James (born July 25, 
1874), Mattie J. (born in September, 1870, and 
died in August, 1877), Annie (born October 16, 
1S7S), Alcora (Ijorn March 28, 1882), Arthur S. 
(born February 27, 1885) and Aver A. (born Feb- 
ruary 26, 1886). After their marriage Mr. and 
Mrs. Claiborn settled on eight}- acres of land l)e- 
longing to the latter, and in 1870 Jlr. Claiborn 
liecame able to purchase 1 10 acres of wild land, 
which he has improved and to which he has added 



eighty acres. He now has seventy five acres under 
cultivation, a good frame house, good barns and 
one tenant house. He rented his land on shares 
until this year (1889) but now rents for cash. Mr. 
and Mrs. Claiborn and two of their children, El- 
nora and William, hold memberships in the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, South, and Mr. Claiborn 
is a Democrat in his political views. He has 
always been a liberal contributor to the advance- 
ment of religious, social and educational institu- 
tions, and has also given generously to all enter- 
prises which he deemed worthy of support. 

Green B. Clay is a well-to do farmer and stock 
raiser of Cadron Township, and was the youngest 
in a family of ten children of John and Diallia 
(Morris) Clay. Mr. Clay was a native of North 
Carolina. His family consisted of the following 
children : Nancy, Harriet, Louisa, Jackson M. , 
Emily, Sarah, Susan, William H. , Martha and 
Green B. (our subject.) He was reared on a 
farm in Tennessee, where he was bom in 1827, 
and started out in life when he was sixteen years 
of age. In 1851 he was married to Mary W. 
Mizzells, a daughter of Miles and Elizabeth 
(Rooks) Mizzells. In 1868 Mr. Clay bought a 
farm in Tennessee. He subsequently sold it and 
moved to Arkansas, settling in White County, 
where he bought a farm of 560 acres, clearing 
about seventy-three acres. Mrs. Clay was the 
mother of eighteen children, eight of whom are 
still living: John M. , Joseph H., Zacariah M. , 
Francis M. , James N. , George A., Charles C. and 
Albert A. He was married the second time to 
Nancy E. Burton {nee Neal), a widow. To them 
have been given five children: Walter L., Nathan 
B., Stephen M. , Neoma Parlee and an infant 
which is not named. Mr. and ^Irs. Clay are mem- 
bers of the Missionary Baptist Church. He is a 
strong Democrat and a member of the County 
Wheel. He is deeply interested in all work for 
the good of the church, scuool or any public en- 
terprise. 

J. C. Cleveland, M. D., was born in Independ- 
ence County, NovemVier 19, 1852, and is the son 
of Joseph and Elizabeth (Butcher) Cleveland, na- 
tives of Georgia and Alabama, respectively. Mr. 



146 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Joseph Cleveland moved to Alabama when a voung 
man, where he was married and in 1852, he re- 
moved to Independence County, Ark. He served 
his county a number of times in an official capac- 
ity, and in 1873 he represented his county in the 
legislature. He served eighteen months in the 
Confederate army, during which time he was 
taken ju-isoner and held at Foitress Monroe eight 
months before he was exchanged. He was with 
Gen. Price in his raid throngh Missouri and Kan- 
sas. He was a Republican and belonged to the 
Masonic fraternity, in which he had taken the Roy- 
al Arch degree. He died in the early part of the 
year 1887, at Newport, Ark., at the age of sixty- 
one. Mrs. Cleveland is still living and a resident 
of Newport, Ark., and is the mother of eleven 
children, nine of whom still survive: Martha 
E. (wife of J. W. Kennedy), J. C. (our subject), 
Henry P. (a lawyer liy profession). Mar}- A. (wife 
of J. D. Cantrell), Susan A. T. (wife of L. D. 
Bownds), James P., Charles E., Samuel and Ed- 
ward. Dr. J. C. Cleveland began his career as a 
school-teacher in his nineteenth year, following 
that profession till 1883, when he began the study 
of medicine. He graduated from the Missouri 
Medical College in 1888, first having taken lect^ 
ures at the Kentucky School of Medicine, Louis- 
ville. Dr. Cleveland was married, November 7, 
1875, to Miss Nancy E. Viek, a daughter of Dr. 
T. A. Yick. She died in 1885, having had three 
children, only one of whom survives, Lavina E., 
who is still living with her father. Dr. Cleve- 
land was again married, in 1886, to Miss Nannie 
P. Goad, who is the mother of one daughter: 
Susan Estella. Mrs. Cleveland is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The 
Doctor is a member of the Masonic fraternity and a 
strong Republican. He is now a resident of Bald 
Knob, where he has built up a large and success- 
ful practice, and is an enterprising and highh' re- 
spected citizen. 

John D. Coffey is a well-kno\vn citizen of White 
County and was born in Macon, Payette County, 
Tenn., June 19, 1838. His father, David P. Cof- 
fey, was a Presbyterian clergyman, and first saw 
the light of this world in Tennessee in November, 



1805. He was given all the advantages for an 
education to be had at that time, and applied him- 
self so assiduously to his studies, that he became 
an accomplished and finely educated gentleman. 
He was married in his native State November 12, 
1835, to Miss Mary C. Cogville, a daughter of 
Charlie and Pollie Cogville, and to their union 
fourteen children were bcrn, of which John D. is 
the second child and the oldest son. Of that 
family seven are now living, six residing in this 
State. The Rev. Coffey immigrated from Tennes- 
see, in 1854, and located near Searcy, wheie he 
died in 1883, his good wife surviving him but two 
years. He was a member of the Masonic lodge, 
and also a Royal Arch Mason, and was the origin- 
ator of the first church that was ever organized in 
Stony Point, the denomination b^ing the Cumljer- 
land Presbyterian. This township, where John D. 
Coft'ey now resides, derived its title from his father, 
in whose honor it was named. John D. served in- 
the late war on the Confederate side, and enlisted 
in 1861, in Douglas County, in Brown's Tennessee 
Regiment. His first hard fight was at the battle 
of Shiloh, and he also engaged in numerous other 
engagements. He was captured at Port Edson, 
but was soon after paroled, and at once returned 
home to claim his promised bride, Miss Malicia G. 
Harris. After his marriage Mr. Coffey returned 
to the war and accompanied Price on his raid 
through Missouri, and received his final discharge 
from service in 1865. To Mr. and Mrs. Coffey 
have been born a family of eight children: John 
H., Mary, Josephus, Lucy E. , David P., Hugh, 
James S., Minnie C Mr. Coffey has a good farm 
of forty acres, finely stocked, and with all the con- 
veniences and modern improvements to make the 
home comfortable. Himself and wife are members 
of the Presbyterian Church, and highly respected 
by every one. 

John Reed Coffey is a prominent farmer and 
miller of A\'hite County, Ark., and owes his na- 
tivity to the State of Tennessee, the date of his 
birth being December 19, 1856. His father. M'iley 
D. Coffey, was born in Bedford County, Tenn., 
October 6, 1827, where he received his education, 
and there married Narcissa A.Muse, August 5, 1850. 



w^ A 



,1^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



147 



Mrs. Coffey is a daugbter of Richard and Margaret 
Muse, and a very estimable lady. To tbeir union 
eight children were born, five of them now living: 
Mary C. , John E., Richard H. , Sarah H. , Joseph 
H. The other three died in infancy. Mr. Coffey 
is a teacher and minister, and owns 286 acres of 
good land with 100 in cultivation. He immigrated 
from Texas to Arkansas in 1871, locating in White 
County, which has been his home ever since. When 
he came to this county his worldly possessions con- 
sisted of a team of horses and a wagon, but he is 
now worth $5,000, and a farm well supplied with 
all the necessary stock for its successful operation. 
My. Coffey has educated three of his children for 
teachers. He has held a membership in the I. O. 
O. F. and in the Wheel, but has severed his 
connection with the latter order. He served in the 
Confederate War, enlisting in 1862, in Company 
A, Forty- fourth Regiment, and received his dis- 
charge in the same year. J. Reed Coffey ac- 
quired his education at home by the aid of the fire 
light, and when twenty-one years old began life 
for himself, working for two years, then returned 
home and worked with his father to pay a debt that 
hung like the sword of Damocles over the old 
homestead. At the age of twenty-eight years he 
was married to Sarah A. Harriss, their marriage 
occurring in October, 1885. She was a native of 
Illinois, and a daughter of Johnson and Keziah 
Harriss. They are the parents of two children: 
Clifton B. and Robert L. He owns 400 acres of 
good land, which lies southeast of Bald Knob and 
is well stocked with all the necessary appurte- 
nances required to operate a farm. He is a Demo- 
crat politically, and as might be supposed by his 
home surroundings of English descent. Mrs. Coffey 
is a member of the Baptist Church, and a favorite 
in her wide circle of acquaintances. Mr. Coffey 
richly merits the reward which has attended his 
efforts during life. Active, industrious and pru- 
dent, he enjoys wide respect. 

William R. Cook, a man of no little prominence 
throughout White County, Ark., is a wealthy far- 
mer, stockman and fruit grower, residing near Jud- 
sonia, and, although born in Tennessee in 1836, he 
has been a resident of Arkansas since 1848, al- 
io 



though he first resided in Independence County. 
He was the eldest of six children, born to John and 
Ann (Anderson) Cook, the former of whom was 
born in that state in 1814, and was educated as a 
Methodist minister, being a son of William and 
Margaret Cook. He was married in Tennessee in 
1835 and followed farming there until his removal 
to Arkansas, his wife bearing him in the meantime 
these children: William R., Mary, Eliza, Lavinia, 
Arkansas and Andrew. They took up land in Ar- 
kansas and here the father died in 1879, and the 
mother in 1872. The maternal grandparents were 
Anderson and Dorcas Clark, Kentuckians, who 
came to Tennessee at an early day. William R. 
spent his youth in Tennessee but received the most 
of his education in Arkansas, and in the year 1860 
started out in life for himself. A year later he 
joined Company B, Seventh Arkansas Infantry, 
First Arkansas Brigade, and took part in the bat- 
tles of Shiloh, Perry ville, Murfreesboro, Big Creek, 
and was with Price on his raid through Missouri, 
and with Bragg in Kentucky. He received his 
discharge in 1865 and after coming home was mar- 
ried (in 1866) to Albina, a daughter of Thomas and 
Margaret (Price) Bownds, and hj her became the 
father of four children: Ida, Ella, Maggie and John 
(the latter dying in 1881). Mr. Cook was the owner 
of 240 acres of land in Independence County, but 
sold this and removed to White County, purchas- 
ing 460 acres near Judsonia, of which he now has 
225 acres under cultivation. He is a steward in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which his wife 
is also a member. He belongs to Anchor Lodge No. 
384, of the A. F. & A. M. , and is Deputy Grand 
Lecturer of his district. In his political views he 
is a Democrat. In 1879 he was called upon to 
mourn the death of his wife, and he afterward es- 
poused Isabel Sisco, a daughter of Zedichire and 
Thurza Sisco, the father a native of Alabama and 
the mother of Middle Tennessee. They came to 
Arkansas about 1838, and here Mrs. Cook was born. 
The father died in 1858 and the mother in 1862. 
Mr. Cook and his present wife have had two chil- 
dren, both of whom are now deceased: Reuben P. 
and Sterling, the former's death occurring in 1881 
and the latter's in 1883. 



148 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Joshua J. Crow was attending school in this 
county at the time of the outbreak of the war, when 
he laid down his books, left family and friends to 
join the Confederate Army. He enlisted in Tay- 
lor' s regiment of Texas troops, and later in the Sec- 
ond Trans-Mississippi Department, in the Second 
Ai'kansas Cavalry; also took part in the battles of 
Jenkins' Ferry, Helena, Poison Springs, Little 
Rock, and a number of other battles and skirmishes. 
After peace was once more declared he went to 
West Point and engaged in the mercantile business, 
remaining there until 1870, when he removed to 
Searcy and subsequently filled the position of trav- 
eling salesman for a wholesale grocery house at 
St. Louis, Mo., for the next six years. In 1876 
he started in the saw-mill business which he still 
follows. In 1877 he was married to Miss Emma 
J. Jones, a daughter of B. F. and J. C. Jones, and 
is the mother of three children: Frank F., Norman 
and Norton B. Mr. Crow owes his nativity to 
Mississippi (being born in Marshall County, June, 
1844) and is the son of Joshua B. and Lavinia 
(West) Crow, natives of Alabama. Mr. Crow, Sr. , 
was born in 1810, and when a young man removed 
with his parents to Northern Alabama, where he re- 
sided until his marriage when he immigrated to 
Marshall County, Miss. , and lived there until 1 847, 
then came to De Soto County, same State, and in 
February, 1849, came to Arkansas, locating in White 
County. He was a passenger on the second steam- 
boat which came up Red River. He was a Democrat 
in politics, a member of the Masonic order, and in 
religious faith belonged to the Missionary Baptist 
Church, as did also his wife, and was one of the 
best-posted men in regard to real estate in his 
county. His death occurred in 1866 and his wife' s 
in the same year, at the age of fifty-three. They 
were the parents of eleven children, seven of whom 
are still living: Mrs. J. N. Cypert, Mrs. T. D. 
Hardy (of this county), Mrs. T. P. Boon (of Los 
Angeles, Cal.), Joshua J. (our subject), M. C. (of 
West Point), Mrs. J. R. Hardy (of Mississippi) 
and Miss Ella Crow (of West Point). The mother of 
our subject was a descendant of Gen. Israel Put- 
nam, of Revolutionary fame. Himself and wife are 
connected with the Missionary Baptist Church, in 



which they take an active part. He owns 1,400 
acres of fine farming land, and is a prominent 
Democrat in bis county. 

Jesse N. Cypert, is an attorney, at Searcy, Ark. 
Among the leading firms of attorneys in this city 
is the well-known one of Messrs. Cypert & Cypert, 
of which Jesse N. Cypert is the senior member. 
This gentleman is one of the pioneer settlers of 
Searcy, Ark., and was born in Wayne County, 
Tenn. , in December, 1823, being one of eleven 
children, the result of the union of Jesse and 
Jemimah (Warthen) Cypert, the father a native of 
North Carolina, born 1781, and the mother of 
Pennsylvania, born 1783. The grandparents on 
the mother's side were of Welsh descent, and at an 
early day moved to North Carolina. Jesse Cypert, 
Sr. , was married in 1802, then moved to Knox 
County, Tenn., where he farmed and resided until 
1819, after which he moved to Wayne County, of 
the same State, and there his death occurred in 
1858. He was a private in the War of 1812, Ten- 
nessee Volunteer, Carroll's brigade, and was in 
the battle of New Orleans under Gen. Jackson. 
He was sheriff and collector one term, and justice 
of the peace and member of the county court for a 
number of years. The mother died in 1857. 
Jesse N. Cypert' s time in early life was divided 
between working on the farm, clearing and devel- 
oping the home place, and in attending the sub- 
scription schools of Wayne County, Tenn., in a 
log-cabin with dirt floor, etc. Later he attended 
the district schools of that State. He then studied 
law in the office of Judge L. L. Mack, of Wayne 
County, and was admitted to the bar at Waynes- 
boro, Tenn., in 1849. Subsequently he went to 
Walker County, Ga. , engaged as clerk, and in 
May, 1858, came to Crittenden County, Ark., and 
began practicing at Marion. Here he remained 
for eight months, and in February, 1851, came to 
Searcy, Ark., where he began the practice of law 
and this has continued successfully ever since. 
In connection with this he also carries on fanning. 
During the war, or in October. 1861, he served as 
captain of the Confederate army. Fifth Arkansas 
Battalion, and on the organization of the battalion 
at Pocahontas, Randolph County, Ark. , in Octo- 



>y 



i±^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



149 



ber, Mr. Cypert was elected major. He was east 
of the Mississippi Eiver, and after the battle of 
Shiloh he resigned and came home on account of 
health. Later be entered the commissary depart- 
ment, purchasing supplies for the troops, and was 
thus engaged until after the surrender of Little 
Rock. He was taken prisoner in October, 1803, 
detained at Little Eock about three weeks, and 
paroled as citizen the same month. Ho was in 
the convention that passed the ordinance of seces- 
sion in 1861, and was a delegate to both conven- 
tions. He continued the j^ractice of law after the 
war, and this has continued ever since. He has 
taken quite an active part in politics, votes with 
the Democratic party, and was a delegate to the 
convention that voted the State into the union in 
1868. He was al.so in the convention in 1874 that 
furnished the constitution that the State is under 
now. Mr. Cyjiert was elected judge of the circuit 
court in September. 1874, and served eight years, 
two terms. Socially he is' a member of Searcy 
Lodge No. 49, A. F. & A. M., Tillman Chapter 
No. 19, R. A. M. He was married in White 
County, in February, 1855, to Miss Sarah Harlan 
Crow, a native of Alabama, and the daughter of 
Joshua B. and Lavinia (West) Crow, natives of 
South Carolina. Her parents moved to White 
County, Ark., in 1849, settled on a farm near the 
present town of Kensett, and here the mother died 
in April, 1866, and the father in August of the 
same year. To Mr. and Mrs. Cypert were born 
three children, two living: Florence (now Mrs. 
W. M. Watkins, of Searcy) and Eugene (a part- 
ner in the firm of Cypert & Cypert, he having read 
law in the office of his father, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1884). The other child, Mary Alice, 
married H. A. Smith, a merchant of West Point. 
She died in February, 1886, and left one child, 
Eugene Austin, and the subject of this sketch is 
rearing this child. Mr. Cypert takes an active 
interest in all that pertains to the good of the 
county, and is one of the pioneers of the temper- 
ance cause. He ran for the legislature in 1854. on 
the temperance question and received a good num- 
ber of votes. He was the first president of the 
Temperance Alliance, and served in that capacity 



for two years. He is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, and Mrs. Cypert is a 
member of the Missionary Baptist Church. 

J. W. Darden, the efficient and popular lumber 
manufacturer and flour-mill operator of Rosebud, 
is engaged in manufacturing all grades of lumber 
of oak and pine. He commenced this enterprise in 
1861 within one mile of where he is now doing 
business. In connection with this business he is 
engaged in operating a flouring-mill, his establish- 
ment being the second of the kind erected in White 
County and the first one in this vicinity. He has 
been a resident of Arkansas since 1860, and since 
that date has been a resident of Kentucky Town- 
ship, removing thither fi-om his native State of 
Tennessee. He was born in Warren County in 
1833 and was the fourth in a family of seven chil- 
dren born to Robert and Elizabeth (Woten) Dar- 
den, who were also of "\^'arren County, and were 
there married. In 1855 they moved to Greene 
County, Mo. , where Mr. Darden had a blacksmith 
shop for some years, and in 1864 they came to 
White County, Ark., where Mi-. Darden followed 
the same calling and also that of farming, occupy- 
ing himself with these callings until his death, in 
1886, his wife's death occurring some two years 
previous. The following are the names of the sur- 
viving children: J. W., Elizabeth (now Mrs. Cly- 
mer, of Taney Coiinty, Mo.), Mattie (unmarried 
and a resident of Faulkner County) and Sarah (now 
Mrs. Williams, a widow, residing in Faulkner 
County). J. W. was educated in the schools of 
his native county and commenced life for himself 
by trading in stock. He remained with his father 
for one year after the latter' s removal to Missouri, 
then returned to Tennessee and was married there 
in 1856 to Miss Nancy Layne, who was a native 
resident of that State. Her father, George Layne, 
was a farmer, and died in Tennessee in 1848, his 
wife, who was a Miss Aramintie Diekerson, remov- 
ing with her daughter, Mrs. Darden, to Arkansas, 
and dying in White County in 1867. Upon the 
beginning of the Civil War J. W. Darden was de- 
tailed by the Confederate Government to op)erate 
his mill, and in this work he has continued for 
nearly thirty years. After purchasing land he be- 




gan improving it, and now owns in tliis and adjoin- 
ing counties 2,000 acres, with something over 100 
acres under cultivation. He is rapidly converting 
his timber into lumber, and. although he lost about 
JlOjOOO by fire in 1875, he has retrieved this loss 
in a great measure and is now doing well. In poli- 
tics he casts his vote with the Democratic party, 
yet is not an active politician. Socially he is an 
A. F. & A. M. , belonging to St. Mary' s Lodge No. 
170. He also belongs to Tillman Chapter and 
Searcy Council. His wife is a member of the Bap- 
tist Church. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Dar- 
den have been born four children: Allie (now Mrs. 
Dr. Moon, of Rosebud), William, Elzie and Lula. 
Dr. James M. Davie, an able and learned phy- 
sician, but now retired from the active practice of 
his profession, is engaged in farming and stock 
raising on his farm, which comprises 1,000 acres, 
about one mile southeast of Beebe. He has some- 
thinsr like 400 acres under cultivation and a num- 
ber of acres that is yet in its wild state and very 
heavily covered with timber. The soil is good and 
is well adapted to raising all kinds of grain, and 
besides this property he has about 1,000 acres of 
equally as good land in Prairie County. He was 
born in Pearson County, N. C, December 13, 1830, 
but in 1836 came with his parents to Madison 
County, Tenn. , and there made his home until 1856, 
at which time he took up his abode in Arkansas. 
His father. Dr. George N. Davie, was born in 
North Carolina of Scotch-Irish descent, his wife, 
Sarah Coldman, a native of North Carolina, being 
of Welsh lineage. The paternal grandparents, 
Edward and Margaret A. (Yarbrough) Davie, the 
former a native of Scotland and the latter of Eng- 
land, eloped from England to America, coming to 
North Carolina, and were married here. On the 
Davie side the family are lineal descendants of 
Sir Humphrey Davy. Dr. George N. Davie was 
born in 1800, his wife in 1805, their marriage tak- 
ing place in 1829 and their deaths in 1836 and 
1883, respectively. Both were tinely educated, 
and the father was a physician and surgeon of 
considerable prominence, and his early death left 
our subject an orphan at the age of six years. His 
early childhood was spent on a farm and in at- 



tending the country schools, later entering higher 
schools, and at the age of twenty years was a pupil 
of the school at Huntsville, Tenn., having for a 
room-mate Dr. A. M. Westlake, of New York, who 
induced him to take up the study of medicine. 
They entered Jefferson Medical College, of Phila- 
delphia, Penn., and after an attendance of two years 
in that institution, graduated in the class of 1854. 
The two following years Dr. Davie spent in trav- 
eling over the States of Arkansas and Texas, and 
in 1856 located in Hickory Plains, Prairie County, 
Ark. , and there practiced his profession one year. 
In 1857 he purchased his present farm in White 
County, but in 1861 gave up farm work to organ- 
ize a company of 125 men for the State service, 
and was chosen captain of the same. In 1862, 
seeing the need of the general army, he disbanded 
and reorganized his company, and became co7i- 
nected with the regular Confederate service. He 
was promoted several times, and when the war 
closed was colonel of the Thirty -sixth Arkansas 
Infantry. He was badly wounded in the battle of 
Helena, was slightly wounded at Prairie Grove, 
and for several montlis was on post duty at Cam- 
den, and with this exception participated in all the 
engagements of his command. Upon hearing of 
Lee's surrender he stacked arms, in Texas, and 
started for home, and in the latter part of July, 
1865, was paroled at Little Rock. He resumed 
the practice of his profession, regained what he 
had lost during the war, and until 1874 was a suc- 
cessful practitioner of the county, since which time 
he has devoted his attention to farming with the 
above results. He is a Democrat on general prin- 
ciples, but is an independent voter, and although 
often solicited by his friends to run for ofSce, has 
always refused to do so. He is a demitted member 
of Beebe Lodge No. 145, of the A. F. & A. M. , 
and also belongs to the I. O. O. F., and was con- 
nected with the Agricultural Wheel. In October, 
1859, he was married to Miss Emma Z. Bowling, 
a native of Tennessee, their union taking place in 
Obion County, bat her death occurred in July, 
1872, she having borne four children:] George C. 
(an intelligent and well-educated young farmer of 
the county), Mattie (who died in infancy), Isom 



-^. 



M 



iiL 



WHITE COUNTY. 



151 



(who also died in infancy) and John C. On April 
2, 1874, Mr. Davie led to the altar Caroline M. 
Bowling, a sister of his first wife, but on December 
26, 1881, she died of that dread disease, consump- 
tion. His third union, on December 9, 1885, was 
to a Mrs. Hinson, a daughter of Major Thomas, 
one of the early settlers of Prairie County, Ark. 

J. C. R. Davis is a prosperous general merchant 
of Rosebud, where he has been engaged in busi- 
ness since 1875. His store building, which he 
erected in 1885, is a substantial frame building, 
22x(jO feet, and in addition to handling merchan- 
dise, he buys and ships cotton. He has been a 
resident of White County, Ark., since 1874, com- 
ing from his native county of Barbour, Ala. , be- 
ing born in 1852. He was the youngest of nine 
children given to John and Mary (Mooney) Davis, 
the former of whom was born in North Carolina, 
and the latter in Georgia. Their wedding took 
place in the latter state in 1827, and later on they 
moved to Alabama (1846), and the father opened 
up a plantation. He died in 1871 and his wife in 
1878. He and his father-in-law, Jacob Mooney, 
were participants in the Indian War of 1836, the 
latter being killed in battle. J. C. R. , our subject, 
was reared to farm life and was educated in the 
schools of Alabama, being married there January 
6, 1875, to Eugenie Stevens, whom he brought with 
him to Arkansas. By exercising judgment and in- 
genuity and i^rudence he has become the owner of 
800 acres of land, lying in White, Cleburne and 
Faulkner Counties, and has about 200 under culti- 
vation. Although he affiliate.s with the Democratic 
party he is not an active politician, but being the 
people's choice for the office of constable, he tilled 
that jjosition during 1877 and 1878. He is a Mason. 
In religion he and wife are members of the Mis- 
sionary Baptist Church. Their union has been 
blessed with six children, five of whom are living: 
John Green (who died in 1877 aged eleven months), 
Tay B.. Ora O., Hattie C, Grover C. and M. E. 
Mrs. Davis is a daughter of Green and Margarette 
(McRae) Stevens. The father was a planter and 
in 1871 came to White County, Ark. Here he 
spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1885. 
His wife died in Alabama. 



James D. Davis is a well-known farmer and 
stock raiser of Bald Knob, and came to Arkansas, 

j locating in the woods of White County in 1871, 
when but nineteen years of age. The tirst four 
years he lived with J. H. Ford, while he was clear- 
ing up his farm, after which his marriage to Miss 
Delanie Watters was solemnized. She was born 

; in Perry Countj^, Ala., May 23, 1854, and is the 
mother of three children, two of whom are still 

j living: William D. and Susie H. Mr. Davis first 
saw the light of day in Perry County, Ala., on 
November 26, 1852, and is the son of Huriah 
and Tobitha (Morris) Davis, who were also natives 
of Alabama, and married in that State, residing 
there until after the war. He enlisted in the Con- 
federate army in 1861, in the Eighth Alabama In- 
fantry, and died on the battlefield. Mrs. Davis 
then removed in 1873 with her children to Missis- 
sippi, where they remained several years, subse- 
quently coming to Arkansas and locating in White 
County, where they made their home with James 

[ D., who had preceded them several years. In 
1888 she went to live with a daughter at Spring- 
field, Mo., where she now resides. She was the 

j mother of nine children, six of whom are still liv- 
ing: Frances (now Mrs. Goodnight, of Mississippi), 
William C. (of Logan County), Caroline (wife of 
William Green, of Logan County), James D. (our 
subject), Nancy (wife of James Finney, of Spring- 
field, Mo.) and Thomas H. (a farmer of Pope 
County.) Mr. and Mrs. James Davis are mem-, 
bers of the Missionary Baptist Church, as were 
also his parents. In politics he is a Democrat, 

: and also belongs to the Agricultural Wheel. He 
has been a very successful farmer and stock raiser, 
and deals in all kinds of live stock. 

j John D. DeBois is a distinguished attorney at 

law and real estate dealer of Judsonia, Ark., of 
which place he has been a resident since 1871, com- 
ing fi'om Henry County, Tenn., where he was boi'n 
in 1848. Ho was the elder of two children born 
to John and Mary C. (Guinn) DeBois, the former 
a native of West Virginia and the latter of North 
Carolina. The father was reared in the "Buck 
eye State" and was married in Tennessee, the lat 
ter State continuing to be his home until his death 






15-2 



HISTORY or ARKANSAS. 



in 1851, he having been a harness-maker by trade, 
and after marriage directed his attention to farm- 
ing. His wife died in June, 1888, at Judsonia, 
Arlc. John D. DeBois spent his early life on 
a farm and received his education in the academy 
of Henry, Tenn., and in the schools of Lebanon, 
Ohio. Upon his removal to White County, Ark., 
in 1871 he engaged in the mercantile business at 
West Point and in 1872 came to Judsonia and for 
some time was associated with Dr. J. S. Eastland 
in the drug business. During this time he begun 
the study of law under the preceptorship of Goody 
& McRae, and in July, 1878, was admitted to the 
White County bar and has practiced continuously 
ever since. Since 18S0 ho has been iu the real-es- 
tate business and now owns about 1,000 acres of 
land, comprising six farms, and has from 350 to 
400 acres under cultivation. Mr. DeBois is a 
Democrat and has been a member of the State and 
County Conventions at different times. Socially 
ho is a member of the Anchor Lodge No. SS-t, of 
the A. F. & A. M. In December, 1872. he was 
married to Miss Alollie V. Hicks, a daughter of 
John T. and Martha W. (Heigh) Hicks, originally 
from North Carolina, who came to White County, 
Ark., in 1854, settling in Judsonia. Mr. Hicks 
was a physician and surgeon of many years' stand- 
ing, and while serving in the Confederate army 
during the late conflict between the North and 
South, ho received a gunshot wound in the knee 
(in 1863) from the effects of which he died. His 
wife survives him, making her home in Wylie, 
Tex. The children horn to this marriage are James 
Tatum, Flora Blanche, Mary Martin, lola Opal, 
Duke Howard (who died in Januar}', 1887, at the 
age of twenty-two months), and I'attie. Mr. DeBois 
has taken an active interest in school matters and 
has served as a member of the school bi)ard. He 
belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Cliurch, South, 
while his wife worships with the Missionary Bap- 
tist Church, being a member of that church. 

John J. Deenor is a native of Virginia, and 
is a son of John Jacob and Tobitha (Hamolen) 
Deener, natives of Virginia. Mr. John Deener, 
Sr. , was liorn February 25, 1700, and learned the 
millwright's trade when a boy, and lived in Vir- 



ginia, where he married, until 1830, when they 
removed to Fayette County, Tenn. He then en- 
gaged in farming, in which he was very successful. 
Mr. Deenor died in 1867, and his wife in 1849 at 
the age of forty fotir. They were members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and were the 
parents of seven children, three of whom are still 
living: Martha Ann (wife of William A. Old, de- 
ceased), John J. (our subject) and James B. The 
paternal grandfather of our subject was John 
Jacob Deener, and a native of England, and came 
to this country during the Revolutionary War in 
which he took an active part, on the side of the 
Americans, and served under Gen. Washington 
and under Gen. Francis Marion. After the war 
he settled in Virginia, where he died, leaving 
three sons: George, John Jacob and William. 
The Deener family as a race are of small stature. 
John J. Deener, our subject, was born April 22, 
1830, and received his edixcation at the Macon 
Masonic College, and when nineteen years of age 
he left school and worked on a farm, and also en- 
gaged in clerking in a store. During the war he 
was occupied in teaching school. After the war 
he went into partnership with Samuel E. Garther, 
of Williston, Tenn., in the mercantile business, 
where he remained about six years, then removing 
to Arkansas and locating on the farm where he has 
since resided. In 1883 he was elected assessor of 
the county, and held the office four years, also of- 
ficiated as justice of the peace for twelve years 
while in Tennessee. Mr. Deener was married on 
November 13, 1851, to Miss Sarah A. Gober, who 
was born iu Franklin County, Ga. , in 1832. 
They wore the parents of four children: Eliza 
Hamblin (wife of George W. Dobbins), Lula A. 
(wife of S. S. Putty), Richard S. (a Methodist 
Episcopal minister) and John J. Mr. and Mrs. 
Deenor are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, in which they take an active part. 
Mr. Deener also V)i)longs to the Masonic order, 
and is a strong Democrat. 

G. W. Dobbins, county assessor, Searcy, Ark. 
Every life has a history of its own; and although 
iu appearance it may seem to possess very little to 
distinguish it from others, vet Mr. Dobbins' career 



i «' I 
% 



:fc 



<S Si^ 



-4. 9 



K^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



153 



as a farmer and stock raisor, as well as bis experi- 
ence in the political affairs of the community have 
contributed to give him a wide and popular ac- 
quaintance with nearly every citizen of White 
County — if not personally, then by name — and 
serves to make his career a more than ordinary 
one. His birth occurred in Monroe County, Ark., 
in 1851, and was the second in a family of three 
children born to A. M. C. and Frances Ann (Carl- 
ton) Dobbins, natives of North Carolina. The 
father was a prominent physician and surgeon, 
and after his marriage, which occurred in his na- 
tive State, he immigrated to Tennessee, and there 
followed his practice until about 1850. He then 
moved to Monroe County, Ark., settled at Claren- 
don, followed his profession there until 1857, when 
he went to Izard County and settled at Evening 
Shade. He remained there until March, 1860, 
when he moved to North Carolina. His wife died 
in Izard County, Ark., on January 1, 1800, and in 
the fall of 1861 he enlisted in the Thirteenth North 
Carolina Regiment and participated in the battle 
of Seven Pines, where he received a gunshot 
wound. He was taken prisoner at the second bat- 
tle of Fredericksburg and confined at Rock Island, 
111., and was also confined at Johnstown Island, 
where he was paroled in June, 1865. He then 
returned to North Carolina, remained there until 
1867, and then moved to Fayette County, Tenn., 
where he engaged in his practice. His death was 
caused by yellow fever in 1878. He was a strong 
temperance man. His children were named as fol- 
lows: Frances Ann (now Mrs. Baxter, of Gray 
Township), G. W. and John M. (married and re- 
sides in Marion Township, White County). G W. 
Dobi)ins was educated in the schools of North Car- 
olina, and commenced for himself as a clerk in a 
store, where he remained two years with a salary 
of $8 per month. In 1869 ho attended th(< Olin 
College, in Iredell County, N. C, and in 1870 
went to Fayette County, Tenn., where he again 
engaged in clerking. This he followed until 1875 
when, in that and the following year, he, in part- 
nership with J. J. Deener, engaged in the mer- 
cantile business, thus continuing for noarl}' two 
years. He then followed farming in 1877, and 



the same year came to White County, Ark., where 
he purchased and improved a farm of 180 acres, 
and now has sixty-five acres under cultivation. 
He is raising considerable stock. He is not 
very active in politics but votes with the Demo- 
cratic party, also with the Wheel or County Alli- 
ance, and is a memlier of the Agricultural Wheel. 
He was elected county assessor in September, 
1888, and has been deputy tax collector twice, in 
1885 and 1886. He has also been deputy tax as- 
sessor two terms, in 1885 and 1888. He has been 
a member of the school board four years, and takes 
an active interest in educational affairs. He was 
married in Fayette County, Tenn. , on August 26, 
1873, to Miss Eliza H. Deener, a native of Ten- 
nessee, and the daughter of J. J. and Sarah A. 
(Gober) Deener, natives of Virginia and Georgia, 
respectively. Both are living at the present time, 
and reside in A\'hite County, whither they moved 
in 1877. To Mr. and Mrs. Dobbins were born 
these children: Lula Alma, Jessie Eva, Samuel 
Harold, George Milas, Mary Sadie, Shelly Gober 
and an infant. Mr. and Mrs. Dobbins are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he 
has been church secretary since 1878. He takes a 
deep interest in church affairs. 

Charles L. Douthat received his education at 
Buchanan, Botetourt County, Va. , and when 
eighteen years old, was employed as salesman for 
nearly two years, and then worked at the tinners' 
trade for about three years. He then went to 
Memphis, Tenn., where he was employed as sales- 
man in a wholesale grocery house, until 1859, 
when he came to West Point and started in the 
mercantile business, with a capital of a few hun- 
dred dollars, which he had saved out of his salary. 
In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate army, in 
the First Arkansas State Troops, but which soon 
after disbanded, when he then joined Ben McCul- 
lock' 8 First Arkansas Mounted Rifles, and was with 
that command until the close of the war. He was 
elected to take an oflicial position, but preferred 
remaining in the ranks as a private. On coming 
out of the army, Mr. Douthat was financially 
l)roken, and again returned to Memphis, and was 
emplo}'ed by a wholesale grocery house as sales- 



(9 k. 



-^ S> 




man, where he remained about two years, then re- 
turned to West Point, and entered into business 
with W. C West, and afterward with A. T. Jones, 
with whom he was engaged for three years, then 
running the business alone. He has built up a 
large trade, and carries a fine stock of goods. Mr. 
Douthat was born in Rockbridge County, Va. , in 
1831, and was the son of William H. and Susan 
(Lewis) Douthat, natives of Richmond, Va. , and 
of Irish descent, the ancestors coming to this 
country before the Revolutionary War. Robert 
Douthat, the paternal grandfather of our subject, 
was the owner of the Rock bridge, or Natural 
bridge, and was the proprietor and builder of a 
large woolen mill, and brought many workmen 
from Ireland. William H. Douthat was a promi- 
nent Mason of Virginia, and died in 1858, his 
wife surviving him till 1883, at the age of seventy- 
two years. They were the parents of twelve chil- 
dren, nine of whom are still living: Mary J., Rob- 
ert R., Charles L. (our siibject), Henry C. , Susan, 
Fielding (now a stock raiser in Montana), Warner 
L. (in California), Sarah and Annie (who still lives 
in Virginia). In 1866 C. L. Douthat was mar- 
ried to Mary C. Whitney, who was born in Fayette 
County, Tenn., in 1842. They are the parents of 
three children: Effie L., Alma and Charles W., 
all of whom are at home. Mr. Douthat and fam- 
ily are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. He is a strong Democrat, and a prominent 
citizen of West Point. 

William T. Dowdy, a sharpshooter in the late 
war, came to White County in 1855 with his 
father, who bought 320 acres of wild land and 
commenced improving it, and cleared up forty or 
fifty acres before the war. His father, Andrew 
J. Dowdy, was a native of North Carolina and 
came to Tennessee when he was a young man, 
where he was married, in 1885, to Sarah Suther- 
land, of Tennessee origin, and a daughter of 
Thomas Sutherland. After his marriage he was 
employed as overseer on a plantation for thirteen 
years. He was the father of three children: 
Anna E. (afterward Mrs. Barger), William T. 
(our subject) and James S. (deceased). William 
T. owes his nativity to Western Tennessee, being 



born in 1839, and spending his younger days in 
that State. He was married in White County, in 
1860, to Emeline E. Barger, a native of Tennes- 
see, and who died on December 10, 1800. He 
was married the second time on April 17, 1866, to 
Elizabeth Sessums, also of Tennessee. They are 
the parents of four children, two of whom are 
still living: Richard A. (editor of the Economist 
at Searcy, Ark.) and James A. Mr. Dowdy en- 
listed in 1861 for twelve months, and afterward 
for four years or during the war, in Company D, 
of the Thirty-first Arkansas Infantry, and was one 
of the Confederate sharpshooters who did such 
valuable service for the Confederate cause. He 
took an active part in the battles of Corinth, Stone 
River, Chickamauga and a number of others, and 
was taken prisoner on July 22, 1864, near Atlanta, 
Ga. , and then to Camp Chase, Ohio, when he was 
released on parole, February 12. 1865, and went 
to Richmond, where he received a furlough. He 
then went to Western Tennessee, where he re- 
mained until the close of the war. He then re- 
turned home and has since engaged in farming. 
He owns a farm of 200 acres, with sixty-five acres 
under cultivation. Mr. and Mrs. Dowdy are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Ejaiscopal Church, South. 
Mr. Dowdy is also connected with the County 
Wheel, of which he has been chaplain since first 
entering the society. He is also a constituent of 
the Centre Hill Lodge No. 114, of the Masonic 
order. Mrs. Dowdy was a daughter of Richard J. 
and Rachel (Little) Sessums. Mr. Sessums was 
born in North Cai-olina in 1805 and died in 1863. 
He was married in 1833, and was the father of 
five children. 

R. A. Dowdy is editor and publisher of The 
Arkansas Economist, the official journal of the 
Farmers' and Laborers' Union of Arkansas, Searcy, 
Ark. Mr. Dowdy has had charge of the paper 
since its name was so called, or during 1889. It 
was made the official organ Ju.ly 26, 1889, at Hot 
Springs, and it has quite a circulation and is 
building up a good State circulation. Prior to 
the above-mentioned date it was a local paper. 
Mr. Dowdy took charge of the paper in May, 1888 ; 
was partner until April 1 of the following year. 



^ 



<3 h^ 



^ S> 



WHITE COUNTY. 



155 



when he purchased the full interest in it. The 
paper was organized in October. 1887, under the 
name of ' ' White County Wheel, ' ' and remained 
thus until after the meeting at Hot Springs, when 
it was issiaed under the present name in August, 
1889. Mr. Dowdy was born in Des Arc Town- 
ship, White County, Ark., in 1868 and is the eld- 
est in a family of four children born to the mar- 
riage of William T. and C. E. (Sessums) Dowdy, 
natives of Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively. 
The father came to White County, Ark., in 1859, 
settled in Des Arc Township, and here met and 
married Miss Sessums. Both are now living and 
reside in White County. K. A. Dowdy received 
his education in the district schools, and then took 
a course in Quitman College in 1885. After leav- 
ing collese he engaged in teaching in Cleburne 
County for a few terms but later engaged in ed- 
itorial work on his present paper. Socially, Mr. 
Dowdy is a member of the Farmers' and Laborers' 
Union, and takes a deep interest in all things per- 
taining to the good of the county. 

T. A. Duncan enjoys the reputation of being 
not only a substantial and progressive farmer, but 
an intelligent and thoroughly posted man on all 
matters of public interest. In his dealings with 
his fellow-men he has been upright and honorable, 
and his character will stand any investigation which 
may be given it. His native birthplace was Jack- 
son County, Ala. , where he first saw the light of 
day in 1830, he being the eldest of eight children 
born to Jesse and Nancy E. (White) Duncan, who 
were Tennesseeans, the father reared at Nashville 
and the mother near Winchester. They were mar- 
ried in Tennessee and at an early day removed to 
Alal)ama, and here Jesse Duncan followed the oc- 
cupation of millwrighting and erected one of the 
first mills in the county, also opening a large plan- 
tation. He died in 1884 and his wife in 1883. 
Their children are: T. A. (living in White County, 
Ark), W. R. (who is married and resides in Texas), 
James H. (married and living in Alabama), J. C. 
(married and living in Kansas), IMary (Mrs. Selby, 
living near luka, Miss.) and Elizabeth (who also 
resides at luka). T. A. Duncan's early life was 
like the majority of farmers' V)oys, and he assisted 



his father in clearing up the home farm and began 
that work for himself at the agfe of nineteen in 
Alabama. He was married in Jackson County, of 
that State, in January, 1849, to S. B. Pace, and 
upon the opening of the war he enlisted from Jack- 
son County in the Confederate army, for three 
years, or during the war, becoming a member of 
Berry's artillery. He was in the battle of Peach 
Orchard Gap (Ga.), Jackson (Miss.), Besaca, and 
was taken prisoner at Sjianish Fort and sent to ' 
Ship Island and afterward to Vicksburg. Upon 
being paroled in 1865 he returned to Jackson 
County, Ala., and in 1872 came to White County, 
Ark., and bought a timber tract of 180 acres which 
he began clearing and upon which he erected good 
buildings. He has 110 acres of his 400-acre farm 
under cultivation, all of which he has cleared since 
coming to the county. He is a Democrat, has been 
magistrate nine years, and taken an interest in the 
finance of the county, which was in bad shape at 
that time, and succeeded in settling affairs. He 
is also a member of the school board, and has 
always taken a deep intere-st in school matters. 
He and wife are the parents of the following chil- 
dren: William F. (who is married and resides in 
White County, Ark.), Cassie (who died in 1885 at 
the age of twenty-eight years, was married to Mr. 
Holleman), B. E. (who is married and lives in the 
county), J. J. (married and living in Cleburne 
County), Minta (who married A. J. Holleman after 
the death of Cassie, and lives in White County, 
Ark.), Nancy (Mrs. J. F. Lawrence), C. A. (who 
married F. W. Raney, and also lives in White 
County), Mila and Jo (still with their parents). 
Mrs. Duncan's parents, William and Elizabeth 
(Wininger) Pace, were both members of old Vir- 
ginia families, and moved to Alabama about the 
year 1827, being among the earliest to enter land 
in that State. The father died in 1870 and his 
wife one year later. 

James Dupriest is a farmer and ginner of Mar- 
shall Township, and owns 850 acres of land, of 
which 300 acres are under fence, 200 in pasture, 
and 100 acres under cultivation. He is a native 
of Georgia, his birth occurring in 1821. His 
father, Martin Dupriest, was also of Georgia 



156 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



origin, where he was educated and si;bseqiiently 
married, and to this union was born a family of 
eight children. James D. was a twin, being sixth 
in order of birth and a prosperous boy. He lived 
in Georgia until 1840, when he moved to Alabama 
with his father, locating in Coosa County and there 
remained seventeen years. He was married to 
Sarah Malcolm and moved to Arkansas in 1856, 
and by her had two children who died in infancy. 
His wife died in 1864 and in 1865 was married to 
his second wife, Mrs. Louisa Henry, and to this 
union has been born a family of seven children: 
Ebbie, Burton, Thomas, Cathron, Cullen, McFer- 
rin, Joseph. His second wife had one son by her 
first marriage, Fenton Henry, he being a thor- 
oughly and highly educated man. James Dupriest 
honors the Democrats with his vote and takes quite 
an interest in politics though not an enthusiast ; he 
is also a Mason, belonging to the Blue Lodge. 
Himself and wife worship with the Methodist 
Church to which they belong. 

Dr. J. S. Eastland is one of the foremost physi- 
cians and surgeons of White County, Ark., and his 
practice lies among the wealthiest and most intelli- 
gent people of the county. He has been a resident 
of Judsonia since March. 1872, having, prior to 
this, been a resident of Richland County, Wis. He 
was born in Hinds County, Miss., December 18, 
1844, and was the second of a family of ten chil- 
dren born to David J. and Mary E. (Cameron) 
Eastland, the father born in Genesee County, 
N. Y. , and the mother in Hinds Coxinty, Miss. 
When a young man the father went to the vicinity 
of Schoolcraft, Mich., and at the age of twenty 
years removed to Mississippi, and was engaged in 
teaching school in an academj' at Cayuga, and was 
married there about the year 1841. From 1852 
until the present time he has been engaged in 
milling in Richmond County, and is making his 
home on a large farm which he purchased near Sex- 
tonville. Dr. J. S. Eastland was about eight years 
old when he was taken to Wisconsin, and he re- 
ceived his education in the schools of Richland 
County. In 1863 he enlisted at Madison, Wis., in 
Company H, Seventeenth Wisconsin Infantry, and 
was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee. He 



was a participant in the engagements at Chatta- 
nooga, Resaca, Buzzard's Roost, Kenesaw Mount- 
ain, and was with Sherman in his memorable 
march to the sea, and in the Carolina campaign. 
He was at the grand review at Washington, D. C, 
but received his discharge at Madison, Wis., in 
June, 1865. After returning home he began read- 
ing medicine, and took a course in the Eclectic 
Medical Institute during the winter of 1869-70. 
The following year he entered Blakely Hospital 
of Philadelphia, Penn., and after graduating the 
same year he came to . Arkansas, taking up his 
abode in Randolph County, but only remained 
there until 1872, since which time he has been a 
resident of White County. In September, 1886, 
he opened a fine drug store at Judsonia, which is 
in a flourishing condition, and in addition to man- 
aging this establi.shment and practicing his pro- 
fession, he is employed as surveyor of the Iron 
Mountain Railroad. He is a Democrat, a member 
of the board of medical examiners of White Coun- 
ty, and socially is a member of Anchor Lodge No. 
384, of the A. F. & A. M., and was Worshipful 
Master of the lodge for some years. He was mar- 
ried in White County, in 1873, to Miss Samantha 
W. Boatwright, a native of White County, and a 
daughter of Charles W. and Virginia (Subbaugh) 
Boatwright, who were natives of Virginia. In 
1856 they settled at West Point, White County, 
Ark., but Mr. Boatwright is now residing at Jones- 
boro, Ark. The mother died in 1889. When Dr. 
Eastland first came to White County the country 
was, in a great measure, unsettled, and there was 
a great deal of sickness among the settlers, but it 
is now much healthier. Mrs. Eastland is a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church. 

J. W. Edie. Among the early settlers of Jud- 
sonia will be found the name of J. W. Edie, who 
came from Buchanan Count}% Iowa, and settled in 
the town in 1873. After following the lumber busi- 
ness for some twelve years he began making a 
specialty of sash, doors and blinds, and does an 
extensive business. He was born in Harrison 
County, Ohio, December 6, 1834, and is the eldest 
of two children born to Thomas and Levina 
(Palmer) Edie, who were Ijorn in the "Keystone 



<ya__J^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



157 



State. ' ' They immiif rated to Ohio with their par- 
ents in 1819 and iH'Il, resiiectively, and were 
married in that State in February, 1834. The 
father was a farmer, and followed that occupation 
both in Ohio and after removing to Iowa in 1853, 
in the latter State paying much of his attention to 
the manufacture of lumber also. These occupa- 
tions received his attention until his removal to 
Judsonia in 1877, and from that time until his 
death, in February, 1883, he lived a retired life. 
His wife survives him. The paternal grandparents, 
James and Mary (Ward) Edie, were born in Penn- 
sylvania and England, respectively, and settled in 
the State of Ohio, in 1819; the great-grandfather 
was a Scotchman. The maternal grandparents, 
James and Margaret (Arnold) Palmer, were born 
in Maryland, and moved to Ohio in 1821, from 
which State they removed to Iowa in 1853, making 
the latter their home until his death in 1857, at 
the age of eighty-one years. He was a soldier in 
the War of 1812. His wife died, in 1868, at the 
age of eighty-three years. The children of Thomas 
and Levina Edie are: Margaret (now Mrs. Wag- 
ner, of Judsonia, whose husband is in the Govern- 
ment employ) and our subject (who was reared on 
his father's farm and received his education in the 
schools of Ohio. After his removal to Iowa with 
his parents, he resided there until 1856, when he 
was married, in Buchanan County, to Miss Rebecca 
J. , a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Garner) Chi- 
tester, of Pennsylvania. The father was a mill- 
wright, and in 1845 moved to Shawneetovm, 111. , 
and, in 1850, to Iowa. Since 1885 they have re- 
sided in Judsonia, Ark., and have passed the six- 
tieth milestone of their wedded life. After his 
marriage, Mr. Edie made his home in Iowa until 
1873, then came to Judsonia and engaged in busi- 
ness as mentioned above. He is not an active poli- 
tician, but votes the Democratic ticket, and has 
been mayor of the town in which he lives three 
terms, and has also been a member of the city 
school board. Socially he is a member of Anchor 
Lodge No. 384, of the A. F. & A. M. , and has 
been Worshipful Master of his order. He belongs 
to Tillman Chapter No. 19, and Occidental Coun- 
cil No. 1. Mr. and Mrs. Edie are worthy mem- 



bers of the Baptist Church, and their union has 
been blessed in the birth of eight children, seven 
being now alive: Silas A. (died in 1878, at the 
age of twenty-two years), C. F. (is unmarried, and 
is an engineer on the Denver & Rio Grande Rail- 
road), Ida (now Mrs. McDearman, lives in Jud- 
sonia), T. M. (is married, and lives in the town; a 
carpenter and joiner by trade), Ada Aletha (Mrs. 
Sims), A. J. (a resident of Little Rock), Eva (Mrs. 
Croy, of Darke County, Ohio) and Stella. Mr. 
Edie is public-spirited, and is a member of the 
board of directors of the Judsonia University. 

William H. Edwards. Among the many old 
settlers of White County, Ark., there is none more 
highly esteemed than the subject of this sketch, for 
in his walk through life he has been honest and 
upright in every particular. He was born in Madi- 
son County, Tenn. , August 7, 1811, and is a son 
of Sanford and Mary (Thetford) Edwards, both of 
whom were born in Greenville District, S. C. , the 
former in 1787 and the latter in 1805. They were 
married in Tennessee, reared their family in the 
western portion of that State and there spent their 
lives, the father's death occurring in 1874 and the 
mother's in 1869. They were members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church and he was a soldier 
in the War of 1812, and in his political views was 
an old line Whig, but was not an enthusiast in 
politics, being one of those quiet men whose life 
was without reproach. Their family was as fol- 
lows: Nancy (deceased, was born in 1806 and be- 
came the wife of a Mr. Fussell), Anderson (de- 
ceased, was born in 1808), William H. (the subject 
of this memoir), James F. (deceased, was born in 
1814 and died in May, 1889, a farmer of White 
County), Rebecca (deceased, was born in 1817, and 
was the wife of James Stowbuck, a blacksmith of 
Tennessee), Ina (deceased, was born in 1819), Jo- 
seph (was born in 1822, and is a farmer of White 
County), Elizabeth (was bom in 1823 and is the 
wife of Enoch Terry, of Texas), Sophronia (de- 
ceased, was born in 1828 and is the wife of Will- 
iam Tedford), and Sanford (who was born in 1831 
and is a farmer of Tennessee). William H. Ed- 
wards received very poor chances for acquiring an 
education, owing to the newness of the country 



<S !k^ 



^ s> 



158 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



during his youth and to the fact that his services 
were required on the home farm. On June 4, 
1835, he was married to Miss Lucinda Dockins, 
and to them were born the following childi'en: 
James M. (a farmer of White County, born in 
1836), William L. (born in 1837), George W. 
(born in 1839) and Mary E. and Rebecca J. (twins, 
born in 1841, Rebecca being the widow of James 
Powers). Mrs. Edwards died in 1844 and January 
28, 1846, Mr. Edwards married Lucinda Wilson, 
daughter of James Wilson. She was born in Ten- 
nessee in 1825 and by Mr. Edwards became the 
mother of four children: Sarah Ann (born in 
1847 and died the same year), Josej)h M. (residing 
near his father, was born in December, 1848), Su- 
san A. (was born September 26, 1851, and died 
August 1, 1852), an infant (died, unnamed) and 
Noah A. (who was born November 15, 1854, and 
is a farmer of this county). After his marriage 
Mr. Edwards worked for his father two years and 
then began tilling his father's farm for himself, 
continuing until 1852; when he purchased a farm 
of his own, on which he resided for seven years. 
Since that date he has resided in White County, 
and in 1860 purchased the farm of 160 acres where 
he now lives. He has seventy acres under culti- 
vation and his farm is well adapted to raising all 
kinds of farm produce. He was reared a Whig, 
but since the war, in which he served on the Con- 
federate side three years, he has been a Democrat. 
He became a Mason at Stony Point twenty-six 
years ago, but is at present a member of Beebe 
Lodge No. 145, A. F. & A. M. , and has held every 
ofifice in that order. He is also a valued member 
of the Agricultural Wheel and has always taken 
hold of every movement that had for its object the 
social or educational welfare of the community in 
which he resided. He has ever lived in peace and 
harmony with his neighbors and he and family are 
worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

Thomas J. Edwards. Hayden S. Edwards, 
the esteemed father of the subject of this memoir, 
was born in Shelby County, Ky., on April 2, 1811, 
and was a son of Rev. James P. Edwards, one of 
the first Baptist ministers that came to the State 



of Arkansas. He was also a surveyor and came to 
this State to assist a corps of engineers, and was 
over a large part of the State. Hayden S. was 
married to Miss Mary Lumkins, a native of Knox 
County, Tenn., on January 26, 1832, and in 1853 
removed to Arkansas, locating in White County, 
on the farm now owned by his sou, Thomas J., 
who took charge of the farm and cared for his par- 
ents the latter years of their lives. Hayden Ed- 
wards was a school-teacher in his younger days, 
and also served in the Mexican War as wagon 
master. He was a strong Democrat and a member 
of the Masonic order, and was connected with the 
Missionary Baptist Church, as was also his wife. 
He died in 1887. His wife was born in 1815, and 
died in 1882, leaving a family of six childi'en, 
Thomas J., the principal of this sketch, being the 
only one living. He was born in Ballard County, 
Ky., on April 17, 1841. In 1861 he enlisted in 
the Confederate army, under Col. Patterson, and 
took part in all of the battles in the Missouri raid. 
He was wounded at Little Rock, and was taken 
prisoner but soon escaped. After the close of 
hostilities he returned home and found his family 
stripped of every thing of value, and as he was 
without means he was obliged to start from the 
beginning, but with a will that overcame all ob- 
stacles has risen to an eminence of success, and is 
now the owner of 280 acres of land in the old 
homestead and eighty south of Bald Knob, and 
has about 130 under cultivation. In 1884 he was 
married to Miss Ida N. Maxwell, a daughter of 
Joseph Maxwell, and who is the mother of one 
daughter, Mary Stokes, who was born February 5, 
1885. Mrs. Edwards is a member of the Metho- 
dist Chiiroh. Mr. Edwards is a Democrat and a 
prominent citizen of White County. 

James H. Edwards, one of White County's 
leading citizens, is a son of James and Eliza 
(Simmon) Edwards, natives of Haywood County, 
Tenn., who moved to Arkansas in 1850, and lo- 
cated in White County, and later moved to Cle- 
burne County, where Mr. Edwards, Sr. , still lives, 
in his sixty-eighth year. He is a member of the 
Missionary Baptist Church, and also of the Ma- 
sonic order. He is still engaged in farming, and 



Jk 



WHITE COUNTY. 



159 



owns 460 acres of Cue land. His wife died on 
August 26, 1889, at the age of sixty-two. They 
were the parents of fourteen children, ten of whom 
are still living: John F., Thomas H., Tennie (wife 
of J. W. Blasingim), James H. (our subject), 
Mary J. (wife of J. R. Fortner), Martha Ann (wife 
of Frank Epps), Ann Eliza (wife of Richard Davis), 
Nannie, Benjamin and Henry. James H. Edwards 
claims White County as his birthplace, his birth 
occurring on April 26, 1854, and remained on his 
father's farm until twenty-seven years of age, 
though part of the time was spent in farming for 
himself. He married Miss Emma Fortner, a daugh- 
ter of J. E. and Mary C. Fortner, and who was born 
in White County, in 1861. Joseph E. Fortner was 
born in Wayne County, N. C, December 4, 1812, 
and died in White County, Ark., July 5, 1888. 
In 1832 he was genuinely and soundly converted 
to God and joined the Presbyterian Church. After 
a few years of devotion to that branch of God's 
church he joined the Methodist Church, in which 
he kept his membership until God called him home. 
From North Carolina he moved to Tennessee, and 
from there to Arkansas, where he lived for thirty- 
four years, being among the pioneers of this coun- 
try. He was the father of fifteen children. His 
seat was never vacant at church, unless sickness 
kept him away. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards are the 
parents of two children: Adga May and Hollice 
Taylor. He owns a fine farm which is well under 
cultivation, and has been a very successful and 
highly respected citizen. Himself and wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Politically he is a prominent Democrat, and also 
belongs to the County Wheel. 

Thomas B. Ellis. Benjamin Ellis was a native 
of the Old Dominion, where he was married to 
Mary Malone, also of that State. They removed 
to Kentucky in 1807 or 1808, and the following 
year moved to Alabama, where they made their 
home until their death, Mrs. Ellis passing away 
in 1853 and Mr. Ellis in the following year. They 
wore the parents of eleven children: Benjamin R. 
(married and residing in Shelby County, Tenn.), 
Sallie M. (Harris), Nancy H. (Norris), Mary H. 
(deceased), Thomas B. (the subject of this sketch), 



James B. and William T. (both deceased), Joseph 
F. and John W. (residents of Alabama). Thomas 
B. Ellis was born in Madison County, Ala., in 
1820, where he resided for over thirty years, and 
where he was married to Judith A. Critz, of Ala- 
bama, who died in 1850, leaving two children: 
Mary E. (now Mrs. Hussey, of Searcy, White 
County) and Olivia C. (now Mrs. Goodlow, also of 
that place). Mr. Ellis was married the second 
time, in 1851, to Mary A. Corrington, of Marshall 
County, Miss., who died in 1860, leaving three 
daughters: Sarah A. (Mrs. Menus, residing near 
Nashville, Tenn.), Martha E. (now Mrs. Lanier, of 
Searcy), Roberta A. (now Mrs. Dickey, residing near 
the old homestead). His third and present wife, 
was Mary A. Montgomery, a daughter of Edward 
and Tobitha Montgomery, of White County, Ark., 
to whom he was married in 1860. They are the 
parents of four children : Virgil B. , Nora, Thomas 

B. and John E. (deceased). Mr. Ellis came to 
Arkansas in 1856, settling in Des Arc Township, 
White County, where he bought a farm of 560 
acres with 110 cleared, and on which he still lives. 
He enlisted in 1861 as a forager, in which capacity 
he served a short time, and was then given an hon- 
orable discharge on account of age. He returned 
to his farm,, which he found in a state of decay and 
dilapidation. He has since resided on the farm 
and been very successful as a farmer, remaining 
here until the last year, when he removed to Cen- 
tre Hill and started in the grocery business. Mr. 
Ellis is a member of the Masonic order, and be- 
longs to Centre Hill Lodge No. 114, and is Master^ 
of his lodge. Mr. Ellis and family are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Ellis is 
a prominent Democrat, and held the office of con- 
stable shortly after the war. 

} James Figg was born in Gates County, N. C, 

January 31, 1804, and received a practical educa- 
tion in the schools of his native State. He was 
married March 10, 1829, to Miss Margaret Lewis 
of North Carolina, who was born March 19, 1809. 
To their union ten children were given: Mary J. 
(deceased), Sophia A. (Mrs. W. H. Hallford), F. 

C. (Mrs. Samuel Gray, deceased), John L. (now 
residing in Alabama), one child who died in 



AM w_ 



'-^ 



160 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



infancy (unnamed), Martha R. (who married F. M. 
Rice), George A. (deceased), Emma J. (Mrs. L. 
Byrd), Joseph J. and Mary E. Mr. Figg was a 
man who took an active interest in political aflairs, 
being a Whig up to the time of the war, and a ! 
strong secessionist. A farmer and mechanic by 
occupation, he owned 120 acres of land highly 
cultivated at the date of his demise. He was a 
Master Mason and had held office as Tyler in New- 
ton Lodge No. 224, in Alabama, and was a member 
of Mount Pisgah Lodge No. 242 in Arkansas at the I 
time of his death, which occurred February 10, 
1873. He and wife were members of the Methodist 
Church, South, and he was one of the prominent 
factors in organizing the church in the neighbor- 
hood where he lived; ever taking an active interest 
in all church and educational matters. Joseph J. 
Figg received his education in Alabama, and at the 
age of twenty-one immigrated to Arkansas and set- 
tled in White County, where he is now residing. | 
Reaching an age where he realized that it was not 
good for man to be alone, he selected for his life's 
companion Miss Mary F. Andrews, who was born 
February 16, 1858, a daughter of Benjamin and 
Elizabeth Andrews. Their marriage was consum- 
mated January 13, 1875, and five children have | 
blessed their union: Lelia V. (born May 20, 1877). 
James L. (born February 2, 1879), Robert G. (born 
June 20, 1881), Maggie E. (born November 22, | 
1883), and one who died in infancy. Mr. Figg is 
a farmer and school-teacher, and owns 120 acres 
of hill and bottom land, with twenty-five acres 
under cultivation. He is Master Mason, and has 
held office as Junior Deacon for one term in Mount 
Pisgah Lodge No. 242 ; he was also formerly a mem- 
ber of the Wheel, but has recently resigned. Dur- 
ing his connection with that order he acted as 
secretary of the lodge; he has held the office of 
justice of the peace for three consecutive terms in 
the township in which he resides, serving in an 
acceptable manner. Mrs. Figg is a consistent 
member and an earnest worker of the Baptist 
Church. 

W. E. Fisher. It has long been acknowledged 
that, no matter what a man's occupation in life may 
be if his energies are directed toward advancing 



the interests of the community in which he resides, 
he is a useful and respected and prominent man. 
W.E.'s early life was surrounded with many hard- 
ships and privations, and his early education was 
acquired by reading at night by the flickering light 
of a brush fire after his day's work was done. 
L'pon commencing life for himself the occupation 
he had been taught when young naturally became 
his by adoption, and he now owns 353 acres with 
about 155 acres under cultivation. Mr. Fisher 
was born in Wilson County, Tenn., November 25, 
1819, and on Augiist 11, 1840, he was married to 
Miss Martha Adkinson, her death occurring on 
September 19, 1852, after having borne a family 
of seven childi'en: Anderson L. (born August 23, 
1841, was married to Miss Martha Canada, be- 
came the father of sis children, and is a farmer of 
White County), David (born in 1843 and died in 
infancy), David L. (born September 19, 1844), 
Cordelia M. (was born December 23, 1846; first 
married John Winford, by whom she became the 
mother of three children, and after his death she 
wedded John Drenon), Amanda J. (was born Feb- 
ruary 14, 1849, and married Thomas Martin, a 
farmer of Pope County, becoming the mother of 
seven children), Eliza J. (was born February 16, 
1851, and married Paton Burris, who left her a 
widow with one child, and she afterward married 
Frank Massey, a farmer of Searcy County). In 
January, 1855, Mr. Fisher wedded Mrs. Susan 
Brown, of Carroll County, but she too died on 
May 31 of the following year. He espoused his 
third wife, Miss Harriet Agours, of Fayette Coun- 
ty, Tenn., June 24, 1857, and their childi'en are 
as follows: Mary E. (born June 30, 1863, is the 
wife of S. J. Crabtree, editor of the Arkansaw 
Hub at Beebe, by whom she has one child living 
and two children deceased), Martha E. (was born 
April 2, 1S58, and is the wife of James Martin, 
who keeps a meat market in Brinkley), Laura E. 
(was born February 23, 1865, and wedded John 
Watson, and they also have one child living and 
one deceased), Harriett A. (was born October 25, 
1867, and is the wife of John Shelton, only one 
of their two children being now alive), George 
W. (born September 27, 1859), Josejsh E. (born 



^^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



161 



April 7, 1861), Maggie (deceased), Sallie (born 
November 13, 1871) and Jimmie (born July 10, 
1878). All Jlr. Fisher's children have received 
good school advantages and are intelligent young 
people. Our subject removed with his family to 
Arkansas on November 23, 1860, and located about 
three-quarters of a mile west of the farm ou which 
he 18 now living, where he purchased 102 acres of 
land, and after making his home here for about 
nine years he bought the farm ou which he is now 
residing. Mr. Fisher affiliated with the Democrat 
party until 1885, when he united with the Agri- 
cultural Wheel, and has been a member of the 
State Deputy Organization and has also served 
faithfully and well in the capacity of State lect- 
urer. At the present time he is chairman of the 
State Central Committee. He is a man who has 
always taken a deep interest in public affairs, 
and is well informed in all matters pertaining to 
county, State and national matters, taking that 
side in politics which he deemed best calculated to 
promote the interests of the people. He has 
served his county in the State legislature and 
filled this position to the entire satisfaction of 
his constituents. He holds membership in Beebe 
Lodge No. 144, of the A. F. & A. M., and has 
served as Senior Warden and is a Royal Arch 
Mason of El Paso Lodge. He and wife are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
as are also eleven of their children. Mr. Fisher 
is a son of Anderson Fisher and Sinie Johnson, 
the former of English ancestry, his people having 
come from England prior to the Revolutionary 
AVar. Anderson Fisher was a scout under Gen. 
Jackson in the War of 1812, and for a few years 
prior to his death drew a pension, although he had 
refused to do .so up to that time. He died in 1876 
at the age of eighty-three years, four months and 
six days. He was the father of ten children: 
Jeremiah, Eliza, Sarah, James, W. E., Leonard 
B. , Elizabeth, John H., Anderson M. , Lucinda 
A., and Cordelia, who died in infancy, the re- 
mainder of the family growing to manhood and 
womanhood. 

J. B. Foreman is a successful planter of South 
Carolina nativity, and has been a resident of White 



County, Ark., since 1859. He was born in York 
District, in 1836, and was the third in a family 
of seven children l)orn to the marriage of James 
T. and Elizabeth Luraney (Rowell) Foreman, 
who were also born in York District, S. C, and 
were there married. The father was a planter 
and the year following his wife's death, which 
occurred in South Carolina, October 0, 1859, 
he removed to White County, Ark., where he 
became the owner of 020 acres of timber laud. 
He died on this farm March 26, 1873, and left 
three children to mourn his loss: William Rowell 
(who is married and resides in Howard County, 
Ark. ), Elizabeth L. (who is a Mrs. Mann and lives 
in the county) and J. B. The latter left South 
Carolina, a young man, and came direct to White 
County and purchsBed 160 acres of land on credit, 
but before getting it in shape to be tilled was com- 
pelled to rent land. In 1862 ho joined Compa- 
ny B, Gen. McRae's regiment, and was in the 
battles of Helena, Prairie Grove, Little Rock and 
Cache River, and then joined the cavalry under 
Col. A. R. Witt, and was in the Missouri raid, tak- 
ing part in the battles of Pilot Knob, Jefferson 
City, Independence, Kansas City and thence to 
Fayetteville. ^[pon his return home he resumed 
farming, and has opened up sixty acres of land. 
He is a Democrat, a member of the Agricultural 
Wheel, a Mason, belonging to St. Mary's Lodge 
No. 170 of the A. F. & A. M., and he and his wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. He was married in White County, in Oc-, 
tober, 1800, to Martha Ellen, a daughter of Val- 
entine and Alice (Carr) Harlan, who were born 
in Georgia, the father a farmer and carpenter by 
trade. He came to White County, Ai-k. , in 1857, 
and here died in 1873, his wife dying November 
18, 1877. Mr. and Mrs. Foreman have these 
children: James V. (a resident of Kentucky), Will- 
iam Edward (in Kentucky), Ann H., Martha E., 
Wade H., Bernie P. and Alice E. Jlary E. died 
August 30, 1886, when nearly five years old. 

John C. Fussell, farmer and stock raiser. The 
life of this gentleman affords an example which 
might well be imitated by the young men of the 
present day, for his capital on commencing life 



162 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



for himself was limited, and tlirongboiit his career 
he has been industrious aud frugal. He was born 
in Madison County, Tenn., Febniary 23, 1845, 
and was brought to Arkansas by his parents in 

1859, they having been married in 1840. They 
first settled on railroad land in White County, but 
later pre-empted 160 acres of wild land and began 
building a home, but traded this in 1876 for eighty 
acres where our subject. John C, now lives. 
Wyatt Fussell, the father, prior to coming to Ar- 
kansas, was a business man of Jackson, Tenn., 
and kept one of the best livery stal)les in the place. 
He was marshal of the town for several years, and 
in his political views was an old line Whig. He 
and wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Mat- 
tox, were members of the Baptist Church, and 
their deaths occurred in Arkansas, August 12, 
1S89, and Tennessee, in 1853, respectively. Of 
six children born to them four lived to be grown: 
William N. (who is a physician of Denmark, 
Tenn.), John C, Elmira (deceased, the wife of J. 
J. Rogers, a farmer of Lonoke County) and Mary 
E. (the wife of J. B. Shelton, of AVhite County). 
John C. Fussell was reared to a farm life, and al- 
though his facilities for acquiring an education 
were very poor, he acquired a thorough knowledge 
of the three R's. Until twenty-tive years of age 
he worked for his father and sisters, then was 
married to Miss Mary E. Powers, a daughter of 
A. M. Powers, a farmer of Tennessee, who came 
to Arkansas in 18G0. Their union resulted in the 
birth of three children, two of whom are living: 
James AV. (a young man residing with his father) 
and Betty O. Jennie died in childhood. Mr. 
Fussell is a man who has always been interested 
in the welfare of his county, and always supports 
enterprises which tend to benefit the same. He is 
a member of Stony Point Lodge No. 20, of the 
Agriciiltural Wheel. His wife is a daughter of A. 
M. and Eliza (Moore) Powers, who were Tennes- 
seeans, and as above stated came to Arkansas in 

1860, locating near Beebe, where he became the 
owner of a large number of slaves, and resided for 
fourteen years. He and his wife reared a family 
of eight children to manhood and womanhood, 
their names being as follows: Mary E. (Mrs. Fus- 



sell), Robert (a mechanic), Nancy (wife of William 
L. Edwards, a farmer of White County), Martha 
(wife of James Edwards, also a farmer), Jennie 
(widow of \\'illiam Hartbrooks), William (a farmer 
of Beebe) and Sophia (is wife of John Lestie, of 
Lonoke County). 

Uriah E. Gentry is a native of South Carolina 
and a son of Cornelius and Mary (Johnson) Gentry, 
also natives of that State, where they lived until 
after their marriage, removing thence to Georgia 
when our subject was a child. Later they became 
located in Tennessee, and in 1836 in Alabama, 
where the father died in 1842 at the age of thirty- 
nine. After this unhappy event Mrs. Gentry went 
to Mississippi with her family and located on the 
head waters of the Tom Bigbee River, going in 1856 
to Texas, and remaining until 1868 when they 
came to Arkansas, settling in Independence County. 
The family consisted of nine children the follow- 
ing being the only ones living at this time : Susanah 
(now Mrs. Provence), Thomas, Uriah E., M. V. 
and Parthenia (wife of Elisha Bass). Uriah E. Gen 
try was born in Spartanburg, S. C, on July 12, 
1830, and continued with his mother until twenty- 
two years of age when he commenced for himself 
as a farmer. In 1863 he enlisted in the Confeder- 
ate army, in the Twenty- ninth Texas Cavalry, in 
which he served only a short time, having received 
a wound; after this he was put on detached duty. 
Upon the close of the war he rented a farm in 
Texas for two years, but coming to Independence 
County, Ark., here bought a farm and remained 
until 1S74 when he sold out and located in White 
County. He now owns a farm of 200 acres with a 
large portion of it under cultivation, and has also 
helped his boys in getting a sulistantial start in 
life. Mr. Gentry was married after reaching man- 
hood to Mary Davis, who died in ]864, leaving a 
family of children, two of whom only are living: 
Robert C. (a farmer of this county) and Louisa (the 
wife of a Mr. Saulefor, of Independence County). 
In 1865 he was married to Miss Winnie Bass, who 
died in 1868, having borne two childi-en : Thomas 
R. and Jerry L. , both farmers of this county. In 
1869 Miss Elizabeth Thomas became Mr. Gentry's 
third wife. She died in 1872. In 1873 his fourth 



•^ Is 



WHITE COUNTY. 



163 



matrimonial venture resulted in his marriage to 
Miss Estelle Churchwell. They are the parents of 
sis children: Carrie L.. Mary T. , Sallie, Jessie B., 
Ora B. and Mattie J. Mr. and Mrs. Gentry are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 
The former belongs to the Masonic order, and is a 
prominent Democrat. He is recognized as one of 
the leading men of his township and enjoys a well- 
deserved popularity. 

M. N. Gentry, groeeryman, Searcy, Ark. The 
family grocery trade of Searcy is well represented 
by honorable commercial men. who are full of en- 
terprise. Among those who hold a leading position 
in this line is Mr. Gentry, firmly established in his 
business and enjoying an excellent trade. He car- 
ries a full line of queensware, groceries, etc., and 
started his house in 1876. In April, 1882, he was 
burned out, and in the same year erected a good 
one-story brick building, 100x25 feet. Mr. Gentry 
moved to Independence County, Ark., in 1868, 
remained a short time, and in the same year moved 
to West Point, White County, where he resided 
until 1 869. He then moved to Gray Township and 
followed farming. He owes his nativity to Tissho- 
mingo County, Miss., where he was born in 1856, 
being the third in a family of four children, the 
result of the union of N. J. and Jane (Eaton) Gen- 
try, natives of South Carolina and Alabama, re- 
spectively. The father when a boy moved to Ala- 
bama, was married in that State, and followed 
agricultural pursuits for a livelihood. In 1856 he 
moved to Red River County, Tex., remained there 
until 1866, then moved to McLennan County, where 
he resided imtil 1868. He then moved to Inde- 
pendence County, Ark. , and later to White County, 
purchased land, improved it, and in 1876 engaged 
in business under the firm name of Ward & Gen- 
try, which title continued until 1878, after which 
it was changed to Gentry & Son, remaining so until 
1887. The father died in June of that year. So- 
cially he was a member of Searcy Lodge No. 49, A. 
F. & A. M. The mother is still living, and resides 
at Searcy. Since 1S87 the firm title has been M. 
N. Gentry. The children of the above-mentioned 
couj)le are named as follows: \V. C. (married, and 
resides in Navarro County, Tex., engaged in farm- 
1 1 



ing), J. T. (married, residing at Hillside, Tex., 
and is a railroad agent), M. N. and Mary (who 
resides in Searcy). Mr. Gentry was reared to farm 
life, and received his education in the .schools of 
Texas, and in White County, Ark. , attending one 
year in Searcy. He assisted his father in clearing 
and developing the home place, and remained on 
the farm until he engaged in business in 1876. 
Socially he is a member of Searcy Lodge No. 49, 
A. F. & A. M. , and served as Junior Warden for 
six years. Senior Warden for one year, and Wor- 
shipful Master for two years. He is at present one 
of the masters of ceremonies. He served four 
years as a member of the city council, one of 
which was known as the Dade council, and during 
that year sheds were erected over the springs. 
Mr. Gentry takes an active interest in everything 
for the good of the county. He aids in all enter- 
prises for the public good, and is one of the sub- 
stantial citizens. 

C. S. George, clerk of the county and probate 
court, Searcy, Ark., is well known to the residents 
of White County, as one, who, in all his relations 
to the public, has proven himself faithful to the 
trusts committed to him. ^^'hether in his private or 
ofBcial capacity no taint of dishonor can be found. 
He was born in Coahoma County, Miss. , in Jan- 
uary, 1853, being the fourth of eight children, 
born to C. L. and Catherine M. (McDermott) 
George, natives of Kentucky and Ohio, respect- 
ively. The parents were married at Helena, Ark., 
and later settled in Mississippi, where the father 
followed agricultural pursuits. His father took 
an active part in politics, was clerk of Phillips 
County, Ark., was also assessor in the early his- 
tory of the county, and county judge of Coahoma 
County, Miss., and in 1867 moved to Lawrence 
County, Ark., where he purchased an improved 
farm. From there he moved to Searcy, in 1876, 
lived a retired life, and there died in November, 
1881. His excellent wife still survives and resides 
in Searcy. C. S. George was reared to the ardu- 
ous duties of the farm, and received a fair educa- 
tion in the schools of Mississippi and Arkansas. 
He commenced for himself as deputy clerk of Law- 
rence County, Ark., in 1871, served two years and 



-J! S>k> 




moved to White County, Ark., in 1876, locating 
at Searcy. He then entered the office as deputy 
county clerk in 1880, served eight years, and in 
1888 he was elected clerk of the county, having 
the honor of being the only one elected on the 
Democratic ticket. He has been connected with 
the records of White County longer than any one 
else now living. He is a member of the Masonic 
Fraternity, Searcy Lodge No. 49, is also a mem- 
ber of Tillman Chapter No. 19, R. A. M. Mr. 
George was married in Searcy, in February, 1880, 
to M. B. Isbell, a native of White County, and two 
children living are the fruits of this union: Herbert 
L. and Leland S. Those deceased were named: 
Lillie (who died in 1882) and Charley (who died 
in 1884). Mr. George is a member of the school 
board, and takes an active interest in all that per- 
tains to the good of the community. Mrs. George 
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Robert N. Gill, though one of the younger 
citizens of the county, has risen to a worthy place 
among its farmers and merchants. He was born 
in Tennessee in the year 1855, and is the oldest in 
a family of five children in the family of AV. F. 
and OUie A. (McDowell) Gill. The former was a 
native of Tennessee, and spent his life in farming, 
which occupation proved very successful to him. 
Moving to Marshall Township, White County, Ark. , 
in 1853, he purchased 300 acres of land, and at 
once proceeded to carefully cultivate this prop- 
erty. His wife died in Arkansas in 1875, leaving 
five children: Robert, James N., Ellen, Molly, 
and Georgia A.. Mr. Gill subsequently married 
again and reared a family of four children; he 
was called to his final home in 1889. Robert N. 
passed his early life on a farm, and received a good 
education in the schools of Arkansas. He was 
married in 1874 to Miss Johanna Thompson, 
daughter of Henry Thompson, and a native of 
Arkansas. To their union six children have been 
born: Frank M., Ora B., Olie E., Johnie M., 
Jessie Lee and Elmer. Mr. Gill is an expert 
mechanic, and has built many houses in the coun- 
try, which are excellent specimens of his skill. In 
1887 he embarked in merchandising business in 
Romance, where he carries a large and carefully 



selected stock, and is building up a substantial 
and lucrative trade, also owning a fine farm of 120 
acres, of which seventy-five acres are under culti- 
vation. He has observed a very great change in 
the country since taking up his residence here, and 
in the general growth and advancement has borne 
a faithful share. In politics Mr. Gill is a Demo- 
crat, and with his wife worships at the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South. 

Emmet O. Gilliam was the fifth son in a fam- 
ily of six children, of William and Mary (Spencer) 
Gilliam, natives of Virginia and North Carolina, 
respectively. William Gilliam was at one time a 
resident of Mississippi, and later became settled in 
Tennessee, finally coming to White County, Ark., 
where he opened up a farm of 160 acres, in Gray 
Township. After remaining here for three years, 
he sold out and moved to Des Arc Township. The 
children of himself and wife were named : Albert 
A., William S. , Robert H. , Leona L. (deceased), 
Emmet O. (our subject) and Edward C. Emmet 
O. Gilliam was born February 8, 1860, in White 
County, on the farm where he now lives. Conse- 
quently he is numbered among the community's 
younger citizens. In 1880 he took charge of the 
old homestead, consisting of 160 acres, of which 
100 acres are under a high state of cultivation. 
Mr. Gilliam is a strong Democrat, and although a 
young man in years, takes an active and influential 
interest in politics. His energy and determination 
promise to render him one of the leading men of 
his county. 

James Monroe Gist, M. D., medical practition- 
er and a resident of BeeVie, Ark. , was born Decem- 
ber 31, 1833, in Carroll County, Tenn. , being a 
son of Joseph B. and Dorcas (Mitchell) Gist, the 
former of English descent. In 1739 the Gists first 
came to America and Dr. Gist can trace his ances- 
try back five generations. Grandfather Mitchell 
was a participant in the battle of New Orleans 
and in 1858 came to White County, Ark. He was 
united in marriage to Miss Sarah Scott in 1812, 
while a resident of Kentucky. Dr. James M. Gist 
received his early education in the private schools 
of his native county and began his medical studies 
under Dr. J. W. McCall, of Carroll County, and 



^; 



^ 



L£: 



AVHITE COUNTY. 



165 



took Lis lirst course or medical lectures in the med- 
ical department of the University of Tennessee at 
Nashville, during the winter of 1857-58 and 
1859-60, graduating in the latter year. In 1858 
he had removed to Arkansas and after his gradua- 
tion he returned here and settled at Austin, Prairie 
County. In the spring of 1800 he moved to Stony 
Point, White County, being there united in mar- 
riage June 5, 1861, to Miss Mary Eleanor Thomas, 
a native of Marshall County, Miss., a daughter of 
John Franklin and Nancy Thomas, both of whom 
were of English descent, the former a native of 
North Carolina and the latter of Mississij:!!?!. To 
the Doctor and his wife two children were born: 
Nancy Dorcas (born January 10, 1867, was married 
to J. E. Fisher in 1885 and died, July 9. 1887, at 
her home in Texas, of cardiac rheumatism, having 
given birth to a daughter, Myron Gist Fisher, 
December 6, 1886), Minnie Laura (the younger 
daughter, was born October 22, 1869). "When Dr. 
Gist first came to Arkansas game was very abun- 
dant, the country being very wild and unsettled. 
There were two log school-houses in the southern 
part of the county in which religious services were 
often held, but the morals of the people were at 
a very low ebb. In the summer of 1862 the Doc- 
tor joined the Confederate army as a private in 
Col. Dandridge McBae's regiment, but was de- 
tached from his eomjjany and assigned duty in the 
hospital serving in the Trans-Mississippi Depart- 
ment, in which service he remained for a period of 
eight months, being discharged by reason of dis- 
ability. He returned to his home at Stony Point 
where he was living at the time of his enlistment, 
and again engaged in the practice of his profes- 
sion. In 1865 he embarked in mercantile pur- 
suits with H. B. Strange at Stony Point, carrying 
a general stock of goods, but the firm dissolved 
partnership in 1872. Dr. Gist then engaged in 
the drug business for aljout eight years. In 1873 
he was elected by the Democratic voters of his 
county to represent them in the State legislature, 
serving two terms in the regular session and in the 
extra session called by Gov. Baxter in 1884. In 
the spring election of 1876 he was chosen mayor 
of Beebe and has served at different times two or 



three terms. The Doctor has hold a membership 
in the Masonic fraternity for a number of years, 
and has attained the Chapter order. He and wife 
are members of the Christian Church and are char- 
itable and hospitable. 

George W. Goad, planter and .stock raiser of 
Denmark, Ark. This enterprising agriculturist 
is a son of John and Elizabeth (Hardin) Goad, na- 
tives of Kentucky, born 1806 and 1809, respect- 
ively. The father was of English descent, and 
his ancestors came to America prior to the Revo- 
lutionary War. They first settled in Virginia, but 
as the country developed moved farther west, and 
were among the first settlers of Tennessee. Ben- 
jamin Hardin, the great-grandfather of the subject 
of this sketch, was a participant in the War for 
Independence. John Goad and Elizabeth Hardin 
were married in Graves County, Ky. , in the year 
1826, and to their union were born the following 
children: Susan (born August, 1827), George W. 
(born July 21, 1830), Mary (born 1833), Nancy 
(born 1836), Sarah Ann (born 1839), John (born 
1841), James J. (born 1844), Elizabeth (born 1847), 
an infant (died unnamed) and Louisa S. (who was 
born in 1853). Seven of these children grew to 
maturity. Elizabeth died in the spring of 1852, 
John died in 1861, Louisa died in 1864 and Mary 
died in 1853. John Goad left his home in Ken- 
tucky to move to Arkansas, and located in Den- 
mark, White County, of that State, on February 
3, 1846, after a tedious journey overland of two 
months. His was the first family to settle in that 
part of White Coimty. In 1847 he took a claim 
of 320 acres, improved it and resided upon the 
same until 1875, when he sold out. He then set- 
tled upon Section 31, Denmark Township, and 
after the death of Mrs. Goad, which occurred in 
the fall of 1875, he married a lady by the name of 
Miss Clarissa Pinegar, and resided in Denmark 
Township until his death, which occurred on De- 
cember 3, 1887. Five of his children are still 
living and all married. Susan is now living with 
her second husband, G. C. Caruthers, and is now 
residing in Independence County. She had eight 
children by her first husband, Steven Whilton. 
Nancy, married Nicholas Lovell and became the 



? [>> 



16(3 



HISTOEY OF AEKANSAS. 



mother of seven children. Sarah Ann, married 
George Swick (deceased), became the mother of 
five children (one living) and is now living with 
her second husband, Wiley "Westmoreland. James 
J. Goad married Miss Quintilliss Barnes, resides 
in Jackson County and has one child living. 
Georsfe W. Goad received a limited education in 
the common schools of Kentucky and at the fire- 
side at home. He was reared principally to the 
arduous duties of the farm, but also learned the 
tanner's trade with his father, which business the 
latter carried on, both in Kentucky and Arkansas. 
George W. Goad selected for his wife Miss Eliza- 
beth J. Riddle, a native of Tennessee, supposed to 
be of Irish descent, and the wedding took place on 
December 25, 1851. Ten children were born to 
this marriage, six now living: James E. (born Sep- 
tember 19, 1852), William (born January 16, 1854, 
and died March 29, 1864:), Mary J. (bora February 
10, 1855), Harmon M. (born April 23, 1856), Ste 
phen (born May 29, 1857), John (born December 
29, 1858, and died April 6, 1864), Lewis W. (born 
June 16, 1860), an infant (born and died in 1862), 
Andrew (born February 2, 1863,) and Elizabeth 
T. (born November 15, 1866, and died August 28,. 
1868). Mrs. Goad died on November 15, 1866, 
and Mr. Goad took for his second wife Mrs. Julia 
A. Wilson, whom he married on August 1, 1867. 
The following children were the result of this mar- 
riage: Margaret (born May 20, 1868), Gabrey 
(born February 22, 1870), George H. (born Janii- 
aiy 18, 1872), Jacob (born November 25, 1875), 
Susie (born August 6, 1880). Of the first children, 
Mary married William Morgan on December 25, 
1873, and has seven children; James married Miss 
Virginia McCauley, and became the father of seven 
children; Stephen married Miss Mollie Yarbrough, 
and has three children; Harmon married Miss 
Jane Wagoner, in 1882, and has five children; 
Lewis married Miss Florence Wagoner, in 1883, 
and has two living children. And of the second 
marriage, Margaret married Roy M. Hodges, on 
January 27. 1889, and has one child. Mr. Goad 
was in the Federal army during the war, served 
about one year in Col. Baxter's regiment, which 
was organized at Batesville in the latter part of 



1863 and fore part of 1864. The regiment partici- 
pated in a number of severe skirmishes. Mr. Goad 
made his first purchase of land in 1855, buying 
forty acres, upon which he has since made his 
home. By subsequent purchase he added to the 
original tract until he owned 480 acres, but now 
owns 340 acres, with 100 acres under cultivation. 
He gave his children a liberal portion of land. 
Mr. Goad is a Repiiblican in politics, is a member 
of the Agricultural Wheel, and he and wife are 
members of the Regular Baptist Church. 

j Joseph H. Grammer is a native of Virginia, 

and was the eldest in a family of five children, 
born to P. W. and Mary B. (Tyus) Grammer, 

1 both of whom were also Virginians by birth. P. 

; W. Grammer was reared on a farm in the Old 
Dominion, and in 1836 moved to Haywood County, 
Tenn., where he died in 1853, his wife p)receding 
him one year. They were the parents of the fol- 
lowing named children: Joseph H., Rebecca, Ed- 

i mond W., B. F., and one whose name is not given. 
Joseph H. , the subject of this sketch, first saw the 

I light of day in Petersburg, Va. , in 1829, remov- 

I ing to Tennessee with his parents when seven 
years of age. He commenced farming for himself 
in 1851, and in 1853 was married to Miss Josephine 
W. Pettey, a native of Alabama, and a daughter of 
G. G. and Elizabeth (Capell) Pettey, of Virginia 
birth. Two years after his marriage Mr. Grammer 
came to Arkansas and settled in Des Arc Township, 
White County, where he bought 320 acres of laud, 
near the present site of Centre Hill. To himself 
and wife eight children have been born, three be- 
ing deceased: William Henry (deceased), Emmett 
L., William N., Nora., Fannie E., Hattie Lee, 

I Jennie B. (deceased) and Jennie D. (also de- 
ceased). They also have three grandchildren. 
Mr. Grammer is a strong Democrat, and has been 
called upon to serve in various official capacities. 
He held the position of deputy sheriff of White 

' County, was postmaster of Centre Hill for a num- 
ber of years, and was appointed postmaster of 
Mount Pisgah, in April, 1889, by President Har- 
rison. Mr. and Mrs. Grammer and children are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. The former has been engaged in farming 



iiL 




all his life, and in connection therewith has given 
his attention to the mercantile business for a num- 
ber of years, commencing that branch of trade in 
1872, at Centre Hill, and in 1889 at Mount Pis- 
gah; his family, however, still residing on the 
farm. Mr. Grammer is a member of the Masonic 
order, and belongs to Centre Hill Lodge No. 114, 
and to Chapter No. 19. He has been instrumental 
in aiding many worthy movements hereabouts and 
helped to build the first church and first school- 
house in White County. 

B. F. Grammer, a Tennesseean by birth, a 
farmer by occupation, a Methodist in his religious 
preferences, a Democrat in politics and a veteran 
of the Civil War, has been a resident of White 
County since December, 1856, a period of sufficient 
length to render him well and favorably known. 
His parents were P. W. and Mary B. (Tyus) Gram- 
mer, both natives of Virginia, as were also their 
parents. B. F. Grammer was united in marriage 
in January, 1861, to Miss Sarah J. Neal, who was 
born in Fayette County, Tenn., a daughter of 
James and Mary (Smith) Neal, also of Tennessee 
origin, and who came to Arkansas in about 1852. 
Mr. Grammer enlisted in 1862 for three years' 
service during the war in the Thirty-sixth Ar- 
kansas Infantry, and participated in the battles of 
Oak Grove and Pleasant Hill, whither his regiment 
was sent as reinforcement to Gen. Dick Taylor 
who had been in a siege of eighty-three days. His 
next engagement was at the ford of the Saline 
River, after which he was sent to Marshall, Texas, 
on garrison diity. T'pou the close of the war he re- 
turned home and again engaged in farming. Mr. 
and Mrs. Grammer are the parents of seven chil- 
dren, all boys: John B. (married, and resides at 
Centre Hill). James H. (attending school), Elmer, 
Horace. Edwin L.. Marvin F. and Tyus C. Mr. 
Grammer has a farm of 125 acres, which he has 
cleared himself, besides some timber land. Him- 
self and wife and three oldest sons are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His ac- 
quaintance throughout this territory is a wide one 
and he enjoys universal esteem and respect. 

Philip Yancey Graves. The estate upon which 
Mr. Graves now resides, and to which ho has given 



such close attention in its cultivation, embraces 
520 acres, a well-improved farm, substantial and 
convenient buildings being a leading feature of 
these improvements. He is a son of John and 
Mark (Yancey) Graves, the former a native of 
North Carolina, and the latter of Tennessee, their 
marriage taking place in the latter State, where 
the father died in 1841. Philip Y., his son, in- 
herits Scotch blood from his paternal ancestry, and 
was born in the State of Tennessee, on October 8, 
1830, and after his father's death, being the eldest 
of the children, the support of his widowed mother 
and three younger children devolved almost en- 
tirely upon him. He worked out by the day and 
month, and at the age of fifteen years, began work- 
ing on a tract of timber land, on which his father 
had held a claim, and which was partly improved. 
He began clearing off the timber and making it 
into shingles and clapboards, for which he found 
a market at Somerville, Macon, Moscow and other 
places. After clearing off the timber from about five 
acres, and erecting thereon a good log-house, he 
was compelled to give up all claim to the land, as 
others had a clearer title than he. In 1855, in 
company Vith Joseph Hollis, he purchased some 
cypress timber near La Grange, Tenn., and this 
was made into shingles and sold at that place for 
the academy and college, which were in process of 
erection at that time. He followed this occupa- 
tion in Shelby and Hardeman Counties, but in 
1857 he gave this up and moved to Tippah County, 
Miss., where he rented land and engaged in gen- 
eral farming. About one year later he removed to 
Arkansas, and was married in Mississippi County, 
of this State, to Mrs. Elizabeth Hollis (nee Tingle), 
the widow of Joseph Hollis, his former partner. 
In the fall of 1859 he returned to Mississippi, but 
owing to rheumatism contracted from exposure 
while pursuing the shingle business, he was com- 
pelled to give up work for about four years. From 
1861 to 1865 he farmed in Marshall County, then 
returned to Arkansas and purchased 160 acres of 
land, four miles north of Beebe, upon which were 
some log buildings and other improvements, twenty 
acres being under cultivation. He now has 150 
acres under thejplow, and seven acres in an orchard 



i>>, 



168 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



consisting of peach, apple and jilum trees. He 
finds a market for his fruit at Beebe, his peaches 
averaging about 50 cents per bushel, and the ap- 
ples GO cents. He also ships to St. Louis. His 
land is well adapted to raising any kind of grain 
or grasses, and he has raised as high as twont}'- 
two bushels of wheat to the acre. Mr. Graves is 
a Democrat, a member of the Agricultural Wheel, 
and he and family are members of the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church, at Autioch, Ark. Mrs. 
Graves had five children by her first husband, two 
of whom are now living: Arminta (married in 1860, 
R. W. Bell) and Caroline (who became the wife of 
S. S. Hayney in 1868, and is now Mrs. F. W. 
Rodgers). The children of Mrs. Graves' second 
marriage are: Penelope (born March 22, 1859, is 
the wife of N. M. Parker, who has a farm near 
Beebe, but works at the carpenter's trade. They 
have throe children: Fred D., John W. and Ger- 
trude). Ella was married to John H. Pendleton, 
a native of Tennessee, in 1881, and has two chil- 
dren: James D. (born March 6, 1884) and Bettie 
Estolle (born November 13, 1885). 

Alfred Greer enjoys a deserved reputation as a 
prominent planter of White County. Born in Da- 
vidson County, Tenn., February 22, 1820, he re- 
ceived his education in Alabama, near La Fayette. 
His father, Elijah Greer, was a Virginian by birth 
and when about twenty-two years old immigrated 
to Kentucky, where he married Miss Mary Acors, 
of that State. To them a family of fourteen chil- 
dren were born, twelve of whom grew to maturity, 
Alfred being the thirteenth child. Elijah Greer 
manifested a great interest in politics, and served 
in the War of 1812 as a fife-major. He was a 
farmer by occupation, and moved from Kentucky 
to Tennessee in 1810, going in 1830 to Georgia, 
and settling in Pike County. He resided in that 
State until his death, in 1841, his wife surviving 
him only throe years. Alfred was married Octo- 
ber 13, 1839, in Alabama, to Miss Elizabeth J. 
Waters, a daughter of William and Feriberry Wa- 
ters, and their union has been blessed by the birth 
of ten children, three boys and seven girls: Will- 
iam v., Elisha J., Hiram A., Mai-y F., Nancy, 
Feribey, Lucinda, Susan F. , Georgia F. and 



Margaret E. who died in 1846. Mr. Greer owns 
160 acres of land, with seventy -five under cultiva- 
tion. He is a member of the Wheel, in which he 
has held the office of chaplain for three months. 
He served in the late war, and enlisted in 1864 
under Capt. Choshea, as a home guard, and at 
the final surrender, returned at once and re- 
sumed his occupation of farming, which ho has 
continued with good results since that time. Mr. 
Greer and wife are members of the Baptist 
Church, in which the former has acted as dea- 
con. He was one of twenty-four who organized 
Mount Olive Church, and many other enterprises, 
which have proven of substantial worth, may be 
attributed in a large degree to his energy and 
support. 

James E. Gregory. There are a number of 
men prominently identified with the agricultural 
affairs of White County, but none among them are 
more deserving of mention than Mr. Gregory, who 
was born in Rutherford County, Tenn. , on Sep- 
tember 5, 1837. He was reared in his native 
county, and after attending the common schools 
until nineteen years of age, he took a one-year's 
course in Bethel College, Carroll County, Tenn. 
After entering on the active duties of life, he 
clerked one year for Woods & Herrell, of Bell 
Station, Tenn., and in 1859 came to Arkansas, 
and spent nearly one year in this section of the 
State, hunting and enjoying himself in his own 
way. Upon returning to the State of his birth, he 
again clerked several months, then returned to 
Arkansas for the purpose of purchasing land for 
his friends, but before they could make a settle- 
ment the war came up and Mr. Gregory enlisted, 
November 4, 1861, in the Seventh Tennessee Cav- 
alry, and sei'ved three years as second lieutenant 
of Company F, known as Fork Deer Rangers, 
being under that intrepid soldier. Gen. Forrest, 
and with him participated in many battles. He 
was captured three times, first at Brays Station, 
Tenn., January 18, 1863, and for four mouths was 
kept a prisoner at Alton, Camp Chase and Fort 
Delaware, and was exchanged at City Point, Va., 
May 4, 1863. His second capture was in Novem- 
ber at Corinth, Miss, .■i.fter the battle of Harris- 






* 

i|r 



<• k^. 



>^. 



^VHITE COUNTY. 



Ifi'J 



Imrj^ he rctnrnpi'l homp atul novor rejoinerl tbo 
army. From that time until tho present, with the 
exception of 1865, 1800 and 1867, when he was 
en<;jiigo(l in milling, he has followed farminp; as an 
occupation. In 1872 ho came to White County, 
Ark., and purchased 214 acres of land, two miles 
west of B(>el)e. on the Iron Mountain Railroad, 
and after living the life of a bachelor for one year 
he was married, March 17, 1873, on his father's 
birthday (he being sixty-one years old), to Miss 
Mary Burns, and l)y her l)ecaine tho father of the 
following family: Maud Lee (deceased), Odem S., 
Richard, Isabella and Elena. On February 0, 1882, 
ho was called upon to mourn tho death of his wife, 
and after remaining a widower until November 7, 
1SS8, he led to tho altar Mrs. Henrietta McClel- 
land, the widow of Newton McClelland, of Crockett 
County, Tenn. Since locating on his present farm 
he has cleared about ninety acres of land, and in 
all has 140 acres under cultivation, his farm com- 
prising 260 acres of exceedingly fertile land. He 
is a member of the Agricultural Wheel, the I. O. 
O. F. and the K. of H. , and being interested in 
the cause of education, he is a member of the 
school lioardof his district. His parents, Madison 
and Julia E. (Mason) Gregory, were born in 
Rutherford County, Tenn., March 17, 1812, and 
May 2, 1817, respectively, and were married in 
their native county about 1835, remaining there 
until 1846, when they removed to Haywood County, 
making their homo there until their respective 
deaths. Tho father was an extensive planter and 
slave holder, and at the time of the Civil War was 
the owner of thirteen negroes. His jilantation com ■ 
prised 480 acres, and 300 were under cultivation. 
He and wife were Methodists, and he died at the 
home of our subject on August 15, 18S1. his wife pre- 
ceding him to the "Silent Land" July 18, 1880. 
Their children are as follows: James E., Mary F. 
(deceased), Sarah E. A. (wife of Young Wortham, 
a farmer of White County), the next in order of 
birth was an infant who died unnamed, Isabella 
(wife of James H. Huljbard, a farmer of Parker 
City, Tex.), Susan P. (deceased, was the wife of 
James Hart, a farmer of Crockett County, Tenn. ), 
Emeline (wife of John Blad(^s, a druggist of Pet- 



tey. Lamar County, Tex.), Mosella (wife of Henry 
Graves, a farmer of Pettey, Lamar County, Tex.), 
Madison (a farmer, residing near Alamo, Tenn.) 
and Josej)h H. (a farmer of Johnson County, Tex.). 
Edwin Gn^gory, tho paternal grandfather, was a 
Virginian, and was one of the eai'ly settlers of Ruth- 
erford County, Tenn., whither ho moved in 1808, 
there following the occupation of farming. Tho 
maternal grandfather was Joseph Mason, a Revo- 
lutionary soldier, and a native of Tennessee. He 
was for many years a planter, and also kept a 
tavern, his establishment being midway between 
Nashville and Murfr(>esboro. Ho educated him- 
self after having children largo enough to go to 
school, all attending the sessions together. He 
filled the office of esquire forty-nino years in suc- 
cession: all cases stood as ho rendered judgment, 
but one. He freed sixty-seven slaves, and owned 
1,500 acres of land. His father was one of the 
first settlers of Nashville, Tenn. He raised eight 
children: Elizar, Julia, Polley, Allen, Kinior, Mar- 
tin, Susan and Isabellar, all lived to be grown and 
have families. Joseph died in November, 1868. 

Dr. Albert Griffin, physician and surgeon, of 
El Paso, and a graduate of Shelby Medical Col- 
lege of Nashville, Tenn., is a native of Louisiana, 
and was born in Assumption Parish September 6, 
1836, the son of Solomon and Charlotte T. (Edney) 
Griffin, originally from North Carolina. They were 
married in West Tennessee in 1834, and the same 
year moved to Louisiana, where Mr. Griffin en- 
gaged in the sugar business, owning a large refin-' 
ery and plantation. His death occurred in 1837 
at the hands of some slaves. Immediately after 
her husband's demise Mrs. Griffin returned to 
Williamson County, Tenn,, and resided there until 
1840. when she was married to Dr. Bruce, a native 
of North Carolina, but who had been for years a 
resident of Tennessee. She accompanied him to 
his home in Haywood County, and died there in 
1872. Dr. Bruce was a prominent physician, and 
his record is one that will be an honor to his chil- 
dren and their offspring. By her last marriage 
Mrs. Griffin-Bruce was the mother of seven chil- 
dren, five of them now living. Albeit Griffin, tho 
subject of this sketch, was the only child of his 



:^i 



170 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



mother's first marriage. He received bis primary 
education in the schools of Brownsville, Tenn., 
supplementing this course by an attendance at 
Andrew College at Trenton, Gibson County, Tenn. 
He then took one year's course in the Emory and 
Henry College, in Washington County, Va. , leav- 
ing that school at the age of twenty years with an 
excellent English training. In the spring of 1857 
young Griffin began the study of medicine under 
the efficient tutelage of his step-father, Dr. Bruce, 
with whom he continued for one year, adding to 
this one year's instruction with Drs. Taliaferro & 
Turner. In the fall he entered Shelby College, 
from which he graduated in 1859, as before inti- 
mated. The year 1860 witnessed his marriage to 
Miss Mary E. Laws, a native of Tennessee, and a 
daughter of James P. Laws, of "White County. 
Dr. Griffin enlisted in Carroll's Partisan Ranger 
Regiment during the war, but was detailed to at- 
tend the sick at home by the request of the people 
of his county. He has been a member of his 
school board for years, and Mrs. Griffin belongs 
to and is an active worker in the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. Dr. Griffin has a beautiful little 
home in the suburbs of El Paso, which is made 
cheerful with carefully attended flowers and shrubs. 
He is a Democrat, and exerts no little influence in 
local politics, having held various positions on 
committees in his party. He takes an active in- 
terest in schools, churches, etc., is an enterprising 
citizen and a valuable acquisition to any place. 

Elijah Guise has been a resident of White 
County, Ark., since 1868, and his example of in- 
dustry and earnest and sincere endeavor to succeed 
in life, especially in the occupation of farming, is 
well worthy of imitation. He was born in Harde- 
man County, Tenn., in 1846, and was the young- 
est of a family of seven children born to Enoch and 
Nancy (Patterson) Guise, both of whom were born 
in the State of Alabama. They were reared and 
married, however, in Tennessee, and were engaged 
in farming there until their respective deaths, in 
1863 and 1866. Enoch Guise was a minister of 
the United Baptist Church, and in his early days 
of labor for the cause of the Master, he was com- 
pelled to take long rides in order to preach at 



his different appointments. His children are: 
Gann (living in White County), Rebecca (Mrs. J. 
H. Sellers), Alvira (Mrs. Daniel Campbell), J. L. 
(residing in White County). Rachel (Mrs. James 
Sellers) and Elijah. The latter, after remaining 
with his father until he was eighteen years of age, 
began farming for himself, in his native county. 
He was married, in Shelby County, Tenn., in 1806, 
to Miss Lenora Ann Singleton, a native of De Soto 
County, Miss., and a daughter of Dr. A. J. and 
Margaret L. (Guinn) Singleton, both of whom 
were born in Georgia and Tennessee, respectively. 
They were married in Mississippi, moved to Ten- 
nessee and thence to Arkansas, in 1859, settling in 
Izard County, from which county he enlisted, in 
1861, in the Eighth Arkansas Regiment, Infantry, 
Company A, and afterward took part in the follow- 
ing battles: Greenville, Corinth, luka, Chatta- 
nooga, Murfreesboro, Lookout Mountain and siege 
of Vicksbiu'g. He was one time taken prisoner, 
but shortly afterward exchanged, and rejoined his 
family in Mississippi, and in the latter part of 1865 
went to Memphis and was in business in that city 
for one year. He then farmed near there until 
1868, when he purchased land in Big Creek Town- 
ship, Van Buren County, Ark., and there erected 
a mill. In 1869 he removed to Cleburne County 
and there died, in 1882, still survived by his wife, 
who is a resident of White County. A. J. Single- 
ton was also a minister of the Primitive Baptist and 
a physician of repute. After coming to Arkansas, 
in 1868, Mr. Guise bought a partly improved farm 
of 160 acres, and , this farm has greatly improved 
in the way of buildings and in the amount of land 
he has cleared, having now forty acres under cul- 
tivation. He is a Democrat in politics and has 
held a number of local offices, and is a member of 
the Primitive Baptist Church. He and wife have 
had three children: Joseph Andrew, Lillie Ann 
(who died at the age of two months, in 1867) and 
Emma Florence (who died in 1874, when five years 
of age). 

John INI. Hacker is a farmer and fruit grower 
of Harrison Township, White County, Ark., and 
was born in the " Hoosier State" in 1831, being 
the third in a familv of eight children born to John 



-S > 



WHITE COUNTY. 



171 



and Cynthia (Becler) Hacker. The father was born 
in the State of Tennessee and inherited Irish and 
Scotch blood from his ancestors. He was the sec- 
ond of five children and after spending his younger 
days in Tennessee he moved to Indiana, going 
thither after the celebration of his marriage, which 
occurred in 1827. The childi'en born to him in his 
adopted State are as follows: Malinda, Joseph D., 
George W., Margaret A., Mary E., Conrad D., 
James K. and John M. In 1832 the family moved 
from Indiana to Illinois, settling on a farm in the 
southern part of the State, and at a still later 
period moved to St. Louis, where the father en- 
gaged in the mercantile business until 1843, when 
he moved to Jefferson County, of the same State, 
where he died four years later. He was survived 
by his wife until February, 1888, when she, too, 
died. The early childhood of John M. Hacker was 
spent in Illinois and Missouri, but his education 
was received principally in the latter State. Being 
of an enterprising disposition, he determined to 
start out in life and seek his own fortune, and ac- 
cordingly, in 1853, went west to California and 
spent some time in mining in Eldorado County, 
becoming thoroughly familiar with western life and 
the hardships and privations which the miners 
were compelled to undergo in those days. After 
his return to Franklin County, Mo., he engaged 
in farming and in 1862 was married to Martha F. 
Johnson, daughter of Thomas J. and Mary F. 
(Falweele) Johnson, who were Virginians, the 
grandparents having been early settlers of that 
State. The paternal grandfather was in the War 
of 1812, and Gen. Joseph E. Johnston was an 
uncle of Mr. Hacker. Mi\ and Mrs. Hacker have 
a little daughter, born in August, 1881. They are 
quite well-to do and own 112 acres of good farm- 
ing land in Missouri, 130 acres in Harrison Countj', 
Ark. (which is under fruit culture), and the farm on 
which he now lives, comprising 130 acres, seven- 
teen of which he devotes to strawberries. He has 
an orchard of about 4,000 trees and he has just 
purchased a farm of forty acres in Fulton County, 
on which he expects to raise fruit. He is a mem- 
ber of Anchor Lodge No. 384, A. F. & A. M. , and 
he is deeply interested in churches and schools, he 



and wife being members of the Missionary Baptist 
Church. 

James William Hall was born in Calhoun Coun- 
ty, Miss., on January 12, 1850, and is a son of 
Hiram and Sarah (Holifield) Hall, natives of Mad- 
ison and Gibson Counties, Tenn. , respectively, the 
former of English birth. The father moved to 
Chickasaw County, Miss., in 1844, and engaged 
in farming and cotton ginning there until January, 
1869, when he sold out and moved to De Soto 
County, and eventually became the owner of large 
tracts of land in that county. Here he died on 
January 17, 188S, his wife having departed this 
life in 1859. Of seven children born to them four 
are living: John Calvin (who was captured in the 
battle of Fort Donelson in 1862, and died in prison 
at Indianapolis, Ind., in the same year), Samuel 
H. (living), Henry T. (deceased), James William, 
Sarah S. , Senath A. (who became the wife of John 
W. Wynn, and the mother of two children; she 
died in 1876 at the birth of her second child, who 
died at the same time as the mother). The first 
child, Virginia, is living in Crawford County, Ark., 
and Hiram E. James William Hall followed the 
life of the farmer's boy, and received a fair educa- 
tion in the subscription schools. May 8, 1870, he 
was married to Margaret A., a daughter of G. W. 
McKinney, of Monroe County, Miss., and for a 
number of years after he and a brother operated 
and managed a mill which their father had erected, 
our subject having an interest in the business, 
which was fairly successful. On October 7, 1872,* 
he removed to Arkansas and located upon the farm 
on which he is now living, his worldly possessions at 
that time consisting of $200 in cash, two mules, 
a wagon and some household furniture. His orig- 
inal purchase of land comprised 160 acres in a 
wild state, but he has now 440 acres and 100 acres 
under cultivation. His children are: Beulah Ann 
(born March 5, 1871, and died June 22, 1872), 
Sarah Cornelia (born December 24, 1872), Hiram 
Luther (born on December 3, 1875, and died No- 
vember 12, 1886), Helen Caroline (born May 24, 
1878) and Georgia Etta (born January 12, 1886). 

Jacob Alah Hammons, planter and stockman, 
Hammonsville, Ark. Among the many successful 



^. 



172 



HISTORY OF AEKANSAS. 



agricnlturists of White County, none are more 
worthy of mention than the subject of this sketch, 
who owes his nativity to Autauga County, Ala., 
where his birth occurred on March 7, 1822. His 
parents, John and Hannah (Dodson) Hammons 
were honored and respected citizens in the com- 
miinity in which they lived, and the father was a 
native of Virginia, his birth occurring in that State 
in 1784. The paternal ancestors came to America 
prior to the Revolutionary AVar, and some of them 
were soldiers in that world-renowned struggle. 
Grandfather Dodson was a native of England, and 
came to America before the Revolutionary War. 
Grandmother Dodson was a native of Germany. 
John Hammons was a soldier in the War of 1812. 
Jacob Alah Hammons received a limited education 
in the subscription schools of Cherokee County, 
Ala., and was one of eleven children born to his 
parents: John W. (born in 1817), Elizabeth (born 
1820), Jacob A. (born 1822), Jane (born 1824), 
Martha (born 1826), Luzella (born 1828), Lavina 
(born 1830), Mary and Susan (twins, born 1832), 
William P. (born 1835) and Thomas. Luzella 
died in 1868. In 1846 Jacob A. Hammons went 
to Cherokee County, Ga. , where he assisted in 
erecting a mill which he afterward operated. In 
1847 he returned to Cherokee County, Ala., pur- 
chased a tract of eighty acres of land, about ten 
acres of which was under cultivation, but with no 
other improvements, and there remained until 
1849. He then came to Arkansas, followed agri- 
cultural pursuits, and in 1852 was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Jane Goodman, a native of Cherokee 
County, Ala., born on May 18, 1837. Two chil- 
dren were bom to this union: John W. (born 
July 19, 1855) and Minerva L. (born October 6, 
1858). In 1856 Mr. Hammons purchased a tract of 
land with about four acres under cultivation, and 
a small log-hut being the only improvement on 
the place excepting the fencing. Mr. Hammons 
erected a log house, 16x16, in which he lived 
for about a year, and then erected another log 
house, 18x18, in which he resided until 1870. He 
then erected the line frame house which is such an 
ornament to his farm, and in which he has resided 
since that time. One hundred and twenty acres of 



the first purchase are under cultivation, and he is 
now the owner of 320 acres of land. Some of his 
land has been under cultivation for thirty-live 
years, and although it has never been fertilized, it 
produces line crops. In 1864 he enlisted as a pri- 
vate in a company of Col. McRae's regiment, and 
served one year, participating in the Missouri raid 
under Gen. Price. ]\Ii\ Hammons is a member of 
the Masonic fraternity, and he and wife are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

John William Hammons, merchant and farmer, 
Hammonsville, Ark. For a number of years past 
the town of Hammonsville has been noted far and 
wide for its excellent mercantile establishments, and 
particularly that of Mr. Hammons, who is one of 
the representative business men of the place. Aside 
from this he is also engaged in farming, and is the 
owner of 106 acres of land. He was born in Van 
Buren County, Ark. , on July 19, 1855, and is the 
son of Jacob D. and Jane (Goodman) Hammons. 
In 1857 the father moved to White County, Ark. , 
and there reared a large family of childi-en, seven 
now living. John W. Hammons was reared in White 
County, Ark., and received his education in the pri- 
vate schools of that county. He assisted his father on 
the farm for some time, and then commenced busi- 
ness for himself by teaching school, which profes- 
sion he followed for some time. In 1 874 he made a 
prospecting tour through California and Oregon, in 
which States he sojourned for nearly three years, 
and while there followed various lines of indus- 
tries, viz. : mining, farming, saw milling, teaming, 
etc., obtaining some knowledge of farming and 
mining as conducted in those States. In 1S77 he 
returned to Arkansas, and there resumed the pro- 
fession of teaching, organizing a school at Ham- 
mons' Chapel, near what is now the village of 
Hammonsville. This he conducted for two years, 
during which time he also followed agricultural 
pursuits, having pu.rohased 160 acres, which he 
hired help to clear and improve. On January 28, 
1878, he was united in man'iage to Miss Mattie Nel- 
son, daughter of George Nelson, and her death oc- 
curred in 1878. In 1879 Mr. Hammons married 
Miss Mollie J. Nelson, of White County, Ark., 
and a sister of his former wife. By this marriage 



■*^ 
^ « 



-« 5 L> 



WHITE COUNTY. 



173 



six children were born: Edgar L. (born June 13, 
1880), John K. (born November 4, 1882), Eva (born 
in 1883), Grover Cleveland (born March 2, 1885), 
Troy M. (born November 28, ISSB) and an infant 
son (born in August, 1889). Edgar died in Novem- 
ber, 1881, and Eva in 1884. In 1S79 Mr. Ham- 
mons moved to his farm, followed tilling the soil, 
and also speculated in patent rights. He also ran 
a well-auger. In 1885, in partnership with J. T. 
Phelps, he erected a store building at Hammons- 
ville, and encraged in merchandising under the 
firm title of Phelps & Hammons. The partnership 
lasted but a short time, and in 1887, in company 
with Messrs. Moore & Rollon, at Quitman, Cle- 
burne County, Ark., he again engaged in mer- 
chandising. In 1888 he bought the interest of his 
partners, and located at Hammonsville, where he 
has since remained. About September Mr. Ham- 
mons completed the building in which he now 
does business, and it is a large, commodious 
structure. His stock of goods consists of a good 
line of dry goods, boots and shoes, clothing, gro- 
ceries, drugs and plantation supplies. In politics 
he is a stanch Democrat, and has held the ofiSce 
of justice of the peace. At present he is the post- 
master at Hammonsville. 

Abraham Hancock. John Hancock was a na- 
tive of North Carolina, and was born July 26, 
1804, and was married in 1828 to Miss Martha 
Harrington, who was born in North Carolina June 
10, 1809. In 1836 he moved to Madison County, 
Tean., and there engaged in his trade of black- 
smithing until 1858, and after a residence of sev- 
eral years in Van Buren County came to White 
County, where he now resides with his aged wife. 
Mr. Hancock is of Irish descent and an own cousin 
of Gen. W. S. Hancock. He has held the office 
of sheriff in Van Buren County, but has never as- 
pired to office. His wife is of English descent, 
and l)oth are adherents of the Baptist faith. To 
thorn have been born a family of nine children, all 
living, in which Abraham, the subject of this 
sketch, is the eldest. He is a native of North Car- 
olina, and was born November 22, 1830. He was 
reared on a farm and learned the saddle and har- 
ness-maker's trade, which has been his principal 



work, but is also a good carpenter. He was given 
a good education in the common schools of his 
native State, and at the age of twenty-one began 
life for himself, first as office boy in a bank and 
later as clerk for a cotton giimer. He was mar- 
ried on March 20, 1851, to Miss Leana C. Jones, 
and to their union one child was born, IMartha 
R. (now the wife of J. J. Martin, a farmer of 
Faulkner County, Ark.) Mrs. Hancock died in 
September, 1857, and in March, 1858, Mr. Han- 
cock was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca A. 
Bertram, a native of Tennessee. To this union 
five children have been born, two of whom are now 
living: John S. (a farmer of White County, and 
who married Elizabeth Landers, a daughter of 
Thomas Landers, of White Count}') and Vera A. 
(born March 14, 1883). Those deceased are 
William H. , Paralea A. and Lena. In May, 1861, 
Mr. Hancock enlisted in Company B, Twelfth 
Tennessee Infantry, and served until the surrender 
in 1865. He participated in the battles of Bel- 
mont (Mo.), Shiloh (Tenn.), Richmond (Ky.), Mur- 
freesboro (Tenn.), Chickamauga (Ga.), Missionary 
Ridge, and at the latter place was wounded by a 
gunshot, and was heljiless for one year. At the 
battle of Shiloh, he was shot through the hip, and 
from that wound he still suffers. The last en- 
gagement that he took part in was the encounter 
at Franklin, where he was injured, and which 
disabled him for some time. During the entire 
war Mr. Hancock served as orderly-sergeant, his 
military record being one without a blemish. He 
received his parole in 1865, and at once returned 
home; here he resumed his trade of harness mak- 
ing until 1871. He then came to White County 
and purchased a farm of sixty acres. One year 
later he moved to El Paso and worked at his trade 
there, and has since been engaged at farming and 
carpentering up to the present time. Mr. Han- 
cock has erected some twelve or fourteen gin- 
powers in White County alone, and there are 
many marks of his handiwork in different parts of 
the country. He is a Democrat in his political 
views, but is an independent voter. He has hold the 
office of constable and deputy sheriff in Tennessee, 
and in 1885 was elected to the position of justice 



174 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



of the peace of Royal Township, which office he is 
at present filling. Mr. Hancock is an honorary 
member of El Paso Lodge No. 65, A. F. & A. M. , 
and was secretary of said lodge for eight years; he 
is also a member of Lodge No. 6, and is E. S. W. 
P. of that lodge. Mr. and Mrs. Hancock are 
rnembers of the El Paso Baptist Church, and the 
former always gives his support to all laudable 
enterprises for the public good. Mr. Hancock is 
a member of New Hope Wheel No. 32, in which 
he was the efficient secretary for years, and is an 
ardent worker for his order. 

Edward Harper, an influential citizen of Ro- 
mance, is the son of the late Edward Harper, Sr. , 
who was born in North Carolina in 1774, and was 
an only son of Samuel Harper. His parents died 
when he was a small boy and he was left with an 
uncle. He married, in about 1801, Elender Seal- 
lorn, a native of Maryland, after which he moved 
to Alabama, where he engaged in farming, thence 
moving to Tennessee and in 1855 came to Arkan- 
sas, settling in Prairie County, where he died 
three years later. His wife died in 1862, leaving 
a family of eleven children: Overton W. , Jefferson 
B. , Andrew J., Durinda, Edia, Malinda, Pomelia, 
Edward (our subject), Joseph A., William A. and 
Sarah A. Edward, Jr., was born in Alabama, in 
1821, and spent his early life in Western Tennes- 
see, where he received a good common- school ed- 
ucation. He taught school in Tennessee for a 
number of years, and was married in 1851 to 
Mary Kyle, who was a daughter of Marvin and 
Sarah (Dement) Kyle, originally of Alabama and 
Virginia, respectively. To this marriage the fol- 
lowing childi'en were given: Martha S. (now Mrs. 
J. B. Matthews), William K., Edward L., Julia T., 
James H., Ellen O. (deceased), Jefferson D., Sid- 
ney K. , Marvin A., John F. and Adolphus. In 
1856 Mr. Harper came to White County, Ark., 
where he purchased 240 acres of land, and now 
has nearly 100 acres cleared and under cultivation. 
Himself and wife are members of the Methodist 
Church. Mr. Harper belongs to the Masonic 
order, affiliating with Mount Veran Lodge No. 54, 
and has taken the degree of Royal Arch Mason. 
Mr. Harper is a highly respected citizen, and has 



held the office of justice of the peace for twelve 
years. 

Rev. Henry F. Harvey, one of the leading 
planters and a popular minister of White County, 
Ark., is a native of Tennessee, and was l)oru in 
1842. His father, Jesse F. Harvey, was born in 
Alabama, in 1818, where he received his education, 
and afterward immigrated to Mississippi with his 
parents, there marrying Miss Mary C. Wyatt, in 
1841. To their union was born a family of twelve 
children, of which Henry F. is the oldest. Jesse 
Harvey and his estimable wife were respected 
members of the Church (Methodist), and always 
manifested a great interest in all worthy enter- 
prises. Henry F. was educated in Mississippi, 
and moved from that State to Arkansas with his 
parents in 1869. His marriage with Miss Sarah 
J. McCleskey was consummated on November 26, 
1867. Mrs. Harvey was the daughter of John 
and Nancy McCleskey, and was born in 1849. To 
their union eight children have been born, six boys 
and two girls, seven of whom are now living: John 
F., Mary Ida, Luther B., W'illiam P., Eugene B., 
Walter W., Samuel J. and Mattie M. Mr. Harvey 
owns 232 acres of land, with 125 cultivated. He 
is a member of the Masonic Lodge, and has held the 
office of secretary of Lodge Chapter, Centre Hill 
No. 45, also affiliates with the Wheel, in which he 
held the office of State Chaplain for one year. He 
has been a member of the council for twelve years. 
He served in the late war on the Confederate side, 
and enlisted in 1861, under Gen. Buckner of Ken- 
tucky. His first hard fight was at Fort Donelson, 
where he was captured and carried to Camp Mor- 
ton, Indianapolis, and imprisoned for seven months. 
He was then exchanged and again captured in Vir- 
ginia, near Petersburg, and taken to Point Look- 
out, Md. , and incarcerated for seven months, then 
exchanged at Richmond, where he received his 
parole. After the war he returned home at once 
and began teaching school, which he continued for 
one year, and then commenced farming and preach- 
ing, his present occupation. He is an eloquent 
and brilliant speaker, and makes many converts to 
his faith (Methodist), to which he and wife belong. 
Richard D. Harris, familiarlv known as "Uncle 



^. 



-^ s 



WHITE COUNTY. 



175 



Dick" Harris, was the eldest son in a family of 
thirteen children born to Newton and Nancy 
(Spencer) Harris, natives of North Carolina. New- 
ton Harris, the father, was born in 1801, and mar- 
ried in 1821; he was the son of a soldier in the 
Revolutionary War. He was the father of the fol- 
lowing children: Richard D. (our subject), D. C, 
Louisa, Roland (deceased), Victoria M. (deceased), 
Milton, M. D., Newton (deceased), Wesley (de- 
ceased), Sidney (deceased), Steven D. and Dolly. 
Richard D. Harris first saw the light of this world 
in Tennessee in 1824, and was married October 20, 
1846, to Arcissie Bowman, a daughter of Maj. 
William and Cassander (Wade), who were of Mary- 
land nativity. Mr. Harris settled on a farm in 
Tennessee after his marriage, and in 1862 enlisted 
in Company 0, of the Forty-seventh Tennessee 
Cavalry, and participated in the battles of Cor- 
inth, Richmond (Ky.), Perrysville, Mnrfreesboro, 
Chickamauga, Kenesaw Mountain and Frank- 
lin. He received his discharge in 1863, on account 
of deafness and a weakness in the back. He then 
entered the cavalry under Forrest, but served only 
a short time when he returned home badly dis- 
abled. He had eight brothers in the Confederate 
army, one of whom, Leven, only was wounded. 
His first wife died October 2, 1858. She was the 
mother of nine children: Cassander (deceased), 
Ella (now Mrs. John Banks, of Tennessee), Molly 
(now Mrs. Reid), John D. , E. A. , Abbilow (McDin- 
worthy), Decksy (Turnage) and Eifie. Mr. Harris 
came to Arkansas, settling in White County, in 
1871, where he purchased a quarter section of 
land, of which there were about sixty acres cleared. 
He was married the second time in 1881 to Eliza- 
l>eth McDougald, a daughter of Alexander and El- 
len (Wade) McDougald. Mr. Harris is a strong 
Democrat, and cast his first presidential vote for 
James K. Polk. Mi-, and Mrs. Harris are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church, but most of his 
children are Methodists. 

Hubbard P. Heard, a most successful agricult- 
urist and stock raiser, of White County, received 
his education in this county, where he grew to 
manhood, and remained at home until the organi- 
zation of the Third Arkansas Confederate Cav- 



alry, in the early part of 1861. His regiment took 
part in sixty five engagements, and of the 104 men 
which started out, only eight returned, and he had 
many narrow escapes. He was in the siege of 
Corinth, at Beauregard's retreat into the river, at 
the battles of Shiloh, Thomas' Station (where three 
flag bearers and the colonel of his regiment were 
killed). Missionary Ridge; also at the capture of 
Knoxville, and many others, including those in the 
Georgia campaign, where he was in constant fight- 
ing for sixty days. He was taken prisoner near 
Holly Springs, and carried to Cairo, 111., where he 
was kept for nearly three months; then he was ex- 
changed with 1,100 Confederate soldiers. After 
peace was declared he returned home, and at the 
death of his father commenced farming, and in 
1880 he engaged in the saw- mill business, which 
occupation he followed for five years, since which 
time he has given his attention exclusively to farm- 
ing and .stock raising, and owns 400 acres of land, 
with 150 under cultivation. Our subject was born 
in Heard County, Ga., August 1, 1840, and is the 
son of Hubbard P. and Mary (Ware) Heard. The 
paternal grandfather of Hubbard P., Jr., Thomas 
Heard, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and 
also in the War of 1812, and was county judge of 
Heard County, which was named in honor of him. 
Hubbard Heard, Sr. , was born in 1800, and was 
married in Georgia, and came to Arkansas and lo- 
cated within ten miles of Augusta, WoodrufF Coun- 
ty, in 1840, and in 1849 removed to White County, 
where he was engaged in farming and stock raising 
the rest of his life. He was a prominent Demo- 
crat and a constituent of the Masonic order, and 
both he and his wife were members of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, South. Mrs. Heard died 
in February, 1802, at the age of sixty one, leaving 
six children, five of whom are now living: Eliza 
(widow of John Griffin), Sophia (widow of John 
Wesley), Amanda (widow of James Asque), Martha 
(widow of David Duke) and Hubbard P. (the prin- 
cipal of this sketch). After the death of his first 
wife Mr. Heard married Mrs. Sarah Pierce, who is 
now deceased. The senior Heard died in White 
County in 1860, and was highly respected by all 
who knew him, and had been a verv successful 



V 



A, 



176 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



farmer, but met with heavy losses financially dur- 
ing the war. Hubbard P. Heard was married in 
1870 to Miss Jennie Martin, a native of Tennessee, 
and who was the mother of five children, four of 
whom are still living: Dora V., Joseph W., Hub- 
bard, Jr., and James H. He was married to his 
second wife, Olive B. Markh^m, in 1884, who lived 
but three years after their marriage, and was the 
mother of one daughter, who died soon after her 
mother. Mr. Heard is a Democrat in politics and 
in secret societies belongs to the Masons. 

Col. V. H. Henderson, Searcy, Ark. In prep- 
aration of this brief outline of the history of one 
of the most influential citizens of "White County, 
appear facts which are greatly to his credit. His 
intelligence, enterprise, integrity and many estima- 
ble qualities, have acquired for him a popularity 
not derived from any factitious circumstance, but 
a permanent and spontaneous tribute to his merit. 
He is at present proprietor and manager of Searcy 
College and is also actively engaged in the real- 
estate business. He owes his nativity to Haywood 
County, West Tenn., where his birth occurred in 
1833, and is the fourth in a family of nine chil- 
dren born to the union of T. C. and Eunice (Har- 
aldson) Henderson, both natives of South Carolina. 
The parents moved to Tennessee at an early day, 
thence to St. Francis County, Ark., in 1849 and 
located in what is now Woodruff County, where 
the father followed agricultural pursuits. He died 
in Mississippi in 1844:, and the mother afterward 
came to Arkansas and thence to Texas in 1858. 
Col. V. H. Henderson came to Arkansas at the age 
of sixteen years, engaged in merchandising in Cot- 
ton Plant in 1857 and continued at that until the 
beginning of the war. In that year he enlisted at 
the above-mentioned place in Capt. Stephen's com- 
pany, was elected second lieutenant, but served 
only a short time when he was discharged on ac- 
count of ill health. He then engaged in the pur- 
suit of farming on a large scale, and in connection 
carries on merchandising extensively at Cotton 
Plant. He came to White County in 1884 for the 
purpose of recruiting his health, which had become 
impaired, and purchased a farm of 240 acres, 
which he improved and which is now known as the 



GrifBn Springs, a great watering place. He also 
raises some fine stock and is extensively engaged 
in the real-estate business. He has been active in 
building up the town and is deeply interested in 
educational matters. Socially, he is a member of 
the Ma.sonic fraternity, and in politics, although 
not active, votes with the Democratic party. He 
selected for his companion in life Miss Sarah J. 
Simpson, a native of Mississippi, and was married 
to her in Woodruff (then St. Francis) County, Ark. , 
in 1857. Her death occurred in 1871, leaving one 
child as the result of this union: Robert C, who 
is now married and resides at Cotton Plant. Col. 
Henderson was married to his second wife. Miss 
Martha A. Davies, a native of North Carolina, in 
187'2, and the fruits of this union are four chil- 
dren: Freddie Davis, Mary Virgie, Carl C. and 
Ross K. Col. and Mrs. Henderson are members 
of the Presbyterian Church. 

John T. Hicks, attorney, Arkansas. This gen- 
tleman is the junior member of the well-known law 
firm of House & Hicks, and practices in this and 
adjoining counties. He was born in Searcy, Ark. , 
on July 21, 1801, and was the second in the fam- 
ily of six children born to William and Martha A. 
(Lytle) Hicks, natives of North Carolina, born near 
Hillsboro. The father, when about eighteen years 
of age, came to Searcy, Ark. , read law at that place, 
and was admitted to the bar. He then began 
practicing and followed this during life. He took 
an active part in politics and was senator from this 
district in 1866. Prior to that he was county 
judge. He was a prominent Mason, was a Chap- 
ter member of Searcy Lodge No. 49, and was a 
member of Tillman Chapter No. 19. He met the 
mother of the .subject of this sketch while attend- 
ing college, and was married to her in Fayette 
County, Tenn. , in 1857. Six children were the 
result of this union, two of whom are living: John 
T. and Willie (who resides in Searcy). The father 
was a progressive man and took an active part in 
building up the town and county. He was also 
deeply interested in educational matters, and as a 
man, well and favorably known. He was a mem- 
ber of the Episcoj^al Church. During the late war, 
or rather at the beginning of the late war, Mr. 



,;> 



WHITE COUNTY. 



177 



Hicks had strong Union proclivities, Ijut after the 
State seceded, he joined with the State, recruited 
a company, and was promoted to the rank of colo- 
nel. He was in the battle of " Whiting Landing," 
was wounded by a shell at Helena, and was with 
Gen. Price on his raid through Missouri. After 
the war he returned to Searcy, resumed his prac- 
tice, and died August 13, 1869, at the age of 
forty-one years. He was the son of Howell T. and 
Sally (Roberts) Hicks, natives of North Carolina, 
who came to Searcy in 1846, settled in Gray Town- 
ship, and engaged in tilling the soil. The grand- 
father died in 1858, and the grandmother in 1881. 
The maternal grandparents of the subject of this 
sketch, John C. and Sarah (Graham) Lytle, were 
natives of North Carolina. At an early day they 
moved to Tennessee, where the father followed 
farming, but also continued the trade of a me- 
chanic. The grandmother died in Tennessee, and 
her husband came to Searcy (1870), where he is 
now residing. John T. Hicks was liberally educated 
in the schools at Searcy and at Fayetteville, Ark., 
after which he took a course at the University of 
Virginia. After this he took a law course in 1881 82 
and was admitted to the bar in 1883, after which 
he commenced practicing. He was married at 
Searcy in 1883, to Miss Minnie Snipes, a native 
of White County and the daughter of Dr. J. A. 
and Elizabeth (Murphy) Snipes, natives of North 
Carolina and Virginia, respectively. Both are re- 
siding at Searcy. Mr. and Mrs. Hicks have two 
children: Everette B. and Willie B. Mr. Hicks 
takes an active part in politics and was mayor of 
Searcy fi-om 1884 to 1887. Socially, he is a mem- 
ber of Searcy Lodge No. 49, Masonic fraternity, 
and is Junior Warden in that order. He is a mem- 
ber of Tillman Chapter No. 19, R. A. M. He is 
a member of the Episcopal, and she of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South. 

N. B. Hilger, a native of this county, is a son 
of John and Catharine (Yenglan) Hilger. John 
Hilger was born in Monhan, Germany, on the 
llhiue, in 1S02, and spent his school-days in that 
countrj' and was married there. A few years after 
his marriage he emigrated to America with his 
family, locating in A\'hito County, Ark., where he 



entered a quarter section of land, and at the time 
of his death, in 1853, owned 900 acres of land. 
His wife was born in 1807 and died in 1878, leav- 
ing thirteen children: John, Bardoia, Philip and 
Shibastas (who were born in Germany) and Eliza- 
beth, Catharine, Louisa, Louie, Minerva, Nancy, 
Mary, N. B. (our subject) and Margaret (who were 
born in this county). N. B. Hilger was married, 
in 1868, to Frances Elliott, who died the following 
year, leaving one child, also deceased. In 1873, 
he married Lucy A. Crump, a native of Alabama, 
and who is the mother of three children, two of 
whom are living: Noah and Laurie. He owns the 
old homestead on which he lived when a boy, and 
has 440 acres of land, about half of which is under 
cultivation and which he helped to clear. Socially, 
he is a member of the Masonic order and is school 
director of his district, and is a successful farmer 
and raises good stock, and is well and favorably 
known throughout the township. 

Rev. William H. Hodges. The father of our 
subject was James L. Hodges, a native of South 
Carolina, where he was born about 1787, and was 
the son of William and Elizabeth Hodges, also of 
South Carolina. Mr. Hodges, Sr., was married, 
in about 1810, to Sarah Comings, and they were 
the parents of eleven children: Francis, Nancy, 
Thomas, Elizabeth, William H. , Sarah, Margaret, 
James, Mary, Martha and Benjamin F. William 
H. was born in South Carolina on March 22, 1822, 
and came to Mississippi with his parents when but 
eight years of age, where he was reared on a farm. 
He was married, in 1844, to Sarah F. Roseman, a 
daughter of Samuel and Frances (Hill) Roseman. 
After his marriage he settled on a farm, where he 
resided until 1869. As the result of this union the 
following children were born: James S., Casandria 
E. (deceased), Thomas H., John F. , William A., 
Benjamin F. (deceased), Marshall L., Sarah F. , 
Archie N. (deceased), Emmott L. and Joseph T. 
They also have twenty-seven grandchildren. Mr. 
Hodges commenced preaching the Gospel in Choc- 
taw County, Miss. , in 1863. In 1869 ho came to 
Arkansas and settled in White County and in 
Cane Township, on 240 acres of land, of which he 
now has about 100 acres \uider cultivation. Mr. 



rf>c 






178 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



9'^ 



Hodges is pastor of the Bethlehem Missionary Bap- 
tist Church. He has been a very active worker in 
his labors and has organized four churches in this 
neighborhood. 

John G. Holland, one of the editors and pro- 
prietors of the Beacon, owes his nativity to Wake 
County, N. C. , where his birth occurred on Decem- 
ber id, 1845. He is the son of Willis B. and Lu- 
cinda (Barbee) Holland, natives of "Wake County, 
N. C, the former born in 1818 and died in 1869, 
and the latter born in 1814 and died in 1888. The 
parents moved from North Carolina to Henderson 
County, Tenn., in 1851, and nearly two years later 
to White County, Ark., where the father followed 
several different avocations — farming, siirveying 
and civil engineering. He was also deputy county 
surveyor for several years. Both he and wife were 
members of the Missionary Baptist Church ; he was 
a Royal Arch Mason, and of the Council degrees, 
and in his political views affiliated with the Demo- 
cratic party. Of the five children born to this 
union, John G. Holland is fourth in number of 
birth. He received a liberal education in the 
schools of White County, and during the late war 
served a few months in the Confederate army in 
the capacity of private. At the age of twenty-one 
years he turned his attention to the reading of law 
under Judge Cypert, and in 18(37 was admitted to 
the bar. He practiced his profession until 1882, 
when he turned his attention to the newspaper 
business. He was associate editor of the Arkansas 
Beacon, and in 1883 became partner. In Decem- 
ber of the same year John R. Jobe became a part- 
ner in the paper, and they have so continued ever 
since. In 1877 he was mayor of the city of Searcy, 
continuing in that capacity one year. In 1885-86 
he was justice of the peace. He is at present 
president of the school board of Searcy. In 1877 
he was elected assistant clerk of the lower house 
of the General Assembly, and in 1879 was elected 
to the position of chief clerk in the same; in 1881 
he was elected secretary of the senate, and has 
served in that capacity ever since. On January 
14, 1879, he married Miss Ella M. Henley, daugh- 
ter of B. F. and Mary J. Henley, and she died in 
April, 1889, leaving five children: Lillie C, Delia, 



Percy, Bessie and Lewis F. Mr. Holland is a 
member of the Missionary Baptist Church at 
Searcy, and is clerk of the same. He is a Council 
Mason, is a member of the K. & L. of H., and in 
his political views affiliates with the Democratic 
party. 

W. G. Holland, M. D. In recording the names 
of the prominent citizens of White County, the 
name of W. G. Holland, M. D., is given an en- 
viable position. He was a faithful student in his 
chosen profession, and truly merits the prominence 
accorded him in the medical fraternity, as well as 
the confidence and respect shown him by the en- 
tire community. He owes his nativity to Tennes- 
see, and was born in Henderson County, April 6, 
1847. His father. Dr. James C. Holland, was 
born in Wayne County, N. C, December 12, 1807, 
and he received his education in his native State, 
and in 1833 he was united in marriage to Rebecca, 
daughter of Frederick and Lucy Collier, and by 
her became the father of six children: Julia F., 
Eliza, Maria R. (deceased), Charles E. (deceased), 
W. G. and his twin brother (who died in infancy). 
Mrs. Holland died at Searcy, May 10, 1861, and 
for his second wife, Dr. Holland chose Miss Ellen 
Kirby of Tennessee. Dr. Holland was both phy- 
sician and silversmith by occupation for over fifty 
years. He immigrated to Arkansas from Tennessee 
in 1853, and located in Searcy, where he resided 
until his death in 1887. He was a man of consid- 
erable influence, and a politician to some extent. 
He was a devout member of the Methodist Church, 
as was also his wife. He held a membership in 
the Masonic lodge for over forty years, being a 
member of Searcy Lodge No. 49, and Tillman 
Chapter No. 19, where he discharged the duties 
of secretary and treasurer up to the date of his 
death. W. G. Holland received a good practical 
education in the schools of Searcy, but obtained 
his medical knowledge in the University of Louis- 
ville, Ky. , during the years 1869-71. After his 
graduation Dr. Holland returned to his home and 
built the foundation of his present large and lucra- 
tive practice. He was married December 8, 1872, 
to Annie Goad, a daughter of Henry and Mary 
Goad, and their union has been blessed with three 






WHITE COUNTY. 



179 



children: Mary E., William E. (deceased), and an 
infant, who died unnamed. Mrs. Holland died 
August, 10, 1887, and in 1889 Dr. Hollaad was 
united in marriage to Rachel V. Fancetto, their 
marriage occurring September 1. Dr. \V. G. 
Holland served in the late war, entering in 18G4 
under Gen. Shelby. He was wounded at Pilot 
Knob, September 28, 1864, and also captured and 
taken prisoner to Alton, thence to Rock Island 
and Richmond, Va. , where he was exchanged in 
March, 1865, receiving his parole at that point. 
He at once returned home and entered the liter- 
ary school for three years, and began the study 
of medicine in sirring of 1868. Dr. and Mrs. Hol- 
land are members in high standing of the Meth- 
odist Church. 

A. B. House is accounted a prosperous farmer 
and stockman of Red River Township, and like 
the majorit}' of native Tennesseeans, he is pro- 
gressive in his views and of an energetic temper- 
ament. He was born in Maury County, in 1822, 
and is the youngest in a familj' of nine children 
born to Joseph and A4cy (Bedwell) House, the 
former of whom is a native of North Carolina, 
born in 1775. When a lad he was taken to Ten- 
nessee, and about the year 180(1, was married in 
that State and engaged in farming and raising 
stock, his land amounting to 200 acres. He died 
in 1862, and his wife in 18-15, both having been 
earnest and consistent members of the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church. Their children are: 
Mary (deceased), Reuben (who is married and lives 
in White County, Ark.), John (married and lives in 
Tennessee), Patience (Mrs. Haines, now deceased), 
Charlotte (the wife of John Myers, is also dead), 
William (and' his wife, formerly a Miss Bedwock, 
are deceased), Marcenie (is the wife of Mr. Bra- 
zele and resides in West Tennessee), Jane (and her 
husband, D. House, are both dead) and A. B. (the 
subject of this memoir). The paternal grandfather 
was John House, and the mother's father was Reu- 
ben Bedwell, a native of Tennessee. A. B. House 
resided in his native State until he arrived to man- 
hood, then came to White County, Ark. He reared 
his family in his native State, and with the assist- 
ance of his wife, Eliza Wilkes, whom he married 

12 



in 1840, he succeeded in giving them good educa- 
tions. Their names are : Thomas (who married Mary 
Minifee, by whom he has two children, resides in 
Arkansas). Joseph (who married Ina Dowdy and 
lives at Little Rock, the father of four children), 
James P. (married Lou Parcell, but is now a wid- 
ower and lives in Augusta with his one child) and 
Mary (who married Mr. Harville. She died, leav- 
ing one child, who was reared by his grandfather). 
Mrs. House died after their removal to Arkansas, 
in 1884. She was a daughter of Thomas and 
Ruth Wilkes, and was one of a family of thirteen 
children. After coming to Arkansas Mr. House 
settled on a woodland farm of 140 acres, and now 
has eighty acres under cultivation. He raises 
some of the finest stock in the county and many 
of his animals have won first premiums at the 
county fairs. He is a Democrat and a member of 
the Masonic order and he and his present wife, 
who was Martha McMillan and whom he married 
in 1884, are members of the Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church, his first wife being also a member 
of this church. 

Andrew J. Hughs is the son of Harden Hughs, 
a highly respected man who was born in Tennes- 
see, in 1791, and took a prominent part in the 
French and Indian Wars .of 1813 and following. 
He was married in 1813 to Miss Sallie Jones, 
and they were the parents of eight chikken: 
Thomas, Katie, Polly, Betty, Andrew J. (the prin- 
cipal of this biography), Marian, Louisa and Hard- 
ing. The senior Hughs immigrated to Arkansas ' 
and settled in White County, in 1842, where he 
purchased a quarter section of land and on which 
he lived until his death, which occurred in 1858, 
his wife surviving him until 1871. Andrew J. 
owes his nativity to Tennessee, his birth occurring 
in 1828, and was fourteen years of age when his 
parents came to Arkansas. He was married on 
January 30, 1850, to Miss Sarah Marsh, who was 
born in Tennessee, January 7, 1831, and was the 
daughter of Roland and Sarah (Webb) Marsh. 
Her parents both died in Tennessee, in 1835, and 
she then came to Arkansas with her brothers, 
John and Harvey Marsh, who located in White 
County. Mr. and Mrs. Hughs were the parents 



<S li^ 



180 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



of eleven children, four of whom are deceased: 
Francis M. Mary M. (deceased), Thomas F. , Har- 
den M., Martha (now Mrs. Asia Buchanan), Sarah 
Jane (now Mrs. Woodell), John A. (deceased), 
Ulysses M., Rachel A., Cymantha and Emma. 
They are also the grandparents of sixteen children. 
Mr. Hughs has 300 acres of land, with 180 acres 
under cultivation, which he and his father before 
him have farmed for the past forty-five years, and 
which Mr. Hughs says is as fine a piece of land 
as there is in the State. He and his wife have 
been members of the Methodist Chui-ch for over 
thirty-five years, and take a very active part in all 
church work. He also belongs to the County 
Wheel. He takes an active interest in all public 
matters, and was on the Review in 1866 and 
helped to reconstruct the State. 

D. W. Holiman is a citizen in good standing, 
and is held in high esteem by his associates. He 
was left an orphan at the age of four years, and 
cared for and reared by his older brothers and sis- 
ters, on a farm in Mississippi. At the age of 
twenty-one he started out for himself, and came to 
Arkansas, and located in Van Buren County, and 
four years after removed to AVhite County. In 
1876 he married Lucinda Bouliand, a daughter of 
J. W. and Martha A. (Harvey) Bouliand, origin- 
ally of Kentucky, and who came to Arkansas at an 
early day, and settled in Wliite County. His 
nearest town and market at that time was Little 
Rock. Mr. Holiman was the youngest son in a 
family of ten children, born to Willis and Eliza 
(Virnan) Holiman, natives of South Carolina, and 
parents of the following children (and two others 
deceased, whose names are not given): James P., 
Malinda, William H., John, Martha, Bell, Willis 
and D. W^. (our subject, who was born in Missis- 
sippi in 1849). D. W. Holiman and wife are the 
parents of four children: Martha J., Willis W., 
Eddie Lee, Hettie J., all of whom are at home. 
He has a farm of 258 acres, with fifty under culti- 
vation. In religious belief, he and his wife are 
members of the Baptist Church, in which they take 
an active j)art. He is also a member of the County 
Wheel. Mrs. Holiman has seen a great change in 
White County during her lifetime, having been 



born and reared in this county. Mr. Holiman is a 
strong Democrat, and a good citizen. 

George Irwin is a general farmer and fruit 
grower of Harrison Township, White County, Ark., 
and although a native of Kentucky, born in 1822, 
he has been a resident of this State for the past 
thirteen years. His father, Joseph Irwin, born in 
Kentucky in 1782 in a small neighborhood stockade, 
called Fort Hamilton, in the western part of Nel- 
son County, was of Scotch-Irish descent, being one 
of a family of nine children born to John Irwin, 
who came from Ireland before the Revolutionary 
War. Joseph spent his youthful days on a farm, 
and on March 30, 1808, was married in Kentucky 
to Sarah Thompson, and by her became the father 
of the following sons: Hardin, James, Joseph, 
George, John and Benjamin. In 1828 he moved to 
Indiana, and died in Knox County, in 1858. hav- 
ing been a member of the Whig party, and he and 
wife members of the Baptist Church. His wife's 
death occurred in Parke County, Ind. , in 1862. 
George Irwin acquired a fair education in the sub- 
scription schools of his native county, but at the age 
of seventeen years he left home and went to the 
pineries of Wisconsin, and until the spring of 1850 
followed the lumbering business. In 1850 he 
resolved to seek his fortune in California, and after 
reaching the "Eldorado of the West," he engaged 
in mining, and succeeded far beyond his expecta- 
tions. At the end of two years he returned to 
Indiana, and settled down to the peaceful pursuit of 
farming, and there, in 1854, was united in the 
bonds of matrimony to Catherine Black, a daughter 
of Thomas and Lavina (Dudley) Black, of Sullivan 
County, lud. After remaining in Indiana some 
ten years, Mr. Irwin immigrated to Dallas County, 
Iowa, and twelve years later came to White County, 
Ark., buying, almost as soon as he reached the 
county, 160 acres of land where he now lives. He 
has sixty acres under cultivation, and owing to the 
attention which he gives to the minutest details of 
his work he is doing well. He belongs to the Agri- 
cultural Wheel, and although formerly a Republi- 
can in his political views, he is now a Prohibitionist. 
He and wife are members of the Baptist Church, 
and are the parents of these children: May (Mrs. 



^, 



'.hL^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



ISl 



Charles Brigg?, residing in AVhite Coiinty), Brou- 
ghan (who died in 1SS7), Dudley, and Grace, the 
youngest, who was eighteen years old in March, 
1889. 

James M. Jackson, of Kussell, Ark., was born 
in Perry County, Ala., February 18, 1853, and is 
the son of Lorenzo D. Jackson, of North Carolina. 
The former's birth occurred in 1811, and at the 
age of twenty-two years he moved from North Car- 
olina to Alabama, where he was residing at the 
time of his death, in 1865, when fifty- four years 
old. He was a farmer by occupation, and quite 
successful in his chosen profession. In his party 
views he sided with the Democrats, though not a 
political enthusiast. He was a member of the Bap- 
tist Church and a zealous worker in religious and 
all charitable enterprises. His wife, Anna (Win- 
ston) Jackson, was a daughter of James Winston, 
and a native of North Carolina. Her marriage 
with Lorenzo D. Jackson was consummated in 
1833, and after her husband' s demise she resided 
with her son, James M., until her death in 1886. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Jackson a family of eight chil- 
dren were born, three sons and five daughters, four 
of whom are now living: Anna (wife of L. D. N. 
HufF, of White County, Ark.), Fannie (first mar- 
ried to Britt Perry, now the wife of Henry C. 
Strange, of White County), Mary S. (Mrs. John 
Huff), James M. (the subject of this sketch) and 
Lacy J. (wife of Reuben Bennett, now deceased). 
William L. died in the Confederate army, and was 
one of the first volunteers of the war. Thomas 
was killed at the battle of Sharpsburg, in the 
Confederate army, and Martha died in Alabama. 
James M. received his education in the common 
schools of his native State, and at the age of eight- 
een came from Alabama to White County, Ark., 
where he launched his own canoe, and began life 
for himself. His choice of an occupation was farm- 
ing, to which he had been carefully drilled by his 
father. Mr. Jackson now owns 16(1 acres of good 
land in a fair state of cultivation, divided into two 
farms. He is also interested in a large grist-mill 
and cotton-gin at Russell. Active, energetic and 
indiistrious in his efforts, he is on the high road to 
prosperity. He was first married, January 10, 



1877, to Miss Nannie, daughter of William and 
Emily Plant. Mr. Plant is a native of Tennessee, 
but moved to Arkansas in 1859, his being one of the 
oldest families in this county. Mrs. Jackson died 
November 20, 1877, leaving one child, William D. 
In 1888 Mr. Jackson was united in marriage with 
Miss Virginia L. Shelton, of Arkansas, and at that 
time a resident of Jackson County. To this union 
two children have been born: Robert L. and Frank 
Earl. Mr. Jackson served as township bailiff and 
deputy sheriff for two and a half years, discharg- 
ing the duties of that office faithfully and to the 
entire satisfaction of all concerned. He is a Dem- 
ocrat in politics, and a member of the Baptist 
Chiirch at Russell, Ark. In societies he is identi- 
fied with the Masonic order, is a Knight of Honor 
and a member of the Triple Alliance Mutual 
Benefit Association. He is a liberal contributor to 
his church, and the needy are never sent from his 
door empty-handed. Indeed too much praise can 
not be accorded Mr. Jackson for his upright course, 
for he is noble-minded, generous, and of that cal- 
iber of men who build up a community to places 
of thrift and enterprise. 

J. R. Jobe, who is one of the editors and pro- 
prietors of the Beacon, owned by Holland & Jobe, 
became connected with the paper .in December, 
1884, and has continued with it ever since that 
time. He was born at Ringgold, Ga. , on August 
24, 1855, and was the fifth in a family of thirteen 
children born to David and Sarah (Hardin) Jobe, na- 
tives of East Tennessee and Georgia, respectively. 
The father was a farmer by occupation and came 
to Columbia County, Ark., in 1857, settled on a 
farm, remained there one year and then removed 
to Des Arc, Prairie County, Ark., where he fol- 
lowed mercantile pursuits until 1861. He then 
moved to Pope County, Ark, remained there until 
1863, when he moved to White County and settled 
in Union Township, where he followed agricult- 
ural pursuits until his death, which occurred in 
May, 1888. His excellent wife, still living, resides 
at Russellville, Pope County. J. R. Jobe's early 
life was divided between assisting on the farm and 
in attending the district schools of White County, 
although he greatly improved his education by 



<ii k. 



_< % 



182 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



personal application in later years. He started 
out on the highway of life at the age of twenty 
years, engaged in farming nntil he was elected 
county clerk in 1882, and in October moved to 
Searcy, where he tilled the above-mentioned oliice 
to the satisfaction of all for two years. He then 
purchased the interest of the Beacon from Rev. Z. 
T. Bennett, who was the founder of the paper in 
1878, and has been connected with it ever since. 
He is active in politics and votes with the Demo- 
cratic party. He was married in White County in 
November, 1878, to Miss Cora E. Harris, a native 
of Tennessee, and the daughter of Dr. D. C. and 
Susan E. Harris, natives of Tennessee, who came 
to White Coimty, Ark., in 1874. Her mother died 
in 1879, l)ut her father resides at Beebe, and aside 
from being a practicing physician is also engaged 
in mercantile pursuits. By his marriage Mr. J.obe 
became the father of three childi-en: Edgar Wil- 
mett, John Bertram and Lucille. Mr. Jobe was 
elected in January, 1886, to till an unexpired term 
of city recorder and ex-officio treasurer, and has 
filled that position satisfactorily since that time. 
He is also corresponding secretary of the Arkansas 
Press Association, and is now serving the second 
term. 

Wiley A. Johnson, the senior member of the 
well-known and representative firm of W^. A. John- 
son & Son, wagon manufacturers of Beebe, Ark., 
was born in Indiana, October 12, 1832, being the 
son of Daniel S. and Nancy (Parker) Johnson, 
natives of New York and Pennsylvania, respect- 
ively. Daniel Johnson's younger days were spent 
in the State of his birth, but when grown to man- 
hood he went to Indiana and there married in 
1822. He was a tailor by trade, and a few years 
before his death served as county clerk of the 
county in which he resided, in Tennessee. His 
demise occurred in 1833, at the age of thirty years, 
Wiley A. Johnson at that time being only one year 
old. After his father's death the latter moved to 
Weakley County, Tenn., with his mother, who re- 
mained in her widowed state for sixteen years, at 
the end of whicli time she was united in marriage 
with Mr. George Winston, but only lived one year 
after that event. The parents were members of 



the Methodist Episcopal Church, and were held in 
high esteem by all who knew them. Wiley A. 
Johnson was educated in the schools of Dresden, 
Tenn., proving a bright and intelligent scholar, 
and when seventeen years old became an appren- 
tice to a blacksmith. After completing his appren- 
ticeship, at the age of twenty, he at once went to 
work for himself, and for several years was em- 
ployed in different shops all over We.stern Tennes- 
see. In 1856, settling at Union City, Obion 
County, he was there married to Nanny Curlin, a 
native of that county, on October 14, 1856, and to 
them one child has been born, William W. Fol- 
lowing his marriage, Mr. Johnson settled in Union 
City, and carried on his business of blacksmithing 
and wagon-making for nine years, moving thence 
to Trenton, Gibson County, where he remained for 
three years. After living in Verona, Miss., and 
Sulphiir Rock, Ark., he came to Beebe in 1885 and 
formed the present firm, now having a large and 
substantial trade. Mr. Johnson and son are among 
the leading business men of this section, and enjoy 
the resjaect of all, both as business and social fac- 
tors. They are public-spirited and lend their sup- 
port to those enterprises that are intended for the 
good or growth of the country. In his religious 
belief, Mr. Johnson clings to the Methodist faith, 
of which church his wife is also a devout member. 
The paternal grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch, Collert Johnson, was probably a native of 
Pennsylvania, and a wealthy planter of Indiana. 
He had several sons who figured prominently in 
the early wars, and when last heard from were 
residing in Southern Indiana. Included in Mr. 
Johnson's maternal relations, of whom he knows 
but little, were two uncles, Lorenza and Gideon 
Parker, both holding high ofiices in the Florida 
War. 

Thomas P. Jones, a distinguished citizen of 
W^hite County, and a native of South Carolina (his 
birth occurring in Abbeville District, October 13, 
1830), is the son of Clayton and Nancy (Miford) 
Jones, natives of the same State and district. 
Clayton Jones was of ^^'elsh descent, and first saw 
the light of day July 11, 1802. He honored the 
Democratic party with his vote, and in his relig- 






-d s 



4^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



183 



ions belief was a member of the Baptist Church. 
He was a farmer, and quite successful in the accu- 
mulation of wealth, and a very prominent citizen, 
contributing liberally to all church and charitable 
works. la short, he was a good man in all that 
the term implies. He died February 2, 1885, at 
the age of eighty-three years, sincerely mourned 
by his many friends and acquaintances. Mrs. Jones 
received her education in South Carolina, and from 
an early age was a consistent member of the Mis- 
sionary Baptist Church. She was a faithful wife 
and an indulgent mother, loved by all who knew 
her, and at the time of her death (in her fifty- 
fourth year) was residing in South Carolina. To 
the union of Mr. and Mrs. Jones five children were 
born: Elizabeth (wife of Jackson Clements, de- 
ceased, and now residing in Anderson District, 
S. C. ), T. P. Jones (living in "White County, and 
the subject of this sketch ), Samuel C. (who 
died in South Carolina), James S. (deceased in 
Mississippi) and Clayton W. (died in Virginia). 
Thomas P. Jones received the limited advantages 
for an education that the schools of the period 
afPorded, and began for himself at the age of 
twenty- four, being employed as a farmer in his 
native state. In June, 1854, he was united in 
marriage to Margaret A. Tribble, of South Caro- 
lina, and a daughter of John and Essa Tribble, of 
AVelsh and Irish descent, respectively. The result 
of their marriage was eleven children, ten of whom 
are now living: James M. (a farmer of Cross 
County, Ark.), Thomas C. (also of Cross County), 
Martha J. (wife of Thomas J. Futrell, a prosper- 
ous farmer of Cross County), Christopher E., 
William N., Emma J., Laura T. , Dixie A., Leona 
A., Samvann and George A. (killed by machinery 
in 1877). Mr. Jones moved from South Carolina 
to Georgia in 1854, whence, after a residence of 
two years, he returned to Pickens District. At 
the end of two years he came to JefFerson County, 
Ala., and there resided until the opening of the 
Civil War. His family returned to South Carolina 
at the commencement of hostilities, and remained 
there until joined by Mr. Jones at the final sur- 
render. Removing from South Carolina to Cross 
County, Ark., in 1868, and thence to AVhite County, 



in 1882, where he is at present residing, he now 
owns a farm well improved and very productive, 
besides 240 acres of woodland, in two farms. Mr. 
Jones' second marriage was to Mrs. Tabitha Berry, 
the widow of Fenwick Berry (deceased), of Cross 
County, Ark. Mr. Jones enlisted in the Confed- 
erate army in December of 1861, in Blount's Bat- 
talion, Alabama Volunteers. He participated iu 
the battles of Shiloh, Lookout Mountain, Mission- 
ary Eidge, the battles around Corinth, and other 
engagements of minor importance; was captured 
at Missionary Eidge and taken to Eock Island, 
where, for nineteen months, he endured all the 
horrors and privations of prison life. He was 
exchanged at the mouth of Big Eed Eiver, in May 
of 18G5, the last exchange of prisoners during the 
war. He was a gallant soldier, nobly espousing 
the cause, and truly merited the many marks of 
commendation and praise that he received from his 
superior officers. At the close of hostilities he 
returned home and came to Arkansas, as above 
stated. Mr. Jones is a stanch Democrat, though 
not an enthusiast in political matters. He is a 
Master Mason and a Knight of Honor, and a promi- 
nent and influential member of the Missionary 
Baptist Church. A leader, and not a follower, in 
worthy enterprises, he contributes liberally to all 
charitable objects, and enjoys the confidence and 
respect of his fellow-men. 

H. C. Jones, M. D., was a son of H. C. and 
Nancy (Akin) Jones, natives of North Carolina and 
Alabama, respectfully. The father went to Ala- 
bama from his native State, where he married, and 
in 1846 moved to Mississippi. Himself and wife 
were the parents of the following children: Silas S. 
(deceased), Eufus C, Happach (now Mrs. Brad- 
dock, of Texas), Josephine (now I\Irs. Maddox), H. 
C. (our subject). Perry Q., Nancy and Adel J. (now 
Mrs. Leppard). Mr. Jones died in February, 1868, 
but his widow still survives him and lives in Mis- 
sissippi. H. C. Jones, Jr. , was born in Itawamba 
County, Miss., at old Correllville, now Baldwyn, 
where he resided until 1871, when he removed to 
Arkansas and settled in White County. Having 
previously obtained a good medical training, he 
commenced practicing here in 1873, and has met 



-^A 



<S k. 



184 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



with that success which close attention to business 
and careful, painstaking effort always merit. Dr. 
Jones, was married in 1869 to Sarah Q. Alford, a 
daughter of Thomas and Sarah Alford, of St. Clair 
County, Ala. They have a family of three chil- 
dren: Angie, Mark P. and Irena, all of whom are 
at home. Mr. Jones is an active Democrat; his 
wife and family are members of the Baptist Church. 
Dr. Jones is a very successful physician, and en- 
joys an extensive practice. He is also an excellent 
school worker, taking the lead in his township in 
all school enterprises, and is a local politician of 
some note. 

Arthur Clifford Jordan, M. D. Among the 
younger members of the medical profession in 
White County, Ark., is he whose name heads this 
sketch, already well established as a jshysician of 
merit and true worth, and regarded with favor by 
those older in years and experience. He was born 
March 10, 1860, and is a son of John B. and Ella 
(Emmons) Jordan, of Scotch and English descent, 
born in Alabama and New York, respectively. They 
were married at Blackhawk, Miss., in 1858, and 
became the parents of three children: Arthur C, 
John Preston (born February 19, 1865, is a book- 
keejier in the city of Memphis), Lena Lee (born in 
1870, lives with her mother who is now widowed, 
her husband having died in October 1885). Dr. 
Arthur Clifford Jordan was reared in his native { 
county (Holmes County, Miss.), and acquired a j 
fair education in the Yazoo District high school. 
At the age of sixteen years he matriculated in the 
Literary Department of the University of Nashville, 
Tenn. , and after attending school there for two 
years he began the study of medicine, being guided 
in his studies by his father, who was an able prac- 
titioner at Blackhawk. After holding the position 
of principal of tbe Masonic Male Academj', of Car- 
rollton, Miss., for two terms, and teaching in the 
public schools of Holmes and Carroll Counties, he 
(in 1884) entered the Medical Department of the 
Vanderbilt University, and was graduated as an 
M. D. in 1886. In March of that year he returned 
to his home in Mississippi, and completed his prep- 
arations for his removal to Arkansas. He settled i 
in Beebe in May of that year, commenced practic- 



ing, and has continued it with such success that an 
unusually brilliant future is predicted for him. He 
has performed many of the intricate operations 
which pertain to major and minor surgery. The 
Doctor is a Democrat and has served as alderman 
of Beebe, and is a member of the board of school 
directors. January 12, 1888, he was married to 
Miss Florence Merrill, who was born in Michigan 
October 25, 1871, and by her has one child, Mable 
Clare (born July 27, 1889). The Doctor and his 
wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, and are among the honored residents of 
Beebe. His maternal grandfather was a major in 
the Revolutionary war. 

J. S. Kelley, retired, Judsonia, Ark. Not 
very far from the allotted age of three-score years 
and ten, Mr. Kelley has so lived that no word or 
reproach against his character as a man has ever 
been heard; for his whole ambition has been to do 
his duty in every capacity, as a father, husband, 
citizen or friend. Progressive in all matters, he 
has kept outside of the political arena, though a 
Repuljlican in politics. Like many of the older 
inhabitants of this community Mr. Kelley is a na- 
tive of Vermont, his birth occurring in 1822, and 
is the son of Daniel and Mary (Ballard) Kelly. 
The father was born in Rhode Island, but when 
a boy immigrated to Vermont with his parents, and 
was reared in that grand old mother of States. 
Later he moved with parents to Vermont, and 
there met and married Miss Ballard, the daughter 
of David Ballard, a native of the last-mentioned 
State. After his marriage Mr. Kelley settled near 
Rutland, followed farming and there reared to 
maturity the following children: David, Erastus, 
Alonzo, Smith, Daniel, Julia, J. S., Moses and 
Elisha. The father died in Vermont in 1859, and 
his widow followed him to the grave in 1865. J. 
S. Kelley was taught the principles of farm life 
when young and secured a fair education in the 
district schools of Vermont. He was married in 
that State in 1846 to Miss Mary Hall, a daughter 
of David and Esther (Wheaton) Hall, natives of 
Pittsford, Vt., and two children were the fruits of 
this union: Emma A. and Ella A. (twins). The 
former is now deceased, but the latter is the wife 



-^ ^ 



flkn 



WHITE COUNTY. 



185 



of Rev. James Tompkins, of Galesburg, 111., and 
now resides in Chicago. She is the mother of 
four children. J. S. Kelley left Vermont in 1854 
and settled near Wheaton. Dn Page County, 111., 
where he followed agricultural pursuits until 1872. 
He then moved to Judsonia, White County, Ark., 
and in 1875 his wife died at Hot Springs. In 
1876 he was married to Miss Willie Key, daugh- 
ter of James and Elizabeth (Brown) Key, who 
settled in White County, Ark., in 1859. Mrs. 
Kelley was second in a family of nine children, 
who were named as follows: Cassie M. , Willie P., 
Alpha B., George F., Etoils S., Benjamin F., 
Harriet C, Lena G. and Maud M. The parents 
of these children are still living and reside in Jud- 
sonia. By his marriage Mr. Kelley became the 
father of four interesting children: Fannie J., 
James C, Elmer L. and Ira W. Elmer died at 
the age of eighteen months. Mr. Kelley was a 
member of the Masonic lodge and also of the I. 
O. O. F. lodge in Illinois. When first coming to 
White County he engaged in the milling business, 
but later engaged in the livery business, which he 
continued for a number of years. He is now liv- 
ing a retired life. Mrs. Kelley is an honored and 
much-esteemed member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. 

James M. Key, retired farmer, Judsonia. Ark. 
This much-esteemed citizen owes his nativity to 
the Old Dominion, where his birth occurred in 
1814, and is the youngest in a family of fourteen 
children born to the marriage of John and Eliza- 
beth (Watson) Key, natives also of Virginia, the 
father's birth occurring in 1760. James M. Key 
was early taught the principles of farm life, and 
when twelve years of age went to Philadelphia, 
where for six years he attended school, there and 
at Burlington, N. J. In about 1833 he went to 
Alabama, and after remaining there a short time, 
removed to Tennessee, where he was married, in 
1836, to Miss Mary Scruggs, a native of Virginia, 
and daughter of Robert and Mary Scruggs, who 
were also natives of that State. To the marriage 
of Mr. Key were born the following children: 
Hettie, John, Sidney, Mary A., Myra A., James 
R., Fannie W. and Flovd B. Mr. Kev lost his 



wife in 1848, and was married again, in 1854, to 
Miss Elizabeth M. Brown, daughter of Colonel 
William R. and Sarah P. Brown. The result of 
this union were the following children: Sarah M., 
Willie P., Alfred B., Sallie E., Benjamin F., Har- 
riet C. , Lena (deceased), Maud and May. Mr. 
Key settled in White County, Ark., in 1858, fol- 
lowed agricultural pursuits on a farm consisting^ 
of from 300 to 400 acres, and there remained 
twelve years. He then moved and purchased a 
farm of 160 acres, seven miles from Judsonia, 
where he remained until 1888. He then retired 
from active pursuits and moved to Judsonia, where 
he exjaects to spend his declining years. He has 
seen many changes in the country since residing 
here, and is one of the county's most respected 
and honored citizens. He votes the Democratic 
ticket; is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South; has been magistrate and takes 
great interest in all that pertains to the good of 
the county, schools, churches, etc. , having helped 
to found the first churches in this part of the 
country. In early days Mr. Key took great inter- 
est in hunting and was quite a marksman. He 
had two sons in the late war. His wife is a mem- 
ber of the Missionary Baptist Church. 

Bloiint Stanley King, farmer and stock raiser, 
Little Red, Ark. The entire life of Mr. King has 
been one without any material change from the or- 
dinary pursuits of farm toil, and yet not devoid of 
substantial results as an agriculturist. He is a 
native-born citizen of White Coiinty, his birth oo- 
curing in October, 1845, and is one of seven chil- 
dren born to the union of James and Susan (James) 
King, the father a native of East Tennessee, and 
probably of German descent. The ancestors came 
to America prior to the Revolutionary War, and 
the grandfather particij)ated in that world-re- 
nowned struggle. Mrs. Susan (James) King was 
a native of North Carolina. The parents came to 
Arkansas on January 6, 1829, and settled in Cald- 
well Township, White County, Ark. , where Blount 
S. King received a limited education in the common 
schools. He was roared to agricultural pursuits, 
and has followed that calling all his life, meeting 
with substantial results. On June 4, 1S71, he was 



■^^ — ^|v 



<S k_ 



186 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



united in marriage to Miss Sarah Pinegar, and the 
fruits of this union were three children. Jerome 
L. was born April 1, 1874, but the other children 
died in infancy. Mrs. King died on September 5, 
1875. On December 24, 1876, Mr. King took for 
his second wife. Miss Caroline Virginia Clark, a na- 
tive of Kentucky, born May 10, 1855, and whose 
parents came to Arkansas from Kentucky, in 1856. 
This second union resulted in the birth of the fol- 
lowing children: Noah Lot (born October 13, 1877, 
and died August 31, 1886), Austin Ward (born 
August 22, 1881), Willia M. (born October 7, 
1883), Daniel D. (born July 31, 1885, and died 
April 23, 1888), and Florence Orenia (born on Au- 
gust 14, 1888). Mr. King came into possession of 
his farm by will fi'om his father, eighty acres, with 
about eighteen under cultivation, and well adapted 
to agriculture or horticulture. He takes an inter- 
est in all matters relating to the good of the county, 
and his children are having as good educational 
advantages as his means will admit. He is a mem- 
ber of the Agricultural Wheel, and he and his wife 
are members of the United Baptist Church. 

John Thomas King, planter and stock raiser. 
Little Red, Ark. A lifetime devoted with persever- 
ance and energy to the pursuit of agriculture, have 
contributed very materially to the success which 
has attended the efforts of Mr. King, a man of 
substantial and established worth. He was born in 
1849, and is the son of James and Louisa (James) 
King whose marriage took place in 1846. This 
union resulted in the birth of six children: New- 
ton (born in 1847), John Thomas (born in 1849), 
Pinkney McDonald (born in 1851), Joseph (born 
in 1853), Jesse (born in 1855) and William (born 
in 1857). Previous to this James King married a 
sister of his second wife, Miss Susan James, in 1 829, 
and by her became the father of seven children: 
Sophia (born in 1830), Richard (born in 1832), Jas- 
per (born in 1834), Robert (born in 1837), Marion 
(born in 1839), Allen (born in 1842) and Blount S. 
(born in 1845). John Thomas King owes his nati- 
vity to White County, Ark., and his education was 
obtained in the subscription schools of that county. 
He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and when 
grown was united in marriage to Miss Mary Jane 



Pinegar, a native of Tennessee, born in 1848, and 
the daughter of William and Clarissa (Redmond) 
Pinegar. The wedding of our subject took place 
July 17. 1864, and ten children were born to them: 
Jesse (born in 1866), James (born in 1868), Eliza 
(born in 1870), LaFayette (born in 1872), Frances 
(born in 1874), Laura (born in 1876), Rosa (born 
in 1878), Viola (twin, born in 1880), Minnie (born 
in 1882) and David (born in 1884). Viola's twin 
sister died at birth. John T. King received by 
deed from his father eighty acres of land in Jack- 
son Township, which he began to improve. In 1879 
he pm'chased the old homestead which adjoined 
his eighty acres, and made the purchase just prior 
to the death of his father, receiving a deed from 
the latter and a dowery from his step-mother, she 
being his father' s fourth wife. The father died on 
November 4, 1879, at the age of seventy-seven years. 
Our subject lived on the old home place, consisting 
of eighty-five acres, until 1886, when he moved to 
his present home in Denmark Township, where he 
^now owns 275 acres of land with 100 acres under 
cultivation. His eldest sou, Jesse King, was mar- 
ried to Miss Louisa Turley, a native of Arkansas, 
and the daughter of Samson and Mary Jane (How- 
ell) Turley, and the result of this union has been 
two children: Commodore (born in 1886) and 
Fred (born in 1888). His son James was married 
November 21, to Miss Laura E. Middleton, daugh- 
ter of Dr. P. A. and Amanda (Moseley) Middleton. 
INIr. and Mrs. John T. King are members in good 
standing in the United Baptist Church and are 
much respected by all acquainted with them. Mr. 
Kinsr is a member of the Acrricultural Wheel No. 
76. He is giving his children good educations and 
takes a deej) interest in all school matters. His 
son Jesse is a professor of penmanship and LaFay- 
ette is well advanced in the English branches and 
is taking a commercial course at the Commercial 
College at Batesville, Ark., the present winter. 

E. C. Kinney, editor and proprietor of the 
Judsonian Advance, is a newspaper man of ex- 
perience, and his connection with this paper dates 
from 1880, he being its organizer. He managed 
the paper until 1885, then sold oiit to B. W. 
Briggs, and then engaged in the general mercan- 



H ^\i 



9 W. 



WHITE COUNTY. 



187 



tile business, selling out in the fall of 1889. Sep- 
tember 18 of that year he again resumed control 
of the Judsonian Advance, and its advance under 
his management has been more noteworthy and 
rapid than formerly. At the present time it is 
recognized as a journal of decided merit, its edi- 
torials being written with a clearness and force 
which indicate a writer of ability. He was born 
in Livingston County, N. Y., in 1843, and is the 
eleventh of twelve children, born to Ezra and 
Louise (Clough) Kinney, the former a native of 
Connecticut, and a minister of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. In 1817, during the early history 
of Livingston County, N. Y., he became one of its 
settlers, and experienced many of the hardships 
and inconveniences which are incident to early 
pioneer life. He died in 1855, and his wife in 
Walworth County, Wis., in 1868. E. C. Kinney 
was reared in Mount Morris, N. Y. , and in youth 
learned the harness-maker's trade, and followed it 
some ten years. Upon the breaking out of the Ee- 
bellion he enlisted at Rochester, N. Y., in the Fifty- 
eighth New York Infantry, Company E, as a pri- 
vate, and was promoted to corporal-sergeant, and 
in 1802 to second lieutenant. After participating 
in the battle of Manassas, he was on detached duty 
for some time, but was taken sick, and after re- 
maining in the hospital at Annapolis, Md. . about 
six months, he, in 1863 returned to Mount Morris, 
N. Y., and began following his trade. In 1865 he 
removed to Painsville, Ohio, and was married there 
in 1866, to Miss Anna It. Abbott, a native of 
Salem, Mass. Becoming dissatisfied with his lo- 
cation in Ohio, he determined to push westward, 
and in 1868 settled in Independence, Buchanan 
County, Iowa. Two years later he became con- 
nected with a circus, and was thus enabled to 
travel over the greater part of the United States. 
In 1870 he became connected with Sprague, 
Warner & Griswold, and later with Kinney & Co., 
and when with the latter company, traveled with 
a team from Chicago to New York City, making 
every town on the route selling goods. In 1878 
he loft Iowa and went overland to Davidson Coun- 
ty, Dak., and homesteaded land, remaining there 
a sufficient length of time to see the full gro\vth of 



Mitchell and Alexandria. In 1880 he came over- 
land to White County, Ark. , arriving here on May 
17, and engaged in the hotel business. He has 
followed horticulture ever since his arrival in the 
county, and owns two fruit farms adjoining Jud- 
sonia, also one near Little Rock. He is an active 
Republican, and was president of the first Repub- 
lican convention ever held in White County. He 
is the present mayor of the town, and has held 
other offices of public trust. Socially he is a mem- 
ber of Anchor Lodge No. 384, of the A. F. & A. 
M. , and has been secretary of his order. His 
children are: George (a f)rinter), Myrtie, Earl and 
Carlie. 

Hon. H. C. Knowlton. If industry united with 
a strong and determined perseverance can accom- 
plish the desired ends, Mr. Knowlton should be, and 
is one of the well-to-do planters of the county. 
He came to the county in 1870, fi'om the State of 
Tennessee, but was born in Vermont in 1825, 
being the youngest in a family of three children 
born to James and Lydia (Cheney) Knowlton, who 
were natives of the Bay State. They were married 
in that State in 1813, afterward settling in Ver- 
mont, where he worked at the blacksmith's trade 
until about 1829, at which time he moved to Lena- 
wee County, Mich., and settled on a farm between 
Adrian and Tecumseh. He was one of the pio- 
neers of this county, and became one of its wealth- 
iest farmers. In 1842 he went to Anderson, Ind., 
and made that his home, and here his death oc- 
curred in 1847, his wife's death following his in 
1860, her demise occurring in Tennessee. H. C. 
Knowlton learned the trade of a general mechanic 
in his youth, and after moving to Hardeman County, 
Tenn., in 1845, followed his trade until the open- 
ing of the war. He was married in Hardeman 
County, four years after his arrival in the State, to 
Miss Mary Agnes Stone, a native of Fayette Coun- 
ty, Tenn., and a daughter of William H. and B. P. 
(Johnson) Stone, the former a Virginian, and the 
latter a native of North Carolina. At the age of 
eighteen the father went to Missouri, and assisted 
in surveying that State, then went to North Caro- 
lina, and was married there in 1818, after which 
he moved to Tennessee and engaged in farming. 



V 



^! 



^ — " K^ 



188 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



making this his calling until bis death in 186G. 
His wife died in 1877. In 1870 Mr. Knowlton 
came to White County, Ark., and purchased an 
improved farm of 200 acres, and at the present 
time has sixty acres under the plow. Although 
not an active politician, he supported the Demo- 
cratic party until he affiliated with the Labor 
party in 1884, and in 1887 was elected on that 
ticket to the State legislature, serving one term. 
He is a strict temperance man, a member of the 
Agricultural Wheel, and socially is a member of 
Mount Pisgah Lodge No. 242, of the A. F. & A. 
M. , and is treasurer of his order. The following 
are the children born to himself and wife: Mary 
C. (Mrs. Dr. Wells, of Marion Township), Horace 
C. (a farmer of the township), R. S. (a resident of 
Oregon), C. M. (who died in 1886), E. E. (who is 
married and lives in the township), J. D. (mari'ied 
and living in Big Creek Township), W. H. (mar- 
ried and living in the township), Lelia F. (Mrs. 
Cate) and W. B. (who died in 1875). Mr. and 
Mrs. Knowlton are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South. 

Enoch Langley, who is an able representative 
of the ginning interests of the county as well as 
the agricultural class, is of Georgian nativity, 
being born March 31, 1847, and was the third of 
seven children born to Enoch and Elizabeth (Stone) 
Langley, who were also of Georgia, and whose 
births occurred in the years 1824 and 1828. They 
were united in the holy bonds of marriage in 1843, 
and as a result of this union seven children came 
to gladden their hearts: Nancy, Oswell, Enoch 
(our subject), William B., Mary, Jepha and Kattie. 
Enoch Langley, heeding the call of his country, 
enlisted in 1864, in the Thirty-fifth Georgia In- 
fantry and participated in the battles of Cross 
Junction and the battle of the Wilderness. After 
the close of the Rebellion he returned to Georgia 
and, in 1868, was married to Josephine Hopper, 
who was born July 5, 1852, and a daughter of 
Thomas C. and Martha (Hendrix) Hopper. Soon 
after this event Mr. Langley settled in Floyd 
County, Ga., and farmed for awhile, but in 1874 
immigrated to Arkansas and settled in Des Arc 
Township, White County, and in 1880 bought 235 



acres of land in Cadron Township, which he com- 
menced to improve, and he now has 120 acres in 
a high state of cultivation. Nine children call Mr. 
and Mrs. Langley father and mother: John M. 
(born January 9, 1809), James T. (born November 
26, 1870), Martha E. (May 30, 1874), Larah B. 
(January 10, 1878), Luther C. (April 27, 1878), 
Alice I. (July 18, 1882), Enoch P. (November 28, 
1884), Isam I. (December 9, 1887), Oscar B. 
(April 13, 1889). Mr. Langley is giving the gin- 
ning business, in which he has been very success- 
ful, his most watchful and careful attention. He 
is a member of the Agricultural Wheel, and politi- 
cally a strong and stanch Democrat, and anything 
relating to his adopted covmty or to any public en- 
terprise receives his most hearty support. 

Rev. Isom P. Langley, pastor of the First 
Baptist Church of Beebe, owes his nativity to 
Arkansas, and was born in Clark County, Sejitem- 
ber 2, 1851. His parents, Samuel S. and Mary J. 
(Browning) Langley, were natives of Arkansas and 
Alabama, respectively. Samuel S. Langley was 
born October 29, 1831, in Clark County, and is the 
son of Miles L. and Sally (Butler) Langley, natives 
of North Carolina, who came to Arkansas in 1818, 
and were married in this State in 1819. The 
maternal grandfather, Francis J. Browning, was a 
native of Georgia, and was born in 1800. His 
wife was a native of Alabama, and they were of 
English descent. The maternal ancestors were all 
finely educated, and figured as prominent men 
during their life. Francis J. Browning was a 
teacher and farmer, also a great and earnest worker 
in the Baptist Church, having served as a delegate 
to the first Baptist association that ever met south 
of the Arkansas River. This meeting was held at 
Spring Creek Church, near Benton, Saline County, 
August 12, 1835, and he was also one of the orig- 
inators of Mount Bethel Church, six miles west of 
Arkadelphia, in 1835. At the time of his death, 
and for a number of years before it, he had been 
occupied as a teacher. He died in 1884, his wife 
having been called to her final home in 1879. 
Miles L. Langley died in 1831, and his wife in 
1848. They were among the first settlers of Clark 
County, and endured all of the privations and 






WHITE COUNTY. 



189 



hardships incident to that time. To them a family 
of seven children were born; John (was in the 
Mexican War, also in California during the gold 
excitement, and is now a prosperous farmer of 
Clark County, Ark. ), Joseph (deceased, was a lead- 
ing farmer of Clark County, where his family now 
live; his death occurred in 1882.), William (de- 
ceased, was a farmer, and lost his life by a tree 
falling on him, 1864:, and at the time a soldier in 
the Confederate army). Miles L. (deceased, a very 
prominent Baptist minister. He was a member of 
the State Constitutional Conventions of 1861 and 
1868, and was a chaplain in the State Senate. He 
died December 27, 1888.), Isom P. (is a prosperous 
farmer of Clark County, Ark. ), Jensey (deceased) 
and Samuel S. (the father of the subject of this 
memoir, who is still living, and is a prosperous 
farmer of Pike County, Ark. He served four years 
in the Confederate army as second lieutenant, and 
was prisoner of war for nineteen months at John- 
son's Island. He was also captain, and was acting 
commander at Helena. He and his estimable 
wife are earnest workers of the Baptist Church, 
and he is a Master Mason of considerable note). 
Rev. Isom P. is the eldest in a family of thirteen, 
ten of whom are now living: Thomas (deceased). 
Porter (deceased), Mary C. , Andrew V., Permelia 
G., Abi (deceased), Samuel S., Jr., Annie, infant 
not named, Sallie, Robert, Penn and Frank. Our 
subject was reared to farm life, and spent his school- 
days in the schools of his county, and later took up 
the study of physiology and phrenology, under the 
tutorship of Miles L. Langley, his paternal uncle, 
and a man of very fine attainments; at the same 
time, and under the same teacher, he studied the 
English language. At the age of twenty-two he 
began the study of law under Gen. H. W. McMil- 
lan, of Arkadelphia, and Judges M. P. Dobey and 
H. H. Coleman. He completed his law course, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1875, and practiced his 
profession at Arkadelphia and Hot Springs until 
1885, when he was obliged to discontinue it on 
account of throat disease. He joined the Baptist 
Church at the age of sixteen years, was licensed to 
preach in 1868, and ordained in 1869, since which 
time he has been engaged in the work of the min- 



istry. He has filled tlie puljiits of Arkadelphia, 
Hot Springs, and that of the First Baptist Church 
of Little Rock, but a large share of his time has 
been devoted to churches where there was no regu- 
lar pastorate. In 1880 he formed a partnership 
with Capt. J. W. and J. N. Miller, the firm name 
being Miller, Langley & Miller, editors of the 
Arkadelphia Signal, conducting the same with 
marked success until 1881. Mr. Langley then 
withdi'ew from the firm, and started the Arkansas 
Clipper, in 1882, a Greenback Labor paper, of 
which he was sole owner. This he publi.shed until 
1883, then sold it and went to Hot Springs, and in 
company with a ISIr. Allard founded and edited the 
Daily and Weekly Hot Springs News. In 1886 
he became the editor of the Industrial Liberator, 
the official organ of the Knights of Labor, and 
made that paper a decided success, in the meantime 
having sold the Hot Springs News. He resigned 
his position in June, 1886, and engaged in the in- 
surance business. He also purchased a controlling 
interest in the National Wheel Enterprise, acting 
as its editor until December 17, 1888, when he 
retired from the newspaper business, and in doing 
so deprived the literary and newspaper world of 
one of its brightest lights. ' In 1885 Mr. Lang- 
ley became a member of the Local Assembly 2119, 
K. of L. , at Hot Springs, the first assembly 
ever organized in the State, acting at present 
as one of the national organizers of that order. 
He is a member of Union Lodge 31, A. W., and 
was a delegate to the State convention that met at 
Litchfield in 1886. While at that convention he 
was elected as one of the delegates to the National 
Wheel, which met at the same time and place, and 
was its acting secretary. It was at this assembly 
that he wrote the constitution for the Natit)ual 
Wheel, and at this same meeting was elected 
National Lecturer, and in that capacity wrote the 
demands of the National Wheel that were adopted 
at McKinzie, Tenn., November, 1887, and in all the 
conventions he has taken a very prominent part, and 
in behalf of the National Wheel made the response 
to Senator Walker's address of welcome at Meri- 
dian, Miss., December 5, 1888. That speech which 
elicited such favorable comment from the press, 



J, 



190 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



was the crowning effort of his life, and placed him 
at the head of the list of deep thinkers and 
eloqiient speakers in the labor ranks. On October 
20, 1887, he became President of the Famous 
Life Association, of Little Rock, and served one 
year, managing its affairs with extraordinary abil- 
ity. In 1886 he was nominated by a labor conven- 
tion as a candidate for Congress against Judge J. 
H. Rogers, of the Fourth Congressional District, 
and polled more than twice the labor votes of his 
district. As a stump speaker he has no superior 
in the State. He has always figured prominently 
in schools, and was the secretary of the board that 
reorganized the splendid school system of Arkadel- 
phia. Mr. Langley has done all kinds of work, 
from the hoeing of cotton to the highest calling 
man can perform, and is one of the best posted 
men in the State. In Auorust, of 1870, he was 
married to Miss Martha A. Freeman, a native of 
Arkansas, and a daughter of Thomas J. Freeman. 
He was born in Little Rock, 1821, and settled in 
Clark County in 1840, where Mrs. Langley was 
born in 1851. To these parents have been born a 
family of five children, all living: Florence R., 
Charles E., Ada J., Katie and Lessie. Father, 
mother, and the three oldest children are members 
of the Baptist Church. Socially Mr. Langley 
affiliates with the I. O. O. F. , and has filled all the 
offices of that order. He is a tyj)ical Arkansan, 
and perhaps is without his peer in public value in 
the State, considering his age. 

Fayette T. Laster, well known to the residents 
of Russell, Ark., is a native of West Tennessee, 
his birth occurring in Decatur County, May 27, 
1866. His father, William W. Laster, also of 
Tennessee, was born in 1837, and there married in 
1860 to Sinthey A. Wright, of Tennessee, her 
birth occurring in 1840. Soon after their mar- 
riage they came to Arkansas and settled in White 
County, where they remained until their respective 
deaths. Mr. Laster was claimed by the grim de- 
stroyer. Death, 1886, and his faithful wife only sur- 
vived him a few months, less than a year. To the 
union of Mr. and Mrs. Laster three sons were 
born, of whom only one, Fayette T. (the subject of 
this memoir) is now living. Albert and John both 



died in Tennessee. Mr. Laster was a farmer, a 
hard-working and law-abiding citizen, and by his 
unostentatious manner gained many friends. At 
the date of his demise he had succeeded in amass- 
ing quite a comfortable amount of property and 
money. Fayette T. moved with his parents, when 
quite a boy, to Arkansas, where he grew to man- 
hood with nothing but the monotonous routine of 
the pioneer's life to occupy his attention. His edu- 
cational advantages were from necessity limited, as 
the schools at that time were far from satisfactory. 
He started out for himself at the age of twenty-one 
and began farming and stock raising, in which he 
is still engaged, and is meeting with very fair suc- 
cess. He now owns 20O acres of excellent bottom- 
land, well improved and in a high state of cultiva- 
tion. On September 28, Mr. Laster was united 
in matrimony with Ida (Lee) Mote, adopted daugh- 
ter of John and Hattie Mote, and own daughter of 
Arcy and Martha C. Lee. To Mr. and Mrs. Laster' s 
union two children have been born: Elva Theola 
(born September 10, 1878, and died December 6, 
1888) and Belle Alrietia (born November 4, 1889). 
Mr. Laster is independent in his political views, 
casting his vote for the best interests of himself 
and the country at large. He is a prosperoiis 
young farmer, of industrious and frugal habits, and 
has gained the good will of his fellow-citizens. 

Winfield Scott Lay is a native Arkansan, his 
birthplace being Van Buren County, where he re- 
ceived his education. He enlisted at the age of 
seventeen in the Confederate Cavalry (Twenty- 
seventh Arkansas), in which he served until the 
close of the war, being with Gen. Price on his raid 
through Missouri. Subsequently he attended 
school, remaining two years, and in 1868 came to 
Searcy, where he engaged as a clerk in a store and 
followed this for three years, then commenced 
business for himself on a capital of $600, and is 
now one of the leading business men in Searcy. 
In 1884 he was burned out, losing several thoii- 
sand dollars worth of goods, but immediately built 
up again, and the following year did the larg- 
est business he has done before or since, selling 
$52,000 worth of goods. He was born on No- 
vember 24, 1846, and is a son of William H. and 



:7L. 





White Cdunty, Arkansas. 



!K 



WHITE COUNTY. 



193 



Polly (Bacon) Lay, natives of Virginia and Ten- 
nessee, respectively. AVilliam H. Lay wont to 
Knox County, Tenn., when a young man, where 
he was married and resided until 1831), when he 
came to Arkansas and located in what was then 
Van Buren County, but which is now Cleburne 
County, where ho farmed until his death. In his 
political views he was a strong Democrat, and 
while in Tennessee served several years as deputy 
sheriff, and afterward as sheriff. The Lay family 
is of English descent, the paternal grandfather of 
our subject coming to this country fi'om old Eng- 
land. Mr. and Mrs. Lay were memlters of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. They were 
the parents of eight children, seven of whom are 
still living: Allen S., Elizabeth Witt, Emma Sim- 
mons, Sarah Fulko, Mattio Manus, Winfield Scott 
(who heads this sketch), and W. L. (now a resi- 
dent of South America). W. S. Lay was married 
in Searcy on September 13, 1870, to Miss Nannie 
Stevenson, a daughter of the Eev. Alexander Ste- 
venson, pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church, at Searcy, and who was born in White 
County in 1853. Mr. Lay is one of eight stock- 
holders in the Searcy and West Point Railroad, of 
which he is also a director and secretary. He is a 
strong Democrat, and a wide-awake business man, 
and has one of the largest trades in his line in 
Searcy. 

Hon. F. P. Laws, i^resident of the local board of 
immigration atBeebe, Ark., also engaged in selling 
wagons, buggies and farming implements, has 
probably done more to develop the resources of 
White County than any other one person, and is a 
very popular man wherever he is known. He is a 
native of Missouri, and was born in what is now 
Benton County May 10, 1840. His father, Joel 
J., was a native of North Carolina, and was born 
February 17, 1812, in Wilkes County, and was 
considered one of the best farmers of his section. 
His wife, the mother of the subject of this sketch, 
was also of North Carolina nativity, her birth occur- 
ring about 1814. Her name was Martha Grissum, 
and was of English ancestry, as was also her hus- 
band. She was a Ijright and highly cultured lady. 
Mr. and Mrs. Laws were maiTied in North Carolina 



in 1838, and the same week left for Missouri, settling 
in what is now Benton County, and there lived for 
about two years. They then moved to Farmington, 
St. Francis County, but at the time of Mr. Laws' 
death, in 1848, they were residing in Sto. Genevieve 
County. He was a life-long Democrat, though 
not an active politician. In his religious faith he 
was not identified with any particular church, but 
was a man of high moral character, honor, and 
strict integrity, and one who always loft a pleasant 
impression and a desire to enlarge acquaint- 
ance with him. After her husband's death Mrs. 
Laws married again, her second marriage taking 
place in 1850 to Mr. Harvill Shepherd, a farmer 
of Ste. Genevieve County, and by him became the 
mother of four children. She was left a widow in 
1858, and is at present living with her third hus- 
band, Mr. Humphfrey, a farmer of Miller County. 
Hon. F. P. Laws is the oldest in a family of four 
children as follows: Hon. F. P., Jane (Mrs. A. J. 
Humphfrey s of Crawford County), Mary (married, 
living in Miller County, Mo. ), Marion J. (married, 
and a well-to-do farmer). F. P. was reared to 
farm life, and received such advantages for an 
education as the schools of that period afforded. 
At the age of seventeen he left his stop-father's 
home and started out to make his fortune, facing 
the world with nothing to back him but his cour- 
age and determination to succeed. He went first 
to Franklin County, Mo., and engaged in the lum- 
ber business for about four years, and was very 
successful. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate 
army, and served for one year. He then returned 
to Washington, Mo., and resumed his work in the 
lumber business, and while there fell in with his 
friend, Mr. Morris, of New Orleans, and from him 
secured the contract to furnish the heavy square 
timbers for the first grain elevator ever erected in 
the city of St. Louis. This contract was success- 
fully carried out, and was the means of his secur- 
ing lucrative employment in the way of large con- 
tracts. During the years 1872-73 he built sixty 
miles of fence for the ' Frisco Railroad, but the 
panic of 1873, in which so many were financially 
embarrassed, left him without regular work until 
1875. He next traded for a tract of land fourteen 



^4. 



194 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



miles north of Beebe, Ark., and moved to Beebe 
at once, but the same year sold the saw-mill and 
land, continuing the timber business in Beebe, also 
building several houses there. Ever since his res- 
idence in White County he has been interested in 
all movements for the good of the county, and is a 
liberal contributor to all worthy enterprises. He 
engaged in the real-estate business in 1888, and 
when the Beebe Board of Immigration was organ- 
ized he was elected president, and has since given 
his time and attention to that work. In Septem- 
ber, 1883, Hon. F. P. Laws was elected on the 
Democratic ticket as a Prohibitionist to the office 
of county and probate judge, and in that capacity 
did more for the county in the way of internal im- 
provements than had ever been done before by any 
one county judge. He built a good fire-proof jail 
on the latest improved plans, bettered the condi- 
tion of the county farm by erecting three new and 
comfortable houses, and took special care of the 
county poor. He repaired all the existing bridges, 
and built five new ones in different parts of the 
county, where they were greatly needed, also bought 
a copy of the field notes of the county and placed 
them on file in the county clerk's office. At the 
expiration of /his term of office he left the county 
without a saloon in it. Judge Laws organized the 
Beebe Artesian "Well Company, in August, 1889, 
and is acting president of the same, and fills the 
same position in the Southern Building & Loan 
Association. October 17, 1864, witnessed Judge 
Laws' marriage with Miss Lorinda J. Johns, a na- 
tive of Missouri and a daughter of one of the 
oldest families of Franklin County. To their 
union six children have been born, only one now 
living: Nellie, a charming young lady of fourteen. 
Mamie, Eddie, Charlie, Jennie and Bessie are de- 
ceased. Judge Laws was made a Mason in Pacific 
Lodge No. 159, A. F. & A. M., in 1864, at Pacific 
Mo. , and with his wife and daughter is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He 
was a lay delegate to the general conference of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which met 
at Richmond, Va. , in 1866, and was a delegate 
to the annual conference which met at Searcy De- 
cember 11, 1889. 



George W. Leggett, the well-known dry-goods 
merchant, of Floyd, has been engaged in the mer- 
cantile business since 1878, first in Mount Pisgah, 
and two years later in Floyd, where he is at pres- 
ent engaged. He was born in Hardeman County, 
Tenn., in 1849, and was a son of E. S. and Polly 
(Whitford) Leggett. E. S. Leggett owes his nativ- 
ity to Tennessee, being born in that State in 1811, 
and is son of Daniel Leggett, who settled in Ten- 
nessee at an early day. He engaged in the mer- 
cantile business in Tennessee in 1849, and later 
came to White County, Ark., where he still contin- 
ues in business. Mrs. Leggett was a daughter of 
David Whitford, of Tennessee, and died in White 
County in 1885. George W. was married in 1875 
to Lue Bailey, who died in 1885, leaving one child, 
also deceased. Mr. Leggett was married the second 
time to Miss Vincie Greer (a daughter of O. and 
Coraline Greer, of this county). They are the par- 
ents of two children : Vincie Pearl and Henry L. 
Mr. Leggett was appointed postmaster under Pres- 
ident Garfield, and has held the position ever since. 
He carries a large stock of general merchandise, 
and does the largest business in his line in the 
place, having a trade of about $1,500 to $25,000 
per year. He also owns a farm of 140 acres, eighty 
of which are under cultivation. In politics Mr. 
Leggett is a strong Democrat. 

Dr. John L. Leggett, known to be one of the 
most progressive farmers in his township, and well 
qualified to discharge the trust reposed in him by 
the people, commenced the study of medicine 
shortly after the war, under Dr. M. F. Dumas, 
and upon obtaining his certificate in 1876, located 
at Little Red, White County, and commenced 
practicing. On coming out of the army he was 
without means, biit taking up the study of medi- 
cine he became very proficient and very successful 
as a physician, but in 1883 he turned his attention 
to the mercantile business and to farming, and 
now owns a fine farm of 250 acres on the Red 
River, mostly bottom land, with 150 acres under 
cultivation, and is one of the most extensive farm- 
ers in Jackson Township. The Doctor was born in 
Madison County, Tenn., October 9, 1844, and is a 
son of E. S. and Polly (Whitford) Leggett, natives 



liL 



WHITE COUNTY. 



195 



of North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. E. 
S. Leggett came to Madison County, Tenn. , when 
a boy with his parents, and after his marriage was 
engaged in farming in that State until 1860, when 
he removed to Arkansas, locating in White Coun- 
ty. He has filled the office of justice of the peace 
for a number of years, is a Democrat and belongs 
to the Baptist Church, as did also his wife, who 
died in 1876, being the mother of ten children, 
five of whom are still living: F. M. , J. B. , George, 
Martha (now Mrs. Rushing) and John L. (our sub- 
ject). The senior Leggett is still a resident of 
White Coiinty, and is eighty years of age. Dr. 
Leggett enlisted in the Confederate service, in 
1861, in the Eighth Arkansas Infantry, in which 
he served one year. He then came home and 
joined the Tenth Missouri Cavalry, and took part 
in the memorable Missouri raid, and also in a 
number of hard-fought battles. In 1866 he was 
maiTied to Miss Bettie Martin, a native of Ala- 
bama. They were the parents of ten children, 
eight of whom are still living: Mary (wife of D. 
C. Middleton, a farmer of this county), William 
L., Lewis T., Icy, Ida, Charles, Lida and Isaac. 
Mrs. Leggett is a member of the Missionary Bap- 
tist Church. Dr. Leggett is one of the most en- 
terprising men of his community, and a leading 
Democrat, and has served as postmaster at Little 
Red since 1876. 

John H. Leib. Near the little town of Lan- 
caster, Ohio, on November 13, 1836, John H. Leib 
first saw the light of day, being one of ten children 
born to the marriage of John and Elizabeth Leib. 
John Leib, Sr., was born in York, Penn., in the 
year 1800, and his wife was born the same year 
in Juniata County, Penn. They were united in 
marriage in Bremen, Fairfield County, Ohio, in 
1823, and sjient fifty-seven years in happy wedded 
life. Mr. Leib died in 1883, at the age of eighty- 
three years, and at the time of his death was in 
Russell, Ark. His wife had gone to her final rest 
in the year 1880, aged eighty years. They resided 
in the States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and 
were quite successful in the accumulation of 
wealth, being quiet, industrious people. For many 
years Mr. Leib was an old line Whig, but at the 



dissolution of that party he united with the Re- 
publican, though was not active in party measures 
or campaigns. In their family of ten children 
only five are now living: James (a farmer of La- 
grange County, Ind. ), Benjamin (farmer, resident 
of Crawford County, Ind.), John H. (the subject 
of this sketch), Anna E. (living in White County, 
Ark., and Mary J. (Mrs. William Poindexter, of 
Crawford County, Ind.). Lydia, John and Augus- 
tus were born and died at Bremen, Ohio. Hamil- 
ton deceased at Russell, and George S. died at 
Chauncey, 111. John H. resided at Bremen, Ohio, 
until sixteen years of age, at that date removing 
with his parents to Lagrange County, Ind. His 
education was limited to the common schools of 
the period, and though they were far from satis- 
factory, he managed to acquire a thorough knowl- 
edge of business, and is now a well-informed man. 
In November of 1861 Mr. Leib entered the United 
States army as a volunteer in the Forty-eighth Indi- 
ana Infantry, in Col. Eddy's regiment. He enlisted 
as a private, but was soon promoted to the office of 
first lieutenant in Capt. Mann's Company G. His 
ability was recognized and commented on by his 
superior officers, and in 1865 he was given the title 
of captain, commanding a company until the close 
of the war. He participated in the siege of Cor- 
inth, Vicksburg, and in the battles of luka, Cor- 
inth, Raymond, Champion's Hill, Jackson and 
Black River Bridge in the State of Mississippi, 
Altoona and Bentonville in Georgia, also in Chat- 
tanooga, Tenn. He was with Gen. Sherman on 
his famous march to the sea. After the close of 
hostilities, Mr. or rather Capt. Leib retiu'ned home 
and engaged in farming and stock raising, which 
is still his occupation. He is a Royal Arch Mason, 
having reached the seventh degree, and is a liberal 
contributor to schools, churches and all public 
enterprises. 

Benjamin W. Lewis. David and Elvira (Hag- 
ler) Lewis, the parents of the subject of this sketch, 
were natives of North Carolina and settled in Ten- 
nessee at an early day, rearing a family of thirteen 
children: Benjamin W., Nancy F., J. L., Eliza- 
beth, Lucy, Polly, Lucinda, John L., Elvira, Sarah, 
William, Richard (also a resident of Kane Town- 



A 



196 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ship. White County) and Martha. Mr. Lewis died 
iu Tennessee in 1870, and his wife in 1852. B. W. 
was born in Western Tennessee, where he grew up 
on a farm and was educated in the common schools. 
He was married on January 2, 1851. to Mary E. 
Hastings, a daughter of John M. C. and Elizabeth 
(Sexton) Hastings, of North Carolina nativity, and 
who immigrated to Tennessee at an early day. 
After his marriage Mr. Lewis settled on a farm in 
Henry County, Teun., where he lived until 1870, 
when he removed to Arkansas, and settled in Gray 
Towship, White County, and three . years later 
bought a farm of 160 acres in Cane Township, 
where his home now is. He enlisted in the fall of 
1862 in the Forty-sixth Tennessee Infantry, com- 
manded by Col. J. M. Clark, and was in the service 
five months. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have a family of 
eight children, all of whom were born in Tennes- 
see: Nancy J. (now Mrs. Osborn), John D. (lives 
in this township), William L. , James W. (deceased), 
L. D., Henry W., Elvira (wife of Dr. V. W. Ware, 
of this township) and Benjamin F. In politics he 
is an active Democrat, and takes a strong interest 
in all work for public improvement, and has been 
school director for the past five years. Himself 
and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, of which Mr. Lewis is one of the trustees. 
Jefferson Pinkney Linder is one of the enter- 
prising and industrious agriculturists of this 
region, and is a son of Abraham W. and Itea 
(Templeman) Linder, the former of whom was 
born in Spartanburg District, S. C. He was of 
English descent, his grandfather having emigrated 
from England to America before the outbreak of 
the Revolutionary War, and took an active part 
in that struggle on the side of the Colonists. He 
settled in North Carolina, and there reared his 
family, his son John, the grandfather of our sub- 
ject, being born there. He was married in that 
State and at an early day removed to South Caro- 
lina, where his son Abraham W. was educated 
and grew to manhood. He was also married there 
and eight of his children were born there prior to 
the year 1841, after which they moved to Alabama 
and settled in Benton County, where four more 
children were given them. Their names are as 



follows: John A. (bom July 18, 1823), Calvin D. 
(born July 1, 1825), Elizabeth Ann (born July 10, 
1827), Delilah E. (born September 9, 1829), James 
Templeman (born April 17, 1832), Lewis M. (born 
October 24, 1834), Austin A. (born March 17, 
1837), Jefferson Pinkney (born August 10, 1839), 
Mary A. (born October 6, 1841), Arcena S. (born 
March 21, 1844), Virgil Taylor (born June 3, 
1848) and Martha C. (born on March 8, 1851). 
The father and mother of these children were born 
on September 23, 1803, and February 27, 1807, 
respectively, and in 1857 they came to Arkansas. 
Abraham Linder and his sons were opposed to se- 
cession, but Lewis M. and Austin A. espoused the 
Confederate cause after the ordinance of secession 
had been passed, and served as members in a com- 
pany of Arkansas Volunteer Infantry. Lewis M. 
died of measles while at home on a sick furlough, 
a nd Austin was mortally wounded at the battle of 
Helena, Ark., on July 4, 1863, and was taken 
from the field where he fell by the Federals to a 
hospital at Memphis and there died. Jefferson 
Pinkney Linder (our subject) was reared to farm 
life and received his education principally in the 
subscription schools of Alabama, whither his 
father had moved from South Carolina. He em- 
braced religion at the age of twenty-one years, and. 
is now a member of the Presbyterian Church. 
On December 4, 1861, he was married to Miss Lu- 
cinda Jane Shelton, a daughter of John F. and 
Martha Payne (Milam) Shelton, of Shelby County, 
Tenn. , her birth occurring in that county on May 
8, 1846. The names of their children are here 
given: Thomas Jefferson (born March 28, 1863), 
Laura Eudora (bom August 24, 1865), Margaret 
Itea (born December 26, 1867), John Robert (born 
January 6, 1870), Charles Henry (was born on 
February 1, 1873, and died August 1, 1875), 
McWilliam (was born on August 4, 1875,) Oscar B. 
(was born on September 5, 1877), Albert Lee (born 
February 8, 1880), Mertie Velmer (born March 23, 
1882, and died October 9, 1884), Vida May (born 
June 16, 1884, and died August 3, 1886), Burri- 
lah (born on February 14, 1887). Thomas J. was 
married to Miss Fannie Dennis, of Henderson 
Coanty, Tex., on December 23, 1886, and is now 



^^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



197 



farming in Monroe County, Ark. Laura E. be- 
came the wife of S. N. Trotter, and lives in Mon- 
roe County, Ark. Margaret Itea bore one child by 
her husband, J. W. Acree, but is now separated 
from him by mutual consent. Mr. Liuder has 
been noted for his industry and thrift, and on com- 
mencing life these constituted his capital stock and 
well he has made use of them, being now the 
owner of 360 acres of land, his first purchase 
being only eighty acres. He has 100 acres under 
cultivation and makes a specialty of stock raising, 
his mules being of a tine grade, and he also has 
some very fine horses of the Tone Hal breed. Mr. 
Linder was troubled for some time with a scrofu- 
lous white swelling on one of his legs which finally 
resulted in the loss of that member, the operation 
being performed in 1879. He is a man possessing 
a fund of useful information and is a Democrat in 
his political views. Himself and wife and four 
children are members of the Baptist Church. 

Elder Benjamin H. Lumpkin, a prominent Bap- 
tist minister of White County, is a son of Robert 
and Jane (Harden) Lumpkin, and owes his nativ- 
ity to Arkansas, his birth occurring May 2, 1849. 
Robert Lumpkin was a native of Georgia, and his 
wife of Ballard County, Ky. They were married 
in the latter State and came to White County in 
February, 1835, settling near Denmark, said coun- 
ty, where Mr. Lumpkin died in 1855. He was a 
Universalist in belief and a farmer by occupation. 
Mrs. Lumjikin was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church for many years, and closed her 
eyes to the trials and tribulations of this world in 
1857. Mr. Lumpkin in his political views was a 
Democrat, and manifested an active interest in 
party campaigns. To the marriage of Mr. and 
Mi's. Lumpkin eight children were liorn, three 
sons and five daughters: Louisa (wife of Elder 
J. M. Butler, a Baptist missionary to the Chero- 
kee Indians), Susan M. (Mrs. Ramer, of Shelby 
County, Tonn.), Sophia E. (now Mrs. J. F. 
Burket, residing in Northern Arkansas), Benjamin 
H. (subject of this sketch), John (died while in 
the Rebel army at Bowling Green, Ky.), Noah 
(deceased in boyhood, in White County), Charity 
(wife of Thomas Simmons, a farmer of Fulton 



County, Ark.) and Rebecca (died in White Coun- 
ty, Ark., in 1808). Benjamin H. passed his early 
life near Denmark. Ark., and received but meager 
advantages for an education in his youth, but is 
now a well-read gentleman, and conversant on all 
important subjects of the day. He began preach- 
ing at the age of twenty-nine years, and by his 
earnest and eloquent expounding, has made many 
converts to his faith. He began farming at the 
age of fifteen years, which he continued until he 
reached the age of thirty. In 1883 Mr. Lump- 
kin embarked in the mercantile business in con- 
nection with his preaching, and has been very 
successful in that departure. He carries a stock 
of carefully selected groceries, valued at $15,000. 
Mr. Lumpkin was married July 19, 1870, to Ra- 
chel F. Ruminor, of White County, and a daugh- 
ter of James Ruminor. By this marriage five 
children have been born, two sons and three 
daughters: AllieF., Hay den A., Maggie A., Ben- 
jamin T. and Lena Rivers (deceased). Mr. Liimp- 
kin was elected justice of the peace in September 
of 1888, for a period of two years, and is dis- 
charging the duties of that office in a manner that 
proves beyond a doubt his ability to satisfactorily 
fill that position. He is a member of the Mission- 
ary Baptist Church in his religious belief, and a 
stanch Democrat in politics. Mr. Lumpkin con- 
tributes liberally to all worthy enterprises, and 
lends his valuable support to all church, school and 
charitable movements. In societies he is identified 
with the Masonic order, in which he is a member 
in high standing. 

Dr. J. F. McAdams, physician and surgeon, 
Searcy, Ark. There are few men of the present 
day whom the world acknowledges as successful 
more worthy of honorable mention or whose life- 
history affords a better example of what may be ac- 
complished by a determined will and perseverance 
than that of Dr. J. F. ^McAdams. This gentleman 
was born in Shelby County, Ala., m 1830, and was 
the fourth of seven children, the result of the mar- 
riage of James and Sarah (Foreman) McAdams, 
natives, respectively, of South Carolina and Ten- 
nessee. The father was a planter, and when a 
young man went to Alabama, where he married 



^v 



198 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Miss Foreman and settled on a farm within five 
miles of Columbiana, where he lived for over fifty 
years. His death occurred in 1801, and his wife 
died in February, 1889. Of their family the fol- 
lowing children are living: Isaac F. (resides in 
Dallas, Tex.), J. F., Elizabeth (now Mrs. Edwards, 
of Shelby County, Ala. ), Sarah (now Mrs. Horton, 
resides in Shelby Connty, Ala.), and Dr. Henry 
Clay (who is married and resides in Shelby County, 
Ala.). Dr. J. F. McAdams was reared to plantation 
life and secured a good practical education in the 
schools of Shelby County, Ala., subsequently tak- 
ing a three-years' course in Talladega, Ala. After 
leaving school he engaged in teaching, and at the 
same time commenced reading medicine at the Mo- 
bile Medical Institute, graduating in the class of 
1861. After this he practiced some and in the 
spring of 1862 came to Searcy. He was the lead- 
ing physician of the county during the war, and 
remained at home by request. He was married in 
Perry County, Ala., in 1859, to Miss Sarah J. 
Crow, a native of Perry County, Ala., and daugh- 
ter of Joseph W. and Elizabeth (Hopper) Crow, 
natives of Alabama. Her father was a successful 
agriculturist and his death occurred in 1865. His 
wife died in 1876. When coming to Searcy in 
1862 Dr. McAdams found the town very small, and 
where fine business streets now are was then un- 
dergrowth. The Doctor opened his office in the 
public square and began practicing, which he con- 
tinued all through the war without molestation. 
He is not very active in politics, but votes with the 
Democratic party. Socially, he is a member of 
Searcy Lodge No. 49, A. F. & A. M. To his mar- 
riage was born one child, Frank Waldo, who is 
book-keeper for F. Lippman, at Olyphant, Ark. 
Dr. McAdams has seen many changes since first 
residing here, both from an educational and moral 
standpoint. The customs of the people have also 
changed. He and Mrs. McAdams are members of 
the Baptist Church. 

Maj. John C. McCauley, Searcy, Ark., is one of 
the well-known and esteemed pioneer residents of 
this county, having come to White County in 1851. 
He was born in Orange County, N. C, February 
24, 1834, and was the second in a family of nine 



children bom to James and Mary A. (Freeland) 
McCauley, both natives of North Carolina. The 
father grew to manhood near Chapel Hill, N. C, 
settled on a plantation and made that his home 
until 1836, when he moved to Tennessee. He first 
settled in Fayette County, then Tipton Couuty, 
and kept a hotel at Concordia, Tenn. , in 1851. 
Later than this he came to White County, settled 
in Gray Township, speculated in land (being also 
a contractor), and erected a great many houses in 
Searcy. He there closed his eyes to the scenes 
of this world in December, 1888, at the age of 
seventy-nine years. His excellent wife died in 
1883. The father was a member of Searcy Lodge 
No. 49, A. F. & A. M. , and was charter member 
of the same. Of their family, seven childi'en are 
now living: E. J. (now Mrs. E. J. Carter, who 
resides in Searcy), Maj. John C, Mary A. (now 
Mrs. William T. Holloway, of Searcy), Martha E. 
(now Mrs. Joseph • R. Hall, resides in Tipton 
County, Tenn., near the old homestead), James (is 
married, and resides on the father's homestead 
near Judsonia), Catherine B. (now Mrs. John D. 
Sprigg, resides at Searcy), and George C. (who 
married Miss Emma Black, resides at West Point, 
White County). The paternal great-grandfather, 
John McCauley, was a captain under Gen. Marion 
in the War of the Revolution. He was at Antrim 
Island in the war against England, retreated and 
took secret passage on a Colonial vessel, in which 
he safely crossed the ocean to America. He landed 
in North Carolina, and made that State his home. 
Grandfather John McCauley was a soldier in the 
War of 1812, and held the rank of colonel. He 
represented Orange County, N. C. , in the leg- 
islature for many years, and his death occurred 
in that State. On the mother's side, the family 
was of Scotch descent. Maj. John C. McCauley 
was nearly seventeen years of age when he came to 
White County, and received his education under 
the tutelage of Dr. James Holmes, an able edu- 
cator. After coming to Arkansas he commenced 
studying law under Scott McConaughey, but in 1852 
engaged in merchandising, which business he has 
since continued, with the exception of four years 
during the war (1861-65). He has had different 



^ 




partners, the present firm being McCauley & Sou, 
which has continued since 1805, and carry every- 
thing to be found in a general store. In 18G1 Mr. 
McCauley raised Company K, First State Guards, 
and entered the State's service January 1, 1801. 
Later he was transferred to the Seventh Arkansas 
Infantry, and remained there during the war. 
He was in the bombardment of Columbus, Ky., 
and was at Bowling Green and Shiloh; was twice 
wounded, and was confined in the hospital at 
Tupelo, Miss., and Blount Springs, Ala. After 
the battle of Shiloh the company was reorgan- 
ized, and the subject of this sketch was the 
only one of the company re-elected, and he was 
promoted to the position of major. He was in 
Farmington, took the battery and then rejoined 
Gen. Bragg in his invasion of Kentucky. After 
the battle of Chickamauga, Ga. , he was pro- 
moted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and after 
the battle of Missionary Ridge he was detailed 
and put in charge of a company to recruit men. 
He was captured by the Third Missouri Cavalry 
near Batesville and taken to the military prison at 
Little Rock, where he was paroled by Col. Chan- 
dler at the house of Mrs. Green, remained two 
months, and was then taken to Johnston Island, 
where he was exchanged on January 9, 1865. He 
surrendered on May 9, 1865, after which he 
returned to White County auol engaged in mer- 
chandising. He has taken quite an active part in 
politics, and votes with the Democratic party. He 
was deputy postmaster for many years before the 
war, and was postmaster under President Hayes, 
tilled the same position under President Cleveland, 
and occupies that position at the present time. He 
has been Master of the Masonic Lodge No. 49, 
Searcy, for six years, is a member of Tillman 
Chapter No. 19, and has been High Priest and 
King; is also a member of the Council, having 
been Thrice Illustrious. Maj. McCauley was mar- 
ried in Tipton County. Tenn. , in 1855, to Miss 
Eliza J. Hall, a native of Tennessee, and the 
daughter of Thomas S. and Mary Hall, natives of 
North Carolina. Her father was a farmer and 
tanner, and both he and wife died in Tennessee. 
They were related by marriage to Stonewall Jack- 



son. To Mr. and Mrs. McCauley were born four 
living children: Aurora (now Mrs. Fancotte, re- 
sides in Searcy), Charles E. (widower, and is postal 
clerk on the Iron Mountain Railroad between 
St. Louis and Little Rock), Ernest J. and James 
Thomas. Mr. McCauley and wife are members of 
the Old School Presbyterian Church, and he is 
deacon and Bible-class teacher in the same. 

James A. McCauley, farmer and ginner. White 
County, Ark. Permanent success in any calling 
in life is largely dependent upon the energy, per- 
severance and enterprise of an individual, and this, 
together with honest, upright dealing, will event- 
ually bring him to the front. Mr. McCauley was 
originally from Tipton County, Tenn., where his 
birth occurred in 1842, and was the fifth of seven 
children, the result of the union of James and Mary 
(Freeland) McCauley, natives of Orange County, 
N. C. The parents were married in Chapel Hill, 
N. C, and in 1830 moved to Tipton County, Tenn., 
where the father tilled the soil until 1851. He 
then came to White County, settled at Prospect 
Bluff, now Judsonia, and in connection with his 
former pursuit, ran a steam saw-mill, one of the 
first in the county, and doing the grinding for 
several counties. In 1885 he moved to West Point, 
White County, and there his death occurred on 
December 15, 1888. His wife received her final 
summons in Searcy, in 1882. James A. McCauley 
attained his growth on the farm, received his edu- 
cation in the schools of Searcy, and on April 13, « 
1801. he enlisted in Company K, Seventh- Arkan- 
sas Infantry, as a private, for one year. He was 
in the battle of Shiloh, and after this disastrous 
engagement he re-enlisted for three years or during 
service, in the same company and regiment. Ho 
was in the battles of Perryville and Murfi-eesboro, 
and at the reorganization of the company he was 
promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. This 
was after the last-named battle. The regiment was 
consolidated with the Sixth Arkansas Infantry, 
and Mr. McCauley was transferred to Gen. Kirby 
Smith. He was pitt in Turnbull Camp, Washing- 
ton, Hempstead County, for four months, drilling 
troops, and was then transferred to Dobbin's bri- 
gade, McGee's regular cavalry. He was with 



!5 W- 



-J[ 9 



200 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Gen. Price on the Missouri raid and was paroled 
at Jacksonport, Ark., in I860, after wbich he re- 
turned to White County. Mr. McCauley then em- 
barked in mercantile pursuits in Searcy, in IS66, 
l)ut the following year sold out and returned to the 
farm. His marriage occurred in White County, on 
December 13, 1805, to Miss Nancy A. Bond, a 
native of White County, and the daughter of John 
W. and Emily (Smith) Bt)nd, natives of North Car- 
olina and Georgia, respectively. The father moved 
to Arkansas Territory in 1836, and was residing 
there when it was admitted into the Union. He 
was the first county clerk of White County, was 
one of the prominent and lir.st merchants of Searcy, 
and started his store in the woods. His death 
occurred in 1887. His wife died in 1869. Mr. 
McCauley settled where he now resides in 1850, 
and in 1874 he purchased 715 acres of land, and 
now has 315 under cultivation. He raises grain 
and cotton. Mr. McCauley has been running a 
cotton-gin ever since he settled on the farm, and 
has been quite successful. In his political views 
he is a cotton-mouth Democrat. To his marriage 
were born ten children: James Walton, Emma, 
Holmes, Stonewall, Lee, Hardee, Pat Cleburne, 
JefP Davis, Allen and Mary. Mr. and Mrs. McCau- 
ley are members of the Presbyterian Church. 

George C. McCauley is not unknown to the 
many readers of the present volume. He learned 
the miller's trade when a boy, and operated a grist- 
mill and cotton-gin at Judsonia for six years, after 
which he engaged in farming on the old Beeler 
place, where he remained nine years. Moving 
thence to West Point, he engaged in farming and 
in the cotton-gin business, in which he is still en- 
gaged, enjoying the confidence and liberal jiatron- 
age of his many acquaintances. On October 24, 
1877, he was married to Miss Emma Black, a 
daughter of W. G. Black, who was born in 1800, 
in Searcy. They became the parents of three chil- 
dren, two of whom are still living: Mattie May 
and Maud E. Mr. McCauley is a strong Demo- 
crat, and a liberal donator to all enterprises for the 
benefit of church or educational work. He was 
born in Tipton County, Tenn. , on February 5, 
1851, being the son of James and Mary Ann Mc- 



Cauley, natives of North Carolina, who were reared 
near Raleigh, where they were married and made 
their home for some time. After residing awhile 
in Tennessee and Missouri, they finally came to 
Arkansas in 1851, settling in White County. Mr. 
McCauley was one of the most successful farmers 
that ever found a home in Arkansas, being the 
ovnier of 1 . 200 acres of land at the time of his 
death, which occurred in December, 1888, at the 
age of seventy-seven years; his wife had died in 
1882, in her seventy-second year. Both were 
members of the Presbyterian Church, and were 
the parents of ten childnm, seven of whom are 
still living: Elizabeth (the wife of W. B. Carter, of 
Searcy), John C. (the present postmaster of 
Searcy), Mary (wife of W. T. Holloway), Martha 
(wife of J. R. Hall), James A. (farmer of this 
county), Catharine B. (wife of Capt. J. D. Spriggs, 
now deceased) and George C. (our subject). 

R. H. McCulloch, farmer and stock raiser, 
Searcy, Ark. In reviewing the lives of those in- 
dividuals mentioned in this volume no adequate 
idea of the agricultural affairs of White County, 
or of its substantial citizens, would be complete, 
which failed to make mention of Mr. McCulloch, 
or of the substantial property which he owns. 
Originally from Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, 
Tenn., his birth occurred August 26, 1849, he 
passing his boyhood days and early manhood in 
Tennessee. He was educated in Andrew College 
of that State, and after leaving school began the 
study of pharmacy, subsequently going to Giles 
County, Tenn., where he was engaged in agricult- 
ural pursuits from 1870 to 1871. The next year 
he became book-keeper at Plum Bayou, in JefPer- 
son Township, on the Arkansas River. In March, 
1873, he came to Gray Township, White County, 
and finally locating at Beebe, entered the employ 
of Strange & Ward as book-keeper, with whom he 
remained for two years. Deciding to settle in 
Union Township, he purchased a farm of 120 
acres, with sixty-five under cultivation, and now 
has eighty-five acres of it improved. On October 
27, 1884, Mr. McCulloch moved to Searcy, having 
the previous September been elected clerk of the 
circuit and chancery court, and also recorder, and 



V 



-4 g> 



^. 



WHITE COUNTY. 



201 



served efficiently in that capacity until October 30, 
1888, when he was engaged as traveling salesman 
for Mitchell & Bettis, of Little Rock, continuing 
on the road until March 1, 1889. He then moved 
to his present farm, having ])ought in 1887 eighty 
acres, with thirty acres under cultivation. He 
now owns a good place of 200 acres, with 115 acres 
under substantial improvement, besides a timber 
tract of 169 acres. Mr. McCulloch is the eldest in 
a family of five children born to Dr. P. D. and 
Lncy V. McCulloch, both being natives of Tennes- 
see. The father was a jihysician and surgeon by 
profession, and in 1876 moved to Hot Springs, 
Ark. , where he still resides. He has been active in 
the Masonic order, having just retired as Grand 
Knight of the Grand Templars of the State. He 
represented the Grand Lodge of Tennessee in all 
its various offices. The mother of R. H. McCul- 
loch died in July, 1865, in Gibson County, Tenn. 
In their family were the following children: K. H. , 
P. D. (married, and resides in Lee County; is an 
attorney and an extensive planter), E. A. (married, 
and an attorney in Lee Count)') and Lydia B. (now 
Mrs. J. T. Hogg; resides in Trenton, Tenn. ; her 
husband is traveling salesman for a Memphis firm). 
R. H. McCulloch was married in White County, 
Ark., November 25, 1874, to Miss Anna E. Cobb, 
a native of Tennessee (Haywood County), and the 
daughter of T. T. and Mary (Rose) Cobb, of North 
Carolina origin, who immigrated from that State 
in 1832 and 1833, respectively, to Tennessee. In 
1858 they came to AVhite County, Ark., settling in 
Union Township, and there the father's death oc- 
curred in 1881. The mother died about 1860. Mr. 
McCulloch lost his excellent wife in 1876, and was 
married again in White County, June 30, 1878, to 
flattie L. Cobb, a Tennesseean by birth, and the 
daughter of S. P. and Eliza (Rose) Cobb, origin- 
ally from North Carolina. The parents moved to 
Tennessee in 1832, coming thence to White County, 
Ark., in 1S70, and settling near Beebe, where the 
father followed agricultural pursuits. Both Y'ar- 
ents are now living. To Mr. and Mrs. McCulloch 
were born five children: Samuel R., Philip D., 
Bertha C. , Maggie and R. H., Jr. Mr. McCulloch 
is a member of Searcy Lodge No. 49, A. F. & A. M.; 



was Worshipful Master of Beebe Lodge No. 145 
for about ten years; is a member of Tillman Chap- 
ter No. 19, R. A. M. , and belongs to Searcy Lodge, 
K. of H. , at Searcy. He has been for a number 
of years a member of the Grand Lodge, and for 
the past three years has been secretary and treas- 
urer, and chairman for two years. 

Miles C. McDowell, actively occupied as a farm- 
er and stock raiser, of Marshall Township, White 
County, Ark., is the son of Harvey and Ruth (Walk- 
er) McDowell, and was born in Tennessee in 1854. 
Harvey McDowell, also a native of Tennessee, dates 
his existence from July, 1 806, as a son of Joseph 
and Olive McDowell. He spent his younger days 
on a plantation, and in the schools of Tennessee, 
and -was married in April, 1834, to Ruth Walker, 
becoming by her the father of the following family: 
Ollie (Mrs. W. E. Gill, now deceased), Parthena 
(Mrs. L. Jones, also deceased), Louisa (widow of 
Mr. Greegs), William (married), Gideon, Robert, 
John, Harriet C. and Miles C. (the subject of this 
memoir). Harvey McDowell died soon after the 
war, his last days being spent in Missoiiri, where 
he had moved with his family from Tennessee. 
After his father' s demise. Miles C. came to Arkan- 
sas in company with his mother, and purchased 
land in White County which he soon after sold, 
and subsequently acquired another 120 acres in 
the same township, one mile south of Romance. 
This farm he bought in 1888, and now has forty 
acres in an excellent state of cultivation. His farm « 
is well and carefully stocked, and in many respects 
is the equal of any in the country. His mother, 
who is residing with him, is an estimable lady, and 
is hale and hearty for a person of her age. Mr. 
McDowell takes decided interest in all those move- 
ments which promise good to the county, and never 
fails to give his support to any worthy cause. 

George W. McKinney is one of the most enter- 
prising and progressive farmers of White County 
and one who has done a great deal in changing 
the country from a dense wilderness to what is now 
a prosperous and thrifty community. Born on 
May 9, 1826, in Monroe County, Miss., he came 
to Arkansas in 1870, and settled on the farm that 
he now owns, buying 120 acres on which was a 



^ > 



202 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



small log-cabin and about ten acres cleared, but 
shortly after he purchased 200 acres more, and 
erected a good house, barns, fences, etc.. havincr 
here 135 acres under successful cultivation, and 
all the necessary improvements of the present day. 
Mr. McKinney is a model farmer, as everything 
around his place indicates; negligence and degen- 
eracy being traits iinknown about his home. He 
is the son of John and Rosanua (Laud) McKinney, 
natives of North Carolina and Tennessee, respect- 
ively, who were married in the latter State and 
shortly afterward moved to Mississippi, there be- 
coming engaged in farming. Mr. jMcKinney was 
a Democrat, and soldier in the War of 1812, also 
serving as magistrate of his county for several 
years. His death occurred in 1832, his wife sur- 
viving him until 1872. They were the parents of 
nine children, five now living. The oldest sou, 
J. G., is a prosperous farmer in Texas. Susan C. 
(Mrs. Chesley Malone, at present resides in Cal- 
houn County, Miss.), Andrew J. (is a farmer of 
Chickasaw County, Miss.), and one daughter 
(Mrs. R. E. Brewer). George W. was reared to 
farm life, and received a good education in the 
common schools of the period. He cared for his 
aged mother until her death, giving her all the 
comforts necessary to her declining years, and in 
his twenty-fourth year was married to Miss Helen 
C. Gibbs of Mississippi birth, by whom he became 
the lather of eight children, six now surviving: 
W. T. (a farmer of Royal Township, White 
County), John M. (also a farmer in Royal Town- 
ship, White County), George W. (at home). T. A. 
(a farmer of Royal Township, White County), 
Margaret A. (wife of James W. Hall, a prominent 
farmer of Royal Township), J. R. and Julia E. 
(now Mrs. Thomas S. Kitchen). Mrs. McKinney 
died in 1889. and Mr. McKinney chose for his sec- 
ond and present wife, Mrs. M. E. Malone, a native 
of Mississippi. At the time of the war Mr. Mc- 
Kinney was justice of the peace and consequently 
did not enter the service until 1803, when he en- 
listed in Col. Duff's regiment, remaining until the 
final surrender. He was in McCnllough's bri- 
gade in the cavalry service, and participated in sev- 
eral brisk skirmishes, but was never wounded. 



He was ordered to Mobile with Col. Duff, and ad- 
vised by that colonel to go to his family. While 
in Mississippi Mr. McKinney held the office of jus- 
tice of the peace and overseer of roads and men. 
He is a member of El Paso Lodge No. 65, A. F. 
& A. M. , and was made a Mason in 1865, also 
belonging at this time to New Hope Agricultural 
Wheel No. 32, T. A., and is treasurer of the 
Wheel. He is at present a member of his school 
board, and takes an active interest in schools, 
churches, and gives his influence and help to all 
public enterprises. In his political views Mr. Mc- 
Kinney is a Democrat, but casts his vote irrespect- 
ive of party and where he considers it will do the 
most good, supporting always the best man for the 
position. 

D. L. McLeod, who, though comjiaratively 
young in years, has had an experience such as but 
few men enjoy, is now a prosperous planter and 
fruit grower of White County. AVhen only four- 
teen years of age he became a ' ' sailor boy, ' ' and 
in 1869 received the honor of being made captain 
in the merchant service. He was born in Prince 
Edward's Island, Canada, April 27, 1841, and is 
the son of Donald McLeod, also a native of Canada, 
who there married Miss Annie Henderson, her 
birth also occurring on Prince Edward's Island. 
A family of six children blessed this union, five of 
whom are still living. Donald McLeod was princi- 
pally engaged in agricultural pursuits during life. 
in which he was very successful. Himself and 
wife were members of the Presbyterian Church, in 
which he had been deacon for a number of years, 
rigidly upholding the tenets of his belief. His 
wife died some years previous to his demise, which 
occurred in 1886. From January, 1864, D. L. 
McLeod served as chief (juartermaster in the 
United States navy, receiving honorable recogni- 
tion for the manner in which he discharged his 
duties. His term of service in the navy expired in 
May, 1867, but he at once returned to the sea and 
eagaged in the merchant service' continuing until 
1879. One noteworthy event marks his career 
during this time: A beaiitiful marine telescope was 
presented to him in 1873, awarded by the King of 
Norway for a brave and noble deed in rescuing a 



<»_. 



WHITE COUNTY. 



203 



Norwegian crew, on the Atlantic Ocean. Mr. Mc- 
Leod was married, in 1874, to Susie K. Kitchen, 
a daughter of William and Jane Kitchen, and a 
native of Ontario, Canada. To this vinion two 
children have been born: Lillie J. (born in Akyobe, 
India, April, 1875, and died in 1880), William 
(born in February, 1877, and died at sea May, 
1878, and is bxiried at Belfast, Ireland) and Arthur 
E. (who is now seven years old). In 1880 Mr. Mc- 
Leod became a resident of Iowa, where he re- 
mained for three years engaged in fine stock rais- 
ing, in Fayette County, but in 1883 he moved to 
Arkansas and located at Judsonia, White County, 
where he still lives, successfully occupied in fruit 
growing. He owns 240 acres of excellent land, 
and has a line residence, which he has erected 
during his abode here. He is a Master Mason in 
good standing and is also president of the Arkan- 
sas Fruit Growers' Union, which was organized in 
1886. Besides this he is first vice-president of the 
State Horticultural Society, and, with his wife, be- 
longs to the Baptist Church. 

Dandridge McRae, attorney at law. Searcy, 
Ark. , has every reason to be proud of both its law 
courts and the members of the bar who support 
them. Among the leading firms of attorneys in 
Searcy, is the well-known one of Messrs. McRae, 
Eives & Rives, who are notable representatives of 
the learned profession. Mr. McRae has also been 
expert for the United States treasury department, 
appointed in 1889, and this business is to gather 
statistics for that department. He was born in 
Baldwin County, Ala., on October 10, 1829, and 
the eldest in a family of eleven children born to 
the union of D. R. W. and Margaret (Braey) Mc- 
Rae, the father of West Florida Parish, Miss., 
and the mother of South Carolina. The parents 
were married in Alabama in 1828, and were the 
owners of a large plantation, which he carried on 
although he was a lawyer bj- profession. He took 
quite an active part in politics, was sheriff of Clark 
County, and represented that county in the legis- 
lature. His death occurred in March, 1849. 
After the death of her husband and the same year, 
Mrs. McRae came to \\'hite County, Ark., settled 
in Little Red River Township, entered land, im- 



proved it, bought several claims, and in 1859 
moved to Pulaski County, near Little Rock, and 
made that her home until 1861. After this she 
visited the Lone Star State, but returned, and her 
death occurred at the home of her son, Dandridge 
McRae, in Searcy in 1867. Those members of the 
family living are: Dandridge, Rebecca (Mrs. Col. 
G. F. Bancum, of Little Rock), Ann (wife of A. 
T. Jones, near ^Vest Point, White County, Ark.) 
and Mrs. Mona Rawles (at Perryville, Perry 
County). Dandridge McRae was early trained to 
the arduous duties of the farm, received his edu- 
cation at home under a private tutor, and later en- 
tered the University of South Carolina, from which 
institution he graduated in the class of 1849. He 
then aided in opening up the farm in Red River 
Township, but in 1853 moved to Searcy, and there 
commenced reading law. He was admitted to the 
bar by Justice C. C. Scott, of the supreme court, 
in 1854, and commenced the practice of law imme- 
diately afterward. In 1856 he was elected county 
and circuit clerk of the county, and served six 
years. In 1861 he was actively engaged in organ- 
izing troops for the State, and in the same year 
was sent by the military board to muster Gen. N. 
P. Pierce, brigadier of State troops, while even at 
that time the Missourians were driven from the 
State by the Federal Generals Lyon and Siegel. 
Gen. Ben. McCulloch in command of the Arkan- 
sas and Indian Territory, issued a proclamation to 
the people of Arkansas to go to the border and 
repel invaders. Many companies organized re-# 
ported to Mr. McRae, and at the request of the 
General, the former took command and moved into 
Missouri, toward Springfield, to make a diversion, 
while the General moved to Carthage to relieve 
Gen. Parsons of the Missouri State Guards. Upon 
his return to Arkansas Mr. McRae organized a reg- 
iment under the direction of Gen. McCulloch, and 
was made colonel of the same. He served until 
1862, was with Gon. McCulloch at Wilson's Creek, 
Pea Ridge and Corinth. He returned to Arkan- 
sas in 1862, raised another regiment by June, and 
was assigned by Gen. Hindman the command of 
a brigade. This brigade served until 1862, when 
Mr. McRae was promoted in December, to the 



:^ 



Q w. 



204 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



rank of brigadier-general, and served in that ca- 
pacity until the close of the war. He was in the 
battle of Helena, captured the only fort taken, 
also Jenkins' Ferry, Prairie Grove, and returned to 
Searcy, White County, in 1805. He engaged in the 
practice of law until 1881, and was then deputy 
secretary of State for four years. In 1885 he was 
acting commissioner for Arkansas, at the World's 
Fair at New Orleans, and in 1886 was the commis- 
sioner. Mr. McRae was appointed expert on De- 
cember 20, 1888, by United States treasury de- 
partment for gathering information. He was 
vice-president of the bureau of emigration of Ar- 
kansas in 1887. Socially, he is a member of Searcy 
Lodge No. 49, A. F. & A. M., and was Worship- 
ful Master of the same; is a member of Tillman 
Chapter No. 19, and a member of the Council. 
Mr. McRae was married in De Soto County, Miss., 
on January 10, 1855, to Miss Angle Lewis, a 
native of Mississippi, who bore her husband two 
children: Annie (now Mrs. Neeley, residing in 
Searcy) and Minnie (now Mrs. J. F. Rives, Jr., 
residing in Searcy). 

Thomas JefPerson Malone, planter and stock 
raiser at Pleasant Plains, Ark., is the son of Ste- 
phen and Sarah (Parks) Malone, natives of North 
Carolina, being born December 16, 1816, in Henry 
County, Tenn. He was reared in the arduous 
duties of the farm, received his education in his 
native county, and on December 20, 1846, he was 
mari'ied in Fayette County, Tenn., to Miss Pinie 
E. Ozier, a native of North Carolina, where she 
partly received her education. In about 1848 Mr. 
Malone purchased a tract of land, consisting of 
160 acres of unimproved land, and this he went to 
work to improve. After clearing about twenty- 
five acres and erecting good buildings, he sold 
this property and came to Arkansas. To his mar- 
riage were born six children, four of whom are 
now living: Sarah Frances (born in 1847), Will- 
iam Thomas (born in 1849, and died in 1857), 
Alice Jane_(born in 1858), an infant (died un- 
named), Charles Calvin (born May 7, 1861) and 
Lititia (born in 1863). Sarah Frances married 
W. Yarbrough, a native of Tennessee, is the 
mother of three children, and now resides in 



White County. Calvin C. married Miss Ella Boen, 
a native of Alabama, and now resides with par- 
ents. Martha Ann married James Kilo, a native 
of Arkansas, and has one child. They also reside 
with the parents. Mr. Malone came to Arkansas 
in 1856, located in Independence County, and 
there made their home for one year, he engaged 
in tilling the soil. In 1857 he came to White 
County, located on his present farm, and there he 
has since made his home. The original tract con- 
tained about 194 acres, which were uncultivated at 
that time. Mr. Malone has purchased other tracts 
at various times and has always sold to advantage. 
He has put all the improvements on his place and 
has about fifty-three acres under fence. The soil is 
of good quality and furnishes nearly all the neces- 
saries of life, corn and cotton being the principal 
crops. Vegetables of all kinds grow in abundance, 
and he also raises some tobacco which is of good 
quality. Mr. and Mrs. Malone are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and have held mem- 
bership since 1843. They live true Christian lives 
and have the love and esteem of a large circle of 
friends. Mr. Malone is a member of Cedar Grove 
Lodge, A. F. & A. M. , and is also a member of 
the Agricultural Wheel No. 88. The parents of 
Mr. Malone were natives of North Carolina, and 
were married in that State. They were of Scotch- 
German descent and their ancestors on both sides 
came to the United States prior to the Revolution- 
ary War. Grandfather Malone served seven years 
in the Colonial War and drew a pension for some 
years previous to his death, which occurred at the 
age of eighty-one years. Grandfather Parks also 
participated in that war, serving in the capacity of 
colonel, and died about 1804. To Stephen and 
Sarah (Parks) Malone were born thirteen children, 
all of whom grew to maturity. 

Mrs. Malinda J. Malone, proprietress of a well- 
kept hotel at Auvergne, Ark., is a daughter of 
Henry R. and Mary E. (Follis) Bray, the former a 
Baptist minister and a native of Virginia, and the 
latter born in the "Palmetto State." They were 
married in Alabama in 1832, and shortly afterward 
moved to Lynnville, Tenn., where they made their 
home for twelve years, Mr. Bray being engaged in 



AVHITE COUNTY. 



205 



conducting a large woodyanl, blacksmith's shop 
and also attended to his ministerial duties. In 1850 
Rev. Bray removed with his family to Alabama, 
where he followed the occupation of farming and 
preaching until 1860, when he settled in Madison 
County, Ark. , and two years later moved to Cotton 
Plant, in Phillips County, where ho resided five 
years. In the fall of 1867, he came to Jackson 
County, and purchased 250 acres of land and was 
here residing at the time of his death in July, 1870, 
his wife' s death occuring five years later. Mrs. Bray 
was a daughter of William and Mary (Dickinson) 
Follis who were natives of South Carolina, and re- 
moved to Alabama at an early day. The father's 
ancestors were Virginians and of Irish descent. 
Mrs. Malone is the eldest of a family of nine chil- 
dren and is the only one now living, her birth oc- 
curring on November 23, 1837. The remainder 
of the family were: William R. (born March 14, 
1839; he was twice married and died January 3, 
1888, two children and his last wife surviving him), 
Mary E. (was born August 1, 1841, and was mar- 
ried to Gabriel Couch of Jackson County, Ark. , and 
died in 1871), Sarah A. (was born in 1843, and 
was the wife of Gr. C. Harrison, by him becoming 
the mother of three sons; she died in 1882), Char- 
ity E. (was born 1845 and was twice married, her 
first husband being Willialii Johnson and her last 
Newton Bleakley; she died in 1880, leaving two 
sons, Charley VV., who resides with Mrs. Malone 
and William, who lives in New Mexico), Iradel 
(was a farmer of Texas, but in 1881 moved to Jack- 
son County, Ark., and died the same year), Mar- 
tha (was the wife of Levi Blakely and died in 1871 
leaving no issue), Boldon (died in 1877 at the 
age of eighteen years) and a little sister, Katie (died 
in infancy). Mrs. Malone was reared in Lynnville 
and in that town and in Kogersville, Ala., received 
her education. In 1854 she was married to B. T. 
Malone, she at that time being only fourteen and a 
half years of age and he nineteen. Their children 
are named as follows: John T. (arailler at Athens, 
Ala., has a wife and two children, Charlie and Dol- 
lie), Henry E. (a man of Thornton, Miller Count}', 
Ark. ; is married and has had five children but now 
has only three, Emmet, aged nine; Lulu, aged 



seven, and Lucile, aged five), Emma (is a young 
lady at home), MolUe L. (was born in 1863 and is 
the wife of J. A. Canada, a merchant of Beebe; she 
died in 1885 and her husband and one child sur- 
vive her), DoUie (was born August 1, 1872, and 
died May 7, 1880), Mattie (was born August 2, 
1866, and died August 6, 1877), Linnie (was born 
January 1, 1877 and died April 1, 1879), James 
W. (was bom August 3, 1858 and died June 2, 
1859) and Charles (born August 2, 1876, and died 
in infancy). After their marriage Mr. and IMrs. 
Malone resided in Tennessee until 1859 and after a 
short residence in Northern Alabama they settled in 
Mississippi and there made their home for ten years. 
In 1869 they removed to and purchased a large 
plantation in Jackson County, Ark. , and there also 
managed a mercantile establishment up to 1877, 
when they sold their land and moved to Beebe, 
purchasing considerable town property at that place 
on which they erected good buildings. Mr. Malone 
was also engaged in merchandising; in his political 
views was an active Democrat and held the offices 
of magistrate and notary public for a considerable 
length of time. He was a leading member of the 
Baptist Church and was a member in good stand- 
ing of the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Malone died 
in 1884 and his widow immediately put her shoul- 
der to the wheel, increased her stock of dry goods 
and carried on the business at Beebe, and also 
erected a store at Auvergne which she put in charge 
of her son Henry E., her eldest son conducting the 
business at Beebe. In 1877 Mrs. Malone located 
in Auvergne and took charge of the Auvergne 
academy and for one year filled the office of matron 
of that institution. In September, 1888, she opened 
a hotel which she is at present successfully conduct- 
ing and since the death of her hiisband she has so 
successfully conducted the pi'operty he left that it 
has greatly increased in value. She is a lady of 
great force of character and more than ordinary 
powers of mind and has reared her family in such 
a manner as to win the respect of all with whom 
she comes in contact. She is a member of the 
Missionary Baptist Church and her family are also 
church members. 

Jeremiah E. Manasco. The Manasco family. 



206 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



or rather that branch to which the subject of this 
sketch belongs, were early settlers of Arkansas, 
having originally come from Alabama, and were in 
all probability of French descent. Mr. Manasco, 
our subject, was born in Tipton County, Tenn. , in 
1833 or 1834, and is a son of James and Ruby E. 
(Crawford) Manasco, both of whom died about the 
year 1841, and although he was the youngest of a 
family of nine childi'en, he was left to shift for him- 
self, and became a bound boy to his brother John, 
and was reared by him to manhood on a farm. 
He sufPered the trials of the orphan, and although j 
his school advantages were very limited, and he 
was compelled to work very hard, he remained 
faithful to his bondsman till he reached his twenty- 
first year, when he drifted out into the world to 
try his own jJowers. He first engaged as a farm 
hand, doing all kinds of heavy work, becoming in 
the meantime thoroughly familiar with the details 
of farm work. In 1857 he was married to Miss 
Mary J. Flanagan, a native of Tennessee, and by 
her became the father of six children, three of 
whom lived to be grown: John F. (a railroad man 
of Little Rock), William J. (a resident of Tennes- 
see), Preston V. (deceased), Amandeville W. (liv- 
ing) and twin girls, Emily and Martha (who died 
in infancy). The mother of these children died 
in September, 1869, in full communion with the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. After remaining a 
widower two years, Mr. Manasco married Miss 
Virginia P. Wooten, a native of Tennessee, and of 
their large family of ten children all are living: 
Nellie Naomi, May L., George W., Calla D., Bed- 1 
ford F., Reuben B. , Fanny, Helen, Bertha and 
Leonora M. In 1864 Mr. Manasco joined the 
Twelfth Tennessee Cavalry, but owing to weak 
eyes soon left the service. Before the war and 
afterward till January, 1872, Mr. Manasco carried 
on farming in his native State, and in this calling 
succeeded far beyond his expectations, but sold his 
property in December, 1871, and in 1872 removed 
to Prairie County, Ark. , where he rented land and i 
farmed for three years. Since that time he has 
resided in White County, and in 1875 purchased 
160 acres of land, on which were erected some log- 
cabins on fifty acres of cleared land. He set ener- 



getically to work to improve his property, and soon 
had one of the finest homes in White County. In 
June, 1885, he had the misfortune to lose his res- 
idence and nearly all its contents by fire, but he 
has since rebuilt, and now has one of the most 
substantial residences in the county. By subse- 
quent purchases he has increased his lands to 245 
acres, and has 100 acres under cultivation. The 
land is well adapted to raising all kinds of grain, 
but his principal crops are corn, cotton and oats. 
Mr. Manasco is public-spirited and enterjsrising, 
and has always favored worthy movements. He is 
a member of El Paso Lodge No. 65 of the A. F. 
& A. M. 

John S. Marsh, one of the well-known farmers 
and stock raisers of White County, is the son of 
Roland and Sarah (Webb) Marsh, his birth occur- 
ring in Warren County, Tenn., July 28, 1825. 
Roland Marsh was born and educated in North 
Carolina, emigrating when quite young to Ten- 
nessee in company with his parents, where he met 
and married Miss Webb, also of North Carolina 
nativity, and the daiighter of Elisha and Sarah 
Webb. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Marsh five 
children were born, four of them now living, and 
residents of Arkansas. They are Harry, Pollie, 
Sarah, Rachel and John S. Mr. Marsh was a 
farmer, and quite successful in the accumulation 
of wealth. He died in 1835, and his estimable 
wife only survived him about a year. Both were 
members of the Baptist Church. John S. passed 
his boyhood days in the schools of Warren County, 
Tenn., and in 1845 was united in the bands of 
matrimony to Annie Potter, also of Tennessee. 
Ten children blessed their marriage: Rollin, Till- 
man, Sarah J., Thomas M., Jackson R., Martha, 
William H. , Martina and Martisia (twins) and 
Johnnie. Mrs. Marsh died in 1873. and in 1879, 
Mr. Marsh chose for his second wife Sarah Gor- 
don, a resident and native of Tennessee. In 1849, 
when the subject of this sketch immigrated to Ar- 
kansas from Tennessee (locating in White County), 
he found himself the possessor of a single wagon 
and a yoke of oxen, the two comprising his worldly 
all. He now owns 120 acres of land well culti- 
vated, and having exercised great care in the selec- 



. ■^ ' 
^ 



J^± 



4>> 



WHITE COUNTY. 



207 



tion of his stock, has some excellent animals. His 
farm, though not as large as some in the county, is 
perfectly complete in all its appointments, and its 
general appearance is indicative of peace and pros- 
perity. Mr. Marsh takes a great interest in all 
educational matters, and is determined that his 
children shall be deprived of nothing that tends to 
advance their intellectual training. He is one of 
the organizers of the first church established in 
Mount Pisgah, and is an influential raemljor. His 
wife and entire family are all members of the 
Methodist Church. He belongs to Lodge No. 460 
of the Masonic order, in which he has held the 
office of treasurer. 

John W. Matthews was the eldest son in the 
family of Robert and Annie (Howard) Matthews, 
the former of whom came upon the stage of life's 
action in Alabama, in 1802. His parents were 
Walter and Rachel Matthews, of South Carolina 
origin, but who moved to Alabama at an early day. 
Robert Matthews was married about 1830, and 
followed the occupation of a farmer all his life. 
Coming to Arkansas in 1836 (his family following 
him in 1852), he settled in White County; his 
wife had died shortly before his removal. Mr. 
Matthews enlisted as a soldier during the Civil 
War in 1863, and served until his death, which 
occurred at Rock Port in 1864. Himself and wife 
had a family of three children: John W. , Sarah 
J. and Delia F. John W., the only surviving 
member, was born in Alabama in 1882, and was 
married in 1858 to Nancy Brady, daughter of 
William and Mirah (Cordal) Brady. Mr. and 
Mrs. Matthews are the parents of nine children: 
Mirah Ann (now Mrs. Pi'uett), Mary Jane (mar- 
ried S. M. West), James C, William R., John W., 
Joseph E., Benjamin F., Ester A. and Nancy N. 
Mr. Matthews enlisted in 1861 in Morse's com- 
pany, Fourth Battalion, Arkansas Infantry, and 
took part in the battles of Cotton Plant, Ark. ; 
Columbus, Ky. , and a number of other engage- 
ments. He now owns a tine farm of 313 acres of 
land. 175 acres of which are \inder cultivation. 
Mrs. Matthews is a member of the Baptist Church. 
Mr. Matthews is treasurer of the County Wheel, 
and is an influential and highly respected citizen. 



Bnrwill M. Morrill is a member of the go ahead, 
enteri)rising firm of Merrill & Reed, dealers in real 
estate in Beebe, Ark., a native of the "Empire 
State." He was Isorn in Chautaucpia County in 
1835, as the son of George and Eliza (Millard) 
Merrill, natives of Massachusetts and Canada, re- 
spectively. George Merrill was born in 1800, and 
died in 1884, his wife, who was also born at an 
early date, dying at Bur will's birth. The latter, 
the only child of his father's first marriage, when 
about five years old, moved to Michigan with his 
parent, who became a very successful farmer in the 
"Wolverine State." giving his careful and undi- 
vided attention to that occupation. By his second 
marriage Mr. Merrill became the father of two 
children, only one now living: Letitia (wife of John 
Gordon, a farmer of Floyd County, Iowa). Bur- 
will M. Merrill was given such advantages for ob- 
taining an education as the excellent schools of 
Michigan afforded, and at the age of twenty-one 
assumed the responsibility of his father's farm, the 
care of which he continued until the hitter's death 
in 1884. In 1854 he was married to Miss Lydia 
Wilson, a native of Canada, and to their union two 
children were born: Letitia (the wife of J. C. Cov- 
ert, manufacturer of store fronts and other build- 
ing materials, at Belmont, Iowa) and De Forest (a 
mechanic at Detroit). Mrs. Merrill died in 1867, 
having been a devoted wife and mother, and a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church. Mr. Merrill chose for 
his second wife Miss Alviria Cross, who also died in 
Clinton County, Mich., in 1884, having become' 
the father of two children: George W. (who died at 
the age of eighteen, unmarried) and Florence L. 
(now the wife of Dr. A. C. Jordon, a prominent 
physician of Beebe, Ark. , with which daughter Mr. 
Merrill now resides). He came to Arkansas in 
1885, that he might find a home in a more genial 
climate, also desiring to try small fi-uit raising in 
this favored section. Purchasing sixty acres in 
White County, one mile west of Beebe, he at once 
turned his attention to the cultivation of small 
fi'uits and grasses. Mr. Merrill has tried all kinds 
of grasses, and is thoroughly convinced that the 
soil of White County will produce liberally any 
of the various kinds grown so bountifully in the 



"5> V 



•V' 



208 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



East and North. Red clover, three feet in length, 
was raised on his farm one season, which was some- 
thing of a curiosity. He is now successfully rais- 
ing regular crops of clover and timothy. Straw- 
berries and root crops yield immensely. Garden 
vegetables are especially productive, sweet pota- 
toes yielding 350 bushels per acre. Mr. Merrill 
is a member of Beebe Lodge No. 47, I. O. O. F., 
and has passed all the chairs in the subordinate 
lodge. He has been a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church for many years, and is a pub- 
lic-spirited, enterprising man, giving his hearty 
support to all movements that betoken the good or 
growth of the county. 

Christian Miller is a farmer and fruit grower of 
White County, Ark. This gentleman was born on 
Boruholm Island, Hasley, Denmark, in 1842, and 
is the second in a family of ten children, the re- 
sult of the union of John and Elizabeth Miller, 
natives, also, of Denmark, and who died in their 
native land. Their children were named as follows: 
Mary, Christian, Sena, John, Petra, Lena, Otto 
Line (deceased), Andrew, James and Julyno. Four 
of these childi-en came to this country, two of whom 
reside in Wyoming. Andrew and the subject of 
this sketch came to Arkansas and settled in White 
County. The latter spent his youth in his native 
country, was educated there and came to America 
in 1865, but first settled in New York. Later he 
moved to Illinois, remained there until 1871, and 
then, as stated above, came to White County, Ark. , 
and settled in Harrison Township. He purchased 
eighty acres of timber land, improved it, and has 
added to the original tract until he now owns 240 
acres, with 130 acres cleared and 100 acres devoted 
to horticulture. Mr. Miller was married in Illinois 
in 1871 to Miss Mary Hahn, daughter of Saro 
Hanson and Eline Christian Hahn, natives of Den- 
mark. Mary Hahn came to America in 1861, tirst 
settling in Illinois. Mrs. Mary Hahn's marriage 
to Christian Miller was in 1871 . After his marriage 
Mr. Miller moved to Arkansas, where he has re- 
mained ever since. He has about sixteen acres of 
land devoted to the raising of strawberries, ten 
acres in raspbeiTies, and an extensive peach or- 
chard of sixty acres. He is one of the most ex- 



tensive shippers in Judsonia. He is also the owner 
of a good town property in Judsonia. Socially, 
he is a member of Anchor Lodge No. 384, A. F. & 
A. M., and he and wife are members of the Mis- 
sionary Baptist Church, of which he is a deacon. 
He is active in church and educational matters, 
and, in fact, takes a decided interest in all enter- 
prises for the good of the county. 

John S. Mitchell, M. D., whose professional 
career is one in which he may take just pride, is a 
son of a veteran of the Mexican War, James S. 
Mitchell, and has been a resident of White County 
since 1858. James S. Mitchell was born in Mon- 
roe County, Ky., on August 14, 1793, and was 
married shortly after his return from the M'ar of 
1812, in which he was actively engaged, to Miss 
Sarah Scott, a Tennesseean by birth, born January 
18, 1795. They were the parents of seven children: 
Dorcas (afterward Mrs. Gist), Frances (Wilson), 
Mary (Dies), Matilda (Barger), John S. (our sub- 
ject) and Louis B. (who is also a physician of Mon- 
roe County. Mrs. Mitchell's family were also 
originallj' from Tennessee. The Mitchells were 
connected with the celebrated Boone family of 
Kentucky. John S. was born in Kentucky Novem- 
ber 14, 1824, growing to manhood on a farm, and 
accompanying his father to Henderson County, 
Tenn., when a boy. He was married December 30, 
1849, to Miss Sarah J. Dotson, daughter of Thomas 
and Charlotte (Pipkin) Dotson, who were married 
in 1815, and became the parents of four children. 
After his marriage, Dr. Mitchell returned to Ten- 
nessee, living there nine years. In the spring of 
1858 he came to White County, where he bought 
a farm of two hruidred acres of unimproved land, 
clearing the same himself, and placing over half of 
it under cultivation. Himself and wife have been 
blessed with seven children, five of whom are liv- 
ing: Irena F. (vSwinford), James B., William B., 
John T. (deceased), Albert G., Sally A. and Virgil. 
Dr. Mitchell also has ten grandchildren. He is a 
strong Democrat, and served as justice of the 
peace during the war and until the reconstruction. 
A Master Mason, he belongs to Centre Hill Lodge 
No. 114, and to Centre Hill Chapter. Dr. Mitchell 
and wife are connected with the Christian Church. 



^-. 



<S fc_ 



I — I 



WHITE COUNTY. 



209 



Two of their children only are living cat home at 
the present time. 

Nathaniel Lee Mitchell. The entire life of Mr. 
Mitchell has been passed in an industious manner, 
and not without substantial evidences of success, 
as will be seen from a glance at his present pos- 
sessions. His birth occurred on A.pril 11, IS'JS, and 
he is a son of Charles B. and Nancy (Miller) Mitch- 
ell and a native of Boonville, Cooper County, 
Mo. His paternal ancestors came to America in 
17fi(\ and the paternal grandfather, Thomas Mitch- 
ell, was born in the State of Virginia. The 
Millers came to America prior to the Revolution, 
probably about 1750. Owing to war troubles Great- 
grandfather Miller was forced from his home, and 
without his family, which consisted of his wife and 
infant, he was compelled to flee elsewhere for pro- 
tection. Grandfather Miller was born in North 
Carolina, about 1780. Nathaniel Lee Mitchell re- 
ceived his early education in the district schools of 
his native county, and afterward entered the high 
school of Boonville, his school-days ending in the 
State University at Columbia, Mo., in 1850. In 
1850 he crossed the plains to the gold region of 
California, and there worked in different mines for 
about one and a half years, his labors being at- 
tended with fair results, and he then returned to 
his home in Missouri, and the following year be- 
came second assistant of Solomon Houck, who 
was engaged in freighting goods between Kansas 
City, Mo., and Santa Fe, N. M., making one trip 
which required about eight months' time. In 1853 
he again crossed the plains to California, via Salt 
Lake City, Utah, and as befoi'e only met with 
moderate success. At the end of two years he 
engaged in the butcher's business, and in 1857 
bought a farm in Yolo County, consisting of 160 
acres of improved land. In addition to managing 
this farm, he engaged in teaching, but in 1850 con- 
cluded to return home, so sold his property, and 
after returning home, engaged in collecting notes, 
and in 1861 rented a farm near Sedalia. The 
troubles incident to the war coming up at this 
time, he left his farm and enlisted in Company G, 
Second Missouri Vohintoer Cavalry, Confederate 
States Army, under Gen. Price, who was at that 



time commanding the Confederate army in South- 
west Missouri. Almost immediately after joining 
ha was called to duty in the commissary depart- 
ment, and was given the rank of captain. After 
holding this position two years he resigned, and 
returned to duty with his company as a private 
soldier, and was at various times under the famous 
cavalry leaders : Price, Forrest, Chalmers and 
Armstrong. He sun-endered with his command at 
East Port, Tenn. , and was paroled at Columbus, 
settling soon after at Panola, Miss., where he be- 
came acquainted with Miss Susan A. Hall, to whom 
he was united in marriage on November 30, 1865. 
She is a Mississippian by birth, and is a daughter 
of Porter and Mary Hall (the father of Scotch- 
Irish descent, and a native of South Carolina). 
Some of his ancestors were soldiers in the Conti- 
nental army during Revolutionary times. After 
their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell rented and 
farmed land for one year, and in 1806 immigra- 
ted to Missouri, and took up their abode on a farm 
near Kansas City, on which they resided three 
years. In 1870 they came to White County, but 
eleven years later moved to Washington County, 
where they purchased a forty- acre tract of land. 
Since 1884 they have resided on their present farm. 
Their children are: Mary M. (born August 30, 
1866, and died in September, 1872), Charles Por- 
ter (born May 18, 1868, and is now studying med- 
icine under the tutelage of Dr. Mcintosh, of Beebe. 
He was married November 15, 1888, to Miss Mat- 
tie Byram, a native of Arkansas, and a daughter 
of William W. and Margaret (Williams) Byram), 
and William Nathaniel Mitchell (born January 6, 
1871). These children have received good educa- 
tional advantages, and are a credit to their par- 
ents. Mr. Mitchell is a Democrat, serving his 
party for years as justice of the peace, and he and 
his wife, and their son Charles and wife, are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Soutli. 
Mr. Mitchell is favorable to educational and relig- 
ious advancement and in fact all worthy movements. 
He became a Mason in 1859, joining Cooper Lodge 
No. 36, and now holds a demit from that lodge, 
bearing date January 23, 1886. 

Josiah J. Moncrief , M. D. , Hammonsville, Ark. 



^^=±: 



-* ® 



210 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



This able niul successful practitioner owos his na- 
tivity to Harris County, Gu., where his birth oc- 
currod on April 13, 1858, as the son of George 
W. and Emily A. (Calhoun) Moncrief. The father 
is a native of Georgia, and of French descent, his 
ancestors having emigrated to America prior to 
1770, and settled in Georgia. The grandfather, 
Lebanon Moncrief, was a soldier under Gon. Jack- 
son, and was at the battle of New Orleans in 1812. 
The maternal ancestors were of Irish descent. Dr. 
J. J. Moncrief moved with his parents to Alabama 
in 1857, acquired a good English education, and 
in 1881 entered the office of D. Dunlap, M. D., 
where* he commenced the study of medicine in St. 
Clair County, of that State. In 1887 he attended 
a course of lectures in the Medical Department of 
the University of Aiicansas, situated at Little Hock, 
and later located at Tu[)elo, Jackson County, Ark., 
where he ])racticed medicine for a short time. In 
April of 1889, he came to Hammonsville, where 
he located, and where he contemplates making his 
home. The Doctor is a member and secretary of 
Hammonsville Lodge of the A. F. & A. M. He 
also hoUls membership in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South. 

William Bird Moon, M. D., is a native of 
Georgia; born June 12, 1821. He was reared and 
educated in his native State, receiving his medical 
education in Louisville Medical Institute, now the 
Medical University of Kentucky, following which 
ho began practicing physic in 1845. After having 
remained in Georgia eight years he moved to Ala- 
bama and continued in active practice for nineteen 
years, coming thence to White County, Ark., in 
1872, whore ho purchased real estate, upon which 
he now lives. Dr. Moon was married October 19, 
1845, to lloena Cathrine S])ratlen, daughter of 
Henry and Mary Sjiratlen, natives of Georgia. The 
Doctor and his wife are the jiarents of eleven chil- 
dren: Mary Caroline (born August 15, 1840, mar- 
ried S. S. Pearson in 1807, and died January 27, 
1S78), Francis L. (born April 21, 1848, married 
H. M. Ware, died March 20, 1870), Jacob Oliver 
(born July 31, 1850, died Octolier 31, 1877), Susan 
C. (born June 20, 1854, married D. (t. Copeland, 
and died INIarch 27, 188S), James Calhoun (born 



October 8, 1804, died August 27, 1805), Theodosia 
Earnest (born May 31, 1800, died October (i, 
1873), William David (born Febraary 11, 1850, 
married Allie E. Danlcn), Ana P. (born April It), 
1852, married H. McKay), Emma Wilkinson (born 
September 0, 1858, married W. E. Powel), Robert 
Urial (l)orn July 22, 1800, married G. H. Neely), 
and Alice Virginia (born September 5, 1802, mar- 
ried G. C. Layne). Dr. Moon is a son of Jacob 
and Mary Ann (Stajiles) Moon, who were also of 
Georgia nativity. Their ancestors came originally 
from Virginia. Jacob Moon was born September 
28, 1795, and died August 13, 1877, and his wife, 
whose natal day was December 0, 1799, died No- 
vember 10, 1870. Dr. Moon's brothers and sisters 
are: Lavina (born December 28, 1817, died in 
1840), David Staples (born November 10, 1819), 
John Chapel (born August 15, 1824, died April 9, 
1855), Thomas (born February 24, 1827, died 
March 21, 1852), Mary Ann (born February 18, 
1829), Susan E. (born July 9, 1841). Dr. Moon 
is a devoted Democrat. He and his wife are mem- 
bers of Missionary Baptist Church, and take active 
interest in all laudable enterprises. He is deacon 
of his church. 

William D. Moon, M. D., is a worthy son 
of one of the most esteemed residents of this 
county. His parents were Dr. William B. and 
Roena C. (Spratlen) Moon, natives of Georgia, 
who moved to Alabama in 1853, as stated in the 
biography which immediately precedes this. Will- 
iam D. Moon first saw the light of day in 1850, 
improving to the utmost the advantages enjoyed 
for receiving an education in the common schools 
of Alabama. In 1877 ho attended the medical 
college at Louisville, where his father had studied, 
and in 1 878 commenced practicing in White County, 
Ark., which locality has been his parents' homo for 
some years. His later career has been an encour- 
aging and highly satisfactory one. Dr. Moon was 
married in the fall of 1872, to Allie E. Darden, 
daughter of J. W. and Nancy H. Darden. They 
have a family of four children: Robert E. Lee 
(deceased), Lena L. , Yandell and William Darden. 
Dr. Moon and wife are members of the Missionary 
Baptist Church. The former is a Democrat in pol- 



itica and is a biglily respectod citizon. YandoU is 
uauiod after tbo Yuiidolls ia Louisville, Ky., who 
wore fellow-students and teachers of the Doctor's 
trraiidfathcr, and several of them beloncod to the 
medical faculty when the father was attending 
medical lectures in 1877. 

Moore & Lyon are proprietors of the largest 
livery, sale and feed stables at Searcy. The sen- 
ior member of the firm, James L. Moore, is a son 
of Robert W. and Sally (Carter) Moore, natives of 
North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. In 
1S58 the father moved to Arkansas and settled 
in White County, where he died March 24, 1884. 
His wife still survives him and resides in Cle- 
burne County with her daughter and younger chil- 
dren. James L. Moore came originally from Ten- 
nessee, where his birth occurred July 27, 1857. 
A year after this event his parents moved to White 
County, Ark., where he has since made his homo, 
gaining by his upright course a wide and honorable 
acquaintance. He was engaged in farming until 
1887, when he moved to Searcy and ernijarked in 
the livery business, the patronage accorded this es- 
tablishment being liberid and of increasing dimen- 
sions. Jack F. Lyon, associated with Mr. Moore 
in the conduct of the stables referred to, was born 
in Mississippi, on September 5, 1858, as one of a 
family of William and Lydia (Arnold) Lyman, of 
Alabama origin. Mr. and Mrs. Lyman mov(Hl to 
Tennessee in 18G4, where the former engaged in 
farming and remained until 1883, then becoming 
located in Cross Coimty, Ark. Here he died three 
years later. Jack F. Lyon removed to White 
County in 1881, and was occupied in stock raising 
for tbo following six years. In 1887 ho settled at 
Searcy and (uitercd into the liv(>ry business in com- 
pany with Mr. Moore. Mr. Lyon has two brothers 
similiarly occupied in Wayne, Cross County, and 
another brother is engaged in farming in Cross 
County. Messrs. Moore & Lyman are doing the 
largest business, in their lino, of any firm in 
Searcy, and are very popular, l)eing affaljle and 
obliging in their intercourse with the public. 

M. M. Morris, jiroprietor of cotton-gin, grist- 
mill and planingmill, S(>arcy, Ark. There are 
few men of the present day whom the world ac- 



knowledges as snccossfnl, more worthy of honora- 
ble mention, or whose history affords a bettor illus- 
tration of what may be accomplished l)y a deter- 
mined will and persc^verance, than Mr. Morris. 
He owes his nativity to Kanawha Connty, W. Va., 
where his birth occurred February 25, 1828, and 
is the third in a family of nine children born to 
the union of P. H. and Aim (Summers) Morris, 
natives of West Virginia. The father was a miller 
by trade, but in connection carried on farming, 
and became the owner of a largo plantation. His 
death occurred in 1S42. The mother is still liv- 
ing, makes her home in West Virginia, and is in 
perfect health, although eighty-three years of age. 
Their children were named as follows: Floyd W. 
(married, and resides in West Virginia), Henry 
(was killed in White County, by a mule, in 1808), 
M. M. (subject of this sketch), F. T. J. (married, 
and resides in Garner, White County, Ark.), F. F. 
(married, and resides in West Virginia), Nancy 
Jane (now Mrs. Poindexter, of West Virginia), 
William (married, and resides in West Virginia), 
George L. (married, and resides near Searcy) and 
Harriet Ann (now Mrs. Crisp, resides in tiie Lone 
Star State). M. M. Morris was reared in a town 
in West Virginia, received his education in the 
subscription schools of that State, and there learned 
the blacksmith trade. On January 13, 1850, lie 
came to Searcy, engaged in blacksmithing in front 
of the Gill House, and continued there a numl)er 
of years. Later he erected the lirst stean^-mill in 
White County, on Red River, near Searcy, and 
one year later, or in 1851, at Searcy Landing. Mr. 
Morris ran the mill over one year, and then sold 
it. He next engaged in cutting wood, and the 
same year erected a mill and went to work. He 
was married on October 22, 1852, to Miss M. J. 
Story, a native of Tennessee, and the daughter of 
Henry and Annie (Moore) Story, who wer(> origin- 
ally from Tennessee. Her parents came to Inde- 
pendence County, Ark., settled in Batesville, in 
1844, and hero th(! father followed merchandising 
the principal part of his life. His death occurred 
in 1845 or 1840, but his wife survived him many 
years, and made her home with her son, M. M. 
Morris. She died in iSt')8. To Mr. and Mrs. 



» V 



»iL 



212 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Morris were bom seven children : M. G. (^married 
to Miss Pruitt, and is the father of five children), 
T. J., W. F., Mary Ellen (widow of Andrew Mc- 
Ginnis). George L., Henry (died in 1875). Charley 
and Hattie. Mr. Morris lost his excellent wife in 
April, 1885. He has been continuously in busi- 
ness for nearly forty years, and. although starting 
with little or no means, he is now one of the suc- 
cessful and progressive men of the county. He 
owns sixty-eight acres of land joining Searcy; has 
about 400 acres under cultivation, and has some 
fine buildings on his farms, one costing $3,300. 
He has all the latest machinery for running his 
farm, and follows agricultural pursuits more ex- 
tensively than any other man in Gray Township. 
He is not active in politics, but votes with the 
Democratic party. Socially, he is a member of 
Searcy Lodge No. 49, A. F. & A. M. He takes 
an active interest in all matters relating to the 
good of the county, and has been a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church for many years. His 
wife was also a member of the same church. Dur- 
incr the late war Mr. Morris was boss workman of a 
Texas Brigade shop, in Texas Brigade, Col. Tay- 
lor's regiment. 

George L. Morris, one of the representative 
men of White County, came to this locality when 
nineteen years of age. "When the war-cry sounded 
he joined the Confederate army, under Col. McKae, 
remaining in service until the declaration of peace, 
mostly on detached duty as wagon master and 
marshal of trains. After the war he engaged in 
farming, and, though financially embarrassed when 
leaving the army, he has, by hard work, good 
management and economy, become the owner of 
one of the best farms in White County, 800 acres 
of laud in extent, with 400 of these thoroughly 
cultivated. Mr. Morris was born in Putnam Coun- 
ty, W. Va., in 1840, and is the son of Harry and 
Annie (Summers) Morris, natives of Old Virginia. 
Mr. Morris, Sr. , was a farmer, miller and distiller. 
He departed this life in 1840, when about forty 
years old. Mrs. Morris afterward married Richard 
Chandler, now deceased. She is still living, some- 
where in the neighborhood of eighty-nine years, 
and has been a consistent and faithful member of 



the Baptist Church for seventy -five years. Mr. 
and Mrs. Morris were the parents of nine children, 
eight of whom are still living: Floyd (a farmer of 
Putnam County, W. Va.), M. M. (resides in Searcy), 
William (an attorney of West Virginia), Ferdenand, 
Nancy (now Mrs. Poindexter), Harriett (now Mrs. 
Crisp, of Texas) and George L., our subject, who 
was united in marriage on May 20, 1808, to Sarah 
Sewell, a daughter of Frank Sewell, and was born 
in Tennessee on October 6, 1850. They were the 
parents of nine children, eight of whom are still 
living: M. M., John W., Eura May, George W., 
Minnie Lee, Enra, Kate and Henry. Mr. and Mrs. 
M(5rrison worship with the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, of which Mr. Morris is steward. To him 
this society is largely indebted for their church 
edifice, he furnishing the ground on which it 
stands, and also a part of the material. He is en- 
gaged in raising mules and cattle, which he ships 
to the Southern markets. 

James R. Neal is a citizen of Centre Hill, popu- 
larly and well known as a prosperous farmer of 
White County. He is a native of Fayette Coun- 
ty, Tenn. , and was born in 1840, being the son of 
William D. and Mary A. J. ( Parham) Neal. also of 
Tennessee origin. William D. Neal's birth occur- 
red August 14, 1809, and in business was a prom- 
inent planter of Tennessee. He was married Au- 
gust 19, 1831. His father was also a native of 
Tennessee, who lived and died there. He had a 
family of eight children: Betsey, Ann, William 
D. (the father of our subject), Meredith H. , James 
M., Polly, Nancy and John H. Our subject's 
maternal grandparents. Thomas and Nancy Par- 
ham, were natives of Georgia, and came to Ten- 
nessee in 1820. William D. Neal was the father 
of fourteen children: James T. , Martha J., John 
W., William M., James R. (the principal of this 
sketch), Elica T., Samuel A., Nancy E. (now 
Mrs. Clay), Sarah A. (Hicks), Eunice M. (Harri- 
son), Susan H. (deceased), David J., next an in- 
fant (who died before it was named) and Newton 
H. Mr. William D. Neal came to Arkansas in 1842, 
settling in Searcy County, and in 1853 moved to 
White County, where he bought a farm of 160 
acres, all timbered land, and cleared about sixty 



7^« 



WHITE COUNTY. 



213 



of these. James R. Neal spent his early boyhood 
on the farm and attended the subscrijition schools. 
He was married to Mary J. Holland, a native of 
North Carolina, as were also her parents and 
grandparents on both sides. James R. , his father 
and four of his brothers were all in the Confeder- 
ate service. He enlisted on September 13, 1861, 
in T. H. McRae's regiment, for twelve months, 
at the end of which time he enlisted for three 
years or during the war. He participated in the 
battles of Prairie Grove, Helena, Little Rock and 
many others, and received his discharge June 5, 
1865. He was married while in the service and 
while home on a furlough. After the war he set- 
tled on a farm in this county where he has since 
resided. To this union were born seven children: 
Alice C. (Brumlow), Kiddee S. , Lucy A. (de- 
ceased), Mary J. (Harrison), John W., Ella F. 
and Henry W. Mr. Neal is a Mason, and belongs 
to Centre Hill Lodge No. 114. Himself and wife 
are members of the Missionary Baptist Church; 
he has a fine farm of 160 acres, with fifty improved 
and in a high state of cultivation. He is a prom- 
inent Democrat, and takes an active interest in all 
public improvements, or all work for the good of 
the community. 

John H. Neal, Searcy, Ark. This much re- 
spected citizen and pioneer came to White County, 
Ark., in 1850, and settled in Searcy, where he fol- 
lowed merchandising. In 1851 he embarked in 
the grocery and general merchandising business, 
and this continued until 1854, he being one of 
the pioneer business men of Searcy. In 1854 
he engaged as clerk in dry-goods busine.=s houses, 
and this continued until 1861. He was born 
in Maury County, Tenn., in 1830, being the young- 
est in a family of nine children, born to James 
and Sarah (Dodson) Neal, natives, respectively, of 
North Carolina and South Carolina. The father 
was a planter, and at an early day moved to 
Tennessee, where he died, in Fayette County, in 
1845. The mother died the same year. In their 
family were the following children: William D. 
(married, and came to Arkansas in IS44, settled 
in Searcy County, and followed farming. He 
enlisted in Van Buren County, in 1861, and re- 



ceived a gunshot wound through the thigh. He 
was taken to Camp Dennison, Ohio, remained as 
a prisoner until exchanged, and returned in 1863; 
he died in 1869), Meridith H. (came to White 
County, in 1852, and lost his first wife the 
same year. He was a Methodist Episcopal, South, 
preacher, and returned to Memphis in the fall of 
1852, taking charge of South Memphis Church. 
In 1874 he returned to White County, Ark., and 
in 1877 went to Tennessee, where he died in 1883), 
James M. (married, came to W'hite County, Octo- 
ber, 1850, and settled in what is now Des Arc 
Township, where he opened up a farm. His 
death occurred in 1852), Nancy (married P. L. 
Downey and moved to Searcy County, Ark., in 
1846. Her death occurred in about 1857 or 1858), 
Elizabeth L. (married W. R. Johnson and moved 
to Searcy County, Ark., in 1846. She died in Ful- 
ton County, Ark., in 1877), Mary G. (married J. 
J. Crouch, a Methodist minister, and came to 
Searcy County, Ark., in 1849. He was a pioneer 
preacher of that county. Her death occurred in 
1850), Martha A. (now Mrs. Evans, the only sur- 
viving daughter, lives in Izard County) and an in- 
fant named Sarah. John H. Neal was reared to 
farm life, received his education in the schools of 
Fayette County, Tenn. He commenced for him- 
self at Searcy, Ark., in business, in 1850, and con- 
tinued thus employed for some time. He was 
married in Searcy, Ark., in 1852, to Miss Mary A. 
Clay, a native of Louisiana, but reared in Missouri, 
and the daughter of Lewis A. and Mary Clay, 
natives of Virginia. Her father came to White 
County, Ark. , at an early day and died in Searcy in 
1874. The mother died some years before. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Neal were born live children, three 
now living: Augustus E. (died in 1887, at the age 
of thirty-three years), James A. (died in 1865, at 
the age of ten years), John D. (is a prominent 
educator, and is teaching in the public school at 
Newport, Ark., where he has taught for six years), 
Henry Clay (is married and resides in Corsicana, 
Texas, and is engaged in commercial pursuits) and 
Mary A. (who is now Mrs. Hale, resides at Texar- 
kana. Ark.). Mr. Neal lost his wife in November, 
1863, and was married again, in White County, in 



214 



HISTORY OF ARKASfSAS. 



1864, to Mrs. Kiddy A. Neal (nee Holland), a native 
of North Carolina, and the daughter of Willis B. and 
Lucinda (Barbee) Holland, natives of Wake Coun- 
ty of the same State. The father v?as a planter 
by occupation, and in February, 1851, immigrated 
to Henderson County, Tenn., where he continued 
his former pursuit, and in connection taught school. 
In 1852 he came to White County, Ark., resided in 
Gray Township for three years, and in 1854 moved 
to Des Are Township, settling where Centre Hill 
is now located. He sent in the petition and estab- 
lished the postoffice at that place, and was made 
the first postmaster. In 1860 he moved to Van 
Buren County, and in 1863 returned to White 
County, where he remained until 1865, and then 
moved to Searcy. His death occurred at that place 
on March 7, 1869. His excellent wife survived 
him until January 22, 1888. The father was coun- 
ty surveyor, surveyed and resurveyed a great deal 
of the country. Socially, he was a member of 
Searcy Lodge No. 49, A. F. & A. M. , was also a 
member of Tillman Chapter No. 19, R. A. M. , and 
was High Priest of the same. He was also a mem- 
ber of Searcy Council No. 12, and aided in the or- 
ganization of Centre Hill Lodge No. 114. He was 
a charter member and was Worshipful Master of 
that lodge. There is a lodge, Holland Lodge No. 
158, in Van Buren County, which was named for 
him. To Mr. Neal' s second marriage were born no 
children. Socially, Mr. Neal is a member of Searcy 
Lodge No. 49, A. F. & A. M. , and was the second 
Mason initiated into that lodge, having joined in 
1852. He has been a Worshipful Master of the 
lodge, and assisted in organizing Centre Hill Lodge 
No. 114, and was Worshipful Master of that. He 
is a member of Tillman Chapter Lodge No. 19, R. 
A. M. , and has been High Priest in the same. He 
is also a member of Searcy Council No. 12, and has 
thrice been Illustrious Master of it. Mr. Neal is 
a member of the Eastern Star Chapter No. 5, and 
is one of the representative men of the county. 
Mrs. Neal is a member of the Eastern Star, has been 
Worthy Matron several times, and was elected 
First Grand Matron of the State, in 1876, and 
served one year. She is a member of the Baptist 
Church, and he a member of the Methodist Epis- 



cojjal Church, South, and both have been members 
for thirty-six years. During the war "Mx. Neal 
was postmaster and justice of the peace, and after 

J the war (in 1871) he engaged in the undertaking 
business, which he has carried on successfully ever 
since that time. 

j John A. Neavill, Searcy, Ark. There are many 

citizens represented within the pages of this vol- 
ume, but none more deserving of mention than 

I Mr. Neavill, who is not only one of the pioneers of I 
the county, but is universally respected by all who j 
know him. He was born in Jackson County, Ala., ^ 
in 1826, and was the eldest in a family of nine 
children, born to the union of Elihu and Margaret 
(Jones) Neavill, the father a native of Alabama, 
and the mother of North Carolina. Elihu Neavill 
was married in his native State, in about 1825, 
settled on a claim and followed agricultural pur- 
suits there until 1844, when he came to White 
County, Ark. He settled near where his son 
James A. now resides, entered land, erected a tan- 
yard, and in connection carried on farming and 
the tannery business until his death, which oc- 
cui'red April 17, 1888. He was a resident of the 
county for over forty years, and had the esteem 
and resiject of all. He was in the Florida War, 
was orderly -sergeant and was in service twelve 
months. He was of French descent, and the 
mother of Scotch-Irish. Of their family the fol- 
lowing childi-en are the only ones living: James 
A. (subject), Elijah (married and resides in Cane 
Township), William H. (married, and is . the 
marshal of Searcy) and Mary (now Mrs. F. W. 
Smith, of Gray Township). James A. Neavill was 
early taught the rudiments of farming, and re- 
ceived his education in the subscription schools of 
Alabama and White County, Ark. He was eight- 
een years of age when he came to Arkansas, and 
he was employed for a number of years in assist- 
ing his father in clearing up the farm. After this 
he began farming for himself near where he now 
resides. He was married in White County, Aj-k. , 
in 1853, to Miss Smith, a native of Mississippi, 
who bore him two living children: John and Will- 
iam B. The latter is married and resides in Gray 
Township. Another child, Mary, was the wife of 



"71:; 



^ — 4iL 



WHITE COUNTY. 



215 



John Gilliam, and died August 9, 1S84. Mrs. 
Neavill died in 1856, and Mr. Neavill selected his 
second wife in the person of Mrs. Marj' (Barkley) 
Britt, widow of Mr. Davis Britt, a native of Middle 
Tennessee, and the daughter of Andrew and Han- 
nah C. (Walker) Barkley. The faiher was a native 
of Tennessee, and his ancestors were the earliest 
settlers of that State. He followed agricultural 
pursuits and opened up a large tract of land. His 
death occurred in 1862. The mother was a native 
of North Carolina, and died in Tennessee. Ruther- 
ford County, iu 1887, at the advanced age of ninety 
years. To Mr. and Mrs. Neavill was born one 
child: Andrew A. After his marriage, which oc- 
curred in 1875, Mr. Neavill moved to Lis present 
residence, and is now the owner of a good farm of 
125 acres, with about seventy acres under cultiva- 
tion. He is active in polities, and votes with the 
Democratic party. He is a member of the Agri- 
cultural Wheel, takes an active interest in educa- 
tional matters, and has been a member of the 
school board. He has also tilled the position of 
constable of his township, and in a highly satis- 
factory manner. Mrs. Neavill is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Grandfather 
Neavill was in the War of 1812, and was at the 
battle of New Orleans with Gen. Jackson. Mr. 
Neavill (subject of this sketch), came to Arkansas 
in 1844, and can hardly realize that it is the same 
country now, on account of the many and rapid 
changes made since that time. Searcy was in the 
woods, and there were but three houses between 
that town and Beebe. OS the main traveled roads 
there were no settlements, and Mr. Neavill has 
killed many a deer on land now under cultivation, 
at a distance of 175 yards. He still has in his 
possession his trusty gun. During the war he was 
with Gen. Price, in his raid through Missouri, and 
enlisted in Capt. Black's company, particijtating 
in the following battles: Pilot Knob, Ironton, 
Newtonia. Blue Gap, etc. He was with Gen. 
Price until reaching Fayetteville, Ark., when he 
returned to White County. 

Charles E. Newman, farmer, fruit grower and 
educator of White County, Ark., was born in Mad- 
ison County, 111., on Feburary 17, 1844, and is 



the eldest of six children born to William E. and 
Martha A. (Harrison) Newman, the former a native 
of Madison County. 111., the latter originally of 
Kentucky. William E. was also of a family of six 
children. His father was a native of Pennsylva- 
nia, and one of the early settlers of Illinois, locat- 
ing in the territory as early as 1804. They trace 
their family name back live generations to Ireland. 
William E. Newman lived and died in the county 
in which he was born. His birth occuiTed in Feb- 
ruary, 1821, was married in 1843, and died June 
17, 1886. He and his wife were members of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and became the 
parents of the following named children: Charles 
E. (the subject of this sketch), Eliza (now Mrs. 
Fields, living near the old homestead), Mary 
(Kimball, now deceased), Henry (still living near 
the old homestead), Ida (deceased) and Mattie 
(married October 5, 1887, now living in Mont- 
gomery County, 111.). The mother of these 
children still resides at the old home, and is a 
daughter of Willliam and Mary (McClui'e) Harri- 
son. Virginians, who at an early day removed to 
Kentucky, in which State she was born, being one 
of four children: Maria, Martha, Elizabeth and 
Benjamin. Charles E. obtained his education in 
the common schools of Illinois, and assisted his 
father on the farm. August 9, 1862, he enlisted 
in Comjjany D, One Hundred and Seventeenth 
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Col. R. M. 
Moore, and went to the front to do battle for his 
country, participating in a number of battles and 
skirmishes during his three years' service. He re- 
ceived his discharge June 3, 1865, and upon 
returning home, commenced teaching school in the 
same room he left three years before to wear the 
blue. After spending two years teaching, he took 
Horace Greeley's advice and went West, locating 
near Paola, Miami County, Kas. , again engaging 
as a pedagogue, remaining in the same school 
seven years. He was married November 9, 1871, 
to Amanda L. Porter, daughter of John and 
Amanda (Hampton) Porter, people from Ohio, in 
which State IVIrs. Amanda Newman was Iwrn June 
11, 1849. Mr. Newman was engaged in horticult- 
ure in Kansas, in connection with teaching, but 




the grasshopper scourge of 1874 caused him to 
returu to Illinois, where an educator received bet- 
ter pay and a longer school term. He followed 
teaching until 1884, when, September 3, of that 
year, he came to Arkansas, and settled at Judsonia. 
where he has followed farming, fruit growing and 
teaching. He has sixty-five acres of good second 
bottom land under cultivation, devoted to general 
farming and fruit growing. He takes an active 
interest in the political Tssues of the day. In 
religioiis faith himself and wife are Cumberland 
Presbyterians. They have three children: Lillian 
(born September 3, 1872), Edna (born September 
26, 1877) and Ethel (born February 3, 1887). 

Elijah B. Norvell. Although in his active ca- 
reer through life Mr. Norvell has not amassed the 
wealth which has fallen to the lot of many others, 
yet he is in comfortable circumstances, and has 
gained to an unlimited extent the confidence and 
esteem always awarded integrity, honor and indus- 
try. Hisbiirth occurred in Bedford County, Tenn. , 
April 5, 1841, and is a son of David and Martha 
(Bomar) Norvell, who were also born in that State, 
and were of Scotch-Irish and Dutch descent. By 
occupation the father was a farmer, and for several 
years he served his county as bailiff and deputy 
sheriff. He died in the State of his birth in 1858, 
his wife dying at her home in White County, Ark., 
in 1869. Their children are: David (a physician 
of Johnson County), Elijah B., B. B. (a farmer of 
Texas), Mary (wife of Charles Devers, a farmer of 
Johnson County), William (a farmer of Boone 
Count}-), R. H. (a mechanic of Texas) and Martha 
(wife of James Holiday, of Johnson County). Like 
the majority of farmers' boys, Elijah B. Norvell 
was compelled to work hard in his youth, and re- 
ceived very little schooling, but being possessed of 
a bright intellect, and through his own exertions 
he obtained a very good general knowledge of the 
world of books. In 1861, when he was in his 
nineteenth year, he joined the army, enlisting in 
Company B, Forty-fourth Tennessee Infantry, and 
during his service of nearly three years, he was in 
the battles of Shiloh, Hoover's Gap, Tullahoma and 
others, being wounded in the first named engage- 
ment. After his return home he worked as a rail- 



road hand for about three years, then engaged in 
the liquor business in Tennessee, continuing one 
year, and in 1866 came to Arkansas, conducting 
the same business at Stony Point a year longer. 
Since that time he has been engaged in farming, 
the first two years renting land, after which he 
purchased a farm of forty acres on Bull Creek, 
which he improved and four years later sold. In 
1886 he purchased eighty acres of his present 
farm, and now has 120 acres, of which fifty-five 
are under caltivation. The soil is fertile, and is 
well adapted to raising corn, cotton, oats and all 
kinds of fruit. He has given considerable atten- 
tion to experimental farming, trying different kinds 
of seeds and fertilizers, and has succeeded far be- 
yond his expectations, and the past year had perhaps 
the best cotton in Union Township. In 1881 he 
purchased property in Beebe, and was a resident 
of that town for three years in order to give his 
children the benefit of the city schools, but farm 
life being more congenial to his tastes, he has since 
lived in the country. He has been a member of 
Lodge No. 35 of the Union Wheel ever since its 
organization, and in 1885 was a delegate to the 
National Wheel, which met at Little Rock, and to 
the State Wheel, which convened at the same time 
and place. Although formerly a Democrat in pol- 
itics, he has been a member of the Union Labor 
party for the last few years. In 1869 he was mar- 
ried to V. A. Mossey, a native of Shelby County, 
Tenn., and a daughter of Jerry Mossey, a farmer 
and later a merchant of Beebe. Of a family of 
seven children born to them, four are now living: 
Robert H. (who is at present attending the schools 
of Beebe, and is in every respect an exemplary 
young man, was born in October, 1871), Virginia 
(was born in 1878), George's birth occurred in 
18S0, and Ruth was born in 1883. Mr. Norvell 
and his family worship in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and he has filled the office of steward. 

T. J. Oliver, farmer and stock raiser, Searcy, 
Ark. A lifetime of hard, earnest endeavor in pur- 
suing the occupation to which he now gives his at- 
tention, coupled with strict integrity, honesty of 
purpose and liberality in directions, have had a 
result to place Mr. Oliver among the truly respected 



and boDored agriculturists of the county. To this 
be bas coutiuually added iruprovements of a high 
order, until now about the place everything is 
in excellent condition. He was born in Maury 
County, Tenn., in 1833, was the eleventh in a fam- 
ily of thirteen children born to Hezekiah and Ma- 
bala (Shumac) Oliver, natives of the Old Domin- 
ion. The father was a tiller of the soil, and in 
1820 moved to Maury County, Tenn., where he 
entered land, and made that his home a number of 
years. Later be moved to West Tennessee, where 
his death occurred in 1867. His wife died about 
1848. He was in the AVar of 1812. T. J. Oliver 
was reared to farm life, and received his education 
in the schools of Tennessee. When it became 
necessary for him to start out in life for himself, 
he very naturally and wisely chose the occupation 
to which he had been reared, and from that time 
to the present his success has been such as only a 
thorough acquaintance with his calling and years 
of experience might lead him to achieve. At the age 
of twenty-one he commenced farming in Madison 
County. Tenn. , and purchased a timber tract, which 
he improved. He was married in Gibson County, 
Tenn., in 1860. to Miss Mary E. Scott, a native of 
Arkansas, born in Fayetteville, and received her 
education at the Memphis (Tenn.) State Female 
Academy. She is the daughter of Dr. Scott, who 
was assassinated at Memphis in 186-t. After his 
marriage Mr. Oliver settled in Madison County, 
and in 1861 enlisted in the Twelfth Tennessee In- 
fantry for twelve months, from Gibson County, 
Tenn., and participated in a number of skirmishes. 
On account of ill health he was discharged in 1862, 
and returned to Tennessee, where he engaged in 
farming. In 1883 ho camo to White County Ark., 
purchased an improved farm of 100 acres, with 
eighty under cultivation, and on this has many 
good buildings. He is not very active in politics, 
but votes with the Democratic party at State elec- 
tions. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. He and 
wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Chui-ch, South; he bas been Sunday-school super- 
intendent for six years, and is one of the progress- 
ive men of the town. To his marriage were born 
these children: Edgar (married, and resides at 



Greer, Ark. ), Benetta (now Mrs. Witt, of Conway), 
Roland C, Eugene, Wilber, Herbert Earl and 
Bertram. 

William De Berry Overstreet, now residing on 
Section 34, Caldwell Township, White County, 
Ark., is a son of William and Caroline (Jumper) 
Overstreet, the father a native of South Carolina, 
and of English ancestors. His forefathers proba- 
bly came to America before the War for Independ- 
ence. The maternal ancestors were of English- 
German descent. The parents of our subject were 
married November 23, 1832, in Alabama, came to 
Arkansas in 1860, located near Little Red post- 
office, in Harrison Township, and there rented land 
and farmed until 1864, when they moved to Cald- 
well Township. Here they still continued to till 
the soil and here the father died October 28, 1832. 
Their family consisted of the follqwing children: 
Samuel D. H. , David J., Elicas S., Mary Ann, 
John H., Martha H. C, Eliza F., William De 
Berry, Dora A. and Paralee J. All the children 
were born in Tishomingo County, Miss., with the 
exception of Paralee, and all grew to maturity with 
the exception of her. William De Berry Over- 
street comes of a long-lived race, some of his an- 
cestors living to be over ninety years of age. He 
was born October 19, 1850, and his educational 
advantages were enjoyed in the subscription 
schools of White County. He attended part of a 
term near what is now known as Little Red Post- 
office, also part of a term at Clear Water, then. 
Clear Springs school-house, the whole time of at- 
tendance not being more than two months. Mr. 
Overstreet is a diligent reader, is observing, and. is 
probably better posted on the majority of sul)jects 
than many who have had better educational advan- 
tages, having made the best use of his opportuni- 
ties. At the time of the death of his father he was 
the only sou at home, his brothers being away in 
the Confederate army, and the support of the 
family, consisting of the mother and three sisters, 
devolved upon his shoulders until I860. Then his 
brother, John H. , returned from the war and took 
part of the duties upon himself for about a year. 
By the end of that time he was married and tlie 
duties again, fell upon the shoulders of William, 



;rz 



<S k^ 



218 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



who took care of his sisters until they were mar- 
ried. He is now the counsellor of the family. 
Mrs. Eliza F. Gordon lost her husband in 1878 
and was left with four helpless children, but Mr. 
Overstreet again came to the assistance, and Mrs. 
Gordon is now living u;^on his farm and receives 
help from him. Her children are now almost large 
enough to contribute toward her support. Octo- 
ber 28, 1870, Mr. Overstreet was united in mar- 
riage to Gabriella Lumpkin, a native of Jackson 
County, born in February, 1857, and the daugh- 
ter of George ^\^ and Sarah (Martin) Lumpkin, 
who died when their daughter was but a child. 
She was then taken by her uncle, Hoyden Edwards, 
with whom she lived until her marriage. To this 
union have been born ten children, five of whom 
are now living: William David (born September 
13, 1871), Mary Anna (born May 1, 1873), Dora 
Lee (born January 7, 1875, and died September 
18, 1878), Lula May (born February 20, 1877), 
Laura Delia (born February 10, 1879), Mattie 
Maud (born February 22, 1881), John Marvin 
(born October 29, 1885) and three infants, who 
died unnamed. Mr. Overstreet made his first pur- 
chase of land in 1871, and this consisted of 160 
acres. He has made all the improvements on his 
farm, and has one of the most comfortable and 
home- like places in the county. He has three 
dwellings on his farm, one occupied by his aged 
mother and another by Mrs. Gordon. He has 
good barns, cribs, sheds, etc. , and is a thrifty, in- 
dustrious farmer. He also has a fine peach or- 
chard, which sujjplies the family with this luscious 
fruit, and also leaves a surplus for the market. He 
raises principally cotton, corn, oats and grass. He 
has a fine grade of cattle, being a cross between 
the Durham and the native stock, and is also rais- 
ing some fine hogs, a cross between the Poland- 
China, the Berkshire and the Chester White, which 
experience has taught him is a very jsrofitable vent- 
ure. In politics Mr. Overstreet is a Democrat, 
but has never been an oflfice seeker. la his religious 
belief he is a Methodist, and has been a member of 
that church for twenty-two years. He is a liberal 
supporter of schools, churches and all laudable en- 
terprises, and is much respected by all acquainted 



with him. Mrs. Overstreet is also a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Rev. William M. Owen, pastor of the Mission- 
ary Baptist Church, Shady Grove, one mile from 
Bald Knob, is a native of Tennessee, and a son of 
Felix and Permelia H. (Plant) Owen, of Kentucky 
and Alabama origin, respectively. Felix Owen 
came from Kentucky to Fayette County, Tenn., 
when a young man, and remained there until 1849, 
when he again moved with his family to Arkansas 
and located in White County, when the country 
was but sparsely settled, and with the aid of his 
family cleared up a farm, on which he lived until 
a few years before his death (which occurred in 
1883, at the age of seventy-four), when he removed 
to Judsonia. Mrs. Owen is still living at this place 
and is the mother of eight children, six of whom 
are living: William M. (our subject), Sarah C. 
(wife of Rev. E. T. Church), Robert H. (in busi- 
ness in Judsonia), Green B. (a Baptist minister of 
this county, also engaged in farming), Elizabeth 
and Melinda (wife of John O. Keller, of this 
county). Rev. William M. Owen was born in Fay- 
ette County, Tenn., on October 29, 1839, and was 
educated at the common schools and by self-study 
at home, and when arriving at the age of manhood 
(twenty-one), began life as a farmer. In June, 
1861, he joined the Third Arkansas Cavalry, re- 
maining in this company until the close of the war, 
having had part in the battles of Corinth (where 
he was taken prisoner and held captive at St. Louis 
and Alton, 111., for four months), Chickamauga, 
Atlanta, and many others. After the war he re- 
turned home and again commenced farming, in 
which he has ever since been engaged. In 1807 
he joined the Missionary Baptist Church, and in 
ten years thereafter (1877) was licensed to preach, 
and the following year was ordained, and since his 
ordination he has been faithfully engaged in 
preaching the Gospel, having under his charge 
three or four churches at a time, and has also been 
instrumental in organizing a number of new 
churches, among them the one at Bald Knob. In 
1866 he was married to Miss Laura Coffman, a 
native of Alabama, who died in 1875. She was 
the mother of four children, only two surviving 



' ^ 8 



^. 



WHITE COUNTY. 



219 



her: Leander and Mark. In 1877 be was married 
the second time, to Mrs. Edwards {nee Patty), a 
widow. They are the parents of three chiklren: 
(Jracie M.. Willie E. and Edith M. Mrs. Owen, 
with her two oldest children, belongs to the Mis- 
sionary Baptist Church. 

Littleberry B. Parker is a prominent farmer of 
White County, and first saw the light of day in 
Northampton County, N. C, on February 8, 
1831, and is a son of Saul and Miriam (Hicks) 
Parker. Saul Parker was born in England and 
came over to this country when a boy, and partici- 
pated in the War of 1812 at Craney Island. He 
subsequently located at Norfolk, Va. , and later re- 
moved to North Carolina, where he died in 1835, 
while yet comparatively a young man. He was a 
brick-mason by trade. His wife was a native of 
North Carolina and was the mother of seven chil- 
dren, four of whom are still living: Samuel (a 
farmer and ex-sheriff of Jasper County, Miss.), 
Tabitha T. (wife of Jesse Lassiter of Northamp- 
ton, N. C), Jacob J. (a farmer and brick mason, 
of Lonoke County) and L. B. (our subject). After 
the death of her husband, Mrs. Parker removed 
with her family to Calloway County, Ky. , subse- 
quently to Madison County, Tenn., and in 1852 
came to Arkansas locating in Lonoke County, 
where she died in 1881, at the age of eighty-four 
years, and was a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. L. B. Parker remained with his 
mother until eight years of age, when he was 
bound out to James B. Wheeler, a cabinet-maker 
and farmer of Northampton County, N. C, with 
whom he remained until Mr. Wheeler's death, 
which occurred four years later, when he was hired 
out to a farmer for -SI per month, part of which 
was to be paid him in money and the balance in 
clothes. He remained there one year and was then 
(1844) hired out for a year for $10 for the year, 
but quit in April and joined an emigrant train and 
worked his way to Kentucky, where he found em- 
ployment at S5 per month, and remained there 
until 1847 when he went to Madison County, 
Tenn., where he was engaged as a mail-carrier 
during the year 1847. He then farmed for a short 
time, after which he was employed on a fiat-boat 



running to New Orleans. One year later he came 
to Arkansas, locating in White County. At the 
outbreak of the war he joined the Confederate 
army in the Fourth Battalion Arkansas Infantry. 
He served until the surrender of Island No. 10, 
when his battalion was the only one which escaped 
by wading back through the water twelve miles to 
the boat, which they carried to Fort Pillow. Mr. 
Parker becoming disabled received his discharge 
at Corinth. He then returned to Arkansas and 
located in Prairie County, but after the cessation of 
hostilities he came back to White County locating 
on the farm which he now calls home, and which 
was then in the woods. He is the owner of 320 
acres, with 100 under cultivation. In January, 
1852, he was married to Miss Hannah E. Longmire, 
who was born on March 22, 1839. Mr. and Mrs. 
Parker never had any children of their own, but 
have reared three orphan children: George W. and 
James Coleman and Mary F. (who is now the wife 
of William Tidwell). Mrs. Parker is a member of 
the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Parker has taken 
the Council degree in the Masonic order, and has 
represented his lodge in the Grand Lodge of the 
State several times. He is a strong Democrat and 
a respected and valuable citizen. 

John T. Patterson is one of the well-to-do and 
successful agriculturists of White County, Ark., 
and although he has only resided here since 1881, 
coming from Tennessee, he has become well and 
favorably known. His birth occurred in Franklin 
County, Ala., in 1834, and he was the third of a , 
family of nine children born to James and Catherine 
(Gray) Patterson, the former born in the "Old North 
State" and the latter in the "Keystone State." 
James Patterson went to Alabama when the 
country was new, and opened a plantation which 
he afterward sold, moving thereafter to Harde- 
man County, Tenn.. with his wife, whom he mar- 
ried in Alabama. They settled on a farm in Ten- 
nessee in 1844, and here the father spent his 
declining years, his death oecaring in 1S73. He 
served in the Seminole War. His wife passed 
from life in 1888. Their children are: Mary Jane 
(Mrs. Ethridge, resides in Tennessee), William 
(lives in Kentucky), John T., Hugh (residing in 



it. 



220 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Conway County, Ark.), Jacob (who died in Ten- 
nessee, in 1863), Joseph (who also died in that 
State in the same year) and Enoch and Franklin 
(both residents of Tennessee). Joseph Gray, the 
maternal grandfather, was born in England, and 
served in the Revolutionary War. John T. Patter- 
son spent his youthful days in attending school 
and in farm work, and afterattaining his twentieth 
year he began working for himself. He was mar- 
ried in McNairy County, in 1855, to Miss Emeline 
Brown, a native of North Carolina, and a daughter 
of Isaac and Millie (Dunn) Brown, who were born, 
reared and married in the State of North Carolina. 
In 1844 they removed to McNairy County, where 
they settled on a farm, on which the mother died, 
in 1855. The father moved to Bell County, Tex., 
in 1858, and there is now making his home. 
From the time of his marriage until 1858, Mr. 
Patterson lived in Tennessee, then spent two years 
in Texas, after which he returned to McNairy 
County. On March 4, 1862, he enlisted in Com- 
pany C, Thirty-second Illinois Infantry, United 
States army to defend the Constitution of the 
United States, but left his wife and two children in 
the South, with little hope of ever returning to 
them, but through the kind providence of God re- 
turned to them in safety. He was wounded at 
Shiloli on April 6, 1862, and was confined in the 
hospital at Savannah, Tenn. , for some time, being 
honorably discharged on July 31, 1862, after 
which he returned to his home and resumed farm- 
ing. Since 1881 he has been the owner of 160 
acres of land in White County, Ark., and has fifty 
under cultivation. He is an active supporter of 
the Republican party, and not only has he been a 
prominent supporter of schools, but he is a mem- 
ber of the school board. Socially, he is a member 
of Rock Springs Lodge No. 422 of the A. F. & A. 
M. , of which lodge he has been Worshipful Master 
for some years. He and his wife are members of 
the Missionary Baptist Church, and are the par- 
ents of the following children: Green Harrison 
(deceased), Melissa (Mrs. Martindale), Alice (Mrs. 
Holmes), Isabelle (Mrs. Stringfellow), Area (Mrs. 
Langley), Elizabeth, Cordelia, Elzora, Cora Lee 
and Florence. Two children died in infancy. 



Rev. J. A. Pemberton is an elder of the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church and by occupation is 
a farmer, and being one of the old settlers of White 
County, has figured prominently in public affairs. 
His native county is Wilson, Tenn. , where he was 
born on December 13, 1825, and is the only one 
now living of a family of five daughters and three 
sons born to Thomas J. and Mary (McHaney) 
Pemberton, who were born in Virginia in 1804 and 
1800, respectively. They were married about 1822, 
and followed the occupation of farming, both being 
members of the Missionary Baptist Church. Mr. 
Pemberton took part in the Creek and Florida War, 
and assisted in the removal of the Creek and Semi- 
nole Indians to the western reserves. He died 
February 26, 1871, and his wife in August. 1861. 
The Pemberton family came to the New World 
prior to 1700, from their native country, England, 
and settled in Virginia, and the great-grandfather 
was one of four sons of the first settler. When 
the Revolutionary War came up the grandfather 
Pemberton was only twelve years of age, so of 
course did not take part in that struggle. He was 
one of the first settlers of Tennessee, and in this 
State reared his family, his son, Thomas J., being 
a relative of Gen. Pemberton of the Southern 
army, in the late Civil War. Andrew McHaney, 
the maternal grandfather, was born in Ireland, and 
as a boy joined the American army and took part 
in the Revolutionary War, serving from the begin- 
ning until the close. He was in Col. William 
Washington's command, and was present at the 
battle of Cowpens and witnessed the personal 
encounter between Washington and Tarleton, in 
which the latter fled with a sword gash in his hand. 
After the war was over he settled in Tennessee, 
where he became a wealthy planter, and died at 
the age of sixty-five years. Rev. J. A. Pemberton, 
our subject, attended subscription school in the 
old-fashioned log-houses of his day, and at the age 
of twenty-one years began an independent career. 
In 1846 he married Miss Sarah C. Harrison, and 
with her removed to Arkansas in 1857 and entered 
160 acres of land a few miles northwest of where 
Beebe now is. When the war came up he, in July, 
1861, enlisted in the Tenth Arkansas Infantry, and 



^^ 



;r;" 



-^ g [v*- 



AYHITE COUNTY. 



221 



was made captain of a company which he had 
assisted in organizing. While in the infantry serv- 
ice he participated in the battle of Shiloh, but in 
the latter part of 1802 he became a member of the 
cavalry, and was at Helena, Little Eock, Pine 
Bluff, Pilot Knob, and was with Price until that 
General's command was divided at Fayetteville, in 
1864. The same year he was captured at Augusta, 
and was held a prisoner of war until peace was 
declared. After his return home he continued to 
farm near Antioch until 1879, then came to Beebe 
to live. He became a member of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church in 1805, and since 1874 has 
been a minister of that denomination and has 
preached in' Beebe and vicinity. He has been a 
very active worker for the cause of his Master and 
has expounded the doctrine of his denomination in 
nearly all the principal churches of White County. 
He was a member of the General Assembly that 
met at Bowling Green, Ky. , in 1870, and for the 
last two years has been the representative of the 
Arkansas Synod. He has never been an office 
seeker, but since his residence in Beebe has been a 
member of the board of aldermen, and during the 
reconstruction period was a member of the board 
of supervisors of White County. He is a Royal 
Arch Mason and is a member of Beebe Lodge No. 
145. He and wife have never had any children of 
their own, but have given homes to a number of 
orphan childi'en, and have reared three from 
infancy. Mrs. Pemberton is a daughter of J. P. 
and Ann C. (Sweeney) Harrison, who were born in 
Virginia, the former of whom was an active soldier 
in the War of 1812. 

Joshua W. Pence, an old settler and promi- 
nent citizen, of White County, and postmaster of 
Egbert, is of Tennessee nativity, and a son of 
George J. and Rebecca (Webb) Pence, natives of 
South and North Carolina, respectively. George 
J. Pence was born in 1802, and was married in 
Alabama in 1825, and remained there until 1829. 
when he removed to Warren County, Tenn.. and 
six years later to Williamson County of that State. 
In 1839 he immigrated to Wilson County, where 
he died in 1852. He was a member of the Chris- 
tian Chui'ch and a man of decision and strong will 



power, and was an old-time Jacksonian Democrat. 
Mrs. Pence was born in 180(), and in 1855, after 
her husband's death, came to Arkansas, locating in 
White County, on the farm on which our subject 
now lives, and where she died on July 16, 1888. 
She was a member of the Baptist Church, and was 
the mother of thirteen children, three of whom are 
still living: Louisa (widow of William Allen), 
Joshua W. (the principal of this sketch) and Mar- 
ion T. (a farmer of Prairie County). Joshua W. was 
born in AVarren County, Tenn., May 18, 1830, and 
when twenty-two years of age, commenced farming 
for himself, which occupation he has since fol- 
lowed, and in 1855 commenced farming the place 
on which he still lives, his mother living with him 
during the last twenty years of her life. He now 
has a tine farm of 252 acres, with about seventy- 
five under cultivation. In June, 1862, he enlisted 
in the Eighth Arkansas Infantry, but remained 
only a short time, being discharged on account of 
disability. Upon his discharge he returned home 
and found his farm in a state of dilapidation. In 
1800 he was elected justice of the peace, which 
office he held for sixteen consecutive years, and 
was appointed postmaster of Egbert in February, 
1887, which position he is still holding. He was 
married in February, 1854, to Miss Damans L. 
Grissom, a native of Tennessee, who died in 1874, 
leaving nine children, six of whom are still living: 
Matilda (now Mrs. Hood), George L. (farmer and 
justice of the peace, of Dogwood Township), Oren 
D. , Oscar D., Ira R. and Lillie A. Those deceased 
are Wiley H., Joshua M. and Barbara E. In 1874 
he was again married to Mrs. Freeman (nee Bol- 
ton, a widow, and who died in 1883, leaving no 
children), and on December 19, 1888, he mar- 
ried his third and present wife, Mrs. Ellen M. 
Rimer («ee Strodder, also a widow). Mr. Pence 
and wife are members of the Christian Church. 
He is a prominent Democrat and a member of the 
Knights of Labor, and of the County Wheel. He 
joined the Freemasons in July, 1867, of which he 
is still a member in full fellowship, in AVest Point 
Lodge No. 24. December 23, 1873, he joined the 
Grange No. 137, and has since filled several prom- 
inent offices in that society, such as Master, Over- 



J, 



222 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



seer. Chaplain, Steward, etc. He and wife also 
belong to the Famous Life Association of Little 
Rock, Ark. , their policy of membership being lim- 
ited to the amount of $3,000. 

N. B. Pettey. Among the early settlers of 
White County was our subject, N. B. Pettey, who 
came to this county with his widowed mother in 
1855. Mr. Pettey was a son of George G. and 
Annie E. (Chappell) Pettey, natives of South Caro- 
lina and Virginia, respectively, and was born in 
Limestone County, Ala., August 26, 1839. Mr. 
George G. Pettey settled in Alabama at an early 
day, and later moved to Missiasijjpi, where he died 
in 1850. Five years later his widow moved to 
Arkansas with her family, where she died in 1861. 
N. B. Pettey was raised and educated in Tennes- 
see, Mississippi and Arkansas, and at the age of 
sixteen went to Hickman County and engaged in 
clerking, where he remained two years. In 1856 
he came to White County, Ark. , landing at Negro 
Hill in September, where he worked at farm labor 
in the summer season and attended school in the 
winter. He then went to Searcy and accepted a 
position as clerk for W. B. Carter, where he re- 
mained until 1861, when he enlisted in July of 
that year in Company E of the Third Arkansas 
Cavalry, enlisting for three years, or during the 
war, as private. Mr. Pettey was in the battles of 
Shiloh, Murfreesboro, and was with Bragg in his 
invasion of Kentucky, and was in the Georgia 
campaign. He was captured as a jirisoner Novem- 
ber 1, 1864, and was taken with Sherman to the 
coast, and up to Point Lookout, where he was 
paroled February 21, 1865, and returned and 
joined his command prior to the battle of Benton- 
ville, N. C. He arrived home at Searcy on June 
7, 1865, and took up farming. In 1871 he was 
elected deputy sheriff, and the following year 
elected sheriff of the county (White), serving three 
successive terms. In 1879 Mr. Pettey bought an 
improved farm of sixty acres, near Centre Hill, and 
commenced farming, and also engaged in merchan- 
dising, which he followed some two or three years. 
He served as postmaster under President Cleve- 
land's administration. Mr. Pettey was married on 
September 20, 1866, to Jennie Dannelly, a native 



of Mississippi, and daughter of Rev. George A. 
and Annie E. (West) Dannelly, originally of South 
Carolina and Alabama, respectively. Rev. G. A. 
Dannelly immigrated to Phillips County, Ark., at an 
early day, then to Jackson County, where he joined 
the Methodist Episcopal Conference at Batesville 
in 1856. He is now in Woodruff County. His 
wife died in 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Pettey are the 
parents of two children: George G. and Napoleon 
B. Mr. Pettey has seen the complete development 
of the county and has taken an active interest in 
all work for the good of the community. He is a 
prominent Democrat, and a member of the I. O. 
O. F. Mrs, Pettey is a member of the Methodist 
(3hurch. Her grandfather Dannelly was a mem- 
ber of the Masonic order, of which he held the 
office of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the 
State, and was Grand Lecturer of the State some 
five or six years, and was District Deputy Grand 
Master in 1871. He was also prominently con- 
nected with the oi'der of the I. O. O. F. 

John Andrew Phelps is a merchant doing bus- 
iness and residing in El Paso, and to him may be 
applied that often much abused phrase, "self-made 
man," for he started out in life for himself at the 
early age of fifteen years, and has attained his 
present enviable j^lace in business and society. 
He was born in Haywood County, Tenn., on Jan- 
uary 16, 1852, and is one of two children (the 
other member being J. T. Phelps) born to Philip 
P. and Arkansas (Overton) Phelps, both of En- 
glish descent, the former a native of Kentucky and 
the latter of Virginia. They were married in Ten • 
nessee about the year 1850, and in Hardeman 
County of this State; the father died eight years 
later. John Andrew Phelps followed various em- 
ployments until the year 1875, when he began clerk- 
ing in a mercantile establishment belonging to D. 
H. Thorn, of Jonesboro, Ark., and during a three 
years' stay with this gentleman became thoroughly 
familiar with all the details of the work. During 
this time Mr. Thorn was sheriff of the covmty, and 
Mr. Phelps acted as his deputy, and in this capac- 
ity rendered valuable service. Upon leaving Mr. 
Thorn he rented land in Craighead County of the 
Hon. W. H. Cate, who, taking a fancy to our sub- 



WHITE COUNTY. 



223 



ject, ffdve him an excellent chance and furnished 
him with stock to till his land. During this time 
he also acted as foreman of Mr. Gate's cotton-gin, 
and upon leaving this gentleman, took with him 
about $500 in money which he had earned. On 
April 3, 1879, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Avey Broadway, by whom he has one child, John 
Andrew, who was born on November 30, ISS-i. 
In 1879 Mr. Phelps engaged in merchandising in 
El Paso in company with his brother, J. T. Phelps, 
and M. L. Booth, under the firm name of Booth & 
Phelps, continuing in business with those gentle- 
men until 1882, at which time Mr. Booth withdrew 
from the firm and the two brothers continued alone 
under the firm name of Phelps & Bro. This part- 
nership was dissolved in 1883, and the firm then 
took the name of Phelps & Co., and from 1885 to 
1888 Mr. Phelps was in business alone. The firm 
has since been known as Warren & Phelps, and 
they carry a large and well -selected stock of gen- 
eral merchandise, and in connection they carry on 
a harness and saddlery shop, and in this establish- 
ment employ none but the best workmen. They 
are also extensive dealers in cotton, and in the 
year 1888 they shipped 1,330 bales to St. Louis 
and Memphis. In invoicing their goods in July, 
1889, they found in accounts and stock on hand 
>!40,000, their average stock amounting to $12,000. 
Mr. Phelps is a Democrat, a member of El Paso 
Lodge No. 65 of the A. F. & A. M., and in his 
business relations is shrewd and enterprising. He 
and wife are rearing a little girl named Mamie 
Canada, whose mother died in 1881, when she was 
but two weeks old. Her father is Thomas J. Can- 
ada, and her mother was a Miss Ada Booth. 

Joseph T. Phelps is a prosperous merchant of 
El Paso, Ark. , and in his relations with the pub- 
lic has ever ))roven trustworthy and reliable. By 
his superior management and rare business ability 
and efficiency he has done not a little to advance 
the reputation the county enjoys as a commercial 
center, and is well liked and esteemed by all. He 
was born in Hardeman County, Tenn., June 25, 
185-1, and is the son of Philip and Arkansas 
(Overton) Phelps, who were Virginians, but were 
married in Tennessee, and lived the lives of farm- 



ers in that State. The father was an Englishman 
by descent and was a man who, had he lived, 
would have become wealthy, but he was cut down 
in the prime of life, in 1858, at the ago of thirty- 
five years. In 1860 his widow married P. Rainer, 
a farmer of Tennessee, who came to Arkansas 
about 1870, and are residing in Craighead County. 
The mother, as well as her first husband, were 
members of the Old School Presbyterian Church, 
but she is now a member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. Joseph T. Phelps was left father- 
less at the age of three years, but was reared to a 
farm life by his step-father, and in his youth ac- 
quired a fair education in the common schools of 
Tennessee and Arkansas, jjaying his own tuition. 
At the early age of fourteen years he began life on 
his own responsibility, and for about three worked 
as a farm hand, earning sufficient money to take a 
coui'se in a higher grade of school. Upon leaving 
his step-father he could neither read nor write and 
had very little clothing. He made his home with 
an uncle, with the agreement that he should work 
one-half the time and go to school the remainder, 
but his uncle failed to live up to the contract and 
he left him. He next made his home with a lady 
who treated him kindly, and later with a Mr. 
Turner, who took considerable interest in him, and 
at the age of sixteen years, through the recom- 
mendation of this gentleman, he succeeded in ob- 
taining a good position with a Mr. Parker, of Boli- 
var, Tenn., and remained with him six months, 
attending school and working in his .store, doing 
chores to pay for his board. After teaching school 
for a short time, he obtained a situation as clerk 
in a dry-goods store at Bolivar at $10 per month., 
a position which he held for six months; then 
became newsboy on the Mississippi Central Rail- 
road, continuing for three months. In the fall 
of 1872 he came to Craighead County and he and 
his brother bought a house and lot in Jonesboro, 
and followed the occupation of saw- logging a suf- 
ficient length of time to get enough logs to build a 
house, but the mill burned and their property was 
lost. Their next bad luck was the discovery that 
the title to their house and lot, for which they paid 
$100, was worthless, but nothing daunted, they 



^1 



224 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



V 



went in debt for forty acres of land, and their 
first year's crop paid for the property. At the 
end of one year our subject sold out to his broth- 
er and began teaching a subscription school, which 
was a great success. He next engaged in clerk- 
ing in a store in Jonesboro, but came to El Paso 
after a few months, and spent eight months in 
school at that place. After cutting cord wood for 
about three months, he hired to M. L. Booth as a 
farm hand, at $20 a month, working one year. 
December 21, 1876, he was married to Miss Mar- 
tha Booth, a daughter of his former employer, 
and her birth occurred in Haywood County, Tenn. 
This union has been blessed with sis children, 
four of whom are living: Roberta H. (born Au- 
gust 2, 1878 and died August 2. 1888), Reuben C. 
(born February 8, 1880), Philip L. (born June 
19, 1883, and died December 20, 1884), Joseph 
H. (born October 15, 1884), Oklahoma (born Feb- 
ruary 6, 1887) and an infant (born March 29, 
1889). After his marriage, Mr. Phelps made one 
crop on his father-in-law's farm, but in the fall of 
1878 he began the mercantile business with a Mr. 
A. P. Poole, under the firm name of Poole & 
Phelps. This partnership lasted two years, then 
Mr. Phelps sold out and engaged in biisiness with 
M. L. Booth, the firm name being Booth, Phelps 
& Co., for one year. During his business connec- 
tion with Mr. Poole, he was appointed postmaster 
at El Paso, and served in this capacity for six 
years. He is now engaged in merchandising un- 
der the name of M. L. Phelps & Co. His life has 
been an eventful one, and notwithstanding the 
many difficulties which have strewn his pathway, 
ho has been successful and is of material benefit 
to any community in which he resides. He and 
his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist 
Church, and he is a member of El Paso Lodge 
No. 65 of the A. F. & A. M. , in which organiza- 
tion he has held all the offices with the exception 
of Worshipful Master. 

Wiley D. Plant. Hilary Plant was born in 
South Carolina, July 7, 1812, and, when quite 
young, moved to Alabama, where he met and mar- 
ried Mercy Tatum, a native of Alabama. Shortly 
after his marriage Mr. Plant immigrated to Ken- 



tucky, thence to Arkansas, where the remainder of 
his quiet, uneventful life was passed. Mi'. Plant 
was a stanch Democrat, and a consistent member 
of the Methodist Church, South, for many years. 
He was a quiet, law-abiding citizen, charitable, in- 
dustrious and frugal, and at the date of his death, 
in 1880, had amassed quite a fortune. Mrs. Plant 
is now a resident in White County, Ark., aged 
eighty-five years. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. 
Plant ten childi-en were born, five sons and five 
daughters, four of them now living: Nance B. 
(widow of George Hamby, of Jackson County), 
Charles F. (a farmer of White County), AViley D. 
(the subject of this sketch), Green L. (a planter 
of White County), Andrew W. (died in Woodruff 
County), Robert L. (died in Conway County), Mary 
A. (widow of George M. Smith, deceased in White 
County), Susan M. (died in Jackson County) and 
Sarah F. (wife of N. E. Kidd, died in WoodrufP 
County). Wiley D. Plant was reared in White 
County, and received excellent advantages for an 
education, which he was not slow to improve, and 
is a well-informed man. He is a typical Arkansan, 
and a native of that State, his birth occurring 
in Conway (now Faulkner) County, January 19, 
1847. He began for himself at the age of twenty- 
one years, first as a farmer, which was his occupa- 
tion for a few years, but realizing that his vocation 
lay ia another direction he turned his attention to 
the mercantile business, in which he has been suc- 
cessfid. He located at Bradford, White County, 
where he is now one of the prominent men of the 
community. His stock consists of general mer- 
chandise, valued at $8,000, and by his courteous 
manner and straightforward dealing he has estab- 
lished a permanent and lucrative business. Mr. 
Plant is well worthy the liberal patronage bestowed 
on him, for he endeavors in every possible way to 
please his customers, considering their interests 
his, and the petty, disagreeable traits of so many 
merchants are entirely foreign to his characteristics 
and nature. In May of 1885 Mr. Plant led to the 
hymeneal altar Mrs. Sarah E. Moore, daiighter of 
William and Prudence McKnight. To their union 
two bright children have been born, Bessie and 
William D. . who, with their childish prattle, make 



^^^ 



k 



WHITE COUNTY. 



225 



the house bright and joyous, and gladden the hearts 
of their devoted parents. He is a Democrat in 
politics, takes an active part in the elections, and 
is a Strong partisan. He is a believer in the 
Methodist faith, though not a member of any de- 
nomination. He is a leading citizen, contributes 
liberally to all public movements; is a prominent 
personage in his town and community, active and 
progressive. 

Henry "\V. Pope is a prominent farmer and 
stock raiser of Cane Township, a native of Georgia, 
and a son of Micajah and Hattie (Bruce) Pope. 
Micajah Pope was born in Virginia, November 
21, 1808, and was a son of John and Mary (Mor- 
ris) Pope of Virginia origin, and was married in 
1827. John Pope moved to Georgia in 1818, and 
settled on land where Atlanta now stands. Mrs. 
Pope, the mother of Henry W., was a daughter of 
Daniel and Sallie (Prenct) Bruce, who were the 
parents of eleven children. Our subject was born 
December 28, 1835, and was married December 
27, 1855, to Mollie E. Rea, a daughter of Rev. W. 
T. Rea and Rhoda (Brown) Rea. Mrs. Rea was 
a daughter of William and Nancy Pruet. After 
his marriage Mr. Pope found employment in teach- 
ing, following this for several years. All of his 
brothers were in the Confederate arm}', and Henry 
W. was mustered in, but was unable to stand mus- 
ter, and was discharged. In 1867 he removed to 
Jefferson County and taught school, and two years 
later came to White County. In March, 1878, he 
came to Cane Township, and commenced farming 
on a quarter-section of unimproved land, and, by 
his energy, has 100 acres of it under cultivation. 
To this union have been given twelve children: 
Sarah F. (now Mrs. Earnest, and the mother of 
six children), Mollie H. (now Mrs. Langforo, and 
the mother of two children), William H. (married, 
and has one child), Mamie (now Mrs. Caglo), John 
D. (a professor of penmanship), Horace E. (de- 
ceased), Ella (deceased), Katie B. , Daniel W., 
Samuel T. (deceased), Albert J. and James E. 
Mr. Pope is a strong Democrat, and takes an active 
jiart in politics, and is now holding the office of 
justice of the peace of his township. Himself and 
family are members of the Methodist Episcopal 



Church, South. He always takes an active inter- 
est in the temperance movement. 

Frederick R. Price, one of Gen. Price's sol- 
diers in his raid through Missouri, Kansas and 
Mississippi, is the fifth son of a family of twelve 
children, born to Russell and Mary (Turner) Price. 
Russell Price was the son of Joseph Price, who 
died in South Carolina in 1833. Russell Price was 
born in 1790, and was married about 1810, and 
was the father of the following ten children, and 
two whose names are not given: Delia, Thomas, 
Jane, Fielding, Frederick R., Minerva, Mahaley, 
Joseph, Mary Ann and Nancy. He followed farm- 
ing in South Carolina, and moved to White County, 
in 1836, taking up eighty acres of land, and where 
he died two years later, his wife surviving him until 
18-14. Frederick R. first saw the light of this 
world in South Carolina, March 2, 1821, and was 
married at the age of twenty to Lucinda Jones, a 
daughter of B. Jones, of Cane Township. After 
his marriage he commenced farming for himself. 
By this marriage they had eleven children: John 
T., Russell, Levi (deceased), Polly (deceased), 
William (deceased), Sarah J. (deceased), Louisa, 
Fielding, Lucy C. (deceased), Elizabeth and 
George "W. (deceased). Mr. Price's first wife 
died in June, 1872. He was married the second 
time, in 1873, to Ruth J. Taylor {nee Chrisman), 
widow of W. H. Taylor. She was born in 1831, 
and was the daughter of Isaac S. and Lucinda 
(Allen) Chrisman, natives of Lee County, W. Va. , 
who came to White County in 1856. both of whom 
are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Price are the par- 
ents of one child, Allie O., who was born May 29, 
1874. Mr. F. R. Price moved to White County, 
in 1836, where he has ever since lived. Himself 
and family belong to the Methodist Church, of 
which denomination his wife has been a member 
since eight years of age. He is also a member of 
the County Wheel, and has been honored with the 
office of president. In his younger days he was 
engaged principally in hunting. He is a highly 
respected citizen, and always has the good of his 
community at heart. 

Amaziah M. Price is what might be called a 
life resident of AVhite County, having been born 



^ 



« k_ 



l^. 



226 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



on the farm which he now calls home, and whore 
he has always lived. It is a fine tract of 240 acres, 
100 of which are nnder cultivation. Joseph R. 
Price, the father of A. M. Price, was a native of 
South Carolina, and was a son of Russell and Sa- 
rah (Turner) Price, both of South Carolina origin. 
Mr. Price was married in March, 1846, in White 
County, to Martha Guthery, a daughter of Joseph 
and Susie (Wood) Guthery, also natives of South 
Carolina. To their union were born seven chil- 
dren: Mary A. (deceased), A. M. (our subject), 
Arva J. (now Mrs. Chumbley), Carrel A., Rhodie 
J. (married James Hodges, of this county), Mon- 
roe and Susan (who married William Chumley). 
Mr. Price died in 1860, and his wife some ten 
years later. A. M. Price was born on November 
13, 1849, received a common-school education, and 
was married in 1882 to Miss Susan M. Taylor, 
a daughter of James M. and Maggie J. (Barker) 
Taylor. Mr. Taylor is originally from Tennessee, 
and a son of Alexander and Margaret (Davis) Tay- 
lor. Mrs. Taylor was a daughter of Alexander and 
Margaret (Dodson) Barker. Mr. and Mrs. Price 
are the parents of two daughters: Lenna (born 
September 14, 1883) and Bertha (born November 
21, 1885). He is a member of the Presbyterian 
Church, and his wife of the Baptist Church. Mr. 
Price is a strong Democrat, politically, and takes 
an active interest in all work for the good of the 
community. 

Carroll A. Price. A glance at the notes from 
which this sketch has been prepared indicates at 
once that the mercantile career of Mr. Price has 
been one of ceaseless activity, and that he has 
been successful is well known. His parents, Jo- 
seph and Mary (Guthrie) Price, were of French 
and Scotch descent, and were born in North and 
South Carolina, respectively. After their marriage 
they came to Arkansas, and became farmers of 
White County. The father died in 1859 and the 
mother in 1866, their union having been blessed 
in the birth of seven children, all of whom grew 
to m&nhood and womanhood : Mary Ann (was born 
in 1846, was married to M. J. H. Jenkins, but 
was left a widow with six children in 1887), A, 
M. (was born in 1848, married Miss Susan Taylor, 



a native of Tennessee, and has two children), 
Zennance (was born in 1850, and was married to 
J. M. Couch, by whom she has two children), Car- 
roll A. (our subject, was the fourth child), Rhoda 
J. (was born in 1852, became the wife of J. S. 
Hodges, of Mississippi, and is the mother of 
seven children), Monroe (was born in 1856, mar- 
ried Nancy Gibson, a native of North Carolina, 
and by her has four children), Susan (born in 
1858, married to W. T. Chumley, of Illinois, and 
has two children). The paternal great-grand- 
father was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. 
Carroll A. Price was born November 13, 1852, and 
was educated in the private schools of White 
County, and attended a male academy for two 
terms, paying his way through this institution with 
money earned by industry, perseverance and 
economy. In 1874 he became a salesman for his 
uncle, Nelson Guthrie, in Pope County, but at 
the end of one year returned to White County, 
and engaged in farming and stock dealing, which 
calling he continued to pursue until 1878, then 
came to Beebe and engaged as a clerk with D. C. 
Harris, with whom he remained until 1880. The 
1 following year he formed a partnership with J. M. 
Liles in general merchandising in the town of 
Beebe, and successfully conducted business at that 
place until 1887, when they dissolved partnership, 
Mr. Liles buying Mr. Price's interest. The latter 
invested his money in real estate, but in the spring 
of 1887 went east and purchased an excellent 
line of general merchandise, his stock being now 
valued at $10,000, and he controls a large share 
of the patronage of town and county. On Sep- 
tember 17, 1883, he was united in marriage to 
Miss Mary G. Gibbs, of Arkansas, their marriage 
taking place in the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church, in Beebe, Rev. R. T. Wylie officiating. 
They have two children: Cecil (born July 30, 
1884) and Cuthbert A. (born December 7, 1887). 
In his political views Mr. Price is a liberal Demo- 
crat, and he and wife are earnest members of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of Beebe. He 
is jjrogressive in his views, and contributes liber- 
ally to all religious, social, educational and polit- 
ical interests. 






V 



^ 9 



^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



227 



L. M. Pyles, a prominent fruit and vegetable- 
grower of Judsonia, was born iu Maryland, near 
Washington, D. C, iu 1849, and was the eldest 
sou iu a family of thirteen children given to Will- 
iam V. and Margaret A. (Ryan) Pyles, also owning 
Maryland as their native State. Mr. William V. 
Pyles was a son of William and Massie (Allen) 
Pyles, who was born in 1825 and was married in 
1847 to Margaret A. Ryan, daughter of William 
and Sarah (Kingsburry) Ryan, of Maryland. To 
the union of Mr. and Mrs. Pyles were born the 
following children: L. M. (our subject), Anna S. 
(deceased), Laura V. (now Mrs. Allen), Emma J. 
(married Bud Ball), Maggie (now Mrs. Stewart), 
Fannie (married Robert Padgett), Amanda (Mrs. 
Middleton), Lucy (now Mi's. Langley), Jennie, 
William H. and Thornton. Mr. L. M. Pyles was 
married in 1877 to Laverna Clark, daughter of Al- 
fred and Mary Clark, who were of Ohio origin. 
After his marriage Mr. Pyles moved to Cincinnati, 
and thence to Warren County, Ohio, where he 
started in business as a butcher, which he followed 
for seven years. His wife died in 18S1, in Warren 
County, leaving two children: Mary M. and Will- 
iam L. After the death of his wife Mr. Pyles re- 
turned to Maryland, remaining in that State but a 
short time, and then came back to Ohio and located 
in Darke County, where he was married the second 
time, iu Greenville, in 1884, to Almeda Good, 
daughter of Samuel and Margaret Good, of Ohio. 
The year following he removed to White County, 
Ark., and located in Judsonia, where he made the 
raising of fruit and vegetables a business for two 
years, and then opened a meat market, iu which 
business he continued for a limited time, and again 
took up the employment of growing fruit and veg- 
etables, giving his principal attention to the rais- 
ing of fine strawberries, which he ships to north- 
ern markets. Mr. and Mrs. Pyles are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is also 
connected with the I. O. O. F., holding the oflBco 
of Noble Grand. Mr. Pyles is a strong Republican 
and a member of the town council. He owns 
some property in Judsonia, and is widely known 
and highly respected as a citizen. His father was 
one of the three men who were allowed to cross 



-' 



the Potomac on the night of President Lincoln's 
assassination. 

Thomas Jefferson Quick. Since commencing 
life for himself Mr. Quick has given his attention 
to two callings, that of farming and stock raising, 
and in these enterprises has met with well merited 
success, for he is not only progressive iu his views, 
but is intelligent and thoroughly posted in all 
public affairs. He was born February 11, 1842, 
and is a sou of Nathan and Peucy Emoliue (Hub- 
bard) Quick, the father, being in all probability, of 
Spanish descent, his birth occurring in the "Pal- 
metto State. ' ' The mother was a Georgian, and her 
union with Mr. Quick resulted in the birth of nine 
children, eight attaining manhood and woman- 
hood: Nancy Melissa (was born in 1838, and was 
married to W. R. T. Singleton, of Mississippi), 
William (was born in 1840, and died in 1852), 
Thomas Jefferson (the subject of this memoir), 
Martha Adeline (born in 1844, was married to J. 
M. Butler, of Mississippi, in 1865), Eliza Perme- 
lia (born in 1846, wedded to L. R. Butler, of Mis- 
sissippi, in 1865), James Robert (born in 1848, 
espoused Miss Mary Allen, of Mississippi, and 
died in Arkansas, in 1882), Mercy F. (born in 1850, 
married James E. Timms, of Mississippi), Sarah 
Ellen (born in 1852, wedded Thomas Hill, also of 
Mississippi), Amanda R. (born in 1854, became 
the wife of J. H. Roberts, a Mississippian), Mat- 
thew Isom'a birth occurred in 1856, and he took 
for his wife Miss Evaline Summons. Mr. Quick, 
the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, re- 
ceived his education iu the subscription schools of 
his native county (La Fayette County, Miss.), and 
has been familiar with farm work from his earliest 
boyhood. This work continued to receive his at- 
tention until he had attained his seventeenth year, 
when, with the enthusiasm of youth, he enlisted 
as a private in Comj)any F, Nineteenth Regiment 
Mississippi Volunteer Infantry, the first battle 
in which he participated being Williamsburg. On 
March 3, 1865, he was captured at Petersburg, 
Va., and taken to Hart's Island, N. Y., where he 
was kept in confinement for two months and a half. 
On being paroled he went to New York City, em- 
barking there on a steamer for New Orleans, going 









228 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



from there up the Mississippi River to Memphis, 
from there by rail to La Fayette Station, thence 
on foot to Oxford, Miss., a distance of seventy 
miles, to his father's plantation, two miles east of 
that place, arriving at home May 0, 18*55. He as- 
sisted his father on the farm for two years, and on 
January 16, 1867, wedded Miss Mary A. Callaway, 
of Georgia, and started out in life for himself. 
November 18, 1869, he came to Arkansas, and 
settled in White County, residing for one year on 
a farm he had purchased, then sold out and re- 
moved to Van Buren County, and after purchasing ; 
a saw-mill near Quitman, operated it for one year. 
Being dissatisfied with this location, he resolved 
to return to White County, and here j^urchased a 
farm, comprising 320 acres, all wild land. He 
resided on this until 1884, then sold it, having in 
the meantime made many valuable improvements, 
among which was the clearing and putting under 
cultivation of 120 acres of land. In 1884 he took 
up his abode in El Paso, but in 1885 purchased his 
present farm, consisting of 106 acres, on which 
was an incompleted house and fair stables. He 
has since completed the house, and has erected a 
cotton-gin, which has a capacity of six bales per 
day. On May 4, 1880, his wife died, and Sep- 
tember 7, 1881, he married Sallie E. Crosby, of 
the State of Arkansas, and to them were born two 
children: Lawrence Bernard (born June 28, 1882, 
and died October 31, 1882), Clarence Leonard 
(born June 28, 1882, and died August 12, 1889). 
The mother of these children died October 17, 
1884, and June 21, of the following year, Mr. 
Quick took for his third wife Mrs. Elizabeth 
(Arnold) Griffin, a daughter of John and Cynthia 
(Smith) Arnold, the father about one-fourth Cher- 
okee Indian, and the mother of Irish descent. The 
following children have been bom to Mr. Quick's 
last marriage: Thomas Fletcher (born July 16, 
1886) and Quro (born October 26, 1888). At the 
present writing Mr. Quick owns 200 acres of land, 
with eighty acres under cultivation. His land has 
on it a tine peach and plum orchard, and a vine- 
yard of about 100 vines. Mr. Quick is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and 
also of El Paso Lodge No. 65, A. F. & A. M. 



William C. Rainey is an extensive planter and 
cotton-ginner of Union Town.ship, and was born in 
Madison County, Tenn., in 1829, being a son of 
Isaac and Parthena (Rainey) Rainey, who were 
also people of Middle Tennessee. The father was 
a farmer by occupation, and a son of Zebulon 
Rainey, a soldier in the War of 1812. Both par- 
ents, were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and died in Middle Tennessee, after rear- 
ing a family of six children: William C, Theoph- 
ilus (who died in youth), Addison Levi (a farmer 
of West Tennessee), Samuel (a farmer of West 
Tennessee), James W. (of Lauderdale County, 
Tenn.), Henderson A. (of Haywood County, Tenn.), 
Delicia F. (widow of Joseph L. Hendron, of Tenn.), 
Amanda (wife of W. Coffman, a merchant of Wood- 
ville, Tenn.), Elizabeth (who died at the age of four 
years), and Martha (who died in 1856, aged eight- 
een years). William C. Rainey began life for 
himself when tweuty-two years of age, and after 
working one year as a farm hand and from that 
time up to 1858 was an overseer. In the fall of 
1856 he was married to Elizabeth CofPey, a daugh- 
ter of Kev. D. P. Coffey of Tennessee, and by her 
has had a family of eleven children, eight of whom 
are living: James D. (who was born November 
25, 1857), Mary F. (wife of Jeff Walker, was born 
May 14, 'I860), Leonidas E. (was born January 12, 
1866), William J. (born February 29, 1868), 
Thomas (born October 7, 1870), Samuel (born No- 
vember 30, 1872), Jesse C. (born March 4, 1874), 
Joseph L. (born December 27, 1879), and Eddie 
(born February 27, 1877). On December 20, 1854, 
Mr. Rainey first set foot in White County, Ark., 
and for two years he acted as overseer for one of 
the well-to-do planters of this region. After his 
man'iage he moved to Hickory Plains, and in 1857 
came to this portion of the county and settled on 
the land where Beebe now stands. After a one 
year's residence at this place he sold out and set- 
tled in the vicinity of Stony Point, and here has 
since made his home. His first purchase of land 
was 160 acres, and in 1856 he erected the first gin 
put up in the south part of White County, which 
he is still operating. Prior to 1883 the machin- 
ery was run by horsepower but since that time 



-^i 



,)^. 



WHITE COUNTY. 



229 



he has itscd steam. Mr. Rainey is a member of 
the Agricultural Wheel, aad he and wife are mem- 
bers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, as 
are the most of their children, Mr. Rainey and his 
eldest son being ruling elders in that church. Dur- 
ing the war he served in Company D, Tenth Ar- 
kansas Regiment, but after Ma\' 28, 18(52, became 
a member of Forrest's cavalry and served under 
him until the close of the war, when his company 
was disbanded on January 9. He was at Shiloh, 
Corinth, the gunboat fight on the Big Sandy in 
Tennessee, Murfreesboro, Guntown, Franklin, and 
was in the various engagements in which Forrest's 
cavalry participated. 

John F. Randall, a worthy and conscientious 
representative of White County, was born in Cape 
Girardeau County, Mo., near the city of Cape 
Girardeau, March 31, 1832. His father, Willam 
C. Randall, was born in Lexington, Ky. , Decem- 
ber 15, 1805, and died in Arkansas, February 4, 
1863, aged fifty- eight years. He was a regular ap- 
prentice to the boot and shoemaker's trade, and an 
expert in that profession. He was an old line 
Whig, and manifested great interest in all party 
campaigns. In 1831 Mr. Randall was united in 
marriage with Sarah A. , daughter of Anthony and 
Mary Randol, and a native of Missouri. She re- 
ceived her education in her native State, where 
the greater part of her life was passed, and at the 
date of her death, in 1854, she was residing in 
Stoddard County, Mo. To the union of Mr. and 
Mrs. Randall twelve children were born, all of 
whom grew to maturity. Those living are: John 
F. . Sarah E. (wife of James Samuels, of Missouri), 
Orlando L. (of Hood County, Tex.), Martha J. 
(widow of Joseph M. Lean). Those deceased are: 
William O., Carrol V., MaryZ., Eliza A., Char- 
lotte v., Rebecca L., Edward L. and Harvy C. 
John F. received but limited advantages for educa- 
tion, as the schools of his boyhood days were very 
few, but he received a practical knowledge of 
farming, which occupation he has always followed 
in connection with stock raising. He owns 320 
acres of excellent laud, highl)' cultivated, and 
everything on his farm indicates thrift and pros- 
perity. He was first man-ied in Calhoun County, 



111., in 1859, to Martha J. Scott of that State, 
and the result of this marriage was two children, 
who died in infancy. His second marriage oc- 
curred in 1862 to Edna P. , daughter of Andrew 
and Nancy Woodley, of Pike County, Ga., and 
by her he became the father of three children: 
William O. and a daughter (dead), and Edward 
L., now living. He also reared W. R. Randall, a 
nephew, born June 7, 1860, and Mattie Lee 
Woodley, a niece, born March 25, 1877. Mr. Ran- 
dall enlisted in the Union army, July 27, 1862, 
in Company A, First Arkansas Mounted Rangers. 
This regiment was reorganized in 1863, at Benton 
Barracks, Mo., with John E. Phelps as colonel; 
the regiment afterward being known as the Second 
Arkansas Cavalry. He acted most of the time as 
recruiting officer, and in the capacity of scout and 
escort duty. He participated in the battles of In- 
dependence, Jefferson City, Kansas Cit}% Big Blue 
and many others of minor importance. He re- 
ceived his discharge as first sergeant from said 
regiment. Company A. For twenty years Mr. 
Randall has acted as justice of the peace in White 
County, where he has lived since 1860, and is now 
filling said office and discharging its manifold du- 
ties in a creditable and exemplary manner. He 
is a Prohibitionist in politics, though not in any 
way a partisan. He is one of the most prominent 
members of the Methodist Church, South, and 
takes an active interest in all the affairs and work 
of the church, also contributing to all charitable 
enterprises. He is a member in high standing in 
the Ma.sonic order. 

James F. Ray, M. D., is a substantial and well- 
known practitioner of Arkansas, his first field for 
the practice of medicine being in Centre Hill in 
1883. His early days were spent in Jackson 
County, where he was born in 1854, and in 'White 
County, and when nineteen years of age he com- 
menced the study of medicine. Dr. Ray was the 
son of Samuel and Jane (Sorrell) Ray. Samuel 
Ray was born in Alabama iu 1824, and was a son 
of Samuel M. Ray, a native of North Carolina. 
He moved to Arkansas in 1854. settling in Jackson 
County, and in 1860 came to White County, where 
he followed farming. He enlisted in 1802 and 



<S fc_ 



230 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



served in the Confederate service. Mrs. Ray was 
born in Alabama, in 1828, and vpas a daughter of 
James F. and Flora Sorrell, and died in White 
County in 1869. They were the parents of three 
children: James F. , John and William. Dr. Ray 
was married in 1877 to Susan E. Barnett, a 
daughter of Z. H. and Emiline (Stewart) Barnett, 
natives of Tennessee. To these parents were 
given seven children, four of whom are still living: 
Floyd S., Mary E. (deceased), Arthur Curtis (de- 
ceased), Mamie A. , Samuel H. (deceased), Ethel 
I. and Blanch W. In 1885 Dr. Ray moved to 
Mount Pisgah, where he still lives and practices, 
and is the owner of a forty-acre tract of fine tim- 
ber land. Himself and wife are members of the 
Missionary Baptist Church. When the Doctor 
first came to this county, bear, dear and wild tur- 
key were abundant. Politically be is a strong 
Democrat, and although not taking an active part 
in politics, has held the office of bailiflP of the town- 
ship; he is a highly respected citizen, and enjoys 
a large practice extending throughout the adjoin- 
ing townships. 

William P. Reaves, a miller and ginner, of Ca- 
di'on Township, was born in Alabama, in 1850, and 
was the second son in a family of eleven children 
of Emery G. and Elizabeth A. (Davis) Reaves, also 
of Alabama. Their family consisted of the follow- 
ing children: Emily, William P., Amandy, John 
T., Narsiscey, Nancy A., Sarah E., George W., 
Sarah J., Thomas and David. Mrs. Reaves died 
in 1879, and Mr. Reaves was again married, in 
1881, to Susan Foster, and they are residing in 
Alabama, and have a family of small children. 
William P. Reaves, the gentleman whose name 
heads this sketch, was married at the age of sev- 
enteen, to Majourie O. Monk, a daughter of Silas 
and Nancy (Youngblood) Monk. Her father was 
a Primitive Baptist minister. Mr.s. Reaves died in 
1885, having been the mother of nine children: 
Tresser T. (deceased), Tulula, Mary M., William 
Lee, Ransom L., Caroline (deceased), Georgia (de- 
ceased), James (deceased) and Effie (deceased). 
Mr. Reaves came to Arkansas in 1877, and settled 
in this township, and in 1882 started a saw-mill 
and is now sawing and converting the pines of 



Arkansas into lumber. He was married the second 
time in 1887 to Anna Drain, the daughter of the 
Rev. William W. Drain. To this union have been 
born two children: Isaac E. and Jessie J. Mr. 
Reaves owns 160 acres of fine timber land, and has 
twenty acres cleared and under cultivation. He is 
a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to 
the Rock Springs Lodge No. 422, and also a mem- 
ber of the County Wheel. He is a prominent 
worker in all matters relative to educational and 
school work, and is one of the esteemed directors 
of School District No. 28. 

J. F. Redus came with his parents to White 
County, in 1851, they settling in Marion Town- 
ship. He was born in Alabama, in 1844, and was 
the second son in a family of nine children born 
to Joel S. and Susan J. (Gill) Redus, also of 
Alabama nativity. The senior Redus had a land 
warrant for service in the Mexican War, and on 
which he settled and broke land for a farm, where 
he lived until he died in 1858, his wife surviv- 
ing him ten years. The family consisted of the 
following nine children: W. G. (who resides in 
this county, and who enlisted in Company B of 
Thirty-sixth Arkansas Infantry), J. F. (our sub- 
ject), L. S. (who also served in the Confederate 
army), L. E. (now Mrs. Simmons, of Cleburne 
County), John C. (deceased), D. J., Joel S. (de- 
ceased), M. G. and T. J. J. F. Redus assisted 
his father in opening up the farm, and in 1861 en- 
listed in the Confederate service for twelve months, 
in Company K, of the Seventh Arkansas Infantry. 
After the reorganization of the company, he re- 
enlisted for three years, or during the war. He par- 
ticipated in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro, 
Perrysville (Ky. ), Liberty Gap, Chickamauga, and 
in the ninety- days' tight before Dalton, also at 
Lookout Mountain, Atlanta and a number of 
others. He marched barefooted from Franklin, 
Tenn. , to Pulaski, Tenn. Immediately after the 
cessation of hostilities, he returned home and 
again took up farming. He now owns a farm of 
160 acres, with eighty-five acres under cultivation. 
He takes an active part in politics, and is a strong 
Democrat, and was candidate for county treasurer 
in 1889, but was defeated by combined efForts. 



\ehr 



,)^ 



AVHITE COUNTY. 



231 



He and entire famil_v are members of the Baptist 
Church. 

Jackson V. Reynolds, a prominent farmer and 
fniit grower of White County, was born in Ten- 
nessee in 1844, and is a son of Samuel and Mar- 
garet (Maderis) Reynolds, natives of Alabama. 
Mr. Samuel Reynolds was born in 1808, and was 
married in 1831, after which he moved to Tennes- 
see, and in 1851 came to Arkansas, settling in 
White County, where he bought a farm of 160 
acres, on which he lived until his death, which oc- 
curred in 1861. His wife survived him twenty 
years, and was the mother of nine children, three 
of whom are living: Jackson V. (our svibject), 
Samuel T. and Marquis L. Jackson V. Reynolds 
was reared on a farm, educated in this county, and 
was married, in 1866, to Margaret Thompson, a 
daughter of James and Martha Thompson of 
Tennessee origin, and who came to Arkansas at an 
early day. Mrs. Reynolds died in 1880, leaving 
five children, four of whom are still living: Ed- 
ward, Minnie, Mary and Florence. After the 
death of his lirst wife, Mr. Reynolds married Mrs. 
Mitchell {nee McMurtry), a widow, and by this 
marriage became the mother of three children: 
Willie, Effie and Van. In 1862 he enlisted in the 
Confederate army, serving in Capt. Hick's regi- 
ment, but was wounded at the battle of Helena, 
and received his discharge. Mr. Reynolds has a 
farm of 237 acres, with 140 acres under cultivation, 
and devotes the most of his attention to fruit 
growing. 

James P. Rheu, planter, Stevens Creek, Ark. 
White County, is acknowledged by all to be one of 
the best agricultural portions of the State, and as 
such its citizens are men of advanced ideas and 
considerable prominence. A worthy representative 
of this class is found in the person of Mr. James 
P. Rheu. He was originally fi-om Dickson County, 
Tenn., where his birth occurred on November 23, 
1824, and is the sou of John and Margaret (Dun- 
negan) Rheu, natives, respectively, of North Caro- 
lina and Kentucky, and both of Scotch-Irish de- 
scent. The maternal grandparents probably came to 
Alabama before the Revolutionary War. John Rheu 
and family moved to Kentucky in about 1830, lo- 



cated in McCracken County, where they remained 
until about 1840, and then moved to Graves County. 
There he improved a farm, and made his home 
until death, which occurred in 1855. The mother 
died about 1827. James P. Rheu was early initi- 
ated into the duties of farm life, and received a 
liberal education for those days. In 1857 he came 
to Arkansas, located at Denmark, Jackson County, 
and engaged in merchandising, which he continued 
successfully for many years. On May 15, 1859, 
he was united in marriage to Miss Martha V. 
Edens, a native of Fayette County and the daugh- 
ter of H. and Ann (Price) Edens, natives of Lin- 
coln County, Tenn. , and probably of Irish descent. 
The maternal great-grandfather of Mrs. Rheu was 
connected with the commissary department of the 
Colonial army, and her grandfather Price, was 
a soldier under Gen. Jackson, in the War of 1812, 
participating in the battle of New Orleans, also in 
the subsequent Indian Wars. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Rheu were born four children: Ider E. (born Jiine 
11, 1860), Lelia C. (born October 8, 1865), William 
F. (born February 8, 1875), and Maggie A. (Ijorn 
February 22, 1876). Ider E. married J. C. 
Meadows on November 30, 1879, and is the mother 
of four children: Claude L., Ollie V., Lillian M. 
and Homer C. Mr. Meadows is a farmer by occu- 
pation. Mr. Rheu's other children are at home. 
In the fall of 1862, Mr. Rheu had become nicely 
fixed in business, had erected a tine dwelling- 
house, also a store, and excellent outbuildings upon 
his place; was also speculating in cotton, and had 
about ten bales on hand, when his buildings were 
set on tire, and his store, his entire stock of goods 
and his cotton were destroyed. After this sevei'e 
loss he rented land, followed farming near Den- 
mark, and there remained until 1866. when he 
bought a farm in Jackson County. This tract con- 
tained eighty acres of improved land, and there he 
resided until 1871, when he moved to his present 
property, arriving there on December 20 of that 
year. He purchased one himdred acres, with about 
fifteen under cultivation, and erected their present 
house the same year. At present he has about 
thirty acres under cultivation. He is a member of 
Anchor Lodge No. 49, A. F. and A. M. , and has 



^ 



232 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



served the lodge in the capacity of Senior Warden 
and Junior Warden, and has also been secretary 
for seven years of Fredonia Lodge No. 229. He 
holds a demit from Tillman Chapter No. 19, 
R. A. M. , Searcy, Ark. In his political views he 
affiliates with the Democratic party. Mrs. Rheu, 
and her daughter Lelia, are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and Mrs. Ider 
E. Meadows is a member of the Missionary Baptist 
Church. 

Mrs. Mary M. Rhoden is the daughter of Jacob 
Free CofFman (deceased), who, from an early period 
in the country's history, gave to Independence 
County (to which he came in 1851, locating on 
the White River) the best energies of his life as 
one of the most worthy and respected citizens, 
and to the community and all among whom he 
lived, the example of a life well and usefully 
spent, and the influence of a character without 
stain. In this count}' he bought a farm of 400 
acres, on which he lived till his death in 1858. His 
birth occurred February 10, 1805, and he was 
united in marriage to Miss Catherine Young on 
March 17, 1826, in Lauderdale County, Tenn. 
He was the son of Lovell and Sallie (Greene) CofF- 
man, the former a native of Virginia, of German 
descent, and whose ancestors came to America 
previous to the Colonial War. Sallie (Greene) 
Coffman was a relative of Gen. Greene of Revolu- 
tionary fame. Mrs. Catherine (Young) Coffman 
was the daughter of Samuel and Keziah (Hogue) 
Young. Samuel Young was a native of South 
Carolina, was of English descent, and his grand- 
father came to America about 1740 and located in 
South Carolina where Samuel was born. Keziah 
(Hogue) Young was a native of South Carolina, 
her parents being of English descent. The mater- 
nal grandfather (Doolittle) was killed by Tories in 
South Carolina during the Revolutionary War. 
Jacob Free and Catherine (Young) CofFman were 
the parents of these children: Sarah Ann K., 
Samuel Lovell, Mary Margaret, John Tillmore, 
Daniel A., Martha Jane, Elizabeth C. , Amy Eva- 
line, Susan Rebecca and Laura Maliuda. Mary 
M. CofFman was the third daughter of the above- 
mentioned family, her birth occurring on .January 



25, 1832, in Franklin County, Ala., and she re- 
ceived a good English education in the subscrip- 
tion schools of her native county. There she grew 
to womanhood and was united in marriage to John 
Harrison Rhoden, a native of Alabama, on Novem- 
ber 11, 1847, in Lawrence County. To this union 
were born eight children: Archie C. (born August 
2, 1848), Frances Catherine (born November 8, 
1849), Martha Jane (born September 6, 1851. and 
died in December of the same year), Rebecca 
Walker (born November 2, 1854, and died on Sep- 
tember 5, 1858), Sarah E. (born January 25, 1856), 
Laura Sophronia (born September 6, 1858), John 
Breckeuridge (born October 15, 1860) and Lucy 
Coleman (born December 20, 1862). All the chil- 
dren were born in Arkansas, with the exception 
of Archie, whose birth occurred in Alabama. Archie 
C. married Miss Matilda J. Means, a native of 
Virginia, and Frances C. married J. W. Moseley, 
a native of Kentucky, who is now residing in 
White County; Sarah E. married Lawrence West- 
moreland, a native of Georgia, who is now de- 
ceased, Sophronia married William Woodall, a 
native of Arkansas, John B. resides in Texas, 
Lucy C. married Dr. Joseph H. Fillinger, a na- 
tive of Virginia, and now residing in White County. 
The settlement of the Rhoden family in Arkansas 
was made in 1849 when the country was an un- 
broken wilderness. Mrs. Rhoden is a member of 
the Missionary Baptist Church, having united with 
that denomination in 1849. The family purchased 
160 acres when they first settled in this State, and 
Mrs. Rhoden now owns 120 acres of that farm. 

Dr. Willshire Riley is engaged in the drug busi- 
ness at Judsonia, Ark., and has been established 
there since 1880. He was born in Auglaize 
County. Ohio, in 1828, and in 1866 settled in 
White County, and after residing in Searcy one 
year, he moved to Red River Township, and for 
some years was engaged in shipping corn at Ri- 
ley's Landing. He was educated in the schools 
of Ohio, and in 1849 was married in Mercer 
County, of that State, to Miss Ruth Lindsey, re- 
moving in 1854 to Toledo, where he acted as dep- 
uty collector of customs. He also published the 
Toledo Daily, but in 1856 went to Perrv Countv, 



V 



_^ s> 



4> 



WHITE COUNTY. 



233 



111., and began practicing medicine, having previ- 
ously taken a course in the Cincinnati Medical 
College, graduating in the class of 1856. He re- 
mained in Perry County until 1800, then came to 
Searcy, and has been in business here since that 
time. He took an active part in politics during 
reconstruction days, and in 1870 and 1871 was 
senator, representing White and Pulaski Counties. 
He has been interested in the cause of education, 
and has aided all enterprises which were for the 
good of the community. He is a Douglas Demo- 
crat, and he and wife are members of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church. Of five children born to 
them, three are living: Horatio (who is married, 
and resides in Pine Bluff), Kate (Mrs. Hines, re- 
sides in Van Bureu County) and Willshire (a 
druggist of Pine Bluff). Dr. Riley is a member 
of Lodge No. 384 of the A. F. & A. M. , and be- 
longs to Tillman Chapter No. 19, and Searcy 
Council. He is one of the family of six born to 
James W. and Susan (Ellis) Riley, the former a 
native of Connecticut, and the latter of New York, 
and their union took place in Ohio. Mr. Riley 
was a Government surveyor, and did the most of 
the surveying of Northwest Ohio and Indiana, but 
was also a lawyer by profession. He died in Jan- 
i;ary, 1870, and is still survived by his wife, who 
is a resident of Denver, Colo. The paternal grand- 
father, Capt. James Riley, was born in Middle- 
town, Conn., and was the author of Riley's Narra- 
tive. Being appointed by President Jackson to 
survey the Northwestern Territory, he came to Ohio 
in 1819, and laid out the town of Willshire. Be- 
ing a sea captain he returned to his calling, and 
died on the ocean while on one of his voyages in 
1840. 

Elbert A. Robbins, the eldest son of D. and 
Olivia (Shinpouch) Robbins, natives of Alabama 
and Mississippi, respectively, dates his existence 
from December 23, 1857. His father became a 
resident of Arkansas in 1856, settling in White 
County, on a farm of 100 acres of land, ten miles 
south of Rose Bud, where he died in 1865, shortly 
after returning from the war. His wife survived 
him nine years, leaving a family of five children: 
Elbert A. (the subject of this sketch), J. A\'. [refer- 



ence to whom follows], C. D. , Molly and Samuel. 
E. A. Robbins started out in the world for himself 
at the age of fifteen without means or influence. 
He worked on a farm for three years, with but little 
success, after which his time was spent in a saw-mill 
until in April, 1881, when he bought a saw-mill, 
selling it. however, in October of the same year. 
In 1882 he farmed, but commenced the mercantile 
business at Rose Bud, in January, 1883, in partner- 
ship with his brother, J. W. Robbins. This he 
has followed ever since, with encouraging results. 
Besides his only brother he has one sister, Mollie 
Holmes, still living. Mr. Robbins professed re- 
ligion, and joined the Baptist Church in 1887. 
He was married, in 1878, to Miss Ida Crooms, 
and to them have been born six children, three 
of whom are living: Emma, Walter and Maudio; 
those deceased are Mollie, Elmer and an infant. 
Mrs. Robbins is also a member of the Missionary 
Baptist Church. He takes an active part in the 
Sunday-schools, and exerts his whole influence for 
the promotion of religious and educational institu- 
tions. 

J. W. Robbins, a brother of E. A. Robbins, 
commenced in life on his own account at the age 
of fourteen, in 1883 entering into the mercantile 
business in White County. He was born in this 
county in 1800, his parents being D. and Olivia 
(Shinpouch) Robbins [reference to whom appears 
in the sketch which precedes this]. J. W. Robbins 
was married, in 1880, to Susan I. Thomas, a daugh- 
ter of W. A. and Jane (Post) Thomas. Mr. and 
Mrs. Robbins are the parents of two children : Oscar 
(living) and Laura A. (deceased). Mr. Robbins is 
a strong Democrat, and takes an active interest 
in all work for the interest of schools or general 
public good. 

John A. Robersou. Among the farmers and 
stockmen of White County, Ai-k., none are more, 
prominent than our subject, who, though he is a 
native of Rutherford County, Tenn., born Novem- 
ber 19, 1835, has been a resident of White County 
since 1870. He was reared to a farm life and his 
knowledge of the "Three R's" was acquired in 
the common schools. He was thrown on the world 
to fight his own way through life at the early age 



234 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



of sixbeen years on account of the death of his 
father, and until his marriage on November 17, 
1854, he worked as a farm hand. His wife, 
Angeline Redmon, was a native of Haywood 
County and bore Mr. Roberson eight children as 
follows: George (who died in infancy), a child who 
died unnamed, William (who is a farmer of White 
County), James (also a farmer), Anna (wife of 
Elijah Capp, died leaving one child), Lela (is the 
wife of William P. Brickell, a farmer of Phillips 
County, Ark.), Thomas (farms in Texas) and Ed- 
gar (who was born on June 20, 1873). Mr. Rob- 
erson departed this life on July 27, 1888, an earn- 
est member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Mrs. Mary (Coleman) Murphy, a native of Ala- 
bama and a resident of Arkansas for about nine- 
teen years, became his wife February 24, 1889. 
After his first marriage Mr. Roberson farmed and 
acted as overseer until 1864 when he went into the 
army and served until the cessation of hostilities. 
He then became manager of a large farm owned 
by a wealthy planter of Haywood County, but since 
1870 has resided in White County, he being now 
the owner of 320 acres of land. At the time of his 
purchase there were sixty-five acres under cultiva- 
tion, but he now has 110 acres under the plow and 
has added 130 acres to his original purchase. His 
land is well adapted to raising all necessary farm 
products, and for several years past he has devoted 
much of his time to stock raising. He has been 
an active worker for the cause of Christianity for 
many years and socially is a member of Beebe 
Lodge No. 145 of the A. F. & A. M. His parents, 
Jesse and Mary A. (Vaughn) Roberson, were born 
in Virginia and South Carolina in 1815 and 1810, 
respectively, and were married about 1834. They 
died in Tennessee, the former in Haywood County 
in 1851, and the latter in Davidson County, in 
1848. Three of their eight children died in in- 
fancy: William (lived to be grown and lost his life 
in the battle in June, 1863, and was buried in a 
soldier's cemetery), Mary (is the wife of James 
Tatum, of Bell Station, Tenn.), Fidelia (is the 
wife of James Collins, an Englishman, residing in 
Tennessee), Eliza (is the wife of Robert Pitner, a 
farmer of Tennessee), and John A. (our subject). 



A. T. Rodmon has ably served his county as 
commissioner four years, as school director six 
years, and also as president of the board of regis- 
tration. His parents, James and Jennie (Kell) 
Rodmon, were natives of South Carolina, his pa- 
ternal and maternal grandfathers being of Irish 
origin, who came to this country at the same time 
and settled in South Carolina. Grandfather Rod- 
mon had a family of four children: John, Thomas, 
Sarah and James. James Rodmon was married 
in 1828 or 1829, and had a family of five children: 
A. T. (our subject), Mary A. (who married a man 
by the name of Blunt), Susan (Ballard), John C. 
and James C. Mr. Rodmon died on July 13, 
1849, in South Carolina, to which State his family 
moved from South Carolina that year. A. T. Rod- 
mon was married, after attaining manhood, in 
1856 in Mississippi, to Miss Mary Williams, a 
daughter of P. W. and Nancy (McDowell) Will- 
iams, and of North Carolina birth. After this 
event Mr. Rodmon settled on a farm and devoted 
himself to agricultural pursuits for four years, 
then moving to White County, Ark., in 1859, and 
locating on a farm twelve miles south of Searcy. 
In 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate army and 
served on detached duty during the war. In 1873 
he removed to Kane Township, where he now 
resides, enjoying at this time a wide and honored 
acquaintanca Mr. and Mrs. Rodmon have had 
twelve children, four of whom only are living: 
Alice M., Nora E., Frank and Clinton J. These 
are at home and attending school. In 1868 Mr. 
Rodmon was appointed justice of the peace, and 
the same year elected county commissioner, which 
position he held four years. In 1872 he was 
elected president of the board of registration, and 
is now school director, having discharged the offi- 
cial duties connected therewith for six years. He 
is a member of the Masonic order, and has been 
connected with the I. O. O. F. Himself and wife 
have been members of the Baptist Church for the 
past thirty-two years, Mr. Rodmon having held 
the position of church clerk for 'seventeen years. 
He has also acted as president of the County Wheel 
for six years, besides holding the office of district 
deputy for two years. Mr. Rodmon is a strong 



^ 



/vt» 



WHITE COUNTY. 



235 



Republican and has taken an active interest in the 
politics of his county. A highly respected citizen, 
he worthily deserves the universal esteem bestowed 
upon himself and family. 

Benjamin Rogers, in his active career through 
life, has amassed considerable wealth, and is now 
owner of a line farm, comprising 400 acres, 120 of 
which he has put under cultivation, clearing ninety 
cicres himself. He has around him every conven- 
ience, and his buildings, fences and orchards have 
been placed on his property by his own hands. From 
his earliest remembrance he has been familiar with 
farm life, but his youthful advantages for acquir- 
ing an education were very limited. He came with 
his father to Arkansas, and made his home with 
him until twenty-six years old, having married, at 
the age of twenty-four. Miss Anna E. Bailey, a 
native of Tennessee, and a daughter of J. J. Bailey, 
a pioneer settler of White County. Mrs. Rogers 
died in September, 1862, and on January 15, 1865, 
he married Miss Hannah J. Jackson, a native of 
Tennessee, and a daughter of H. Jackson, a black- 
smith by trade. Eleven childi-en have been born 
to them, of whom ten are living: Marion F. (born 
February 24, 1866, and lives on his father's farm), 
J. M. (who was born October 13, 1868), William 
H. (born August 27, 186'J), Robert E. (born June 
23, 1871), Mary E. (born August 6, 1873, and died 
September 2, 1887), Minnie B. (born January 30, 
1875), Bettie H. (born November 13, 1878), Benja- 
min D. (born February 9, 1880), Calvin J. (born 
January 27, 1883), AvaL. (born Januaiy 27, 1885), 
and Arthur L. (born April 25, 1887). Mrs. Rogers, 
the mother of this large famil}', departed this life 
February 7, 1889, having been a life-long member 
of the Missionary Baptist Church, a faithful wife 
and mother, and her death is not only mourned by 
her immediate family, but by all with whom she 
came in contact. In 1861 Mr. Rogers bought 160 
acres of the farm where he now lives, going in 
debt for the same, and notwithstanding the fact 
that the war came up and scattered his {)roperty, 
he has succeeded admirably. In June, 1862, he 
joined Company A, Thirty-sixth Arkansas Regi- 
ment, and was in the battles of Prairie Grove, 
Helena, Little Rock, besides numerous skirmishes. 



He was not wounded nor taken prisoner during his 
term of service, and was a faithful soldier to the 
cause he espoused. Upon his return home he found 
himself robbed of all his property, except the land 
for which he was considerably in debt, but ho 
began devoting his entire attention to his farm, 
and has succeeded in putting himself and family 
beyond the reach of want. He is a Democrat, a 
member of Beebe Lodge No. 145 of the A. F. & 
A. M. , and for the past seventeen years has been 
one of the most faithful members of the latter 
organization. He is public-spirited, and keeps 
thoroughly apace with the times on all matters of 
public interest. He was born in Haywood County, 
Tenn. , on August 1, 1836, and is a son of William 
and Sarah E. (Powers) Rogers, the former born in 
North Carolina in 1809, and the latter in 1811. 
They were married in Tennessee about 1830, and 
in 1854 came to White County, Ark., and settled 
on what is well known as the Williams' farm, near 
where Beebe now stands. Mr. Rogers bought 400 
acres of woodland, and until he could build him 
a log-house his family lived in a tent. Like the 
majority of the pioneer settlers of early times 

" He cut, he logged, he cleared his lot, 
And into many a dismal spot 
He let the light of day." 

During his lifetime he cleared over 100 acres of 
land, and at the time of his death (in 1871) he was 
one of the wealthy men of the county. In politics 
he was au old line Whig. His wife died in 1838, 
and in 1842 he married again, having by this union 
five children, only two now living, Rnfus H. and 
Robert E., both farmers. His first marriage also 
resulted in the birth of five children, Benjamin and 
Elizabeth (wife of Oliver Greene) being the only 
ones alive. 

Thomas J. Rogers, another of the prominent 
pioneer settlers of White County, has been located 
here for a period of over forty years, and has not 
only become well known, but the respect and 
honor shown him is as wide as his acquaintance. 
He came to White Coimty in 1848, settled with a 
brother, Robert J., within three miles of Searcy, 
which at that time contained two small supply 
stores, one made of log and the other of plank, 



^ 



<5 k- 



236 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



and a blacksmith shop. Mr. Rogers was born in 
Chatham County, N. C, in 1826, was the sixth in 
a family of ten children (all dead but two), born 
to Absalom and Hannah (Johnson) Rogers, natives 
of North Carolina. The parents immigrated to 
Tennessee at an early day and there the father 
carried on agricultural pursuits. He was one of 
the jury that convicted J. A. Merrill. His death 
occurred in Tennessee, in 1840, and his wife died 
in North Carolina. Grandfather Rodgers is buried 
in North Carolina, of which State the family were 
pioneers. Brought up as an agriculturist it would 
have been quite natural had Thomas J. Rogers fol- 
lowed in the footsteps of his father, but his tend- 
encies inclined elsewhere, and after securing a fair 
education in the subscription schools of Tennessee 
and Arkansas, and farming one year, in 1849 he 
came to Searcy, where he clerked for Bond & Max- 
well, general merchants. He remained with this 
firm until 1851, and went into partnership in a 
separate house with the firm, taking the manage- 
ment. In 1852 Mr. Rogers purchased the full con- 
trol and continued in business until 1862, when 
he had everything taken from him, it all becoming 
common property. During the war he raised a 
company and followed guerrillas, but later he 
moved to Urbana, 111. , purchased property and re- 
mained until the close of the war. The people 
were anxious to know what he was going to do, so 
in 1865, he returned to Searcy, Ark., but before 
coming back liquidated his debts at 25 and 50 per 
cent with Philadelphia houses. He paid it and 
received their receipts in full, and later paid it in 
full with interest, in 1867. After this Mr. Rogers 
engaged in the real- estate business, in which he is 
now interested, and is the owner of 20,000 acres in 
White and Cleburne Counties. He has twenty im- 
proved farms in these counties, is renting out land 
and owns a fine body of timber situated on White 
and Red Bayou, Des Arc. I'olitically, Mr. Rogers 
is the father of the Prohibition party in this county 
and bought the Lever by the thoiisands, distribut- 
ing them gratuitously through the country. He 
fought for the Local Option bill, was successful, 
and all rejoiced. He is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, Searcy Lodge No. 49, and was charter 



member of the same. He was married in White 
County, Ark., in 1859, to Miss Susie M. Lewis, a 
native of Mississippi, and to this union were born 
seven children, five now living: Thomas B. , Hallie 
B., Angie (now Mrs. Jones, of Memphis, Tenn.), 
Susie M. and Naomi. The mother of these children 
closed her eyes to the scenes of this world in 1877. 
She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, to which Mr. Rogers also belongs, having 
joined in 1840; he has been a scholar and teacher 
ever since. In 1852 Mr. Rogers joined the Sons 
of Temperance, but now considers that their work 
was largely in vain. In ISSO he was sent to Cleve- 
land, Ohio, to the Prohibition National Conven- 
tion, became a member of that party, and has been 
on the executive board ever since; was sent to the 
National Prohibition Convention, which met at In- 
dianapolis, Ind., in 1888, and assisted in forming 
the Prohibition platform, every plank of which ex- 
actly suited him. The same year he was also del- 
egate to the Arkansas State Convention at Little 
Rock, which adopted the national party platform. 
Hon. John P. H. Russ is a man who needs no 
introduction to the readers of this volume, for he 
has been usefully and honorably identified with the 
interests of this cou.nty and with its advancement 
in every worthy particular for many years. His 
early paternal ancestors were of Scotch-Irish de- 
scent and were among the original settlers of 
Jamestown, Va. , but the two immigrants, Vincent 
and John, spelled their name Rusk, although the 
old Scotch way of spelling the name was Russ, a 
fact which was discovered by Charles E. Riiss, the 
father of our biographical subject, while reading 
Scotch history, during his attendance at Hillsboro 
(N. C.) College. He adopted the old way of spell- 
ing the name, and as such it has continued to the 
present time. Charles E. Russ and his brother, 
John P. H., afterward graduated fi-om Raleigh 
College, Raleigh, N. C. , and the latter subse- 
quently became a prominent politician, and was 
honored with the office of Secretary of his native 
State, a position he held several terms, serving in 
the interests of the Democratic party. Charles 
E. Russ was strongly opposed to secession, and 
stumped the "Old North State" and Georgia in 



^-. 



WHITE COUNTY. 



237 



opposition to that measure. His wife, Siirah A. 
Parker, was a daughter of Harrison and Sarah 
(Parrish) Parker, the former of Scotch-Irish de- 
scent and the latter of French. Hon. John P. H. 
Russ was born in Floyd County, Ga. , April 27, 
1852, and in 1859 he was taken by his parents to 
Charlotte, S. C. After a residence of a few months 
in Florida they settled in Marengo County, Ala., 
remaining thereuntil 1866, when Denmark, Tenn., 
became their home. Their first settlement in Ar- 
kansas was in the year 1869, when they settled at 
El Paso, in White County, purchasing a farm of 
160 acres, twenty acres of which was heavily cov- 
ered with timber. Here both father and mother 
died, in 1884, the former in January and the lat- 
ter in June. They were members of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, South, and Mr. Kuss was a 
Mason, his wife belonging to the Eastern Star 
Lodge. Their family consisted of four sons and 
two daughters, two of whom are living besides our 
subject: James E. (who was rnarried to Miss Belle 
Andrews, a native of Kentucky, is an attorney at 
law of Beebe, Ark.) and Laura J. (the wife of 
Thomas Midyett, a resident of El Paso Township). 
This couple was married in Tennessee and came to 
Arkansas in 1870, and are here rearing their family 
of three sons: Henry, Charley and Bascom. Hon. 
John P. H. Russ first commenced attending school 
in Red Mountain, Ala., but was afterward a stu- 
dent in the common schools of Tennessee, and fin- 
ished his education in the Methodist graded school 
under the supervision of Prof. J. W. Thompson. 
June 23, 1872, he was united in marriage to Miss 
Nareie L. Booth, a daughter of M. L. and Eliza- 
beth ( Bushel) Booth [a sketch of whom appears on 
another page of this work], and their union resulted 
in tlie birth of the following family: Mary E. (born 
May 18, 1873, and died September 4, 1885), Samira 
M. (born March 14, 1875), Charles L. (born March 
23, 1877), Lena Mora(l)orn December 4, 1880, and 
died March 4, 1889), Walter M. (born February 9, 
1882), Otey S. (born February 28, 1884), John T. 
(born April 2, 1886), and Laura B. (born January 
21, 1888). Mr. Russ always voted with the Dem- 
"crat party until 1883 and, as be says, did more 
for the party than his Satanic Majesty, the Devil, 



ever did, but he left it in consequence of dissatis- 
faction with the corruption of both the Democrat 
and Republican parties and identified himself with 
the Labor movement; and at a meeting of the 
White County Wheel, May 7, 1884, he was elected 
a delegate to the State Wheel, which was held at 
Little Rock, on June 9, of the same year. At this 
meeting a full county ticket was organized and 
Mr. Russ, the delegate, was told to use his own 
judgment as to which to suiiport — a Labor State or 
a Wheel ticket. The result was the nomination of 
the Labor State ticket, and Mr. Russ was chosen 
by the committee as chairman of the committee for 
drawing up a platform, and wrote the first four 
planks. He was afterward elected chairman of 
the State and Labor Central Committee, and when 
a meeting was called at Litchfield, Jackson County, 
on July 27, 1884, he again filled out the ticket, 
and Charles E. Cunning was the nominee for Gov- 
ernor and received 19,706 votes in twenty three 
counties organized in the State, out of seventy-five. 
At this meeting the delegates met under the shade 
of a tree and nominated a ticket for Congress, their 
nominee, R. B. Carl Lee, receiving a small vote in 
the district. At a meeting of the State Wheel at 
Little Rock, in 1884, Mr. Russ was elected as a 
delegate to the Labor Convention at Cincinnati, 
Ohio, the meeting to be held February 2, 1885. 
At the meeting of the Union Labor party in \\'hite 
County he was chosen permanent chairman, and 
was a delegate to the State convention with in- 
structions to put in the field a full State ticket, 
using his judgment in favor of the best man. He 
did so, and a vigorous canvass was carried on, the 
result being the election of Hon. C. M. Norwood, 
an ex-Confederate, one-leg soldier, as Governor, 
by a majority of from 8,000 to 10,000 votes. In 
1886, at a meeting of the State \\'heel, he was 
elected a member of the executive committee of 
that body, and was re-elected for three consecutive 
terms. He was also a delegate to the National 
Agricultural Wheel, the meeting of all Labor or- 
ganizations, at Meridian. Miss., in December, 1888; 
was a member of the first National Cotton Com- 
mittee, also at that place, and the second one, held 
at Atlanta, Ga. In 1886 he represented the Ar 



<S li^ 



238 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



kansas State Wheel, at Raleigh, N. C, and was 
elected by that body to the Farmers' Union to be 
held at Shreveport, La., in 1887. At a meeting 
of the State Wheel held at Little Rock, the same 
year, he was chosen State Lecturer, and was re- 
elected in 1888. The following year, at a meeting 
of the State Wheel at Hot Springs, he was chosen 
president of the State Wheel of Arkansas, and was 
at the same time elected a delegate to the National 
Farmers' and Laborers' Union, which was held in 
St. Louis, in December, 1889. October 19, of the 
same year, as president of the above-named body he 
issued a proclamation dissolving the State Wheel, 
and adopting the Farmers' and Laborers' Union of 
America, as agreed at the meeting of all the Labor 
organizations in 1888. Mr. Russ was president of 
the first district Wheel ever organized in White 
County, and filled the same position for the Twenty- 
seventh, the first senatorial Wheel, comprising 
White and Faulkner Counties. He discharged the 
duties of this position also for the Second Congres- 
sional Wheel, to which office he was elected in 
1884, and he has been re-elected each succeeding 
year. He has held the office of Lecturer in the 
subordinate office for five years, and in this capac- 
ity has lectured in a great many counties. He is a 
strict temperance man, and for many years has 
been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
Soiith, and in support of the latter, as well as in 
the cause of education, he has been exceedingly 
liberal and free-hearted. He is now acting as 
deputy sheriff of White County, and although re- 
peatedly urged to run for representative of White 
County, he has declined, thinking he could do 
more good for his party off the ticket than on. In 
1873 Mr. Russ jjurchased from the United States 
Government 160 acres of wild land, and by subse- 
quent purchases has increased his land to 660 
acres, of which 122 are under cultivation. His 
first farm was heavy timber land, but after many 
years of arduous labor and with the assistance of 
his worthy wife, who has proved to him a true 
helpmate, he has become one of the wealthy agri- 
culturists of the county. In the comparatively 
short time which has elapsed since he commenced 
doing for himself, he has developed and improved 



two fine farms, and has made all the property he 
now has by the sweat of his brow as, at the time of 
marriage, he only possessed $23, a horse and a gold 
watch. At the time of locating, he, his wife and 
father could carry their effects on their backs, and 
the furniture with which their house was provided 
was made of lumber from their own land. Many 
changes have occurred since this esteemed citizen 
first located here, and he has witnessed the growth, 
of what was once a vast wilderness, to one of the 
most prosperous and influential counties of the 
State. He and wife have hosts of warm friends, 
and as they look back over their past careers they 
can see little to regret, while the future in the life 
to come stands out brightly before them. 

James E. Russ, an attorney at law and notary 
public, of Beebe, is recognized as a prominent 
member of the legal fraternity of White County. 
A native of North Carolina, he was born in Orange 
County, November 9, 1855, being the son of 
Charles E. and Sarah A. (Parker) Russ, also of 
North Carolina origin [a sketch of whose lives ap- 
pears on a previous page, as well as a history of 
this illustrious family]. Charles Russ was born in 
1819 and his wife in 1826. They were of Scotch- 
Irish and English descent, and were married in 
their native State in 1843, moving in 1859 to Ala- 
bama, where Mr. Russ conducted an extensive plan- 
tation, and managed a large force of slaves until 
after the war (in which he held the rank of major 
for four years). He subsequently went to Tennes- 
see and after a residence there of four years, moved 
again, this time settling in El Paso, Ark. , where 
he followed the occupation of farming until his 
death in 1885. He was a Universalist in his re- 
ligious belief, his wife, who only survived him a 
few months, being a devoted member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. Russ was a 
member of high standing: in the Masonic order, and 
Mrs. Russ of the Eastern Star. James E. was the 
fifth in a family of six children, as follows: Laura 
J. (wife of Thomas H. Midyett, a wealthy farmer 
of El Paso), J. P. H. Russ (farmer and president 
of the State Wheel of Arkansas), Charles W. (who 
died at the age of twenty-two, unmarried), Mary 
and Robert (who both died in their youth). James 



^ c 




E. was reared to farm life, but his opportunities 
for obtaining an education were very limited, three 
months being the extent of his entire schooling. 
At an early age, however, he became a careful stu- 
dent and constant reader at home. When twenty- 
one he entered upon the reading of law, at the same 
time managing the farm and supporting his par- 
ents. This course he continued until 1S83, when 
he was admitted to the bar at Little Rock, having 
passed a critical examination before Judges W. F. 
Hill, T. J. Oliphant and J. M. Rose, committee, 
with Judge F. T. Vaughn as presiding judge. 
After passing this examination Mr. Russ formed a 
partnership with Judge Oliphant, under the firm 
name of 01i]^hant & Russ, which relation ex- 
isted nearly two years. Compelled to withdraw 
at that time on account of ill health, he passed 
several months in traveling, later returning: to Ar- 
kansas, and finally settled in Beebe, where he has 
since resided, gaining by his upright course and 
recognized ability, the confidence and esteem of all 
acquaintances. As a practictioner he has built up 
an enviable and lucrative clientage, having a gen- 
eral law business in all courts of the State. In 
January, 18S7, he lost his residence and contents 
by fire, but by energy, econom_y and strict integ- 
rity, has recovered from that disaster almost en- 
tirely. In December, 1883, Mr. Russ was united 
in marriage with Miss Belle Andrews, an estimable 
lady, daughter of William Andrews, a lawyer of 
Paducah. Ky. To them have been given a family 
of two children: Paul Eaton (born in September, 
1884 1 and Jane (born November 2, 1886). Mr. and 
Mrs. Russ are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, and both are deservedly popular in 
society circles. The former votes the straight 
Democratic ticket, but has never been looked upon 
as an aspirant for political preferment. During 
the year 1888 he was a member of the real -estate 
firm of Merrill, Russ «& Co. 

Christopher N. Saunders, a farmer and stock- 
man of Dog Wood Township, White County, Ark., 
was born in Virginia in 1822, and is the second 
child born to Wren and Mary D. (TeatrofF) Saun- 
ders, who were also Virginians, the father's birth 
occurring in 1822. His parents, Reuben and 



Frances Saunders, were born in that State, and 
there reared their family, of which State their son 
Wren is still an inhaljitaiit. He was married in 
1840, his wife being a daughter of John TeatrofF, 
and he and wife reared a family of eleven children: 
Columbia I., Christopher N. , Jane (who was a 
Mrs. Hunt, and is now dead), Reuben, Daniel 
(who died young), Mary (also died in childhood), 
Ellen and Logan (both died in infancy), Millard 
P. (a resident of West Virginia), Artemas and 
Leanna D. (married). The mother of these chil- 
dren died in 18()5, a consistent memljer of the 
Christian Church at the time of her death. Chris- 
topher N. Saunders spent his youth on a farm, and 
also received his early schooling in his native 
State. In 1862 he enlisted in Company F, Twen- 
ty-fifth Virginia Cavalry, and the first battle in 
which he participated was near Richmond. After 
the war he began farming for himself, and in 1871 
was married to Malina Owen, a daughter of Will- 
iam and Keron Owen, natives of Virginia, both of 
whom are now dead. Mr. Saunders and his wife 
reared a family of six children: Wren, Minnie, 
Claudius, Keron, Clifford G. and Charles C. John 
W. died in childhood, and Mattie Lee died in 
October, 1889. In 1876 our subject removed with 
his family to White County, Ark., and in 1881 
bought his present farm of 160 acres. He has 
forty acres under cultivation, and is doing well. 
He is a Democrat, and he and wife belong to the 
Christian Church. 

Elihu Q. Seaton is the son of George W. Sea- 
ton, a native of Alabama, who was born near 
Huntsville, Madison County, N. Ala., on June 
13, 1820, moving when quite young with his par- 
ents to Panola County, Miss., where he grew to 
manhood. In 1841 he was united in marriage to 
Miss Lucinda Smart, also of Alabama origin, her 
birth occurring in Florence, Laudtu-dale County, 
April 9, 1820. When a young girl she accompa- 
nied her parents to Mississippi. George W. Seaton 
was l)y profession a farmer, but spent a greater part 
of his time in teaching school, being a man of su- 
perior education and refinement. He was an exem- 
plary member of the Missionary Baptist Church, 
and took an active part in all church and charita- 



240 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



4 



ble enterprises, particularly so in bis later years. 
In bis iiolitical views be sided witb tbe Democrats, 
and beld many offices of trust, discbarj^ing bis du- 
ties in a bigbly commendable manner, and winning 
great credit for bimself and family. He was a 
Mason in bigb standing, and recognized as a prom- 
inent and influential citizen. Mrs. Seaton, tbougb 
a professor of religious f aitb from a very early age, 
was not connected witb any cburcb. Sbe and ber 
busband were descendants of some of tbe oldest 
and best families of Nortbern Alabama. Remov- 
ing from Mississippi to Lonoke County, Ark., in 
1878, tbey were residing tbere at tbe time of Mr. 
Seaton' s deatb in September, 1880. Mrs. Seaton 
tben went to Texas, but soon returned to ber borne 
in Lonoke County, where sbe now lives. To tbeir 
union nine children were born, seven of wbom sur- 
vive: William (a farmer of Panola, Miss.), George 
S. N. (a planter of Sevier County, Ark.), Sarab S. 
T. (tbe wife of J. M. Smith, of Faulkner County, 
Ark.), Elibu Q. (tbe subject of this sketch), Albert- 
ine, J. (now Mrs. J. D. McPherson, of Collins 
County, Tex.), Lucy A. (wife of Elias Harrell, of 
Prairie County, Ark.), Georgiana A. (Mrs. Frank 
White, a prosperous farmer of Lonoke County, 
Ark.), Frances H. (widow of William Mason; now 
the wife of Andrew Lowe), B. A. (the wife of L. 
J. Pardue, and died in Lonoke County in 1887). 
Elibu Q. Seaton' s educational advantages in youth 
were limited to the inferior schools of tbe period, 
but by constant reading and close observation, be 
has obtained a good j)ractical education. He be- 
gan for himself at tbe age of twenty years, first as 
a farmer, and then as a teacher in the public 
schools, where for eight years be instructed the 
yoting idea, and gained an enviable local reputa- 
tion as an instructor. For tbe last three years 
Mr. Seaton has been engaged in the mercantile 
business, and is now located at Russell, Ark. He 
carries a general stock valued at $2,000, and has 
been quite successful in this business, and in the 
accumulation of property. He was married Janu- 
ary 13, 1889, to Miss Frances A. Gamble, of White 
County, and a Kentuckian by birth. To this mar- 
riage one child has been born, Benjamin A., on 
October 11, 1889. Mr. and Mrs. Seaton are mem- 



bers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Cburcb, to 
which tbey give their support. In all worthy en- 
terprises Mr. Seaton is a leader, not a follower, 
and has accomplished, by his progressive spirit, 
many things that might otherwise still be in an 
embryo state. He is a conservative Democrat, and 
a member in high standing of the Masonic order. 
In 1S88 he received an appointment as notary pub- 
lic for a term of four years. 

Andrew C. Shoffner, M. D., deserves honor- 
able mention as one of tbe successful practitioners 
of tbe healing art in White County, and since 1876 
has been actively engaged in alleviating tbe suffer- 
ings of the sick and afflicted, his services being in 
demand among the best people of tbe county. He 
was born in Tennessee, in 1830, and is a son of 
Martin and Jane C. (Johnson) ShofFner, and grand- 
son of John and Christenia Shoffner. Martin 
Shoffner was born in North Carolina, in 1806, and 
inherited German blood from his parents. He was 
married in 1828, and tbe children born to bis union 
are as follows: Andrew C, Mary A. (Mrs. John- 
son, living in Tennessee), Minerva A. (Mrs. Powell, 
now deceased), James H. (a resident of Mississippi), 
Elizabeth J. (Mrs. Howard, living in Mississippi), 
Susan A. (Mrs. Vick, also a resident of Missis- 
sippi), John F. (who was killed in the battle of 
Chickamauga), Josephine (Mrs. Curl, of Mississippi) 
and Francis M. (living in De Soto County, Miss.). 
Martin Shoffner followed the occupation of farm- 
ing all his life, and spent bis declining years in 
Marshall County, Miss. , his death occurring tbere 
in 1858, his wife's death having occurred in 1851, 
both being members of tbe Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church. Dr. Shoffner, our subject, spent 
bis youth on a farm in Tennessee, and completed 
his education at a private school. In 1862 he 
enlisted in tbe army, but was shortly after dis- 
charged on account of ill health and returned 
home. He was married in 1851 to Miss Julia A. 
Vick, a daughter of Ransom and Elizabeth Vick, 
the former of Virginia, and the latter a Tennes- 
seean. Of a family of thirteen children born to 
tbe Doctor and bis wife, only one is dead. Those 
living are: Robert L. (who married Sallie A. 
Walker, and resides in tbe county), Cordelia (Mrs. 



WHITE COUNTY. 



241 



Smith, a resident of Marshall County, Miss.), 
Jennie (Mrs. Walker, is a resident of Dog Wood 
Township), Ella (Mrs. Davis, lives in Argenta, 
Ark. ), James M. (lives at Searcy), Laura (Mrs. 
Beaver, is a resident of Arkansas), Augustus F., 
Lucy E., Henrietta, Idonia and Addie, all single. 
In 1866 Dr. Shoffner came to White County, Ark., 
settling in Searcy Valley, but since 1874 has been 
a resident of Dog Wood Township, where he has 
a farm of 100 acres, with fifty under cultivation. 
He devotes his time to the jjractice of his profes- 
sion, and leaves his sons to manage the farm. He 
is ever interested in all good works, and gives lib- 
erally of his means in the support of schools and 
churches. Politically he is a Republican, and so- 
cially, belongs to the Masonic fraternity. 

Thomas Smith. Personal popularity results 
largely from the industry, perseverance and close 
attention to business which a person displays in 
the management of any particular branch of trade, 
and in the case of Mr. Smith this is most certainly 
true, for he has adhered closely to farming and the 
stock industry, and helped in so many ways to ad- 
vance all worthy interests in the community, that 
he has won the admiration and respect of all. His 
parents, Matthew and Mary (McCue) Smith were 
born in Killeshandra Village, Ireland, and to them 
were given tliree sons: Peter (born in 1821), 
Thomas (born in 1822), and James (born in 1824). 
The father died in 1824, and his widow resided in 
her native county until 1831, when she with her 
family moved to the city of Balbriggean, County 
Dublin, and there lived until her demise in 1840. 
Seven years later Thomas Smith and his brother 
James emigrated to America, the elder brother, 
Peter, having emigrated to this country in 1845. 
They landed at New York, May 27, 1847, and after 
a few days' stay in that city thej' joined their 
brother Peter in Delaware County, Penn., he hav- 
ing secured work with a farmer, S. T. Walker. 
They were also fortunate enough to find employ- 
ment, and from the time they reached Pennsylva- 
nia until three and one-half years later Thomas 
was engaged in farm labor. In 1850 he, with his 
brother James, removed to Arkansas and settled in 
Faulkner County (then Conway County), each be- 



coming the owner of 160 acres of land, both of 
which are in the possession of our subject at the 
present time. In 1850 he was married in the 
Catholic Church of Old Chester, Penn., to Miss 
Mary Ann Collins, a native of County Donegal, 
Ireland, and after their removal to Arkansas they 
both set energetically to work to clear and improve 
their farm, which was a heavy timber tract inhab- 
ited by all kinds of wild game. Their capital con- 
sisted of a pair of willing hands and a determina- 
tion to succeed no matter what the obstacles might 
be, and to say that they had been successful would 
not do the subject justice. The year following their 
arrival in the State they built them a substantial 
log- house, and the first letter they received after 

I settling in their new home, was fi-om a friend in 
Pennsylvania, Mr. Smith walking to the nearest 
postoffice, a distance of twenty miles to receive it. 
He has cleared 1 50 acres of his farm from timber, 
and now has some of the most fertile land of which 
the county can boast. Having experienced the 
many hardships and privations which beset a man 
in his journey through life, Mr. Smith never turns 
the more unfortunate from his door, but is always 
generous, charitable and hospitable. The follow- 
ing family was born to him and his first wife: 
James (born August 19, 1851), Mary Ann (born in 
1853), Sarah (born in 1855), Susan (born in 1856), 
Thomas (born in 1857) and Edward (born in 1859), 
all of whom died in infancy, the mother also dying 

; August 1, 1859. In 1861 Mr. Smith espoused his 
second wife. Miss Elizabeth Hogans, of Arkansa.s, 
but her death occurred in 1870, in giving birth to 
her son, Henry. The children of this union are: 
William (born January 20, 1862), Alice (born IMay 
9, 1864), Thomas (born October 24, 1865), Hugh 
(born April 17, 1867), Edward (born April 27, 
1867), Robert (born December 9, 1869) and Henry 
(born January 27, 1870). On January 18, 187 1', 
Mr. Smith's union with his third wife took place, 
her name being Elizabeth Wilson. Mr. Smith and 
wife are member.s of the Catholic Church, and all 
their children have been l>aptizod in that faith, but 
wore never confirmed. Mr. Smith is a Democrat, 
and a member of the Agricultural Wheel No. 99. 
Joel AV. Smith, a prominent farmer of White 






•^J 



242 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



County, is a sou of Alexander and Sarah (Follwell) 
Smith, natives of Virginia. Alexander Smith was 
married in ISIO or 1817, and had a family of five 
children: Catharine, William H., James M., Sarah 
A. and Joel W. , our subject. Mrs. Smith died in 
1828, in Alabama. Mr. Smith then married his 
second wife in 1830, her maiden name being Miss 
Margaret Ellis. They were the parents of nine 
children: Aaron G. (deceased), Keziah, Alyrah, 
Mary, George, Margery, Lottie, Victoria and 
Martha. Joel W. Smith was born in Limestone 
County, Ala. , in 1826. He was reared on a farm, 
and received but little education, his father dying 
in 1852. Upon arriving at maturity he was mar- 
ried on November 25, 1845, to Elizabeth F. Lewis, 
also of Alabama nativity, and a child of William 
and Jane (Rogers) Lewis, being the second daugh- 
ter in a family of ten children. Her birth oc- 
curred May 8, 1820. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the 
parents of six children: Henrietta (Redus), John 
A., Edward F., Margaret J. (Yearby) Sarah F. 
(Alford), and Harriet A. (Sowel). Mr. Smith 
came to Arkansas in 1858, and settled in White 
County, whence he enlisted in 1862 in Company B 
of the Arkansas Infantry, under Capt. Critz, Col. 
Schofer being in command of the regiment. He 
was taken sick and received his discharge and 
returned home, but re-enlisted in 1863, under Col. 
Geyn. He was in the battle of Helena, and was 
taken prisoner and carried to Little Rock, later to 
Walton, 111., and afterward to Rock Island, 111., 
being confined until the close of the war. Mr. 
Smith has a farm of 300 acres, with over 200 imder 
cultivation. He is a member of Centre Hill Lodge 
No. 114, A. F. & A. M., and himself and wife be- 
long to the Baptist Church. Mr. Smith is a strong 
Democrat, and has been school director for the past 
six years, taking great interest in the work. 

Frank W. Smith, Searcy, Ark. Another pio- 
neer settler of the county, and a much-respected 
citizen is the above-mentioned gentleman who 
came to White County, Ark., in 1853, from Missis- 
sippi. He was born in Fayette County, Miss. , in 
1833, and was the eighth in a family of nine chil- 
dren, the result of the union of John and Rebecca 
Smith, natives of Tennessee. The father was a 



planter, and in connection carried on merchandis- 
ing at Oxford, Fayette County, Miss. In 1830 he 
moved to Benton County, Ark., remaining there a 
short time, and then returned to Mississippi in 
1831, making that his home imtil his death which 
occurred at Oxford, Miss., in 1844. His widow 
survived him many years, came to W^hite County 
in 1853, and there her death occiu-red in the fall of 
that year. Their family consisted of the follow- 
ing children: Harrison (married, and a farmer of 
De Soto County, Miss.), Benjamin (married, and 
resides in Gray Township), Margaret (wife of Will- 
iam Graves, of Howard County, Ark.), Catherine 
(died in White County, Ark., in 1889; she was the 
wife of John Boggs), Thomas (married and re- 
sides in Gray Township), William (died in White 
County in 1871), John (married and resides in 
Gray Township), Frank W. and Mary (wife of 
James Neavill; she died in 1858). The father of 
these children participated in the War of 1812. 
Frank W. Smith's youth in growing up was passed 
in attending to duties about the home place, and 
in the subscription schools of Mississippi. He 
commenced farming for himself in White County, 
Ark., at the age of twenty-one, and in 1855, 
in partnership with his brother, John, purchased 
160 acres of land which he improved. Later the 
brothers separated, each doing for himself. F. 
W. Smith has erected all the buildings, and has 
added to his farm from time to time until he is now 
the owner of 400 acres, with 150 under cultivation, 
and 100 acres or more in pasture. He does mixed 
farming, raises corn and cotton and also consider- 
able horses and cattle, and is one of the wide- 
awake farmers of the county. He enlisted in the 
army at Searcy in 1862, and for twelve months 
was in Capt. Davis' company. Gen. McRae's 
regiment. He participated in several skirmishes 
and later went into the State troops, where he re- 
mained but a short time. At the close of the serv- 
ice he returned to the farm. He was married in 
White County in 1855 to Miss Mary L. Neavill, a 
native of Alabama, and the daughter of Elihu and 
Margaret (Jones) Neavill, natives of Alabama. 
Mr. and Mrs. Neavill came to White County in 
1844, settled in Gray Township, and he was one 



WHITE COUNTY. 



243 



of the influential men of the county, being treas- 
urer of the same one term. His death occurred in 
1852 and the mother's in 18SS. After marriage 
Mr. Smith settled where he now resides, and there 
he has since remained. Although not very active 
in politics he votes with the Democratic party; is a 
member of the Agricultural Wheel, of which or- 
ganization he was steward, and he and wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. To this imion two living children were 
born: Sarah and Kirby (of which Kirby is mar- 
ried and resides with his father). Mr. Smith came 
to this county when all was wild and unbroken, 
and when game was in abundance. Now fine farms 
cover the country, and everything is in a prosper- 
ous condition. He is practically a self-made man; 
having started with little he is now very comforta- 
bly fixed, and can pass the remainder of his life 
in ease. 

William Smith. Faulkner County is rapidly 
coming into a position as one of the foremost stock 
counties in the State, and it is but uttering a plain 
fact to say that to a few men in this community is 
due the credit for advancing stock interests here and 
establishing a reputation in this dejiartment which 
ia bound to stand for years. Mr. Smith has had 
not a little to do toward developing the stock mat- 
ters of this region and if for no other account he 
is accorded a worthy place in this volume. His 
parents, Ebenezer and Permelia (Murphy) Smith, 
were married in Tennessee, in 1823, but the former 
was born in the State of Mississippi. He was left 
fatherless when a small boy, his paternal parent 
dying in Georgia, after which his widowed mother 
moved with her family to Tennessee, where she 
died, having borne a family of five sons and two 
daughters. Ebenezer Smith and his wife became 
the parents of eleven children, who grew to man- 
hood and womanhood, seven of whom were born in 
Mississippi and four in Tennessee. After the moth - 
er's death in 1855, Mr. Smith married again, his 
second wife being INIiss Elizabeth Chambers of Mis- 
sissippi, their marriage being solemnized in 1856; 
six children were born to this union. William 
Smith, our subject, was reared to a farm life and 
received a limited education in the subscription 



schools of Tishomingo County, Miss. He grew to 
manhood, and on April 26, 1856, was married there 
to Miss Melvina Dotson, the wedding taking place 
at the home of the bride's parents, William and 
Nancy (Bales) Dotson. Victoria A., their eldest 
child, was born March 20, 1850, and June U, 1874, 
became the wife of D. A. Thornton, a farmer who 
resides in Faulkner County, by whom she has four 
children. Sidney, the youngest child, was born 
August 15, 1860, and died August 24, 1864. Sep- 
tember 15, 1886, witnessed the celebration of Mr. 
Smith's second marriage to Mrs. Mattie E. (Tucker) 
Beasley, daughter of LaFayette and Jane (Knight) 
Tucker, who were born in Mississippi, the father 
being of Irish origin. At the age of twenty-one 
years, Mr. Smith" s father made him overseer of his 
plantation, and for his services gave him a one- 
fourth interest in the profits of the farm, and at 
the end of one year he had accumulated sufficient 
property to enable him to purchase eighty acres of 
land, all of which was heavily covered with timber. 
During the six following years, he cleared thirty 
acres of this tract, and erected thereon a dwelling- 
house, and the necessary outbuildings. Owing to 
the turbulent state of affairs during the war he, 
with his wife and children and a few articles of 
household furnitui-e, removed by wagon to near 
Union City, Ky. , making their home there for about 
ten months, and raising one crop. They next settled 
in Tennessee, near Island No. 10, and here Mr. 
Smith left his family and went to Paducah, Ky. , 
where he enlisted in the First Kentucky Calvary, 
Confederate States Army, and served six months 
or until the close of the war. He then returned 
to his family and soon after purchased 100 acres 
of wild land in Gibson County, and this he re- 
sided on and continued to improve until 1870, 
since which time he has been a resident of the State 
of Arkansas. The farm upon which he is now re- 
siding consists of 243 acres, the original parchase 
consisting of 160 acres. Only a small portion of 
this land had been cleared, but .at the present writ- 
ing seventy acres are in high state of cultivation, 
the soil being well adapted to the raising of cotton, 
corn, oats and all varieties of vegetables. Both Mr. 
Smith and his wife are professors of religion, the 



i \ 



A 



:^=At 



244 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



former a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, 
and the latter of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Mr. Smith is a supporter and member of the Agri- 
cultural Wheel, belonging to El Paso Lodge No. 
158, is a man of enterprise and progress, and be- 
ing hospitable and generous is a valuable addition 
to the county of his adoption. 

Abner F. Smith received his education at the 
high schools of Powhattan County, Va. , but left 
his implements of study and literary pursuits in 
May, 1861, to take up the instruments of war. 
Joining the Confederate army he entered the Pow- 
hattan Rifle Company and was in the battles of 
Prairie Grove, Cotton Plant, Helena, Little Rock, 
Jenkins' Ferry, and a number of skirmishes. 
After the war Mr. Smith went to Grand Glaize, 
Ark., and commenced farming, and in 1870 en- 
gaged in the grocery business in partnership with 
John Thurman. Two years later he started alone, but 
the credit business proved unprofitable to him and 
he embarked in the timber business, being engaged 
in getting out ties for the Iron Mountain Railroad. 
In 1886 he opened up a store in Bald Knob, and is 
LOW enjoying a large and lucrative patronage. Ab- 
ner T. Smith was born in Chesterfield County, Va. , 
in 1843, being the son of William S. and Eliza- 
beth (Edwards) Smith. The former was a railroad 
contractor and also contractor for public works 
while in Virginia, bx;t after his removal to Arkan- 
sas carried on merchandising at Grand Glaize. He 
was a Whig in politics, and belonged to the Masonic 
order at the time of his death, which occurred in 
1864. when forty- eight years old. Mrs. Smith has 
long been a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South. She was born in 1815 and is still 
living in Bald Knob, Ark. In this family were 
six children, only two of whom are living: Abner 
F. (our subject) and Alonzo (who is in business 
with his brother). Mr. Smith was married Febru- 
ary 22, 1867, to Miss Fanny Heard, daughter of 
Baily E. Heard. She died in 1873, leaving three 
children, only one of whom is living: William B., 
a student at Searcy College, and who intends en- 
tering a law school after graduating at Searcy. 
June 24, 1874, Mr. Smith married Lucy C. Pat- 
rick, who died April 20, 1871, leaving one child: 



Edward A. He was married to his present wife, 
Adeline Allen, March 4, 1876. Mrs. Smith is a 
daughter of Dr. John Allen, of White County, 
and is the mother of one daughter: Mamie. Mr. 
Smith is a strong Democrat and belongs to the 
Masonic order, also holding membership in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. South. While in 
Jackson County he was appointed justice of the 
peace by Gov. Garland. 

Dr. J. A. Snipes, Searcy, Ark. The career of Dr. 
Snipes as a physician and surgeon has long been 
well and favorably known to the many who have 
tested his healing ability, and his popularity as 
a druggist is firmly established. He owns a good 
two-story brick business building, 100x30 feet, car- 
ries a full line of drugs, paints, oils, etc., and does 
a thriving trade. He first engaged in the drug 
Vjusiness in the early part of 1885, and since then 
he has been thus employed. He was born in Or- 
ange County, N. C in 182o, was the third in a 
family of seven children born to E. P. and Nancy 
(Burnett) Snipes, natives of North Carolina, the 
father born in 1800 and the mother in 1801, and 
in Orange and Chatham Counties, respectively. 
The parents were married in Chatham County, N. 
C, in 1821, and the father followed agricultural 
pursuits there until 1845, when he moved to Mad- 
ison County, W. Tenn. After residing there until 
1854 he moved to Haywood County, Tenn., pur- 
chased an improved farm, and still owns 560 acres 
in JefFerson County, with 350 acres under cultiva- 
tion. The father is still living, and makes his 
home with the Doctor. He has been a very in- 
dustrious, energetic man, was magistrate of several 
counties, and has been a member of the TMethodist 
Episcopal Church for sixty years. The mother died 
in Madison County, Tenn., in 1857. The pater- 
nal grandparents, Thomas and Martha (Williams) 
Snipes, were natives of the Old Dominion, and 
moved to North Carolina when children. The 
maternal grandparents, Isaiah and Jane (Hern- 
don) Burnett, were natives of North Carolina, and 
always made that State their home. They died 
many years ago. The seven children l)orn to E. 
P. and Nancy (Burnett) Snipes are named as fol- 
lows: Walter A. (married, and in 1856 came to 



yn 



a w. 



— i 9 



^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



245 



White County, locating in Marion Township, fol- 
lowed farming, and there remained until 1857, 
when he went to Jefferson County, and there con- 
tinned his former occupation; his death occurred 
in the winter of 1884-85, and he left one child, 
William E., who is a machinist and resides in 
Jefferson County, Ark.), Eliza J. (widow of C. B. 
Horton, resides at the Doctor's), Dr. J. A., Far- 
rington B. (married, resides in Madison County, 
Teun. , and is a lawyer and farmer), Julia A. (now 
Mrs. Allen, of Brownsville, Tena.), Martha M., 
(now Mrs. J. T. Key, of Searcy, Ark.) and Thomas 
J. (who enlisted in the army in Jefferson County 
in 1862, and died of smallpox in Mississippi two 
years later). Dr. J. A. Snipes was reared to farm 
labor and was favored with such educational ad- 
vantages as the district schools of that day afforded. 
After coming to Tennessee he engaged in teaching 
and also read medicine for about three years, sub- 
sequently attending that far-famed institution, the 
Jeffersonian Medical College, at Philadelphia, 
Penn. , in 184S. In 1851 he began the practice of 
medicine in Dyer County, Tenn., thence in 1852 
went to Madison County, Tenn., and finally in 
1854 came to White County, locating in Searcy, 
and has practiced his profession in White County 
continuously for thirty-five years. He is one of 
the earliest practitioners and ia one in whom all 
have confidence. Aside from his practice he has 
also been engaged in farming in this and Marion 
Townships. He resided in the last-named town- 
ship from 1856 to 1868, and opened up a large 
farm in Big Creek. He has resided in Searcy since 
1868, with the exception of three years, when he 
resided on his farm in the suburbs. Dr. Snipes 
was married in Lauderdale County, Tenn., in De- 
cember, 1853, to Miss Elizabeth J. Murphy, a na- 
tive of Halifax Comity, Va. , and the daughter of 
Thomas and Lucy (Coleman) JInrphy, natives of 
Virginia. Her father died in that State, and the 
mother afterward immigrated to Tennessee (1842), 
thence to Searcy in 1854, and made her home with 
the Doctor until 1867, when she was killetl in the 
memorable cyclone of May 27 of that year. By 
this union five children were born, three now liv- 
ing: Anna B. (now Mrs. W. H. Lightle, of Searcy), 

IS 



Minnie (now Mrs. John T. Hicks, of Searcy) and 
Emmett (a pharmacist in the drug store of the 
Doctor). Mrs. Liglitle has four children: Minnie 
H., Edward J., Bettio K. and Julian. Mrs. Hicks 
has two children: Everett B. and Willie Burnett. 
The Doctor's deceased children are named as fol- 
lows: Everett (died, in 1876, at the age of eighteen 
years, and Camillua (died, in 1874, at the age of 
fourteen years). Socially, the Doctor is a member 
of Searcy Lodge No. 49, A. F. & A. M. , and is a 
member of Tillman Chapter No. 19, R. A. M. He is 
also a memljer of the I. O. O. F. Lodge at Searcy. 
Dr. Snipes has seen the full growth and develop- 
ment of Searcy during the many years of his res- 
idence here. What is now Mrs. Chambloss' hotel 
was the court house at that time, and many and 
great have been the changes. He took an active 
interest in working for the location of the State 
University that was finally located at Fayetteville, 
but union not existing in Searcy, that city failed to 
get it. The Doctor, his wife and all the family are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Dr. 
Snipes has always been deeply interested in educa- 
tional matters. 

Omal H. Stanley is the eldest son of a family 
of eight children bom to John H. and Elizabeth 
(Yancey) Stanley. John H. Stanley, born in about 
1800, was a native of Halifax. Va., and a carriage- 
maker by trade, his marriage occurring in 1829. 
He afterward moved to Jackson, Tenn., where he 
went into the carriage business, and there he died 
in 1848, his wife following in 1873. O. H. Stan- 4 
ley learned the carriage maker's trade of his father 
when a boy, and ujson reaching manhood was mar- 
ried, in Jackson, Tenn., in 1852, to Jane M. 
Lauffort, originally from Madison County, Tenn., 
born in 1835. Her father held the office of county 
clerk in 1848 and for four years following, and in 
1852 was elected coutity treasurer, occupying this 
official position for two years. In 1856 he moved 
to Arkansas, where he died in 18'32. After his 
marriage, Mr. Staidey started a carriage shop at 
Jackson, remaining until 1860, when he removed 
to Austin, Prairie County, Ark., and carried on 
business there until 1804, excepting one year, 
while serving in the Confederate army, in Glenn's 



..( s 



246 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



regiment; he was in the quartermaster's depart- 
ment. Upon receiving his discharge, in 1864, he 
went to Perry County, 111., but thirteen months 
after, or in September, 1865, came back to Arkan- 
sas, and settled at Devall's Bluff, where he took 
charge of the Government shops. Four years later 
he started a shop in Searcy, tarried two years, 
then moved to a farm on Dead River, where he re- 
mained four years, and in 1874 came to Cane 
Township, White County, purchasing 160 acres of 
wild land. This he has partially cleared (about 
sixty acres), and on it has erected a good house 
and other buildings. Mr. and Mrs. Stanley were 
the parents of ten children, nine of whom are still 
living: Edgar H. (deceased), James R., Jason C, 
Mary E. (now Mrs. Smith), Elanora, Willie B., 
Oscar L., Gertrude, Emma L. and Charles W. 
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley are members of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, Mr. Stanley being chair- 
man of the board of trustees. He is a strong 
Democrat in his political preferences, and takes an 
active interest in all movements for the good of the 
community. 

J. W. Starkey is a representative and wide- 
awake farmer of White County, Ark., having been 
a resident in this county since 1870. He first saw 
the light of this world in Tuscaloosa County, Ala., 
in 1853, and was the second in a family of twelve 
children given to John B. and Nancy (Weaver) 
Starkey, the former born in North Carolina and the 
latter in Alabama. They married in the latter State 
in 1851, and after clearing and living on a farm 
there until 1866, he immigrated to Itawamba 
County, Miss. Four years later he settled in 
White County, Ark. ; here he purchased a partially 
improved farm of 160 acres, and now has 100 
under the plow. In 1862 he enlisted from Ala- 
bama in the Confederate army, and served three 
years. His death occurred in White County, Jan- 
uary 14, 1889, and at the time of his demise was 
counted one of the members of the Wheel organi- 
zation. His wife still lives, and resides on the old 
homestead. Their children are: Martha A. (Mrs. 
Weeks), John W. (the subject of this sketch), D. 
A. (a resident of the county), E. J. (Mrs. Worthen, 
of Kentucky Township), N. B. (Mrs. Troxell, of 



the same township), M. F. (Mrs. Rissell, of the 
same' township), R. C. , Ellen, George Robert, 
Robert Bruce, William Bedford and Ollie B. John 
W. Starkey learned the carpenter's trade in his 
youth, in addition to becoming familiar with farm 
work, and received the greater part of his educa- 
tion in the schools of Mississippi. At the age of 
twenty-four he began farming for himself, and was 
married to Mattie Jones, a native of Georgia, pur- 
chasing soon after a timber tract of eighty acres, 
and now has fifty-five cleared and improved. He 
gives considerable attention to raising stock, and is 
succeeding in his enterprises. In politics he is a 
Democrat, and he, with his wife, worships with the 
Missionary Baptist Church, to which they belong. 
They are the parents of five children : John T. , 
Alwilda, Nancy Jane, Grover Cleveland and Ber- 
sada. Mrs. Starkey is a daughter of Thomas F. 
and Nancy (Kilpatrick) Jones, who were native 
Georgians, the father a boot and shoe maker by 
trade. In 1870 he settled in Brownsville, Prairie 
County, Ark. , but a year later removed to Searcy, 
White County, and, in 1885, to Texas, where he 
now resides. His wife died in Searcy, in 1873. 

Hon. Lee Thomas Stewart, a man who has held 
public ofiice every year since he was twenty-one 
years old, of Beebe, Ark. , was born in the county 
in which he is now residing on April IG, 1863, and 
is one of seven surviving members of a family of 
thirteen children born to Robert M. and Catherine 
(Walker) Stewart, from whom he inherits Scotch- 
Irish blood. The father and mother were born in 
North and South Carolina, respectively, and were 
among the early immigrants to White County, Ark. , 
settling about ten miles from Searcy on the Searcy 
and Des Arc road. Here Mr. Stewart improved a 
farm and at the time of his death, in 1868, owned 
considerable land, of which seventy-five acres were 
under the plow. When the war broke out he 
owned fifteen slaves, but of course they were all 
lost during the Rebellion. R. M. Steiwart moved 
to this State in 1856. He was a member of the 
Presbyterian Church, and a Mason, standing high 
in this order and was buried with Masonic honors. 
He also helped build the first church and school- 
house in the southern part of White County. The 



^i 



V 



At. 



WHITE COUNTY. 



247 



following are the members of his family: Joseph 
(was born in 1842 and died during the war while 
in the hospital in Little Rock), Adaline (who was 
born in 1844 and became the wife of Isaac Chris- 
man, a farmer residing on the Arkansas River in 
Lonoke County), J. G. (who was born in 1840, and 
wedded Mrs. Nancy Carter nee Myrick; he is a 
school-teacher and farmer near Pine Bluff), Bettie 
(born in 1848, became the wife of Edward Barnes, 
a farmer and stockman of Texas, and died in 
November, 1882), D. M. (was born in 1850, he 
being also a farmer and stock trader, and he was 
married to Miss Allie Allen), Susan (was born in 
1852 and died at the age of twenty-two), Robert 
Gr. (was born in 1854. and by occupation is a drug- 
gist being now a resident of the town of Dayton, 
Ark.), W. C. (was born in 1856, and he is a prac- 
titioner of dentistry at Dripping Springs, Tex.), 
Mollie (was born in 1858, and is the wife of 
Dr. J. D. Hams, of Butlersville, Ark.), Dora and 
Cora (were born in 1860, and are both deceased, 
Cora dying in infancy and Dora at the age of 
twelve years). The next in order of birth is Lee 
Thomas (our subject) and Rena (who was born in 
1865, and died in infancy). Lee Thomas Stewart 
remained on his father's farm until about fifteen 
years of age and received the greater portion of his 
early education in the schools of Searcy, being an 
attendant at the high school for two years. After 
returning to the neighborhood in which he was 
reared he taught a subscription school for three 
months and the three following years worked as a 
tiller of the soil. After coming to Beebe he clerked 
in the general mercantile establishment of D. C. 
Harris for about eighteen months and then devoted 
the entire year of 1883 to the study of telegraphy, 
after which he went to Hoxie. on the Iron Mount- 
ain Railroad, where he held the position of tele- 
graph operator for some time. In the winter of 
1883 he returned to Beebe and resumed clerking 
in Dr. Harris' store, but the following year en- 
gaged in the same business with T. S. Neylon. 
This connection lasted for two years, then Mr. 
Stewart sold his interest and the next six months 
iicfed as book-keeper for J. M. Liles, after which 
he spent six months in the study of law. In Jan- 



uary, 1888, he began clerking in the drug store of 
Dr. Ennis, but in the spring of 1889 was elected 
to the offtco of mayor of Beebe over his competitor, 
a j)opular gentleman, and is at the present time 
the incumbent of that office. He was elected by 
the Democrats to the position of alderman when 
only twenty-one years of age and served two terms. 
Mr. Stewart is progressive in his views, liberal in 
his opinions and labors and contributes willingly 
to the advancement of the county and State and is 
an ardent advocate of education. Though thor- 
oughly democratic in his views politically, he re- 
spects very highly the opinions of others who dif- 
fer with him in matters generally. 

A. L. Stowell was born, reared and educated in 
Bureau County, 111., the former event taking place 
August 8, 1841. Just after commencing his ap- 
prenticeship as a carpenter, the war broke out and 
Mr. Stowell, full of youthfiil enthusiasm, joined 
his destines with the cause of the Union, enlisting 
in Company B, First Battalion of Yeats' Sharp- 
shooters, and served in Mississippi, being present 
at the battles of Corinth and New Madrid (Mo.). 
He was stationed one year at Glendale, near Cor- 
inth, after which his regiment returned to Illinois 
and was reorganized, or rather veteranized, into 
the Sixty-fourth Illinois Infantry. While serving 
in this capacity he was with Sherman on his march 
to the sea, and was at the siege of Atlanta, where 
he was under lire for sixty days. He carried his 
knapsack to Washington, D. C, and was present 
at the grand review. He was as well acquainted 
with the face of Gen. Sherman as that of a broth- 
er, and when the latter came to part with his com- 
mand, on July 4, ISG?, he made the division that 
Mr. Stowell was in a special speech and wept like 
a child, so warm a place had these veterans gained 
in his heart. The company was mustered out of 
service at Louisville, Ky., and was disbanded at 
Chicago, 111. , and for three years Mr. Stowell was 
president of the reunion of this command. He 
is now vice-commander of his post of G. A. R. 
After his return from the war he resumed the car- 
penter's trade, which had been so suddenly broken 
off, and continued this occupation at McComb, 
111., until 1883, at which time he settled in Beebe, 



248 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Ark. . and engaged in fruit growing, making straw- 
berries a specialty. In order to save his fruit he 
commenced making his strawberries into wine, 
some live years since, and in this enterprise has es- 
tablished a remunerative business. Mr. Stowell is 
a member of the I. O. O. F. and in his political 
views is a Republican. He was married March 19, 
1807, to Miss Sarah B. Kissinger, who was born in 
Pennsylvania in 18-13. The earliest facts known in 
the history of the Stowell family is that they were 
originally Normans, and removed to England with 
AVilliam the Conqueror, and were there knighted. 
Two brothers came from that country to the United 
States, one settling in California and the other in 
the eastern part of the United States, and all the 
Stowells in this country are their descendants. 
The parents of our biographical subject are Joshua 
and Amanda (Harrington) Stowell, the father be- 
ing born in the Green Mountains of Vermont. 
He was a harness-maker by trade, and after resid- 
ing for many years in Princeton, 111., he removed 
to Chicago, where he is now living. The Har- 
ringtons were of German descent. 

Henry Beverly Strange is a general merchant 
and farmer, of Beebe, Ark., and is well known 
throughout the county as a business man of honor 
and integrity. Like many other prominent men of 
the county he is a Tennesseean, his birth having 
occurred in Maury County, September 29, 1830, 
where he was also reared and educated. At the 
age of twenty years he started out in life for him- 
self as a book agent, and for two years sold " The 
Southern Family Physician" and other books, 
meeting with signal success in this undertaking. 
In 1859 he came to White County, Ark., and 
engaged in business at Old Stony Point until 1872, 
when the Iron Mountain Railway reached Beebe, 
and in order to get a station at this point Mr. 
Strange built a dejjot and gave it to the company. 
He then moved his goods here and has since done 
a prosperous general merchandise lansiness, being 
particularly successful in house furnishing. He 
has the largest business of any firm in the town, 
and his residence jaroperty is the finest in the 
place. He also has a store at Ward which nets 
a good income. He was first married in 1S59 to 



Miss E. Ward, a native of North Carolina and a 
daughter of Whitman Ward, who was one of the 
prosperous farmers of Tennessee. Mrs. Strange 
died in 1870, leaving one child, Florence, wife of 
John Walker, five other children she bore having 
died in infancy. Mr. Strange married Sallie Apple 
in 1872, she having come from North Carolina to 
Arkansas at an early date, and their union resulted 
in the birth of three children, two of whom are liv- 
ing: Hubert (a youth of fourteen) and Vida (about 
sixteen years of age). Mrs. Strange is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and he 
belongs to Beebe Lodge No. l-to, A. F. & A. M. , 
and also to the K. of H. and the A. L. of H. He 
is vice-president of the American Building. Loan & 
Savings Association, and is one of the public-spir- 
ited men of Beebe and takes an interest in all 
movements designed for the public good. He is a 
sou of Beverly and Susanna (Martin) Strange, who 
were Virginians, and removed from that State to 
Tennessee shortly after marriage, and there en- 
gaged in farming. At the time of their deaths 
both were worthy members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South. 

William H. Strayhorn is a worthy descendant 
of Gilbert Strayhorn, who was a native of North 
Carolina, and was engaged in farming all his life. 
He died about 1835, having been the father of six 
childi'en: John D., William James, J. K. , Mar- 
garet and Rebecca. John D. , the eldest, was born 
in Tennessee, in 1800, and was also a farmer by 
occupation. He married in 1829, Mary A. Steven- 
son, a Tennesseean by birth, and a daughter of 
Henry and Ann (Robinson) Stevenson. John D. 
Strayhorn was familiarly called major on account 
of being, as a general thing, the commanding 
ofi&cer on celebration days. He was a member of 
the Old School Presbyterian Church. To himself 
and wife only one child, a son, William H., was 
born. William H. Strayhorn first made his appear- 
ance upon the scenes of this world in Tennessee, 
in 1833. He moved to Arkansas, in 1850, with his 
grandfather Stevenson, who settled in White Coun- 
ty; his father died and his mother marrying the 
second time, in 1840, W. R. Fortner. Mr. Stray- 
horn, in 1854, took for his wife Mary J. Burket, 



, ^-< h » ■ 



-i 2> 



iL 



AVHITE COUNTY. 



249 



daughter of William and Rachel (Hughs) Burket, 
natives of Tennessee, who moved to White County, 
Ark., in 184S. They have become the parents of 
eleven children (two of v?hom are deceased): 
Josiah, William H., John D., Samuel W., Alex- 
ander, Poney, Benjamin, Mary A., llachel E., 
Elvira (deceased) and Elizabeth (deceased). Mr. 
and Mrs. Strayhorn are members of the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church. The former settled on 
the farm ujion which he now resides, July 14, 
1856. having a place of 230 acres, 150l)eing under 
cultivation. He is a strong Democrat, and al- 
though not taking an active part in politics he has 
held the office of justice of the peace for two years, 
Mr. Strayhorn says he can raise any crop here 
that can be grown at all, and thinks Arkansas is 
the State of the Union. 

Alfred B. Sutton's war experience is perhaps 
similar to that of many other soldiers, mentioned 
in this volume, but they are all interesting, and 
give the present generation some idea of the hard- 
ships and perils endured by the gallant and brave 
boys, thousands of whom now fill an unknown 
grave. In 1S61 Alfred Sutton entered the Con- 
federate service, and fought under Col. McCarver. 
His first serious engagement was at the battle of 
Corinth, Miss., from which he escaped serious in- 
jury. He was captured at Vicksburg, Miss., and 
taken to Indianapolis, where he remained for 
three months, then being removed to Port Dela- 
ware, and from there to Point Lookout on the 
Chesapeake Bay. In the latter place he was in- 
carcerated ft)r nine months and nine daj's, receiv- 
ing his parole in December, 1864. He was in 
several engagements and skirmishes, but escaped 
serious wounds. After receiving his jiarole he re- 
turned to Camden to his command, and in 1865 
was discharged, and at once returned to his home, 
resuming his former occupation of farming, which 
he has followed principally ever since. His father, 
Jesse Sutton, was born in Wilson County, Tenn., 
in 1817, where he received his education, there 
marrying Elizabeth Hight, of the same State. 
Their union was blessed with a family of nine 
children, of whom Alfred B. is the second, his 
birth occurring in 1840. He was a farmer by oc- 



cupation, owning 500 acres of excellent land at the 
i time of his removal from Tennessee to Arkansas, 
in 1848. He located in Cleburne County, and 
there resided until his death in 1887, his wife 
having preceded him a few years. Mr. Sutton 
and his estimable companion were devout members 
of the Christian Church, and he was a man who 
took a great interest in all enterprises, especially 
those of an educational nature. Alfred B. re- 
ceived a common-school education in the schools 
of Arkansas, and in February of 1867 was united 
in marriage with Miss Sarah Bailey, daughter of 
Henry and Frances Bailey. To their union have 
been horn a family of three childi-en: Henry, Jesse 
L. and Nora L. Mr. Sutton is a prosperous faimer, 
and owns 160 acres in White County, and 200 acres 
in Cleburne County; of this amount 100 acres are 
in a high state of cultivation. He is Past Master 
of the Masonic lodge, and has represented that 
order in the Grand Lodge two different times, be- 
sides having held various other ofdces. He has 
served as school director for twelve years, and is a 
man respected and esteemed by the entire com- 
munity. 

Rev. J. M. Talkington, pastor of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, South, at Searcy, took 
charge of the church at that jalace in December, 
1888, but prior to that time, from 1885 to 1888, 
was presiding elder in the White River district, 
emVn-acing about seven counties. He joined the 
White River Conference at Mount Zion in 1870,, 
and was located in the Searcy circuit, consi-sting of 
several pastoral charges adjacent to Searcy and in 
White Coiinty. He remained on that work from 
1871 to 1873, after which he received a call to 
West Point, and after remaining there some time, 
moved to the El Paso charge, where he was giten 
the ])rosiding eldership one year. He subse- 
quently left the Searcy circuit, went to Lebanon 
circuit, then returned to El Paso circuit, thence to 
Helena district, then to the pastoral charge in 
Becbe in 1884, where he remained two years. 
From then- he went to the Searcy drstrict, re- 
mained there until 1888, and in that year received 
a call to the pastorate of Searcy Church. Mr. 
Talkington is a native of Jackson County, Ala., 



/^J 



250 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



where his birth occurred in 1835, and was the 
oldest in a family of nine children, the result of 
the union of Andrew Jackson and Mary Ann 
(Isbell) Talkington, natives of Alabama. The 
father was a farmer by occupation, opened up a 
plantation and remained on the same until his 
death, which occurred in 1856. The mother's 
death occurred in 1889, at the advanced age of sev- 
enty-three years. The father was a soldier in the 
Florida War. Their children were named as fol- 
lows: J. M. (the subject of this sketch), Henry F. 
(married and resides in Union Township), Jane 
(died in Lonoke County, Ark., in 1887), Elizabeth 
(died in 1857, in Alabama). Margaret (wife of 
Joseph Pace, of Alabama), William T. (died in 
Alabama, in 1857), John (married, and is farming 
in Alabama), Vincent (died in 1855, in Alabama) 
and Mary S. (who died in Alabama, in 1855). Rev. 
J. M. Talkington was educated in the schools of 
Jackson Count}', Ala. , and came to White County, 
Ark., at the age of nineteen, where he engaged as 
clerk for Isbell & Co., general merchants, and re- 
mained with them some time. In 1855 he engaged 
in teaching in Searcy, and followed this profession 
in White County for ten years. He was married 
in that county in 1856 to Miss Sarah A. Wright, 
a native of Independence County, Ark., and the 
fruits of this union have been eight children: Mary 
Aun (now Mrs. Arnold, in Gray Township), Julia 
(now Mrs. Sherrod, resides in Gray Townshiji), 
Pearl Josephine, Virginia, James M., William 
Pierce, Cora Ann and John Wesley. While teach- 
ing school Mr. Talkington was also engaged in 
agricultural pursuits, and in 1867 was licensed to 
preach. From that date up to 1870 he did local 
work, and in 1877 he purchased a partly improved 
farm of 170 acres. This he has since improved, 
and has ninety acres under cultivatioQ, with forty- 
five acres in fruit. He is deeply interested in 
horticulture, and now has one of the best fruit 
farms in the county, raising all variety of fruit 
that does well in this climate. Mr. Talkington 
was made a Mason in Searcy Lodge No. 49, A. F. 
& A. M.; is also a Mason of Tillman Chapter No. 
19, R. A. M. In his pastoral work Mr. Talking- 
ton has organized many churches in the county. 



and has organized some of the principal churches 
in this and adjoining counties. He has seen a 
vast change in the county since living here, and 
the greatest is from a moral standpoint. 

Andrew B. Tate, a prominent citizen of Gray 
Township, is a native of South Carolina, and was 
born in Chester District, March 21, 1840, being 
the son of Samuel and Mary J. (Collins) Tate. 
Samuel Tate was also of South Carolina origin, 
as was his wife; they were married in Chester Dis 
triet, and moved to Lincoln County, Tenn., in 
1841, where the remainder of their lives were 
passed. They were members in good standing of 
the Presbyterian Church, and held in high regard 
by all who knew them. Andrew's grandfather 
came to America from the Emerald Isle, at the 
age of twenty-seven and located in Chester Dis- 
trict, S. C. , where he was recognized as an influ- 
ential and enterprising citizen. Mrs. Tate's peo- 
ple came from England. To the union of Mr. 
and Mrs. Tate the following children were given 
them: William V., Andrew B. (the subject of this 
memoir), Agnes J., Sarah M. , Robert J., Caroline 
and Tirzah A. ; Laveuia G. and James L. (de- 
ceased). Samuel Tate died at the age of forty- 
nine, and his wife in 1866, at the age of sixty- 
three. The early days of Andrew B. Tate were 
spent in Lincoln County, Tenn., but when quite 
young began for himself as a farmer, which has 
been his principal avocation ever since. His home 
was in Lincoln County urttil 1877, when he decided 
that there was a better opening in Arkansas, to 
which place he came, locating in White County, 
and has never had cause to regret the change. He 
was married on February 6, 1879, to Miss Emma 
N. Wortham, a daughter of Young Wortham, and 
to their union two children have been born: 
Anna B. (born April IS, 1880) and Hettie B. (born 
April 26, 1885). Mr. and Mrs. Tate, in their re- 
ligious sympathies, are with the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South. Mr. Tate, in his political 
views is an uncompromising Democrat, and served 
in the late war, enli.sting in the Confederate serv- 
ice in April, 1862, in Col. Stanton's regiment of 
Tennessee Infantry. On account of disability he 
was honorably discharged after three months' act- 



-^-, 



ii X* 



^. 



WHITE COUNTY. 



251 



ive service. In social fraternities he is identified 
with the Masonic order. 

A. Byron Tapscott, M. D., altbotigh a young 
man, is one of the leadini^ physicians of West 
Point, and has a large practice, enjoying a repu- 
tation of which many older in the professional ex- 
perience might well be proud. Dr. Tapscott is a 
native of Tennessee, and a son of Ira and Mary 
(Jones) Tapscott, natives of North Carolina and 
Tennessee, respectively. Ira Byron was also a 
physician, and a graduate of the Medical College 
of Kichmond, Va. He was a surgeon in Forrest's 
cavalry, in the late war, and after that struggle 
practiced in Tennessee until 1S72, when he removed 
to Arkansas, continued his professional duties at 
West Point. He was a strong Democrat, a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and also 
of the I. 0. 0. F., and died in January, 1887, at 
the age of fifty- one years. Mrs. Tapscott is still 
living in West Point, and is the mother of five chil- 
dren, all living: A. Byron (our subject), Charles 
V. (an attorney), Emma J., Mary G. and Samuel 
F. At the age of fifteen Byron Tapscott com- 
menced the study of medicine under his father's 
instruction, and in 1887 and 1888 attended the 
Missouri Medical College, at St. Louis. After 
graduating, he returned to West Point and em- 
barked upon a career as a physician, also opening 
up a drug store, which he continued until October, 
1889. Then he sold out, and has since devoted 
his whole attention to his rapidly increasing prac- 
tice. He is firmly Democratic in his preferences, 
and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. 

Thomas P. Taylor is a pros]ierous agriculturist 
and fruit grower of White County, Ark., and was 
born in Carroll County, Tenn. , being the only child 
of Hiram A. and E. A. (Moore) Taylor, the former a 
native of North Carolina, and one of a family of six 
children born to Peter Taylor and wife. In 1848 
he moved to Tennessee, and was maiTied there in 
1852, bis wife being a daughter of W^esley Moore, 
also of North Carolina. Hiram A. Taylor was a 
contractor by occupation, held the highest rank in 
the Masonic order, and he and his wife were mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died 



in Tennessee. Thomas P. Taylor has always re- 
sided on a farm, but since seven years of age has 
resided in White County, Ark., making his home 
with his mother, who died in 1878, being the wife 
of A. V. Van Meter. He received fair educational 
advantages, and in 1882 he was married to Miss 
Mattie Sharp, a daughter of T. H. Sharp of this 
State, who died at an early day, his wife's death 
occurring in 1880. After his marriage Mr. Taylor 
settled one and a half miles from Judsonia, and has 
140 acres of his 700-acre farm under cultivation. 
He was at one time quite extensively engaged in 
the stock business, but now only raises enough for 
his own use. He has seen the county develop in 
a remarkable manner since his early location here, 
and has done his share in aiding in this develop- 
ment. He is independent in his political views, 
and votes for the man rather than the party. Mrs. 
Taylor is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, and by Mr. Taylor has become the 
mother of two children: Irma (who died at the age 
of three years) and a boy by the name of James. 
W. J. H. Taylor is a prominent farmer and 
stock raiser in Coffey Township, and a son of New- 
ton W. and Ellen (Hickman) Taylor, natives of 
Alabama and Tennessee, respectively. Newton W. 
Taylor was born in Alabama in 1820, and was mar- 
ried in 1846, subsequently engaging in farming. 
In 1860 he moved to White County, Ark., and 
bought a quarter section of land, on which he re- 
sided until his death, in about 1879 or 1880. W. « 
J. H. Taylor came upon the stage of action in Ten- 
nessee in 1848. He was married in 1870 to Miss 
Jennie Madith, of White County, and to them an 
interesting family of six children has been given: 
Maggie, Emmett, Albie, Wesley, Pearl and New- 
ton. Since his marriage Mr. Taylor has farmed 
several different places, but is now located in Cof- 
fey Township, whither he came in 1885. He has 
a farm of eighty acres, with about fifty acres under 
cultivation, and in connection with farming has 
operated a cotton-gin until recently. Mr. and 
Mrs. Taylor are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South. The former is a Democrat, 
and actively interested in schools, having long been 
school director of his district. 



TU 



:l£ 



252 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Maniiel Teer is a representative citizen and 
a large tax payer of White County, owning over 
1,000 acres of land, his fine home farm of 200 
acres being under excellent cultivation. He en- 
listed in the Confederate army in 1862, and served 
throughout the war, taking part in Price's raid 
through Missouri fi'om beginning to end. He was 
born in North Carolina on December 29, 1826, and 
was a son of Ludwick and Mary (Sheppard) Teer. 
The former's birth occurred in South Carolina in 
1790; he was married in 1820, and died in his 
native State in 1858, a family of four children hav- 
ing blessed the vinion of himself and wife: Hay- 
wood S., Manuel, Francis E. and Susan J. (the 
widow of the late W. W. Horn). Manuel Teer 
came to Arkansas in 1857, and settled in White 
County, where he bought a farm. He was married 
in 1846 to Miss Martha J. Craig, of North Caro- 
lina origin, and a daughter of Abraham and Jane 
(Steel) Craig, who came to Arkansas in 1857, pur- 
chasing an improved farm of 160 acres in White 
County. Mr. Teer lost his esteemed wife on 
August 15, 1880. She had been a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, since thirteen 
years of age. Mr. Teer is connected with the 
Masonic order, and is a highly respected citizen, 
having always taken a great interest in the im- 
provement and prosperity of the county. He has 
been a liberal donator to all religious and charit- 
able institutions during his residence here, keeping 
thoroughly apace with the progress of the times. 
Mr. Teer has now retired from active life, and as 
he has been an industrious, energetic farmer all 
his life, can now rest in the consciousness of a 
career well and usefully spent. 

Prof. W. H. Tharp, president of Searcy Col- 
lege, Searcy, Ark. A glance at the lives of many 
representative men whose names appear in this 
volume will reveal sketches of some honored, in- 
fluential citizens, but none more worthy or deserv- 
ing of mention than Prof. W. H. Tharp. This 
gentleman was born in Fayette County, Tenn., on 
November 21, 1853, and was the eldest in a family 
of eight children, three now living, who blessed 
the union of Dr. W. H. and Susan Payne (Whit- 
more) Tharp, natives, respectively, of North Caro- 



lina and Tennessee. The father was a prominent 
physician and surgeon, was married in Fayette 
County, Tenn., and there died, in 1869. The 
mother died in 1874. She was cousin to Bishop 
Payne. Grandfather W. H. Tharp was one of the 
leading and deservedly popular men of Fayette 
County, Tenn., and was chairman of the county 
court for many years. He moved from North Car- 
olina when quite a young man. Though young, 
he was very prominent in his native county, and 
was a member of the General Assembly of the 
State. He was, repeatedly, strongly urged to be- 
come a candidate for a similar position in his 
adopted State, but always declined. Prof. W. H. 
Tharp graduated at Macon Masonic College, in 
1871, and, the same year, was in school at Lexing- 
ton, Ky. In 1872 he entered the U. C. College, 
at Toronto, Can., and from this college was called 
in 1873, by the declining health of his mother, 
whose death, in 1874, made it necessary for him 
to take charge of the farm and look after his 
younger brothers, both minors. Here he remained 
till 1879. While residing on the farm he was, for 
three years, principal of the Union Hill Academy. 
In 1879 he was engaged as president of the Male 
College at Somerville, Tenn. At the end of his 
year's work he was elected jjresident of Female 
College, at Somerville, Tenn., where he remained 
until 1883, and then came to Searcy, Ark. While 
occupied in teaching at Somerville, he had charge 
of a county paper called The Falcon, which be- 
came very popular throughout the county, but he 
sold his interest on coming to Searcy, in 1883. 
Prof. Tharp was married in Tennessee, in 1874, to 
Miss Lizzie Joe Cocke, a native of Fayette County, 
Tenn., and the daughter of Thomas R. and Laura 
(Winston) Cocke, also of Tennessee origin. Her 
father was a statute lawyer of fine ability, and was 
county judge for many years, never being defeated. 
His death occurred in 1886. The mother is still 
living and resides in Somerville, Tenn. Mrs. Tharp 
received her education in Somerville Female Insti- 
tute and Columbia Institute. She is a member of 
the Ladies' State Central Committee, editor of the 
children's column of the Arkansas Baptist, and is 
a smooth and clear writer. She has always been 



""» » 



WHITE COUNTY. 



253 



a very valuable assistant to Prof. Tharp in his j 
school work. For the past six years Prof. Tharp , 
has given his time and energies to Searcy College, 
which he projected, and, together with Prof. Con- 
ger, founded ia 1883. No institution in the State 
has more character for thorough work than Searcy ! 
College. Prof. Tharp is a man of progressive | 
ideas, and has always taken a deep interest in edu- 
cational matters. That his work and ability have 
gained recognition in the State of his adoption is | 
evidenced by the fact that he is at j^resent the 
president of both the State Teachers' Associations 
and the Arkansas Summer Normal School. He is 
also managing editor of the Arkansas Educational i 
Journal, a live and pj'ogressive monthly. To his I 
marriage were born two children: William J. and 
Kathleen. Prof. Tharp and wife are members of 
the Baptist Church. i 

J. C. C. Thomas has been from earliest boyhood 
familiar with the duties of farm work, and is now ' 
also extensively engaged in ginning cotton. He i 
was born in Richmond County, N. C, in 1834, 
and in 1869 came to Arkansas and settled in Inde- 
pendence County, and after farming there one year, 
came to White County. He acquired a good edu- 
cation in his youth, and after attending the com- 
mon schools of his native county, he entered Rock- 
ingham Academy, which he attended three years. 
After commencing the battle of life for himself, he 
removed to Louisiana in 1850, locating near Mon- 
roe, and there bought land. From this State he 
enlisted in the Confederate army the first year of 
the war, being a member of Company B, Fourth 
Louisiana Battalion, and served by re-enlistment 
until the close of the war, participating in the bat- 
tles of Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Lookoixt 
Mountain and others. After his return home he 
spent two years in raising crops, then spent one 
year in Independence County, and has since re- 
sided in White County. He was married here 
in !March, 1875, to Susan L. Watkins, a native of 
Alal)ama, and by her has four children living: 
Sarah A. , Grover C. , Carlyle and Clifton B. Al- 
though Mr. Thomas votes the Democrat ticket, he 
is not an active politician. His wife is a member 
of the Baptist Church, and he is a believer in the 



doctrine of that denomination. In 1876 he pur- 
chased a farm comprising 20-t acres of land, but 
now 360, and has 160 acres under cultivation. He 
also owns one of the oldest cotton-gin stands in 
the county, and does quite an extensive business 
in that line. He is one of eight children born to 
William C. and Sarah A. (Williams) Thomas, the 
former born in North Carolina, and the liitter in 
Cumberland Island, Ga. Their union took place 
in the former- State, cind the father was well known 
in the community in which he lived, as a success- 
ful planter. He was also a millwright and erected 
the first cotton-gin in Richmond County, N. C. He 
died in North Carolina in 1S52, preceded by his 
wife in 1848. Grandfather Thomas was an En- 
glishman, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
War. The maternal grandfather was born in 
Wales and was a Tory during the Revolution. 

John A. Thome, M. D., numbered among tbe 
rapidly rising practitioners of White County, re- 
ceived his education in this county, and at Union 
Academy in Gibson County, Ind. , after which he 
worked on his father's farm until twenty-three 
years of age. During this period he studied med- 
icine at home, and in 1877-79 attended lectures 
at Evansville Medical College from which he grad- 
uated February 27. 1879. Returning thence to 
West Point he commenced at once the active prac- 
tice of his profession, which he has continued with, 
such success as stamps him undoubtedly one of 
the thorough, capable, professional men of the com- 
munity. Dr. Thome was born in Gibson County, 
Ind., November 29, 1854, being the son of Jacob 
and Isabella (Hayhurst) Thome. The former 
came originally from Prussia (near Berlin) where 
his birth occurred on March 26, 1818; he emi- 
grated to this country by way of New Orleans, in 
1848, first locating in Evansville, Ind., but in 
1865 removed to Arkansas and settled near West 
Point, on a farm on which he resided until his 
death on February 26, 1888. Mrs. Thome was 
born near Troy, Ohio, on January 8, 1833, and is 
still living in this county with some of her chil- 
dren. They were the parents of nine children, 
five lof whom survive: John A. (our subject), 
David C, Alice (wife of C. W. Davis), Nathallia 



"X « 



254 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



(wife of J. E. Riner) and Naomi (wife of James 
Thomas). Dr. Thome was united in marriage on 
June 22, 1882, with Miss Fouzine McCallister, 
who was born at West Point November 2, 1864. 
They have two daughters: Evia I. and Vera B. 
Dr. Thome is a strong Democrat, and as popular 
socially as he is in professional circles. 

James Wair has been a farmer all of his life 
and has harvested his fiftieth crop, thirty-one 
of which have been raised in this county. This 
experience has given him a wide and thorough 
knowledge of the affairs of agricultural life. Born 
in Western Tennessee on December 20, 1814, he 
was the seventh son of H. and Jane (Ware) Wair. 
After reaching manhood Mr. Wair was married in 
June, 1844, to a Miss Bobson, who died in 1858 
leaving five children: William, Mary, Martha, 
Margaret and Tennessee. Following this event he 
moved to Arkansas in the fall of 1858, and settled 
in White County, where he bought a quarter sec- 
tion of land. Mr. Wairs second marriage oc- 
cuiTed in 1860, Mrs. Elizabeth Low, a widow, and 
a daughter of Edwin Perergrew, of Georgia, be- 
coming his wife. She departed this life in 1873, 
leaving six children: James E., Frank B., Lucy 
v., Ellen T., George H. and Lawrence V. Mr. 
Wair and each wife were members of the Presby- 
terian Church. He is a Democrat in politics and a 
highly respected citizen. 

Capt. Calvin Calkins Waldo is a successful gar- 
dener and fruit grower, residing in White County, 
Ark., and like the majority of people who claim 
New York as the State of (heir nativity, he is en- 
terprising, intelligent and thrifty. He was born 
in Genesee County, January 16, 1829, and is a 
son of Samuel and Mercy (Calkins) Waldo, the 
former of French descent and a native of Oneida 
County, N. Y. , where he was born in 1794. The 
family belong to the ancient and honored Wald- 
enses family, and first became represented in Amer- 
ica in 1650. Robert and Benjamin Waldo were 
private soldiers in a Connecticut regiment during 
the Revolution, and in the battle of Brandywine 
Robert was killed by a Hessian ball. The mater- 
nal ancestors were of Scotch-L-ish descent, and 
were members of the Primitive Baptist Church 



and were represented in the Revolutionary War by 
the maternal great-grandfather of our subject, 
Joshua Calkins, who sei-ved as commissary in Gen. 
Washington's immediate army from 1775 to 1783. 
He died in 1838, at the advanced age of ninety-two 
years. Daniel Calkins, the paternal grandfather, 
commanded a company in the War of 1812, and 
served six months, but afterward died of disease 
contracted while in the service, at the age of fifty- 
seven years. The parents of our subject were 
married about 1827, and became the parents of six 
children: Calvin C, Minerva S. (born March 31, 
1831, married Joseph Cooper, of Wyoming 
County, N. Y.), Permelia (born in 1833, and was 
married to Moses H. Tyler, of Utica, Ind.), Daniel 
S. (born in 1835, and married Mrs. Julia Gardner, 
of Jonesville, Mich.), Lloyd Garrison (born in 
1887 and died at the age of four years) and Maria 
(born in 1839, and married Samuel Cooper, a 
brother of Joseph Cooper). Capt. Waldo (our sub- 
ject) received the education and rearing which is 
accorded the majority of farmers' boys, and after 
attending the common schools he entered the 
Perry Center Academy for one year, and at the age 
of twenty-three years graduated from Middlebury 
Academy, a normal school of good standing. Dur- 
ing the winter of 1851-52, previous to graduat- 
ing, he taught the district school at La Grange, N. 
Y., and he afterward taught a four-months' term 
at Leroy. During the winters of 1853-54 and 
1854-55 he taught school at Elyria, Ohio, and in 
1856 immigrated to JefFersonville, Ind., and in Feb- 
ruary of that year was united in marriage to Miss 
Polly Jane Raymond, a native of Columbia County, 
N. Y. , and a graduate of Mrs. Willard's Female 
College of Troy, N. Y. In her girlhood she was 
a pupil of Mrs. Lyons, at Mount Holyoke, Mass., 
and was a teacher in the Methodist school at Bards- 
town, Ky., at the time she formed Mr. Waldo's ac- 
quaintance, having previously taught in a female 
seminary at Murfreesboro, Tenn. After their mar- 
riage they engaged in teaching a select subscrip- 
tion school in JefFersonville, Ind., continuing two 
years. Mr. Waldo having for some time spent his 
leisure moments in the study of law was admitted 
to the bar of Charleston, Ind., moving the same 






WHITE COUNTY. 



255 



year to Utica of that State, where he again began 
teaching, holding the position of principal of the 
schools for the period of one year. In 1859 he 
opened a female boarding and day school, of which 
his wife became principal, but deeming the facili- 
ties for practicing law much better at the county 
seat, he removed to Charleston, where he followed 
the practice of law until the spring of 1861. 
Upon hearing of the bombardment of Fort Sum- 
ter he and others began immediately to raise a 
company for the three months' service, and Mr. 
Waldo was elected orderly-sergeant and reported 
with his company to Gov. Morton, but in conse- 
quence of the quota of Indiana being full they 
were disbanded. Later Mr. Waldo assisted in 
raising a company for the Twenty-second Indiana 
Regiment, then assisted Capt. Ferguson in raising 
a company for the Twenty- third Indiana Regiment. 
For the money expended and the service rendered 
in his patriotic and successful efforts to serve his 
country in her dire need he has never received one 
cent in compensation, or even a favorable notice. 
In July, 1801, he, with the assistance of Cyrus 
T. Nixon, of Charle.ston, Ind., raised sixty men 
for Company F, Thirty- eighth Regiment Indiana 
Infantry, and owing to Mr. Nixon's illness re- 
ported in person to Adj. -Gen. Noble, of Indian- 
apolis, who assigned him and his company to 
camp duty at New Albany, Ind. Here he was 
elected captain of his company, known as Com- 
pany, F, Thirty-eighth Regiment Indiana Volun- 
teer Infantry, commanded by Col. B. F. Scribner, 
but through the hitter's instrumentality he was de- 
posed and a favorite, Wesley Connor, put in his 
stead. Owing to the dissatisfaction caused by 
these proceedings about two-thirds of the com- 
missioned officers left the regiment, among whom 
were Judge Gresham, who was at that time lieu- 
tenant-colonel of the regiment. Many private sol- 
diers also left the company, the Hon. Lee Clow, 
now of Hempstead County, Ark. , being among the 
numl)er. ' After leaving his commanil Mr. Waldo 
returned to Charleston, and during the remainder 
of 1801 and the summer of 1862 he was engaged 
in the practice of law, but in the latter year was 
also engaged in assisting the Hon. W. H. Eng- 



lish in recruiting a regiment, which afterward be- 
came the Ninety-fifth Indiana Infantry. He was 
commissioned first lieutenant, but relinquished his 
position to one of the aspirants of the regiment for 
promotion, and then began assisting in raising an- 
other company, known as Company I, Eighth 
Regiment Indiana Legion, and was chosen orderly- 
sergeant. The only important service rendered 
by this regiment was in repelling Morgan in his 
raid of 1863, after which it was disbanded and 
Mr. Waldo removed with his family to his native 
State (New York). Here, after a short time, he en- 
listed as a private in Company F, Second New York 
Veteran Cavalry, was commissioned captain of pro- 
vost guard, and was on duty at Lockport, N. Y. 
In November he reported to his company, at Geis- 
boro Point, D. C, and February 1, 1804, the reg- 
iment embarked on a steamer for New Orleans, 
La., where they arrived the same month, being 
five days over due, on account of a severe storm. 
He was with Gen. Banks in the disastrous Red 
River campaign, and was seriously injured while 
making a cavalry charge by his horse stumbling 
and falling on him, and as a result, was confined 
to the hospital at New Orleans for thirty days, 
after which he again joined his regiment, and in 
February, of the following year, he embarked 
with his regiment, at Lake Ponchertrain, for Mo- 
bile, and while marching overland from Barancas 
Island to that city, they met Gen. Clerndon, of 
the Confederate service, whom they defeated, 
wounded and captured. After assisting in the 
reduction of Fort Blakely and Spanish Fort, they 
routed and captured a Confederate cavalry force, 
which had annoyed them during the siege of Mo- 
bile. After the capture of the latter city the reg- 
iment was ordered to Talladega, Ala., where Capt. 
AValdo was detached from his company and sent 
to Jacksonville, Ala., as quartermaster's clerk, re- 
maining until September, 1865. He was mus- 
tered out of service at Talladega, Ala., November 
8, 1865, went to Mobile, and there doffed his suit 
of blue and donned citizen's clothes once more. 
He returned to Utica, Ind., to which place his 
family had previously returned. Here his wife 
suddenly died, as did also a little son, four years 



W 



256 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



old, leaving his home desolate indeed. During 
the succeeding three years he followed teaching 
and such other occupations as his impaired health 
would permit, but his health grew no better, and 
thinking that a change of climate might prove 
beneficial, he removed to Jo Daviess County, 111., 
in the spring of 1869, where he followed teaching 
and prospected for lead. In 1872 he went to Os- 
ceola, Iowa, and was employed by the Sioux Uity 
& St. Paul Railroad Company, in detecting and 
bringing to justice county swindlers, in which he 
was successful. In the latter part of the same year 
he returned to Illinois, where he again engaged in 
teaching school. The following year he went to 
Salem, Iowa, and was there united in marriage to 
Miss Elvira Garretson, and in Sejjtember of that 
year he removed to Council BlufPs, Iowa, where he 
purchased a farm adjoining the corporation, and 
began market gardening and fruit raising. This 
occupation received his attention for about six 
years, with the exception of one year which he 
spent traveling in the interests of the Howe Truss 
Company, being present at the Centennial Exhibi- 
tion in 1876. Three years later he again settled 
in Salem, and in consequence of ill health, again 
took up teaching as an occupation, and was also 
engaged in canvassing for a book. In 1882 he 
became a resident of Ai'kansas, visiting the famous 
Eavenden and Eureka Springs in search of health, 
but returned to Salem in April, 1882, where he 
was called upon to mourn the death of his wife, 
June 3, after an illness of about three weeks. She 
left two children: Grace (born in June, 1874) and 
Frank S. (born in February, 1876). Since March, 
1884, Mr. Waldo has been a resident of Beebe, 
Ark., and has confined his attention to market 
gardening and fruit growing. He has been a 
member of several secret societies, but throiigh 
indifference, is not an active member of any at 
the present time. He is a Republican, and holds 
a membership in the Missionary Baptist Church. 

J. T. Walker is a merchant and farmer of Dog 
Wood Township, and in his relations with the 
public has won the respect and esteem of all, for 
he is honest, upright and attends strictly to his 
business. His birth occurred in Rutherford Coun- 



ty, Tenn., and he was the third child born to 
George and Anna E. (Barkley) Walker, the former 
a native of Virginia, born in 1807. His early life 
was spent in his native State, but when still quite 
young he was taken to Tennessee, and there the 
nuptials of his marriage to Miss Rebecca Keilouct 
were celebrated. She died after they had been 
married only a short time, and in 1842 Mr. Walker 
espoused Anna E. Barkley. a daughter of Andrew 
J. and Hannah Barkley, who were Virginians. 
Mrs. Walker was born in Tennessee, and the fol- 
lowing are the children born to her union with 
Mr. Walker: William B., Andrew J., Henry B., 
Hannah C. (Mrs. Allen, living in White County), 
Martha J. (Mrs. Crisp, also residing in White 
County), Sallie A. (Mrs. ShofFner, a resident of 
the county), George R. and Mary E. (Mrs. Fer- 
rell, who is now deceased). In 1850 Mr. Walker 
moved to White County, Ark. , and at the time of 
his death, in 1872, was the owner of about 1,000 
acres of land, of which 125 were under cultivation. 
He was a Republican, and died in the faith of the 
Presbyterian Church. His widow survives him, 
and resides in White County with her children. 
Up to the age of thirteen years J. T. Walker re- 
sided in the State of Tennessee, but after coming 
to Arkansas he acquired a good education in the 
common schools, and in 1867 started out in life 
for himself. He opened up a farm, and in De- 
cember, 1872, was married to Jennie C. Shoffner, 
a daughter of Dr. A. C. and Julia A. ShofFner, 
who removed from Mississippi to White County, 
Ark., in 1870. Mr. Walker and his wife have 
five children who are living, and one, Daisy, who 
died at the age of seventeen months: Evelina, 
Louella, James D., Lorambla and Maxie are 
those living. Mr. Walker is a Democrat, and in 
1878 was elected to the oEBce of magistrate, and 
held the position four years. He and wife belong 
to the Baptist Church, and he is deejily interested 
in the cause of education, and has held the posi- 
tion of school director of his district for about 
twelve years. He owns about 500 acres of land, 
with 200 acres well improved, and for some time 
has been engaged in merchandising at AValker's 
Store, the place taking its name from him. He is 



Vi^ 



• > ^ L> 



WHITE COUNTY. 



257 



doing well in lioth enterprises, and fully deserves 
the success which has attended his efforts. He is 
a grandson of Bird Walker. 

Walker & Ford. This firm comprises one of 
the prominent and reliable business houses of 
Beebe, and is composed of Boberfc C. Walker and 
J. A. Ford, two of the honorable and upright men 
of the county. The senior member of the house, 
Mr. Walker, was born in Marshall County, Miss. , 
March Kj. 1S50, his parents, Eev. Charles B. and 
Jane O. (Jelton) Walker, having been born m Vir- 
ginia and Tennessee, respectively. The father was 
born May 26, ISll, and moved with his parents to 
Rutherford County, Tenn. , in ISIS, where he 
embraced religion in December, 1829, becoming a 
member of the Baptist Church the following year. 
He was ordained a minister of that denomination 
on November 17, 1839, and on October 4, 1841, 
was married to Miss Jelton, and with her removed 
to Arkansas in 1858, locating at Stony Point, 
where he engaged in general merchandising. 
Later he followed the same occupation at Beebe, 
and was here residing at the time of his death, in 
1872, his wife's death occurring three years later. 
The latter was a daughter of Isaac and Anna Jel- 
ton, of Rutherford County, Tenn., and for three 
years after her marriage lived in Lamar County of 
that State, then made her home in Marshall County, 
Miss., until 1858, after which they removed to 
White County. They were abundantly blessed 
with worldly goods, and Mr. Walker showed excel- 
lent judgment in selecting land, and was very 
prosperous in his mercantile enterprise. Their son, 
Robert C. Walker, spent his early life in Missis- 
sippi, attending school there and in Arkansas, but 
after becoming thoroughly familiar with the com- 
mon branches he entered Hickory Plains Institute, 
attending one year (1868). After teaching a three 
months' term of school he entered the State Uni- 
versity of Fayotteville, as a beneficiary for White 
County, but at the end of nine months was called 
home by the death of his father, and did not again 
enter school, but remained at home to care for his 
mother, which he continued to do until hor death. 
He was married in 1875 to Miss Sallie Percy, a 
native of Jackson, Tenn., and to them were born 



two children: James (born August 29, 1877) and 
Ollie (born Octolier 12, 1879), the mother's death 
following the birth of the latter, October 24. She 
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a 
faithful wife, mother and friend, and her death was 
deeply lamented by all. In January, 1881, Mr. 
Walker espoused Miss Mattio L. Scott, of Arkansas, 
whose father, John Scott, was a farmer of Missis- 
sippi and later of Arkansas, but died at Selma, Ala. , 
in 1862. This union resulted in the birth of four 
childi-en: Sallie (born February 11, 1885), Minnie 
and Winnie (twins, born July 28, 1886, and died 
August 2, 1886), and Viola (born October 7, 1887). 
The first experience Mr. Walker had was in set- 
tling his father's estate, he being one of the execu- 
tors. He was afterward associated in business with 
Mr. Westbrooks, continuing with him until 1875, 
following farming from that time till February, 
1888. At that date he and Mr. Ford purchased 
their present stock of goods, and, owing to their 
genial dispositions and excellent business qualifica- 
tions, their union has prospered. He and wife are 
members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Ford, the 
junior member of the firm, was born in Georgia, 
December 4, 1851, his native county being Whit- 
field. His parents, Joseph R. and Palmyra (Cowan) 
Ford, were also natives of Georgia, and until the 
war the father was a wealthy merchant of Dalton, 
and wielded a wide influence in the politics of the 
State. He was for a long time collector of his 
county, and represented the same one term in the 
legislature. He served as orderly- sergeant in the 
Confederate army during the war, and upon being 
taken captive was imprisoned for fifteen months at 
Camp Chase, Ohio. He and his wife are members 
of the Baptist Church, and are residing at Bollevue, 
Tex. J. A. Ford is the second of their eight chil- 
dren, the other members of the family being as 
follows: George (who is circuit and county clerk 
of Clay County, Tex. ), Marion (who is a conductor 
on the Alabama & Chattanooga Railroad), Edward 
(a salesman at Poplar Bluff, Mo.), Joseph (a ranch- 
man near Bollevue, Tex.), and Robert L. and Law- 
rence (who reside with their parents in Texas), 
Ava (the only sister, is the wife of Robert Miller, a 
stoQkman at Gainesville, Tex.). J. A. Ford received 



•^ 



a t^ 



258 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



his education at Dalton, Ga. , and Flint Springs, 
Tenn. At the age of nineteen years he began life 
for himself, and after teaching school for several 
years he clerked one year, embarking in business 
on his own account in 1873, doing a general busi- 
ness. Owing to failing health, he was compelled 
to give up this work for awhile, and accordingly 
sold his goods and returned to Georgia, where he 
was engaged in farming until 1876, at which time 
he came to Arkansas. After farming three years 
in Conway County, he came to Judsonia, agricult- 
ure receiving his attention here also, and in the 
fall of 1883 bought a farm near Beebe. In 1886 
he became associated with Mr. Campbell in the 
mercantile business, and until February, 1888, the 
firm was L. Campbell & Co., since which time it 
has been Walker & Ford. January 31, 1879, Mr. 
Ford was married to Miss Lane, a native of Geor- 
gia. She was reared in Missouri, and is a daugh- 
ter of John F. Lane, a prominent attorney at law 
of Poplar BluflF, Mo. He and wife have four chil- 
dren: George L. (born December 4, 1870), Samuel 
E. (born September 14, 1881), Joseph Lee (born 
November 8, 1883) and Palmyra (born August 16, 
1887). Mr. and Mrs. Ford are members of the 
Baptist Church, and he belongs to Beebe Lodge No. 
145, A. F. & A. M. , and has been a member of the 
I. O. G. T. He has the interest of the county at 
heart, and supports all movements tending to pro- 
mote the pulilic good. 

W. T. Wallis has been a resident of White 
County since 1856, acquiring during this time an 
enviable reputation as a citizen of energy and en- 
terprise, and a man honest and conscientious in his 
walk and transactions. A native of Tennessee, he 
is a son of John and Mary (Bird) Wallis, origin- 
ally from North Carolina, who had a family of 
eleven children: John B. , Mary, Elizabeth, SVIyas, 
Rebecca, Josiah, Nancy, Doctern, Catharine, W. 
T. (the principal of this sketch) and three whose 
names are not given, and who were older than W. 
T. The father of our subject died when he was 
only two years old, the mother following six 
months later. W. T. Wallis was born in 1829, 
and spent his early days in Tennessee, starting out 
for himself, in 1851, first as a carriage-maker and 



then as farmer, to which occupation he has since 
given his attention. Removing to Mississippi, he 
was married there, in 1852, to Leamia E. Bromson, 
and in ] S56 came to this county, where he entered 
200 acres of land. At the beginning of the war 
Mr. Wallis enlisted in Col. Monroe's regiment, and 
served until the close of hostilities, participating in 
twenty-seven battles and skirmishes. His career 
as a soldier was honorable and effective. Mr. and 
Mrs. Wallis are the parents of eight childi'en: 
John S., William H., Mary E., Martha A., 
Thomas, Patrick L. , Annie E. and Lucinda V. , all 
married and living in Arkansas, and most of them 
in this county. Mr. Wallis and wife belong to the 
Missionary Baptist Church, the former owns 1,000 
acres of land, and has about 150 acres under culti- 
vation, his stock numbering some two or three hun- 
dred head of cattle. 

Caleb Parker Warren. The connection of Mr. 
Warren with the interests of White Coimty has 
proven to be a fortunate thing for its residents and 
especially for the citizens in and near El Paso, as a 
perusal of the sketch will testify. He is a son of 
Thomas and Rebecca (Wright) Warren, who were 
born in North Carolina, and immigrated to West 
Tennessee about 1820, and were there married in 
1833. They came to Arkansas in the fall of 1856, 
and located in the country then known as Royal 
Colony, purchasing 160 acres of wild land, on 
which they erected a double log-house, this being 
the first of the sort in the colony. In 1861 Mr. 
Warren enlisted as a private soldier in Dr. F. M. 
Christian's company, known as the Border Ran- 
gers, remaining in that capacity and with that com- 
mand for four years and ten days. He took part 
in a number of battles and skirmishes, one in par- 
ticular being the battle of Chickamauga, in which 
his company dismounted and fought as infantry. 
He was also at Shiloh and Corinth, and was under 
the famous Confederate cavalry commanders: For- 
rest, Wheeler, Hampton and Armstrong, but a 
greater portion of the time was with Forrest and 
Wheeler. His first experience in warfare was at 
Lost Creek, Mo., in 1861, and he surrendered 
with his command at Charlotte, N. C, at which 
time there was a request made by the commanding 



A 9 



WHITE COUNTY. 



259 



officers of both armies for volunteers to go to Ches- 
terville, S. C. , to guard and serve the rations to 
the Confederate soldiers as they wore paroled, the 
Government allowing the cavalry to retain their 
arms and horses. Mr. Warren finally arrived at 
home, June 15, 1865, having ridden his horse all 
the way. His first venture in business after his re- 
turn was to invest in some cotton, making his pur- 
chase with money loaned him by a Mr. Hadley, who 
at that time had charge of the penitentiary at 
Little Rock, and his enterprise met with fair suc- 
cess. The next year he put in a crop on land 
deeded him by his father (160 acres), and to the 
thirty acres which were already under cultivation 
he improved and added ten more. These he de- 
voted to cotton and corn in equal parts, but the 
second year he left his crop to be gathered by 
others and embarked in merchandising at El Paso, 
under the firm name of Warren & Son, his father 
furnishing the capital and receiving half the profits. 
At the end of eight years our subject became the 
sole proprietor, paying over to his father all the 
money he had furnished, and took into his employ 
0. P. Poole, and at the end of one year gave him 
an interest in the business. Mr. Poole's wife and 
three children were killed in the terrible cyclone of 
1880: he and his little daughter, Martha J., being 
the only ones of the family to escape with their 
lives, but Mr. Poole was so badly injured that ex- 
istence became unendurable, and in July of the 
following year he ended his weary life. Mr. War- 
ren has since acted as guardian of his daughter, 
and has placed her in Ouachita Baptist College, 
Ai'kadelphia, Ark. Mr. Warren's wife, who was 
formerly a Miss Mary A. Harkrider, was born in 
Tennessee, and is a daughter of John and Eunice 
Harkrider, native Dutch. Their family are as fol- 
lows: Mattie M. , John Thomas, Kebecca Eunice, 
Mary P. and Cora V. These children have received 
excellent educational advantages, and the eldest 
has graduated from Searcy College, Arkansas, and 
is at present principal of the ])ublic school at El 
Paso, Ark. Thomas, after having spent several 
terms at the State University, Fayottville, Ai-k., 
took a course at Goodman & Eastman's Business 
College, Na.shville, Tenn., and is filling the posi- 



tion of book-keeper for Warron & Phelps, the pres- 
ent style of the firm. The three youngest daughters 
are at Ouachita Baptist College. The family wor- 
ship in the Missionary Baptist Church, and Mr. 
Warren is a member of the A. F. & A. M., El 
Paso Lodge, No. 65. He was born in Tennessee, 
January 21, 1840. 

Thomas Warren. He whose name heads this 
brief sketch, is one of White County's pioneers, 
and is an active and enterprising agriculturist, 
alive to all current issues, public spirited and pro- 
gressive in all matters tending to benefit the com- 
munity. His life has been an active one, and by 
his own industry and intelligent management, has 
secured a substantial footing among the citizens of 
White County. He was born in Edgecombe, Coun- 
tj', N. C, September 22, 1814, and about the year 
1820 he removed with his father, Caleb Warren, to 
the State of Tennessee, and was there reared to 
farm life. The schools of Tennessee were not of 
the best at this time, and were only conspicuous 
for their scarcity, therefore the educational advan- 
tages which Thomas received were of the most 
meager description. He learned to read a little, 
but never did an example in arithmetic in his life. 
In the year 1834 he was wedded to Miss Rebecca 
Wright, a daughter of John Harrison and Nancy 
(Whitiss) Wright, and a native of North Carolina, 
born on June 16, 1815. Their marriage resulted 
in the birth of ten children, whose names are 
as follows: Martha Ann (born November 22, 1834; 
was married December 31, 1853, to William J. 
Canada, who was killed while serving in the army 
His wife died in 1869, leaving three children: 
Martha J., born in November, 1855, Thomas, 
born in December, 1857, and Joseph, born in 
1859), Sarah E. (was born September 25, 1837, 
married Isaac Dougan, and bore him two children, 
both deceased), Caleb P. (born January 22, 1840), 
Matilda N. (.born on March 22, 1842, and mar- 
ried Dr. M. Costen, of El Paso), Clarissa E. (birth 
occurred on the 31st of August, 1844, and her mar- 
riage took place in 1861; she and her husband had 
two children, William P. and Barbara), Nancy C. 
(was born March 31, 1847, and in 1862 she was 
married to Joseph Grissard; she died in Septera- 



260 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ber, 1869), William T. (the next in order of birth, 
was born August 17, 18-49, and died in infancy), 
Josiah W. (was born June 21, 1851, and died five 
years later), Mary K. (was born December 31, 
1S53, and died in December, 1856), Rebecca T. 
(was born April 18, 1856, was married to Rufus 
Blake in 1872, and became the mother of eight 
children, four of whom are living). Prior to leav- 
ing Tennessee, Mr. Warren purchased three slaves, 
paying $600 and .fSOO apiece for two women, and 
$1,000 for a man, but on coming to Arkansas 
in 1856, his slaves had increased to six. He loca- 
ted on a quarter section of land which had been 
deeded to him by his father, and subsequently 
added, by purchase, three other quarter sections of 
land, and at the opening of the Rebellion was the 
owner of large landed estates, and had fourteen 
slaves. At the time of his location in Arkansas the 
country was in a very wild and unsettled condition, 
but, with the energy which has ever characterized 
the early 2:)ioneers, he set to work and soon had 
a good double log-cabin erected on his land, also 
negro cabins and a horse cotton-gin, the latter 
being the first erected within a radius of twenty 
miles. After a few years he put up a steam cotton- 
gin and grist-mill, at a cost of about $3,500, and 
hauled his machinery from Des .\rc, a distance of 
thirty-five miles. In 1867, he, in partnership 
with his son Caleb P., engaged in the mercantile 
business in El Paso, and the latter is now one 
of the wealthiest merchants of the State. Mr. 
and Mrs. Warren are now seventy-five and seventy- 
four years old, respectively, and the latter has 
been a member of the Missionary Baptist Church 
for nearly seventy years. Mr. Warren has belonged 
to the same church for about forty years, all their 
children being members of the same, and those 
who are deceased died in full communion with the 
church, and with the hope and belief of immortal- 
ity. Mrs. Warren is an active member of the 
Ladies' Aid Society, and she and her husband are 
ever ready with open purse to aid the needy and 
afflicted, and when their Master calls will be found 
ready and waiting to pass "over the river." The 
paternal ancestors of Mr. Warren came to the 
United States prior to the Revolutionary War, 



and took sides with the Colonists in that struggle. 
Of his maternal ancestors he has no knowledge. 

Col. Thomas Watkins, known as a f)rominent 
early settler of White County, is a Virginian by 
birth, and a son of Joel and Fannie (White) Wat- 
kins, whose birthplace is found in the Old Domin- 
ion. Mr. Joel Watkins was born March 4, 178-4, 
and was married in Virginia, removing in 1830 to 
Tennessee. He served in the War of 1812, was a 
justice of the peace in Tennessee for several years, 
and a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, 
as was also his wife. He died in 1863. He was 
a son of Thomas Watkins, of English descent, and 
an old time Virginian, who was an officer in the 
Revolutionary War; the latter was with Gen. 
Washington at the surrender at Yorktown, and 
represented his county in the State legislature a 
number of times. Fannie White, the mother of 
our subject, was a daughter of Thomas White, 
also originally from Virginia, and a captain of a 
company in the American troops during the Revo- 
lutionary War. To Mr. and Mrs. Watkins nine 
children were born, three of whom are still living: 
Thomas, Catharine (wife of William H. Watts) and 
Fannie (now Mrs. Crossett). Thomas Watkins first 
saw the light of day in Halifax County, Va. , in 
January, 1820. When fourteen years of age he 
went to Lebanon, Tenn., where he was employed 
as clerk in a store, remaining there until twenty-two 
years old, at which time he bought a farm in De- 
Soto County, Miss. In 1853, coming to Arkansas, 
he located in White County, on the farm which he 
still occupies, consisting of 218 acres, with 150 
acres under cultivation. In 1838 he was married 
to Miss Moore, of Tennessee, who died in 1843, 
leaving three daughters, all deceased. In 1848 
Miss Amanda Dowdle, a native of South Carolina 
became his wife, surviving until her death, in 1854; 
she bore two children: William M. (a merchant of 
Searcy) and Allen D. (a farmer of White County). 
Mr. Watkins' third wife was formerly Mary Walker, 
to whom he was united in 1856. A native of 
White County, she was a daughter of James 
Walker, and departed this life in 1857, leaving 
one daughter, who died when an infant. In 1863 
Mr. Watkins married his fourth and present com- 



^ 9 



^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



261 



panioD, Mrs. Margaret E. Stone (nee Core), a 
widow, whose birth occurred in Haywood County, 
Tenn. , July 25, 1834. They are the parents of 
two children, living, and two now deceased. 
Those siu'viving are: Mary Kate and Maggie C, 
both at home. Mr. Watkins is a member of the 
Masonic order, in which he has taken the Royal 
Arch degree, and belongs to the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South, as does his wife. He is an 
enterprising and highly i-espected man, enjoying 
universal esteem. 

Hon. T. W. Wells, Searcy, Ark. Every com- 
munity is bound to have among her citizens a few 
men of recognized influence and ability, who, by 
their systematic and careful, thorough manner of 
work, attain to success which is justly deserved. 
Among this class is Mr. Wells, a man esteemed as 
a prominent and substantial, as well as one of the 
pioneer citizens of the county. He was born in 
Haywood County, Tenn. , May 18, 1834, and was the 
second of eight children, the result of the union of 
William Stokes and Penelope (Standley) Wells, 
natives of Kentucky and Tennessee, respectively, 
who were married February 15, 1832. When a 
boy William S. Wells occupied the claim where 
Brownsville is now located, and later traded it for 
a suit of clothes. He was married in Tennessee, 
and followed farming all his life near the city of 
Brownsville. Tenn. His death occurred July 20, 
1867 (he was born August 2, 1807), and his wife 
previous to this, on April 9, 1866. Her birth was 
February 28, 1811. The grandfather, John Wells, 
was a native of Kentucky, and a pioneer of that 
State in the time of Daniel Boone. Grandfather 
William Standley was a native of Tennessee, and 
anong the f>ioneers of that State. T. W. Wells 
was reared to farm life, and educated in the dis- 
trict schools of Tennessee, although the main part 
of his education was obtained by personal applica- 
tion. He left home at eighteen years of age with- 
out money, attended school at Cageville, Tenn., 
worked his way through by labor, but was under 
the tutelage of Prof. William A. Allen. After leav- 
ing college Mr. Wells engaged in teaching, and 
followed this profession from 1852 to 1854. On 
October 25 of the last-mentioned j'ear he was 

17 



united in marriage to Miss Jeannette Edwards, 
a native of Tennessee, and the daughter of Will- 
iam and Lavinia Edwards, natives of Edgecombe 
County, N. C. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards settled in 
Tennessee in an early day, or in 1835, and here 
both died the same year. After marriage Mr. 
Wells settled in Tennessee, and was engaged in 
teaching and farming on the shares. During 1857 
and 1858 he was engaged in the book business, 
but in the last-named year he moved to Avoyelles 
Parish, La., where he was occupied in overseeing. 
In May of 1859, he moved back to Tennessee, fol- 
lowed teaching for three months, and in the fall of 
that year came to Arkansas, landing at Des Arc 
with 15 cents and a sick wife. From there he went 
to El Paso, White County, Ark., and taught school 
for about ten months, when he and wife resrained 
their health. After this Mr. Wells engaged in the 
mill business at El Paso, and in partnership with 
James M. Wright erected the first steam mill in 
that place, being connected with it until 1861, 
when Mr. Wells was left to conduct it alone. In 
1862 he engaged in milling in Van Buren County, 
and in July of the following year he purchased 
the McCauley mill, at Prospect Bhiff, and had the 
only fine flouring mill in White County. This he 
continued until 1867, when he moved to Clay Town- 
ship, White County, and bought a timber tract of 
eighty acres. This he opened up, and has now 
360 acres, with 165 under cultivation. He owns 
a good steam-mill and gin. He moved to Searcy 
in 1868, but still continued the milling and farm- 
ing business. He lost his wife in 1875, and his 
second marriage was in 1877, December 5, in 
Woodruff County, to Mrs. Delilah J. Bosley, a na- 
tive of Tennessee. Three children were the fruits 
of this union, only one now living, Thomas W., who 
was born on January 1, 1886. The other two 
were named Thomas Clarence and Felix Grundy 
(both of whom died with measles, April 25, 1885, 
at the age of two and five years, respectively). Mr. 
Wells takes a prominent part in politics, and is a 
stanch Democrat. He represented White County 
in the legislature in 1874, and was re-elected two 
years later, serving until 1878. In 1882 he repre- 
sented the Twenty-seventh senatorial district, com- 



262 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



posed of M'hite and Faulkner Counties, and served 
until 1884. He is in very comfortable circum- 
stances, and this is all the fruits of his own exer- 
tion. He is one of the honored pioneers of White 
County, and during the many years he has resided 
here, ho has not only become well known, but the 
respect and esteem shown him is as wide as his 
acquaintance. 

Dr. M. C. Wells, has been for years success- 
fully engaged in the practice of medicine, but also 
pursues the occupation of farming. He was bom 
in Haywood County, Tenn., in 1848, and was the 
youngest in a family of eight children born to W. 
S. and Penelope (Standley) Wells, natives, respect- 
ively, of Kentucky and Tennessee. The father was 
a farmer by occupation, and after settling in Ten- 
nessee, which was at an early day, he opened up a 
farm on which he died in 1868, his wife having ' 
died a year earlier. Dr. M. C. Wells was reared 
to a farm life and was educated in the schools of 
Haywood County, in that county also receiving 
his first medical knowledge. In 1869-70, and the 
winter of 1870-71, he attended lectures in the 
Washington University of Baltimore, Md. (now 
known as the College of Physicians and Surgeons), 
and later took an intermediate course at Louis- 
ville, Ky. He first settled in White County, in 
the year 1871, and began his practice in Des Arc 
Township, but since November of the same year 
he has been a resident of Marion Township. Dur- 
ing his medical career of nineteen years he has 
won the reputation, and deservedly, of being a 
skillful physician, and his practice lies among the 
best people of the county. Ho keeps his own medi- 
cines and is ready to answer calls at any time. 
He is giving his attention to farming also, and owns 
a good farm of 150 acres on Big Creek Township, 
of which seventy are under cultivation, and all is 
well adapted to the raising of stock. Dr. Wells 
owns a handsome home in Searcy, his residence 
being situated near Galloway College, in a very 
pleasant part of the town. Ho has always been 
public spirited, and in his political preferences is 
a Democrat, and as he has always taken a deep 
interest in school matters he has served a number 
of years as a member of the school board. He 



was married in 1872 to Miss Mary Cheney Kuowl- 
ton, a native of Tennessee, and a daughter of 
Hon. H. C. and Mary Agnes (Stone) Knowlton, 
the former born in Vermont and the latter in Ten- 
nessee. In 1870 they settled in White County, 
Ark. , and here are now residing. The Doctor and 
his wife are the parents of four children : Beulah 
S., William H. , Grace Garland and Lois Lina. 

George G. Wells is in every respect worthy of 
being classed among the successful farmers of 
White County, for by his own industry and good 
management he has Isecome the owner of 160 acres 
of land, sixty of which he now has under cultiva- 
tion. He assisted in tilling his father's farm in 
Haywood County, Tenn., there also receiving his 
education, and when Civil War broke out, he joined 
Company G, Fifteenth Tennessee Cavalry (being 
regimental flag bearer for that regiment for two 
years), under Gen. Forrest, and was at the battles 
of Fort Pillow, Harrisburg, Yazoo City, Corinth, 
Pulaski, Columbus, Mount Pleasant, Spring Hill, 
Franklin, Nashville and others. He was taken 
prisoner at Columbus and Nashville, but both times 
was soon retaken. He surrendered at Jonesboro, 
N. C, in June, 1865, and returned to his home in 
Tennessee, where he resumed farming. He was 
married in his native State in November, 1867, to 
Callie B. Hooks, of Kentucky, a daughter of 
Henry Clinton and Rebecca (Somersault) Hooks, 
also Kentuekians, who moved to Tennessee at an 
early day. The father died in April, 1865, and 
the mother in 1885. Mr. Wells and his wife con- 
tinued to reside in Tennessee until 1872, when 
they sold their farm and came to White County, 
purchasing, in 1880, their present farm. They 
now have sixty -five acres under cultivation. They 
first bought an improved farm of 100 acres near 
El Paso, paying $12 per acre, but owing to defect- 
ive title, they afterward lost it, and were compelled 
to commence anew, but owing to their frugal hab- 
its and shrewd management, they are now in good 
circumstances. Mr. Wells is a believer in tem- 
perance, is a Democrat, and he and wife are be- 
lievers in the Christian religion. He has three 
children by his first wife, who died in April, 1883. 
Mr. Wells subsequently married M. V. Choat, 



-^^- 
^U 



WHITE COUNTY. 



263 



widow of Stephen Cboat. By ber first husband 
she bus two children: Lee and Willie. Mr. Wells 
is a brother of Dr. M. C. Wells, whose biography 
appears elsewhere in this work. 

William C. West is justly conceded to be among 
AVhite County's most extensive merchants, and his 
career as such is one which redounds to his own 
personal credit. A native of Alabama, he is a son 
of William and Mary (Howard) West, natives of 
North Carolina, who moved to Alabama shortly 
after their marriage, and in 1837 to Marshall 
County, Miss. After the death of his wife, in 1844, 
Mr. West went to Arkansas and located in White 
County, where his death occurred, in 1859, at the 
age of eighty-four years. He was a Baptist min- 
ister, in which work he had been engaged for forty 
years. He was the father of eleven children, two 
of whom only are living: R. R. West (who is a 
chancery clerk in De Soto County) and William 
C. (our subject). The latter was born in Perry 
County, Ala., March 14, 1828. At the age of 
nineteen he wa'fe employed as a clerk in a store; 
but, on coming to White County, started into the 
mercantile business for himself on a small scale, a 
short time after, however, entering the employ of 
a lirm in West Point. In 1858 he resumed gen- 
eral merchandising, with a capital of 1400 or 1500. 
Just before the Missouri campaign he enlisted in 
the Confederate army and served as adjutant for 
Gen. Mitchell, remaining in service throughout the 
Missouri raid. During the war he lost all of hisjarop- 
erty, and had to start fi'om the beginning after re- 
turning home; but by hard work, energy and perse- 
verance he has built up an extensive patronage, and 
his yearly sales will now average §25,000. He also 
owns 1,200 acres of land, with 300 acres cleared, and 
a good portion under cultivation. May 27, 1850, 
Mr. West was married to Miss Frances Adams, a 
daughter of Hardin S. Adams, of Mississippi. She 
died in 1880, leaving four children: Charles E. 
(who is in business with his father), Lavenia H., 
Fannie H. and Mary E. Mr. West is a member 
of the Missionary Baptist Church, as was also his 
wife. He is a Democrat in politics and a meml)er 
of the Masonic order. He was postmaster of this 
place in 1877-78. 



Judge N. H. West, Searcy, Ark. This much- 
esteemed and representative man of the county 
was elected to his present responsible position in 
September, 1 888, and has effectively conducted the 
affairs of the same since. He was originally from 
Madison County, Tenn. , where his birth occurred 
in 1830, and was the oldest in a family of five 
children born to the union of Philip T. and Hurclia 
(Harris) West, natives of Tennessee. The father 
was a farmer, a local minister, and in November, 
1851, he moved to White County, locating in 
Marion Township, where he entered land. He 
died there in 1853, and his excellent wife survived 
him until 1880. Their family consisted of these 
children: N. H., H. T. (married and resides in 
White County), Thomas N. (died in 1870), Mary 
A. (was the wife of R. G. Thomas, died in the 
county in 1888) and Martha J. (was born in White 
County; married AV. A. Patterson and resides in 
Marion Township). Judge N. H. West came to 
White County when fifteen years of age, was 
early taught the diities on the farm, and received 
his education by his own exertions and by the aid 
of the pine knot, by the light of which he spent 
many hours poring over the pages of his books. 
He stood between the handles of the plow at the 
age of seven years, and has continued agricultural 
pursuits ever since. He learned the blacksmith 
trade and followed that pursuit for some years, but 
later purchased a timber tract of eighty acres, 
which he has since added to until he now has 191 
acres, with 125 acres under cultivation. He is 
pleasantly situated two miles from Searcy. During 
the Civil War he enlisted under Capt. Critz's Com- 
pany, Eighth Arkansas Infantry, Tennessee Army, 
and was in the battles of Corinth, Chattanooga, 
Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, and participated also 
in Bragg' s invasion of Kentucky. He was paroled 
at Atlanta, Ga., on May 0, 1805, and returned to 
White County whore he engaged in farming. He 
is active in politics, was justice of the peace for 
some time, and votes with the Union Labor party. 
He is a member of the Agricultural Wheel No. 145, 
and was president of the County Wheel at the time 
he was elected to his present oflSce. He is a mem- 
ber of the Mount Pisgah Lodge No. 242, A. F. & 



V 



A 



264 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



A. M., and was secretary of the same for about 
eight years. Mr. West was married in White 
County in 1856 to Miss Martha J. Stayton, a native 
of Georgia, and the fruits of this union were two 
children: William F. (married and resides in Clay 
Township, White County) and Nancy Jane (now 
Mrs. Mayo, resides in Marion Township). The 
mother of these children died in 1868. Judge 
West selected his second wife in the person of Miss 
Ellen Robinson, a native of Pope County, 111. , and 
was married to her in 1870. She was left an 
orphan at the age of two years, and she came to 
Arkansas with an uncle in 1853, where she grew 
to womanhood. By that union nine children were 
born, six now living; Harriet E. , James T.. David 
N., Henry Clay (died in 1887), Sarah Malvina, 
Lillie (died in 1888, at the age of sis years), Viola, 
Martha Ellen (died at the age of two years) and 
Anna Elizabeth. Judge West has seen a great 
many changes in the country since his residence 
here. Searcy was then a small hamlet, there were 
no railroad facilities, and game was plentiful. He 
has been active in everything pertaining to the 
good of the county, and is one of the foremost 
men of the same. 

A. J. West is one of the most successful of 
White County's farmers and stockmen, and de- 
serves much credit for the way in which he has 
battled with fate and conquered, for he not only 
possesses large landed estates, but is extensively 
engaged in stock raising. He is now the owner of 
2,462 acres of some of the best land in the county, 
600 acres in cultivation, and his residence in West 
Point is surpassed by none. He was born in Mis- 
sissippi in 1850, being the youngest of seven chil- 
dren of Adam and Mary ( Jarvis) West, both Tennes- 
seeans. The former was a son of John West. He 
was educated in Cannon County, Tenn. , and when 
a young man moved to Alaljama, near Tuscaloosa, 
where he followed farming. After his marriage, 
in 1833, he moved to Mississippi and settled on a 
farm, being the owner of a onehalf section of land. 
His wife was one of a large family of children born 
to Levi Jarvis. Adam West served with distinc- 
tion in the Mexican War. He and his wife were 
both members of the Missionary Baptist Church, 



and were honored and respected wherever they 
made their home. They both died on the old 
plantation in Mississippi. Their son, William, was 
for many years a prosperous and influential citizen 
of Memphis, where he acquired considerable prop- 
erty, and was beloved by all. He was a Mason, 
belonging to St. Elmo Commandery. He died in 
1885. Emily, a daughter was married to Thomas 
Bice. Rachel married W. C. Wooten: they are 
both deceased, also Caroline, who died in 1867. 
Mary married Patrick Smith, and in 1887 she and 
her son moved to White County, Ark., with A. J. 
West, where they now reside. A. J. spent his 
early life on the plantation in Mississippi, and re- 
ceived his schooling at Oxford University, and aft- 
erward at Murfreesboro, Tenn. After leaving col- 
lege he farmed and taught school: his father and 
brother-in-law being dead, he devoted the best 
years of his life in caring for his widowed mother 
and sisters and their families. He was married 
January 15, 1888. to Miss Jessie Bramlitt, of Cor- 
inth, Miss. , who was a daughter of Jessie L. and 
Mary (Anderson) Bramlitt. Her father was for 
many years a successful merchant of Jackson, 
Miss. He moved from there to Prentiss County, 
Miss., and purchased one of the most desirable 
farms in the county. Her mother was the only 
daughter of Samuel Anderson, of Pulaski, Tenn. 
Samuel A. Westbrook, of Beebe,^^'hite County, 
Ark., was born in Maury County, Tenn., April 29, 
1833. Being left a poor boy, after arriving at the 
age of eighteen, he followed overseeing for several 
years, and came to Arkansas in December. 1858, 
where he engaged in the mill business and farming. 
The former he has discontinued, and now gives his 
attention to farming and stock raising. He has 
become noted for the fine stock he raises, and 
especially for his Short-horn cattle and Clydes- 
dale and Morgan horses. In addition to his land 
being well adapted to stock raising, it is exceed- 
ingly fertile, and all kinds of fruit and grain can 
be raised in abundance. Mr. Westbrook is one of 
the pushing men of the county, and from his mill 
lumber was procured with which to build nearly 
every church and school-house in the county. He 
served three months in the army, but as he was 



V 



>?• 



WHITE COUNTY. 



265 



exempt, and on account of his services being re- 
quired at home to operate liis mill, be retiirned to 
Arkansas. He was a Whig in former times, but is 
now Independent in his political views. On March 
30, 1865, he was married to Miss Susan A. Walker, 
a daughter of Rev. C. B. Walker, of Mississippi, 
who removed to Arkansas in 1857. Of eight chil- 
dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Westbrook five are liv- 
ing: Charles B., S. A. and W. H. (twins), Jennie, 
Robert T. , Willie and Walker Lipsey. 

Daniel W. Wheaton, son of James and Betsey 
A. Wheaton, was born in Pomfret, Conn., October 
3, 1833, on the old Wheaton homestead, which had 
been in the family since the Revolutionary War, 
being the youngest of a family of thirteen children. 
His father, James Wheaton, a native of Connecti- 
cut, was born in 1790, and his mother, Betsey 
(Angell I Wheaton, was born in Rhode Island, in 
1795. They were married about 1815, and the fol- 
lowing are the names of their children: Marshal 
(who died in Rhode Island, in 1840, at the age of 
twenty-four years). Mason N. , Angell, Seth T., 
Gurdon N., Monroe, Nancy L. , Horatio, Henry W. 
and D. W. James Wheaton was a farmer all his 
life, and died on his old homestead in Connecticut, 
in 1876. He was twice married, his first wife dy- 
ing in 1814, left him with two children: Warren 
L. and Jessie C. His second wife, the mother of 
our subject, died in 1857, on the old farm in Con- 
necticut. James Wheaton, the grandfather, reared 
a family of five children. D. W. Wheaton, our 
biographical subject, remained on the home farm 
in his native State until he was twenty-five years 
of age, then came West and spent twelve years in 
the State of Illinois. Du Page County, and was 
there married to Priscilla P. Beith, a daughter of 
William and Mary (Allen) Beith, her birth having 
occurred in Illinois. Her parents were Scotch and 
settled in Illinois about 1844, where they became 
the parents of three children. Mr. Wheaton and 
his wife have become the parents of four children: 
Mary E. (wife of A. P. Moody), Julia, Clara and 
William. Since the year 1871, Mr. Wheaton has re- 
sided in White County, Ark., his farm, comprising 
275 acres, being situated one and one-half miles 
from Judsonia. At the time of bis purchase, the 



land was heavily covered with timber, but be has 
cleared about seventy-five acres and devoted it to 
the raising of fruit, for which he finds a ready sale. 
He and his wife are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, he being one of its stewards, 
and in his political views ho is a Republican. He 
has two brothers who are large land holders at 
Wheaton, 111., the town taking its name from 
them. 

James K. Whitney has risen to a position as 
one of White County's leading citizens through 
his own merits. A native of Tennessee, he re- 
ceived his education in this county, and graduated 
from the Bryant & Stratton Commercial College, 
after which he went into the mercantile luisiness 
in company with C. P. Douthar, at West Point, 
there remaining until 1874. He then wound up 
his father's business, and engaged in farming 
and stock raising, and in 1884 commenced the 
breeding of Holstein cattle, the only herd of which 
breed he now has in White County. Mr. Whitney 
was born in Fayette County, Tenn. , January 27, 
1846, being a son of Elijah and Mary (Anderson) 
Whitney, of Kentucky and Tennessee nativity, 
respectively. Mr. Whitney, Sr., learned the 
machinist's trade when a young man, and was en- 
gaged for a number of years in selling cotton- spin- 
ning machinery, through Kentucky and Tennes- 
see. After his marriage, February 22, 1842, he 
removed to Fayette County, Tenn. , and carried on 
farming, in 1859 removing to Arkansas, and locat- 
ing in White County, where he lived until his 
death, in January, 1873. He was a son of Hiram 
Whitney, a soldier in the War of 1812, and was 
with Gen. Hull on his disastrous campaign. His 
wife was a niece of Gen. William H. Harrison. 
The W'hitney family are of English descent, and 
the Anderson family of Scotch origin. Mr. and 
Mrs. Whitney had a family of five children, two of 
whom only are living: a daughter (now Mrs. 
Douthar, whose husband is a merchant of White 
County) and James K. (our subject). In 1876 
James K. Whitney was married to Miss Ella T. 
Black, daughter of W. D. Black. She was born 
in White County in 1858, and has borne six chil- 
dren, four of whom are still living: Leslie E. , 



-3 v> 



266 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Floyd W., Bessie and Mary E. Mr. and Mrs. 
Whitney are members of the Missionary Baptist 
Church, in which the former is clerk and treas- 
urer. He is one of the leading Democrats of the 
county, and as a citizen and neighbor enjoys wide 
respect. 

I. J. Whitsitt is also numbered among the well- 
to-do farmers of Dogwood Township. He was 
born in Alabama in 1S48, as the son of Wilson 
and Elizabeth (Price) Whitsitt, Kentuckians by 
birth. Wilson Whitsitt was born in 1808, and 
moved to Alabama when a boy with his father, be- 
ing married in 1828 to the mother of our subject. 
Her birth occurred in 1812. Mr. and Mrs. Whit- 
sitt were the parents of ten children, seven of whom 
are still living: Jane, Camily, Sallie, Harriett, I. 
J. (our subject), Katie and William. The father 
was a prosperous farmer and a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as was also 
his wife. He died in 1878, having survived his 
worthy companion eight years. I. J. Whitsitt 
passed his school days in Alabama, and commenced 
his occupation of a farmer in that State in 1864. 
In 1873 he chose for his life associate, Elizabeth 
Sherwood, a daughter of Thomas and Ruth (Jink- 
ins) Sherwood, natives of Tennes.see. They havea 
family of two children; Benjamin and Hughes. In 
1876 Mr. Whitsitt moved to Texas with his family, 
and was engaged in farming until 1881. then com- 
ing to White County, Ark., where he bought his 
present farm, consisting of 160 acres of land, with 
fifty acres under ciiltivation at the present time. 
He is a stanch Democrat and a member of the 
Missionary Baptist Church, as is his wife. Mr. 
Whitsitt is indeed a good citizen of White County, 
taking an interest in all work for the benefit of the 
community in which he lives. 

William M. Williams, a native of Randolph 
County, N. C, and a son of John and Ellen (Crav- 
en) Williams, also originally from the old North 
State, was born in 1842. John Williams was a 
son of James and Frances Williams, and was mar- 
ried between 1825 and 1830, rearing a family of 
seven children: Evaline, Sauliman, Robert, Susan, 
William M., Alexander and John. Mr. Williams 
died in 1846. AVilliam M. started in life for him- 



self, in 1868. at farming, and. in 1871, came to Ar- 
kansas, settling on a farm in White County, which 
he rented. A short time afterward he bought 320 
acres of laud, and now has eighty acres under cul- 
tivation. During the war he enlisted in the Con- 
federate army, in the Forty-sixth North Carolina 
Infantry, and was engaged in the battles of Seven 
Pines, Oak Grove, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg and 
the battle of Plank Road and others, serving until 
the close of the war, and being present when Lee 
surrendered under the famous old apple tree at 
Appomattox. Mr. Williams was married in 1872 
i to Miss Frances Tote, a daughter of Andrew and 
Mary (Tees) Tote, natives of North Carolina. Him- 
self and wife are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, Soiith. Mr. Williams says the soil 
of Arkansas will raise anything that can be grown 
elsewhere. He has been very prosperous in the 
nineteen years of his residence here and counts his 
friends by the score. 

Dr. F. M. Winborn, one of the most prominent 
physicians of White County, is a native of Alabama, 
and was born in Florence, February 27, 1835, being 
one of nine children in the family of William and 
Mary (May) Winborn. The former's birth occurred 
in North Carolina, July 5, 1800. He was educated 
in the schools of Alabama, and immigrated from 
the latter State in 1816 to Tennessee, whence, after 
a residence of two years in Tennessee, he returned 
to Alabama and was married, there passing the 
rest of his life. His wife, Mary May, was a daugh- 
ter of John and Elizabeth May. of Alabama. Mr. 
Winborn' s demise occurred in December, 1875, his 
wife having been called to her final home some 
years before. The grandfather, William Winborn, 
was of North Carolina nativity and a soldier in the 
War of the Revolution. He died in Alabama in 
1832. The maternal grandfather. John May, was 
originally from Georgia, and served in the War of 
1812. His death occurred in 1854. His father 
was born in England, his mother being a native of 
Ireland. F. M. Winborn was educated at the 
Diasburg Academy, Tennessee, and received his 
medical education at the University of Mississippi, 
graduating with honors from that institution. He 
was married in November, 1858, to Miss Amorett 



r^ 



^1 



WHITE COUNTY. 



267 



Doyle, a daughter of Sarah and David Doyle. 
Dr. and Mrs. Winborn are the parents of nine 
children, four boys and five girls: William G. , 
Robert L., Lemuel H. , John B., Ida, Edgar V., 
Dock, Louella and 011a A. Dr. Winborn moved 
fi'om Mississippi to Arkansas in 1S7S. and settled 
in Lonoke, where he practiced his profession suc- 
cessfully for three years. Thinking, however, that 
White County offered better inducements as a place 
of residence he came here, and has established an 
enviable reputation as a careful, able practitioner. 
He is almost constantly at the bedside of the sick, 
and is invariably given the most hearty welcome, 
for his coming means the alleviation of their suffer- 
ing. But though his attention is so taken up in 
the pursuance of his chosen profession, he aids and 
supports all enterprises of a worthy character. He 
is a member of the Masonic order, and has held the 
office of magistrate for two years. He served in 
the late war, and enlisted in 1801 under Gen. Polk, 
Preston Smith's Brigade, Forty-seventh Tennessee 
Regiment, being wounded at the battle of Shiloh 
by a ball passing through the calf of his left leg. 
The Doctor also held the office of first lieutenant 
in the Kentucky campaign, a position which he 
filled with honor. The company was known as the 
Miller Guards of Richmond, Ky. 

Robert J. Winn is a Buckeye by birth, and 
during the period of the Civil War served in the 
Federal army, enlisting in the Second Ohio Infan- 
try, August 16, 1861. He was in the battles of 
Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, 
Mill Creek Gap, Buzzard's Roost, Peach Tree 
Creek, Atlanta and a number of others, and was 
captured at Pulaski, Tenn., May 30, 1862, by 
Morgan, but was exchanged and received his dis- 
charge, October 11. 1864. March 7, 1866, Miss 
Alma Wymer became his wife, a daughter of John 
and Rebecca (Gormer) Wymer, originally from 
Pennsylvania. Robert J. Winn was born in Mus- 
kingum County, Ohio, in 1837, and was a son of 
Adolphus and Rebecca (Jordon) Winn. Adolphus 
Winn was a Virginian by birth, his existence dat- 
ing from 1810, and he was one of a family of 
twelve children born to William and Rebecca 
(Russell Winn, also of the Old Dominion. He 



was married in 1836 and moved to Ohio, where he 
bought a farm of 500 acres, there residing until 
his death in 1885. Mrs. Winn, the mother of 
Robert J., was a daughter of Cabot and Rachel 
Jordon, natives of Maryland, and who went to 
Ohio in 1825, where Rebecca was born. Her par- 
ents lived to an advanced age, her father dying 
when seventy-six years old, and her mother at the 
age of seventy-eight. Mr. and Mrs. Adolphus 
Winn were the parents of thirteen children: Rob- 
ert J., Martha R., Nancy J. (deceased). Caleb J. 
(deceased), Elizabeth and Margaret (twins), Fen- 
nan S., John A., Albert J., Mariah, Hattie, Har- 
mon S. and Simeon S. Mrs. Winn is still living. 
To the subject of this sketch, and wife, six chil- 
dren have been given: Lillie C, Herbert H. , 
Edith R., Louis A., Mable O. and Clarence A. 
Mr. Winn moved to this State in 1875 and settled 
in Judsonia, AVhite County, where he bought a 
farm of eighty acres, and is engaged principally 
in raising fruit and vegetables for market. He 
also owns considerable town property and an in- 
terest in the Judsonia Canning Company, of which 
he is president, being also president of the board 
of trustees of the Judsonia University, and is a 
member of the board of trustees of the Building 
Association. Besides he is secretary of the Arkan- 
sas Fruit Growers' and Shippers' Union. Mr. 
Winn is a member of Judsonia Lodge No. 54, 
I. O. O. F., and of the Grand Lodge of the State. 
He and his wife and eldest daughter belong to the 
Baptist Church, and take an active part in all re- 
ligious work. The former has been engaged in 
teaching school for a number of years. 

John W. Womack is the son of Jacob and 
Nancy (Bates) Womack, and was born in Meigs 
County, Tenn., February 10, 1833. Jacob Wo- 
mack was a Virginian by birth, his natal day l)ping 
in 1797. His youth was passed in the Old Domin- 
ion and in 1822 he was united in marriage with 
Miss Bates, also a native of Virginia. One year 
after this event Mr. Womack moved to East Ten- 
nessee and died there in 1863, his wife surviving 
until 1865. He was a successful farmer and a 
quiet, law-abiding citizen. In his political views 
he sided with the Democrats, and was a Primitive 



1> 



268 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Baptist in his religious belief. Mr. and Mrs. Vi'o- 
mack became the parents of eight cbiklren, three 
of whom are now living: John "W., Martha J. 
(Mrs. J. N. Brown, of East Tennessee), and Eliza- 
beth (widow of James Masner, of Independence 
Connty, Ark.). Those deceased are: David, Sarah 
(Mrs. Heard), Daniel, Mary A. (Mrs. W. C. 
Grubbs) and Susana (wife of Thomas Bonner). 
John W. Womack was reared in Meigs County, 
Tenn. , and received such advantages for an edu- 
cation as the schools of the period afforded. Re- 
maining on the farm with his parents until thirty 
years of age, at the expiration of that time he 
branched out for himself, engaging in farming and 
stock raising, which is his present occupation. In 
1867 he removed to Ai'kansas and settled on his 
farm where he now resides. The farm consists of 
240 acres of valuable land, highly cultivated and 
his stock is of various kinds, all of the finest 
breeds. Mr. Womack was married in 1S6T, in 
Meigs County, Tenn. , to Miss Ellen B. , daughter 
of Uriah and Mary Denton, of Virginia, and to 
them a family of live children have been born, foui' 
living: Daniel U., Mary A., John and Sabinus. 
Mr. Womack served in the Confederate army, in 
Col. McKenzie's Third East Tennessee Cavalry 
during the war, and was mostly on scout duty in 
various skirmishes and fights, but in no regular 
battles of any prominence. He was captured while 
ill, in 1865, being released just before the final 
surrender. Mr. AVomack is an influential member 
of the school board, a stanch Democrat in poli- 
tics, and has been a Master Mason for over twenty 
years. 

Alfonsus A. Wood might well be called a self- 
made man. His father, Joseph P. Wood, a native 
of Weakley County, Tenn., was a farmer by pro- 
fession, and very successful in that calling. He 
was united in marriage, in 1836, in Weakley 
County, Tenn., to Mary E. Freeman, of Virginia. 
In 1870 they moved to Arkansas, and settled in 
Jackson County, where Mr. Wood was residing at 
the date of his death, in 1872, though he was in 
Tennessee when he died, having been called there 
on business. His belief was with the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South. Mr. and Mrs. Wood 



were the parents of eleven children, five of whom 
are now living: Fannie (wife of T. M. Thompkins, 
of Carroll County, Tenn.), Mary F. (Mrs. W. B. 
Gamble, of White County, Ark.), Emma B. (Mrs. 
H. S. McKuight, residing in White County, Ark. ), 
Alfonsus A. and Portia S. (wife of B. F. Whitley). 
Mrs. Wood makes her home at this time with her 
son in White County, and notwithstanding that 
she has reached the age of three- score years and 
ten, is still active in all church and charity work, 
and a liberal contributor to these enterprises. Al- 
fonsus A. began for himself at the age of eighteen, 
choosing his father's occupation, which he has suc- 
cessfully conducted ever since. He owns eighty 
acres of excellent land in White County, and a 
half interest in a large steam grist-mill and cotton- 
gin, at Russell, Ai'k. , where he is now residing. 
Mr. Wood was married in White County, on De- 
cember 16, 1875, to Miss Lucinda F. Plant, a 
daughter of William and Emily Plant, old settlers 
of White County. By this marriage one child was 
born, who died in infancy. Mrs. Wood died No- 
vember 18, 1876, and in 1881 Mr. Wood was 
united in marriage to Margaret L. Drenan, whose 
parents, A. R. and Mary Drenan, natives of Ten- 
nessee, are now residing in Russell. Mrs. Wood 
died in February, 1884, leaving two children: 
Tennie and Alvis A. Mr. Wood is a Democrat in 
his political views, though not an enthusiast. He 
is an earnest worker and a member of many years' 
standing in the Methodist Episcopal Church, also 
belonging to the Triple Alliance, a secret mutual 
benefit association. He is a man of quiet habits, 
charitable, and very popular in the society of his 
little town, being respected by all. 

Daniel T. Woodson was the eldest son of James 
M. and Paulino L. (Gregory) Woodson; the former 
was a native of Virginia and went to Western 
Tennessee in 1845, removing in 1858 to Arkansas, 
and settling in White County. Daniel T. Woodson 
first saw the light in Virginia, on October I'J, 1830. 
He accompanied his parents to Arkansas at the age 
of nineteen, where he was married at the age of 
twenty-one years to a Miss Park, of Tennessee 
nativity, and who came to White County four 
years previous to the "Woodsons. Daniel T. en- 



^^ 



WHITE COUNTY. 



2()9 



listed during the war, in May, 1802, in the Con- 
federate army, first in the cavalry and afterward in 
the infantry service, being a meml)er of a foraging 
force throughout the war. Foraging was a dan- 
gerous occupation at that time, and he had many 
narrow escapes from capture. After the cessation 
of hostilities Mr. Woodson bought a place of 100 
acres in White County, on which he resided until 
1877, when he sold his farm and purchased another 
of 211 acres in the same township, near Centre 
Hill. In 1882 he bought a mill and cotton-gin, in 
which business he has been very successful. Mr. 
Woodson's wife died in 1870, leaving two sous, 
James M. and Joseph Y. He was married the 
second time in November of that year to N. L. 
Dollar, by which marriage five childi'en have been 
born: Phillip C. , Mary L., Bula L., Zula B. and 
Bertha D. Mr. Woodson is a member of the 
Masonic order, to which he has belonged since 
1802; his membership is now in Centre Hill Lodge 
No. 114, where he has held an office for the last 
fifteen years. He is a decided Democrat, politically, 
and held the office of justice of the peace in his 
township in 1887-88. Mr. and j\Irs. Woodson be- 
long to the Missionary Baptist Church, of which 
they have been members nearly all their lives. In 
the organization where they worship, Mr. Wood- 
son is leader in the choir and also superintendent 
in the Sunday-school. 

James R. Woodson. There is generally more 
or less similarity in the sketches of those who have 
for the most part been engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits from boyhood, but Mr. Woodson' s career has 
been sufficiently diversified as to render him well 
posted with different affairs, people, etc. The 
State of his nativity is West Virginia, where he 
was born in 1841, being the second of a family of 
ten children born to James ]\r. and Paulina (Greg- 
ory) Woodson, both of whom were Virginians, the 
former's birth occurring in 1813. They were mar- 
ried in 1838, and their union resulted in the birth 
of the following chikb'en: Daniel T., James It., 
Elizah, John L., William J., Martha J., George 
W. D. , Clements and Bettio. James R. Woodson 
removed to Tennessee with his father in 1843, and 
after residing there twelve years came with him to 



White County, Ark., but the latter' s death oc- 
curred in Memphis, Tenn., in 1802. James R. 
Woodson gave his attention to farm work until the 
outbreak of the war, then enlisted in Company A, 
Seventh Battalion, under Col. D. Shay, and took 
part in the following engagements: Perryville, Dal- 
ton, Spring Hill, Franklin, Nashville (Tenn.) and 
Atlanta, and in the last-named engagement re- 
ceived a gunshot wound in the thigh, and thirty - 
six bullet holes in his clothes. At the time of the 
surrender he was tilling the position of teamster. 
He came to Arkansas, and in 1800 was married to 
Amanda Goad, a daughter of Henry and Mary 
(Sowell) Goad, natives of Tennessee. He now 
owns a farm of 120 acres, and has fifty acres under 
cultivation, all his property being acquired by hard 
and persistent labor. The children of this mar- 
riage are: Mary L. (the wife of Monroe Henderson 
and the mother of one child, Julia E), Docia A. 
(the wife of William Elded and the mother of 
one child, Martha J.), Emma G. (was married to 

j Thomas Baker, by whom she has one child, Elmer 
J.), Martha F., James H., Alice M., William E., 
George E. , Lula E. , John S. and Joel V. Mrs. 

i Woodson died February 2, 1889, her infant son, 
Aaron, also dying. Mr. and Mrs. Woodson held 
memberships in the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, and he has always been an active worker 
for schools as well as churches. He is a member 

i of Mount Pisgah Lodge No. 242 of the A. F. & A. 
M., and has been an officer of the same. 

James Maury Wright ranks among the most 
prosperous of White County's agriculturists, and 

[ enjoys the reputation of being not only a substan- 
tial and progressive farmer, but an intelligent and 

j thoroughly posted man on all public affairs. He 
first saw the light of day August 12, 1834, in 
Madison County, Tenn., and through his paternal 
ancestor, James Wright, has inherited Irish l)lood, 
his grandfather having come from Ireland to 
America about the year 1780, and took up his 
abode in Franklin County, N. C, where he en- 
gaged in farming and died at an advanced age. 
James Wright was married in North Carolina in 
the year 181S to Miss Patsey Stigall, and after 

I they had become the parents of five children they 



->£: 



27(1 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



removed to Gibson County, Tenn., where their 
family Wcas increased to eleven children. James 
Maiiry Wright was born in the latter State, and 
was the tenth of the family in order of birth. His 
early education was confined to the subscription 
schools, and he was reared to the duties of farm 
life on his father's plantation. September 1 1 , 1856, 
his nuptials with Miss Martha R. Vann were cele- 
brated, she being also a native of Tennessee. Their 
children were as follows: Elizabeth (born June 14, 

1857, was married to William G. Ross in 1878, 
and has five children), Mary (born in January, 

1858, died February of the same year), Martha 
(born May 15, 1859, was married to Thomas Burns 
in 1878, and bore one child. Both she and her 
husband are now dead, the former dying in 1884, 
and the latter in 1879), James Henry (was born on 
January 31, 1860), William. N. (born Jauury 31, 
1863, and is now a salesman in the mercantile 
house of Messrs. ^Varren & Phelps of El Paso, 
Ark.), Charles T. (born May 19, 1867), John R. 
(born August 27, 1869), Nettie (born in July, 1871), 
and Hattie (born in June, 1874). The mother of 
these children died in July, 1880, an earnest mem- 
ber of the Missionary Baptist Church, and two 
years later Mr. AV right wedded Miss Minerva Hen- 
dricks. In 1857 the family came to Arkansas, and 
Mr Wright began to make improvements on a tract 
of railroad land, but one year later moved to El 
Paso, where he began working at the carpenter's 
trade having served an apprenticeship under his 
father, but also continued his farming operations 
on a tract of land containing forty acres adjoining 
the town. In 1860, in company with T. W. Wells, 
now of Searcy, he erected the first grist-mill in the 
vicinity of El Paso, a need which had been long 
felt by the people of the community. Peach Or- 
chard (now El Paso) at time of Mr. Wright's loca- 
tion only consisted of a double log-house, but in 
the fall of 1859 and the winter of 1860, there were 
three business houses erected. Wild game was 
plentiful in the surrounding woods, and many a 
deer was brought low by the unerring aim of Mr. 
Wright's rifle. In 1861 he sold his land and pur- 
chased two acres in the town upon which he 
erected a dwelling house and other buildings, oc- 



casionally working at his trade in connection with 
his milling operations. After purchasing a farm 
of 160 acres in Conway County, in 1862, he settled 
his family there, and June 20 of the same year he 
enlisted in Company A, Col. Glenn's regiment, 
and was on detached duty in Arkansas for about a 
month as teamster, and was afterward promoted 
to the position of wagon master, in which capacity 
he served until January, 1864. While at home 
on furlough the Federal troops got possession of 
the State of Arkansas, and Mr. Wright was cut ofp 
from his command, and did not again enter serv- 
ice. In 1864 he bought an interest in a large 
flouring mill, which was known as the Peach Or- 
chard Tap Mill, but sold out two years later, and 
in 1869 purchased the farm where he is now resid- 
ing, and since 1870 has also operated the Warren 
& Davis flour, grist and cotton-gin mill, following 
the latter occupation in El Paso from 1872 to 1886. 
He has been very successful and at one time owned 
240 acres of land, but at the present time has in 
his possession 160 acres with about 100 acres under 
cultivation. Mr. Wright and his wife belong to 
the Missionary Baptist Church, and in his political 
views he is a Democrat. He belongs to El Paso 
Lodge No. 65 of the A. F. & A. M. , and has at- 
tained the Chapter degree. He has taken an 
active interest in the advancement of education in 
his county, and was one of the few who voted for 
the sjaecial school tax. He has also contributed 
liberally to schools. 

James A. Wright, postmaster and express agent 
at Higgins, grew to manhood in Alabama, and in 
Independence County, Ark. , receiving a good edu- 
cation. In 1861 he joined the Confederate army, 
in the Eighth Arkansas Infantry, and served the 
first year east of the Mississippi, afterward being 
transferred to the Trans-Mississppi Department, 
and undergoing capture as a prisoner of war, at 
Little Rock, though he was only retained only six 
weeks. He was in Price's raid through Missouri, 
and participated in the battles of Prairie Grove, 
Helena, Pilot Knob and a number of skirmishes, 
and was accidentally wounded, losing his right 
leg. After being discharged in the latter part of 
1864, he went to Searcy and engaged in farming 



^ X* 



^ 5) 



WHITE COUNTY. 



•271 



and the mercantile business, and in August, 1874, 
moved to his present location where he has since 
been selling goods with flattering success. Mr. 
Wright was born in Jackson County, Ala. , Febru- 
ary 21, 1842, to the iinion of N. A. and Martha 
(Byranny) Wright, natives of Alabama. The former 
was a Methodist minister, and upon his removal 
fi'om Alabama to Arkansas, located in Independ- 
ence County in 1858, ten years later coming to 
Searcy. After one year here he went to Red 
River County, Tex., and died there October 2, 
1877, at the age of sixty-two years, his veife pre- 
ceding him two months; she was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. They were the par- 
ents of nine children, six of whom are living: James 
A. (oui- subject), Lovenia (wife Mr. Gideon, of 
Alabama), Malinda (now Mrs. Maiden, of Texas), 



Amanda (also Mrs. Maiden, residing in Texas), 
Mary (Mrs. Taylor, of St. Francis County), and 
Ellen (widow of a Mr. Maiden). In connection with 
his other business Mr. Wright held the position of 
agent of the Iron Mountain Railroad at Higgins, 
from 1875 until July, 1889, also being appointed 
postmaster of Higgins, in March, 1875, which office 
he still occupies. May 15, 1864 he was mairied to 
Mary A. Ellis, who was born in Carroll County, 
Tenn. , in 1846. They have a family of nine chil- 
dren: Mattie(wife of W. H. Chrisp), W. H., Maud 
L. , Tommie, P. H. , George D., Ollie and Willie. 
Mrs. Wright is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South. Mr. Wright belongs to the 
I. O. O. F., is a decided Democrat and is one of 
the founders of the village of Higgins. As an es- 
teemed citizen he is widely known. 




jja___w_ 



272 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



XI {. 



♦ > •♦ < ' 



"Woodruff County— Period of Settlement— First Pioneers— County Formation— Seat of Justice 
—Buildings for Bublic Use — Judicial History- Legal Bar— Political Status— Direc- 
tory of Officials— Military Affairs- Geographical Situation— Boundary 
and Area— Topography— Physical Description— Resources— Cen- 
sus Statistics— Valuation and Taxation— Transporta- 
tion— Population— Educational AND Religious 
Facilities- Society— Commercial Centers. 




— »*>4>-- 

Look forward what's to come, and back what's past; 
Thy life will be with praise and prudence graced; 
What loss or gain laay follow thou uiay'st guess, 
Then wilt thou be secure of the success. 



EFORE the settlement of Ar- 
kansas by the Americans be- 
gan, the Chickasaw Indians 
occupied the eastern part, 
and the Quawpaws were lo- 
cated on and along the Ar- 
kansas River in the western 
part. In visiting each other 
these tribes crossed White 
River at the point where Augusta is 
now located. Hence long before Au- 
gusta was established its site was called 
Chickasaw Crossing. The first white 
settler of the territory composing 
Woodruff County was a Mr. Hamilton, 
who, about the year 1820, landed at 
Chickasaw Crossing, and "squatted" 
upon the present site of Augusta. Soon 
thereafter — say some time between 
1822 and 1826— Kolla Gray, with his family and 
others, came up the river in a small boat from a for- 
mer settlement made near Indian Bay, or mouth of 
Cache River, near the present town of Clarendon, 



and landed at Chickasaw Crossing. Mr. Gray then 
bought the right, "good- will or possession," of 
Mr. Hamilton, became a permanent settler, and 
lived here until his death. The sons of Mr. Gray, 
who came and settled with him, were John, Jesse, 
Daniel, Samuel and Jacob, all of whom afterward 
made individual settlements. John Gray and two of 
his brothers settled in that part of the county now 
known as the Point, in the southern part of the 
county. John became a stock raiser, and suc- 
ceeded so well that in 1840, he owned "upward 
of 100 horses," 'and in 1841 he drove "400 or 
500" head of cattle to Jacksonport, and there 
shipped them to New Orleans. The two brothers 
built the first mill in the Point, on Bayou Cache. 
These three constituted the entire settlement of 
that section until 1843, when Durant H. Bell, of 
Tennessee, came and settled there. Others then 
followed in rapid succession until the Point was 

*In the compilation of the history of Woodruff 
County, acknowledgments are due to Thomas E. Erwin 
and wife, Dr. F. D. Dale, writer of the pamphlet enti- 
tled ''AVoodruff County," and others for valuable infor- 
mation furnislied. 



^-. 



h X* 



_JI 9 



WOODEUFF COUNTY. 



275 



fully settled. Daniel Gray is said to have been a 
great bear hunter. 

In 1827 John Dennis, a .son-in-law of Rolla 
Gray, settled about three miles south of Chickasaw 
Crossing, and near the same time two brothers, 
Michael and Joseph Haggerdon, settled in the 
vicinity of the Crossing. Redding Stokes and his 
two sons, George Hatch and Samuel Taylor, were 
the first settlers on Taylor's Bay, it being named 
after the latter. Dudley Glass and John Teague 
settled the O'Neal place, four miles north of Au- 
gusta. Teague Lake was named after the latter. 
In 1835 Maj. John Roddy and his brother, Elias 
B. , natives of South Carolina, settled in the vicin- 
ity about three miles northeast of Chickasaw Cross- 
ing. In the latter part of 18-10, or early in IS-tl, 
James Barnes, an eccentric pioneer, founded the 
Jennie Colony between Cache River and Bayou De 
View, now De View Township. He named it in 
honor of his wife, whose first name was Jennie. 
Thomas Arnold, Absalom Arnold and his son Jerry, 
were the next settlers of the Jennie Colony. The 
fame of this colony " spread round about," and it 
soon became more fully settled. Perhaps the most 
noted pioneer settler, though not the first, was 
Thomas Hough, the founder of Augusta. His work 
as a public man will be mentioned further on. 
Among what may properly be called the second 
early settlers, were Thomas E. Erwin, J. L. Mur- 
phy and Lieiit. L. M. Sawyer, all of whom are 
living. Mr. Erwin settled in the territory com- 
posing AY oodrufF County, on Taylor's Bay, in 1840, 
and is now the oldest surviving settler. Mr. Lewis 
settled ten miles south of Augusta, in 1846. [For 
further mention of pioneer settlers see Biograjihical 
Department. ] 

Inasmuch as the territory composing this coun- 
ty was nearly all taken from Jackson, it is proper 
here to mention the formation of that county. 
Jackson County was organized in accordance with 
an act of the legislature of the Territory of Arkan- 
sas, approved November 5, 1829, and early in 1830 
the first courts were held at the house of Thomas 
Wideman, where Erwin Station* is now situated, 

*Tliis was the oldest cleared place in Jackson County, 
having been cleared by the Indians over 100 years ago. 



on the Batesville & Brinkley Railroad. The courts 
were continued to be held there until 1832, when 
the seat of justice was established at the town of 
Litchfield, which was located on Village Creek, at 
the crossing of the Jacksonport and Augusta wag- 
on road. The county seat remained at this place 
until 1839, when it was removed to Elizabeth, on 
White River, midway between the present towns 
of Jacksonport and Newport, on the same river. 
Here it remained until 1852, when it was removed 
to Augusta (the present county seat of WoodrufP 
County). The following year it was removed to 
Jacksonport, where it has ever since remained. 

The assertion that the county seat of Jackson 
County was held at Augusta in 1852 and 1853 has 
been strenuously disputed by certain later citizens 
of that place, but the statement is made upon the 
authority of personal examination of the county 
records; additional conclusive proof of this avow- 
al is seen by the following letter from the present 
clerk of Jackson County: 

Jacksonport, Ark., July 1.5, 1889. 
Sir: The record here shows that the county court of 
the county was held from April, 18.52, to October, 1853, 
at Augusta. The opening order for the April term, 1853. 
r(Mids as follows: " At a county court begun and held for 
the county of Jackson, at the court house in the town of 
Augusta, on Mond.iy the 12th day of April. 1852, present 
Hon. John H. T. "Webb, presiding judge." The circuit, 
chancery and probate courts were also held at Augusta. 
Respectfully yours, J. J. Walker, clerk. 

Per E. L. Boyck, D. C. 

Certainly this record evidence is all that is nec- 
essary to settle the question, as the county court 
and all the other courts of Jackson County would 
not have been held at Augusta if it had not been 
the county seat. 

Woodruff County was created by a vote of the 
people in pursuance to ordinance of the State Con- 
vention of 1801, and was organized in 18fi2. It 
was named in honor of William E. Woodruff, edi- 
tor of the first paper published in Arkansas, the 
Arkansas Gazette, first published at Arkansas Post, 
in 1819. He was one of the most distinguished 
pioneers of the State, and died recently, at Little 

It was the site of the old Bbawnee Indian village, but 
abandoned as such when Jlr. Wideman settled thereon. 



,4^ — ^ 



276 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Eock, at a very advanced age. It being during 
the war period, the organization of the county was 
not fully and permanently completed until 1865, 
the end of that period. The county court record 
prior to September, 1865, seems not to have been 
preserved, at least it does not appear on lile in the 
clerk's oflBce. 

Immediately upon the organization of the coun- 
ty, the seat of justice was established at Augusta, 
_ where it has eveE_since remained. The first court 
house erected at Augusta was a one-story frame 
building, which is still standing on the west side 
of Second Street, on Lots 11 and 12, in Block 8, 
according to the original plat of the town. The 
second court house was a residence with two rooms 
(frame), and stood on the northwest corner of Block 
22. It was purchased by the county, but used 
only a short time, until the present court house 
was occupied. This latter house was built just 
before the Civil War, by Thomas Hough, for a 
residence, and was used as such by his family, 
through the war period and later. On April 21, 
1870, Mr. Hough, for the consideration of 128,000, 
conveyed the realty on which this house stands, 
consisting of a full block of ground, according to 
the plat of that part of the town, to the county 
for a court house and public square. The build- 
ing is a large, two-story brick structure, and, 
though built for a residence, it answers very well 
for a court house. It stands in the northern sub- 
urbs of the town. 

Soon after this property was purchased, a stone 
jail was erected on the southeast corner of the 
square, and was afterward set on tire by prisoners 
and destroyed. The present jail is in a brick 
building, which was erected l)y Mr. Hough near 
his residence for the occupancy of his servants. 
The county owns a "poor farm," with fair aver- 
age buildings thereon, for the home of its pau- 
pers. This farm lies in Section 16, Township 8 
north. Range 3 west. 

The courts of the county consist of the county, 
probate and circuit. The regular terms of the 
former begin on the first Mondays of January, 
April, July and October of each year, and the reg- 
ular terms of the probate court on the fourth Mon- 



days of the same months. The regular terms of 
the circuit court convene the third Mondays of 
February and August. The first term of this court, 
as appears of record, was held in October, 1865, 
by Hon. William R. Cain, judge presiding. The 
grand jury selected and empaneled at this term 
consisted of the following-named gentlemen: 
James P. Ferguson (foreman), Edmond N. Shel- 
ton, William Kemble. Andrew J. Henry, Y. B. 
Brantley, Littleberry G. Wilkerson, Thomas B. 
Roddy, Thomas H. Penn, Gabriel Couch, Gabriel 
M. Couch, George Mayfield, Henry W. Linthicum, 
Jesse H. Wolf, Samuel Whitcomb, William B. 
Tilmon and Oliver O'Neal. The Woodruff Circuit 
Court belongs to the First judicial district, com- 
posed of the counties of Phillips, Lee, St. Francis, 
Prairie, Woodruff, White and Monroe. The pres- 
ent judge is M. T. Sanders, of Helena, and the 
prosecuting attorney is S. Brundidge, of Searcy. 
The local legal bar of this county consists of: T. 

E. Stanley and D. D. Leach, of Augusta, and A. 

F. Maberry and Will T. Trice, of Cotton Plant. 

I It is evident from the small number of attorneys 
that there is but little litigation carried on in the 
county. 

To show the political aspect of Woodi'uff Coun- 
ty, the votes cast for the candidates for Governor 
and for President at the late elections is here given: 
For Governor at the September election, 1888, 
James P. Eagle (Dem.), 1,548; C. N. Norwood 
(Com. 0pp.), 1,375; for President, at the Novem- 
ber election, 1888, Cleveland (Dem.), 1,236; Har- 
rison (Rep.), 1,021; Streeter (U. L.), 192; Fiske 
(Pro.), 2. 

The following is a list of the names of the 
county officers of Woodruff County, with date of 
terms of service annexed, from the time of organi- 
zation : 

Judges: I. McCurdy, 1862-64; E. T. Jones, 
1864-65; R. W. Martin, 1865-66; E. T. Jones, 
1866-68; A. D. Blanchard, 1868-72; L. M. Ram- 
saur, 1874-76; E. T. Jones, 1876-82: J. B. Dent, 
1882-88; W. T. Trice, present incumbent, elected 
in 1888. 

Clerks: V. L. Walters, 1862-64; D. H. John- 
son, 1864-66; W. P. Campbell, 1866-68; D. H. 



ijv 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



Ill 



Johnson, 186S-74-; W. P. Campbell, 1874-82; A. 
W. Jones, 1882-86; W. E. Ferguson, present in- 
cumbent, first elected in 1886. 

Sheriffs: J. R. Jelks, 1862-64; John Thorp, 
1864-66; J. R. Jelks, 1866-68; J. N. Bosley, 
1868-74; J. R. Jelks, 1874-76; A. W. Jones, 
1876-78; Ed. Roddy, 1878-80; A. W. Jones, 
1880-82; W. E. Ferguson, 1882-86; Ed. Roddy, 
present incumbent, first elected in 1886. 

Treasurers: James Smock, 1862-64; T. E. 
Erwin, 1864-66; R. L. Barnes, 1866-68; W. M. 
Reynolds, 1868-71; E. H. Shelton, 1871-72; T. 
E. Erwin, 1872-74; C. T. Petit, 1874-82; War- 
ren Sale, 1882-84; J. W. Sallee, 1884-86; War- 
ren Sale, present incumbent, first elected in 1886. 

Coroners: James Crawford, 1862-64; William 
Cornelius, 1864-66; VV. H. Dickinson, 1866-68; 
Edwin Wilson, 1868-72; J. A. Hamlet, 1874-76, 
B. F. Hawkins, 1876-78; N. J. Barbee, 1878-80; 
William Elsberry, 1880-82; C. H. Devain, 1882-84: 
R. W. Stokes, 1884-86; H. D. Spivey, 1886-88; 
W. A. Harper, present incumbent, elected in 1888. 

Surveyors: C. S. Cabler, 1862-64; R. H. 
Cotney, 1864-68; G. D. F. Malone, 1868-72; C. 
W. Montague, 1872-74; R. T. Cotney, 1874-78; 
R. K. Fitzhugh, 1878-82; W. F. Fesperman, 
1882-84; E. S. Freeman, 1884-86; L. H. Weed, 
1886-88; R. K. Fitzhugh, present incumbent, 
elected in 1888. 

Assessors: W. P. Anderson, 1868-72; J. H. 
Johnson, 1872 to May, 1874; James B. Dent, from 
May, 1874; W. W. Garland, 1874-80; W. E. Fer- 
guson, 1880-82; G. W. Gordon, 1882-86; J. P. 
Hobbs, 1886-88; J. W^. Sallee, present incumbent, 
elected in 1888. 

Delegates in State Conventions: W. H. Gray 
was elected to represent the county in the State 
convention held January 7 to February 18, 1868, 
but did not attend. William J. Thompson repre- 
sented the county in the State convention held 
j ;uly U to October 31, 1874. 

Upon the approach of the Civil War of 1861-65, 
many of the citizens of the territory now embraced 
in Woodruff County, were opposed to secession, but 
when actual operations of a warlike nature began, 
they generally cast their lot with the proposed 



Southern Confederacy, and did what they could to 
help establish it. In May, 1861, Capt. Charles 
Matlock organiz(Hl a company of State troops at 
Augusta, and in July following, it was mustered 
into the Confederate service at Mazzard Prairie 
near Fort Smith, and became a i)art of Col. 
Churchill's regiment— the First Arkansas Mounted 
Rifles. Capt. James H. Patterson raised the 
second company at Augusta, in July, 1861, "The 
Independent Jackson Rangers," as they were 
called, and soon after this company moved to 
Mammoth Springs in Fulton County, and there 
joined Col. Snavell's battalion of Missouri Cavalry. 
Later, in 1861, Capt. Robert Anthony, Jr., raised 
a company, mostly in what is now the northern 
part of Woodruff County, and it joined and became 
a part of the Eighth Arkansas Infantry. After- 
ward, in May, 1862, Capt. Ed. T. Jones raised a 
company at Augusta, and, moving to Little Rock, 
it joined Col. Pleasant' s regiment of the Trans- 
Mississippi Department. Subsefjuently Capt. 
John Bland raised a company, or part of a com 
pany, in the territory now composing Woodruff 
County. This company was composed largely of 
deserters from the army and conscripts. 

All of these companies served in the Confeder- 
ate army, and acquitted themselves as gallant 
soldiers. No troops were raised within what is 
now the limits of the county for the Federal army. 
In the spring of 1864, Gen. Davidson came up the 
river in a boat or boats with the Third Minnesota 
Infantry, landed at Augusta and sent out a com- 
pany of about ninety men to reconnoiter. On or 
near the Fitz Hugh farm about six miles northeast 
of Augusta, this company encountered several 
hundred Confederate soldiers under command of 
Gen. McRae. A fight ensued and the Federals 
fell back in good order to Augusta, suffering a 
small loss in killed and woiinded. Capt. John 
Bland of the Confederate force and a few of his 
men were killed. It is said that he and his men 
did most of the fighting in this engagement, on the 
part of the Confederates. This was the only 
skirmish of note that occurred during the war in 
what is now W^oodruft' Countv 



W 



In moving southward. Gen. Steele, command- 






278 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ing a portion of the Union Army, stopped and spent, 
the first week in July, 1862, at Augusta, making 
his headquartpi's at the residence of Thomas 
Hough, now the court house. The General 
pitched his tent on the lawn near the house, and 
near where lay a large pile of earth (probably 
thrown from the cellar). Presently a party of 
soldiers came and began to dig into the earth pile, 
but the General stopped them and demanded to 
know what they expected to find; he was informed 
that a " nigger," one of Mr. Hough's servants had 
informed them that a keg of currant wine was 
buried there. The General at once put an end to 
further pursuit for the wine, and informed Mr. 
Hough that he had better remove it. The latter 
was a Union man but would not fight against his 
neighbors. Gen. Steele and his staff boarded at 
Mr. Hough's table. The wine was removed from 
its hiding place, and there is no doubt about the 
knowledge that the General and his staff had of 
its quality. Mr. Hough (now deceased) was very 
liberal, and the wine was free. 

Steele's army then moved on toward Helena, 
and afterward, in the winter of 1864-65, a small 
force of Federal troops occupied Augusta for a 
short time. A portion of Gen. Price's Confeder- 
ate army passed through Augusta on the occasion 
of his last raid into Missouri, and some of Gen. 
Joe Shelby's men passed through it frequently. 
It was never occupied as a military post by either 
of the contending armies. 

"The county of Woodruff, in Eastern Arkansas, 
is bounded north by Jackson, east by Cross and 
St. Francis, south by St. Francis and Monroe, and 
west by Prairie and White Counties. It lies mostly 
in the 36"' of north latitude, and between the fifth 
principal meridian of the United States surveys, 
and longitude 14° 21" west from Washington. 
It comprises an area of 590 square miles, of 
which less than one-fifth is under cultivation. 

Its boundary lines are as follows: Beginning 
on the fifth principal meridian, where the line 
between Townships 8 and U north, crosses it; 
thence south on said meridian line to the line divid- 
ing Townships 4 and 5 north ; thence west on the 
township line to the southwest corner of Section 



32, Township 5 north. Range 2 west ; thence south 
to the southeast corner of Section 6, Township 4 
north, Range 2 west; thence west to the south- 
west corner of Section 2, Township 4 north, Range 

3 west; thence south on section lines to the line 
dividing Townships 3 and 4 north; thence west on 
the township line to the line dividing Ranges 3 and 

4 west; thence north on the range line to the line 
dividing Townships 4 and 5 north; thence west on 
the township line to the line dividing Ranges 4 and 

5 west; thence north on the range line to White 
River; thence up White River following its mean- 
ders to the line dividing Townships 7 and 8 north; 
thence west on the township line to the southwest 
corner of Section 35, Township 8 north, Range 4 
west; thence north on section lines until White 
River is again intersected; thence up White River, 
following its meanders to the line dividing Town- 
ships 9 and 10 north; thence east on the township 
line to the line dividing Ranges 2 and 3 west; 
thence south on the range line to the line dividing 
Townships 8 and 9 north; thence east on the town- 
ship line to the place of beginning. 

Of the area of the county, the St. Louis, Iron 
Mountain & Southern Railway Company, owns 
between 2,000 and 3,000 acres, and between 
30,000 and 40,000 acres is public property, and 
the balance is owned by individuals. 

Its meteorology for the past forty years gives 
no record of cyclones or other character of violent 
storms. The annual mean of barometer officially 
given for the county is 30j-5^^°. The rain fall is 
from 44 to 49 inches annually. The mean tem- 
perature for the 3'ear is 60°. The isothermal belt 
crossing the county is that which includes the vicin- 
ity of Norfolk, Va., Raleigh, N. C, Atlanta, 
Ga., Nashville, Tenn., Fort Smith, Ark., and El 
Paso, N. M. 

Woodruff County is a part of the vast scope of 
lowland farm coiintry, lying between White River, 
below its confluence with the Black and the Mis- 
sissippi. There are no hills in the county. The 
surface is comparatively level, its uplands com- 
prising above five-eighths of the whole area, rang- 
ing from one to fifteen feet above high water 
mark. White River, as has been shown, runs 






^ 9 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



279 



nearly all the way along the western boundary of 
the county. Cache River, a continent of the 
White enters the county from the north, near the 
middle of Range '2 west, and flows thence in a 
general direction a little west of south, and leaves 
the county near the southwest corner of Township 
4 north, Range 8 west, its average distance from 
the White being between eight and nine miles. 
Bayou De View, another confluent of the White, 
enters the county from the north about two miles 
west of the northeast corner, and flows southward 
in nearly the same direction as that of Cache 
River, leaving the county near the middle of Range 
2 west, its average distance east from the Cache 
being between seven and eight miles. Eastward 
fi-om this latter stream, the country rises gently to 
the summit of the ridge between it and L'Anguile 
River, which flows in a southerly direction through 
the western part of Cross and St. Francis Counties. 
Nearly all the natural drainage of the county is 
through AVhite and Cache Rivers, Bayou De View 
and their triliutaries. 

^The longitudinal course of these streams has 
the effect of dividing the county into three great 
bodies, viz. : that portion lying between White 
and Cache Rivers, and that lying between Cache 
River and Bayou De View, and that lying east of 
the latter. These again are subdivided into small 
bodies or slight ridges by the smaller streams. 
The bottom land? along the large water courses, 
comprising perhaps nearly three-eighths of the area 
of the county, and known as the "slashes,'' are 
more or less subject to overflow. The major part 
of these lands, however, can be reclaimed and 
made tillable bj' levees and a proper system of 
drainage. The lands thus far cleared and occu- 
pied are on the ridges between the streams. The 
soil of the entire county is very rich and fertile. 
It has two grades known as the ' ' gum lands and 
the white oak lands. ' ' the former being the strongest 
and most productive. The soil of the uplands is 
a rich, dark, sandy loam, quick and generous, deep 
and durable; that of the lowlands is more tenacious. 
The soil in general is composed of vegetable mold, 
clay and sand, and much of it is of the alluvial 
deposits. 



The territory of Woodruff County was origin- 
ally an unbroken forest of timber, large and dense, 
and it is estimated that over five-eighths of its area 
is yet covered with timber. The remaining forests 
as yet are mostly unbroken, and throughout the 
uplands are accessible at all times of the year. 
The varieties of timber are white, red, black, over- 
cup, burr and swamp oak, gum, cypress, ash, wal- 
nut, hickory, etc. A number of saw-mills and an 
extensive stave factory are now in operation in the 
county, cutting the timber into lumber and staves 
for .shipping piu'poses, and much of it is thus go- 
ing to distant markets. A large amount of timber 
is also floated down the streams in the log. 

There are but few, if any, valuable springs in 
Woodruff Couaty, but well water of an unexcelled 
quality, is everywhere obtainable at a depth vary- 
ing from twenty to forty feet, without digging or 
boring through any solid rock. Driven wells are 
in general use, and they can be easily put in and 
at a cost comparatively low. Some cisterns are 
found, though driven wells are preferable, as from 
them a fresh and pure supply of water can always 
be had. From the sources named, an abundant 
supply of water for all purposes is obtained. No 
minerals have been found to exist here. 

At present, and for some time to come, there is 
and will be, a considerable income from the timber 
resources of the county, but this can not always 
continue, for the supply will sooner or later become 
exhausted. Agriculture, horticulture and the rais- 
ing of live stock are the principal resources, and 
these will be permanent. The soil is well adapted 
to the growing of cotton, corn, oats, millet, clover, 
the tame grasses, and all kinds of vegetables. 
With proper cultivation it will yield, in fair seas- 
ons, from 1,000 to 1,500 pounds of seed cotton to 
the acre, forty to sixty bushels of corn, thirty to 
fifty bushels of oats, from 200 to 300 bushels of 
Irish or sweet potatoes, and other things in pro- 
portion. Wheat sometimes does well, but it can 
not be claimed as a good wheat-producing country. 
Immense quantities of hay can be produced, but 
as yet the farmers have not turned their attention, 
to any considerable extent, to its production. 
Clover and the tame grasses are but little culti- 






280 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



vated. The soil has continued to produce so well 
that cotton and corn have been raised from year to 
year, on some lands for half a century, without re- 
turning anything to the land to refertilize it. 
Fertilizing matter is seldom gathered and retui-ned 
to the soil. Clover has not been grown at all as a 
fertilizer. A better and more economical system 
of farming should be adopted. The price of im- 
proved lands varies, according to qualitj', from $10 
to $40 per acre, and unimproved lands from $2 to 
$10. "Cotton is King," but still a great amount 
of corn is produced. 

According to the United States census of 1880, 
there were 934 farms in Woodruff County, and the 
amount of improved land was 40,671 acres, and 
from these the estimated value of all farm products 
raised in the year 1879, was $084,059. Following 
are the number of bushels, pounds, etc., of the 
cereal and vegetable productions of the county for 
that year: Indian corn, 229,962 bushels; oats, 
9,908 bushels; wheat, 1,867 bushels; hay, 124 tons; 
cotton, 12,311 bales; Irish potatoes, 8,691; sweet 
potatoes, 6,960 bushels; tobacco, 2,435 pounds. 
The products of the present year, 1889, will be 
given in the next United States census reports, and 
will be interesting to compare with the products 
here given for the year 1879. In the last ten years 
the area of improved land has been largely in- 
creased, and the productions in proportion. In 
1880 there were 1,455 horses, 1,038 mules and 
asses, 7,720 neat cattle, 1,107 sheep and 10,539 
hogs in the county, and in 1888, according to the 
assessor's reports, 2,135 horses, 1,755 mules and 
asses, 8,941 neat cattle, 403 sheep and 6,356 hogs, 
a large increase in horses, mules and asses and 
neat cattle, but a material decrease in the number 
of sheep and hogs. The decrease in the number 
of sheep is probably due, largely, to the reduction 
in the price of wool, while the decrease in the 
number of hogs is wholly due to the fact that the 
number shown on the assessment rolls is only the 
number that was "on hand" when the assessment 
was taken, and did not, as did the census report of 
1880, include those slaughtered, sold or otherwise 
disposed of during the previous year. When these 
figures are compared with the forthcoming census 



of 1890, a large increase in the number of all, ex- 
cepting, perhaps, sheep, will appear. Woodruff 
County is well adapted to the raising of live stock, 
on account of the productiveness of its soil, the 
mildness of its climate and its abundant supply of 
water. But little feed is required, except for a 
short season in the winter, and costly buildings for 
shelter are not required at all. Cheap buildings 
with good roofs, and single board walls are all suf- 
ficient for wintering stock here. Horticulture has 
not yet been developed, except for the home sup- 
ply of fruits. Apples, pears and cherries do not 
succeed so well as in the more elevated portions of 
the State, but peaches and plums thrive well, and 
the smaller fruits and berries can be raised in un- 
limited quantities, the soil and climate being so 
well adapted for them. For strawberries the soil 
is unsurpassed. The market facilities by rail to 
the city markets being so good, the couuty must 
eventually become largely a garden of small fruits 
and berries. 

In 1880, the real estate of W' oodruff County was 
assessed for taxation at $898,316, the personal prop- 
erty $330,121; thus making a total of $1,228,437; 
and the total taxes charged thereon were $31,278. 
In 1888 the real estate of the county was assessed for 
taxation at $1,337,297, and the personal property 
at $582,402, making a total of $1,919,699, and the 
total amount of taxes charged thereon was $30,- 
170.64. By comparison it will be seen that during 
the eight years the taxable wealth of the coimty 
increased to the amount of $691,262, or 56 per 
cent, while the amount of taxes slightly decreased. 

Woodruff is traversed by three railroads. The 
St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railroad (the Cot- 
ton Belt) enters on the fifth principal meridian, 
near the middle of Township 7 north, and runs 
thence in a southwesterly direction, leaving it near 
the southwest corner of Township 5 north. Range 
1 west, the length of its line within the county 
being sixteen miles. The Batesville & Brinkley 
Railroad runs north and south through the cen- 
ter of the county, the length of its line through 
these limits being twenty-four miles. The Bald 
Knob & Memphis branch of the St. Louis, Iron 
Mountain & Southern Railway, crosses A\' oodruff 



If^ 



^. 



^L> 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



281 



County east and w,est. near the line dividing Town- 
ships 7 and S north, thus leaving about one-fourth 
of the area to the north and three-fourths to the 
south. The length of its line here is twenty miles. 
This makes the combined length of railroads in the 
county sixty miles, and for the year 1888 they were 
assessed for taxation at $310,470. The railroad 
property constitutes a large proportion of the 
county's taxable wealth, and, accordingly, pays a 
large percentage of the several taxes. 

The population of Woodruff County was, in 
1870, white, 4,205, colored, 2,686, total, 6,891; in 
1880, white, 4,163, colored, 4.483, total. 8,648. 
The increase since 1880, on account of the large 
immigration, has been so great that the population 
is now estimated at 14,000; the late immigrants 
being mostly white has caused the white population 
to exceed the colored by several hundred. 

The educational facilities of Woodruff County 
consist of the free schools, with now and then a 
private school. The following statistics pertaining 
to the free schools of the county are taken from the 
report of the State Superintendent of Public In- 
struction for the year ending, June 30, 1888: 
Scholastic popiilation : white, males, 975, fe- 
males, 835, total, 1,810; colored, males, 1,185, fe- 
males, 1,173, total, 2,358; total, white and colored, 
4, 165. Number of pupils taught in the public 
schools : white, males, 641, females, 516, total, 
1,157; colored, males, 845, females, 790, total, 
1,635; aggregate, 2,792. Number of school dis- 
tricts, 25; number reporting enrollment, 18; num 
ber voting tax, 15. Number of teachers employed, 
males, 45, females, 30, total, 75. Average monthly 
salaries paid teachers: first grade, males, 145, 
females, 135; second grade, males, 140, females, 
§40; third grade, males, S35. Amount expended 
for the support of the schools, all purposes, 
$10,318.79. 

By comparing the above figures it will be seen 
that only 64 per cent of the white, and only 70 per 
cent of the colored scholastic population were 
taught in the public schools. In most of counties 
a greater per cent of the white than of the colored 
children are taught in the public schools. That 
the reverse of this is true in Woodruff County, 



speaks well for the system, as it shows that the 
authorities have provided ample facilities for the 
education of the colored, as well as for the white 
children. It will also be ol)served that a less per 
cent of the white than of the colored children were 
taught in the free schools. This is accounted for 
by the fact that some of the white children were 
taught in private schools at home, and in colleges 
or schools abroad. The public school at Augusta 
is graded, and upon the whole Woodruff is fully 
up with other counties in sustaining the free school 
system. A teachers' institute was held at Augusta, 
beginning July 30, 1888, with only a small num- 
ber of teachers present. 

Of the various religious denominations, it 
seems that the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, has Woodruff County as an almost exclu 
sive field of labor. Early in the 50' s Mr. Thomas 
Hough, of Augusta, built at that place a sub 
stantial two- story frame edifice, at a cost of about 
16,000, and donated it to the religious denomina- 
tions and the Masonic fraternitj', the lower story 
to be used as a church and the upper as a lodge 
hall. The church was dedicated for union relig- 
ious services in June, 1854, by Rev. Joshua F. 
Green, a Presbyterian minister at Little Rock. 
The denominations that occupied it were the Meth- 
odists and Presbyterians. In the course of time 
the latter retired, and for a consideration, con- 
veyed their interest in the property to the former, 
and finally the Methodists became the sole owners 
thereof. During the month of July, 1889, they 
removed the upper story, elevated the lower, and 
remodeled the building entirely and made a com- 
plete chui-ch edifice of it. This was the first church 
house erected in what is now Woodruff County. 

On retiring from this building, the Presbyte- 
rians received by donation from the hands of Mr. 
Hough, a beautiful site upon which to erect a sepa- 
rate church edifice, and with the able assistance of 
the liberal donor and his estimable wife, they erect- 
ed, in 1876, the present large and handsome brick 
church. This was the only Presbyterian Church 
erected in the county, and unfortunately the Pres- 
byterian society has become, in a measure, disor- 
ganized and regular preaching has been dispensed 



th^ 



282 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



with. A site was also donated bj' Mr. Hough to 
the Baptists, oa which they built a frame church 
edifice, prospered for a few years and then disor- 
ganizing sold the property to the colored people 
who now use it for religious purposes. White 
Church, in the northern part of the county, is 
owned by the Baptists, but the latter are scattered 
throughout the county and are not generally or- 
ganized. 

Of the Methodist Episcopal Church. South, 
there is Augu.sta Station, Rev. N. B. Fizer, pas- 
tor, membership 132; De View Circuit, consisting 
of five appointments, Rev. Thomas Whittaker, 
pastor, membership 327: Howell Circuit, with four 
appointments. Rev. M. U. Umstead, pastor, mem- 
bership 168; Union and Revel Circuit, with four 
appointments. Rev. (i. A. Dannelly, pastor, mem- 
bership 142, and a part of the Weldon Circuit, 
located mostly in Jackson County. Augusta Sta- 
tion and Union and Revel Circuit belong to the 
Searcy District; De View and Howell Circuits to 
the Helena District, and all Ijelong to the White 
River Conference. 

The people of Woodruff county, excepting those 
born there, are from many different parts of the 
Union, and a few are from " foreign lands." In 
the language of Dr. Dale, " Society is well organ- 
ized, but without any cliques or ' sets ' to set their 
faces against any lady or gentleman who is entitled 
to recognition; the people are not distant toward 
strangers, but, on the eoutrai'y, cordial and hos- 
pitable, and the lines of their lives having been in 
pleasant places, their visions of the world are not 
hedged by State or countj' boundaries."' 

Augusta, the county seat of Woodruff County, 
is situated on the east bank of White River, a mile 
and a (juarter north of the Bald Knob & Memphis 
Branch of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & South- 
ern Railroad, and is connected with the latter by 
means of a street-car railway. As elsewhere stated, 
the place was originally called Chickasaw Crossing, 
and here, in the spring of 1847, John R. Elliott, 
from Philadelphia, Penn., in partnership with 
William Polite, opened the first store in the town, 
at the point where the printing office now stands, 
at the west end of Main Street. Elliott soon 



retired from the business, and his partner. Polite, 
entered a piece of land adjacent, and moved the 
store thereto. Thomas Hough then began business 
in the Iniilding first occupied by Elliott & Polite. 
In March, 1848, the town was surveyed and laid 
out by Thomas S. Carter, of Independence County, 
for Thomas Hough, its proprietor and founder, 
who named it Augusta in honor of his favorite 
cousin, Miss Augusta, daughter of S. B. T. Cald, 
of Virginia, where Mr. Hough formerly resided. 

The town has a beautiful site, and is well laid 
out, with streets crossing at right angles and run- 
ning east and west and north and south. The site 
is at least ten feet above high-water mark, and 
there is a good river landing. After the town was 
laid out the second business house on the site 
proper was erected on the opposite side of the 
street from the first one, and from thenceforward 
the place began to grow, and at the beginning of 
the Civil War it had attained a population of about 
600. During the war the town was almost en- 
tirely destroyed. On the approach of the Federal 
army, in 1862, the citizens generally fled and 
abandoned their houses, which were then torn 
down by the soldiers, who used the material to 
build shanties in their camps. At the close of the 
war many of the citizens who had fled returned, 
and together with those who had remained and 
som« newcomers, liegan to rebuild the town, 
which, having the advantages of a good navigable 
river, and, there being no railroads through the 
adjacent territory to interfere with or draw its 
trade away, it soon recovered and became prosper- 
ous, doing a good busine-ss and an immense amount 
of shipping by river communication. It reached 
its climax early in the decade of the seventies, when 
it had a population of about 1,000. Since that 
time three railroads, the Iron Mountain, Batesville 
& Brinkley, and the Bald Knob & Memphis have 
been constructed, all missing the town except the 
latter, which is a mile and a quarter distant. On 
these railroads villages have sprung up all around 
Augusta, and compelled it to divide its former trade 
with them, and consequently it has declined so 
that its population is now estimated by the best- 
informed citizens, at about 700 to 800. However, 






WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



283 



having the advantages of one raih'oad, a navigable 
river and the county seat, it will continue to be a 
good trading point and a desirable place in which 
to live. It has many handsome residences, with 
beautiful and well kept lawns. White River is 
navigable to this point for large vessels, at all sea- 
sous of the year, and at low water it is the point 
at which the freight bulk is broken for steamers 
which ply the upper "White and Black Rivers. 

Augusta has suffered great loss by hre, but it 
has been rebuilt, and now contains six general, 
two drug, six grocery, one harness and saddle, one 
confectionery and two furniture stores, four hotels 
(including boarding houses), a restaurant, two meat 
markets, a jewelry store, two livery stables, a com- 
plement of mechanics' shops, a saw-mill, four 
church edifices (two each for the white and the col- 
ored people), two public school-houses (one for the 
white and one for the colored people), three physi- 
cians, two lawyers, etc. Also Augusta Lodge No. 
45, A. F. & A. M., Augusta Chapter No. 37, 
Augusta Council No. 22. Augusta Lodge, K. of H., 
No. 1122 and Chickasaw Lodge No. 244, K. & L. 
of H. The Augusta and "White River Street Rail- 
way connects the town with the Bald Knob & Mem- 
phis Railroad at Augusta Station. The "Chick- 
asaw" steamboat, during the summer months, 
makes one trip per week between Augusta and 
Memphis, and during the cotton-shipping season 
other boats also ply the river regularly. Augusta 
is incorporated and has a full line of corporate offi- 
cers. E. E. Blackmau was mayor at the time of 
compilation (July, 1889). The town consists almost 
wholly of wooden buildings. 

The WoodrufP County "Vidette, now in its 
twelfth volume, is published weekly at Augusta, by 
^y. "W. Folsom, editor and proprietor. It is an 
eight-column folio, is neatly printed and ably 
edited, and is Democratic in politics. The first 
newspaper published in Augusta was The Augusta 
Sentinel, established about the year 1860, by 
Maurice Lewis, and printed on a press owned by 
Thomas Hough. The press was destroyed by Fed- 
eral soldiers, and the editor, Mr. Lewis, was killed 
in the Confederate army in front of Atlanta, Ga. 

Dr. F. D. Dale, in his pamphlet on " WoodrufP 



County," says: "Cotton Plant is located in Cot- 
ton Plant Township, in the southern portion of the 
County, on the Batesville & Brinkley Railroad. 
Its shipments per annum are from 1,500 to 2,000 
tons of cotton seed and from 4,000 to 7,000 bales 
of cotton. The directory of the place gives seven 
cotton buyers and general merchants, one mill, 
two druggists, four grocers, one cabinet-maker and 
undertaker, one carpenter, one blacksmith, one 
wheelwright, two physicians, two lawyers, two ho- 
tels, one restaurant, one butcher shop, one livery 
stable, one steam saw and grist mill, with gin at- 
tached. The population numbers from 500 to 600. 
According to size it is one of the busiest hives of 
industry in Eastern Arkansas. It is the natural 
center for all the trade of Freeman, Cotton Plant 
and Cane Townships." Since this sketch of Dr. 
Dale was written there has been much additional 
improvement in the town, and being situated, as 
it is, in a representative cotton-growing district, it 
is destined to continvie a prosperous and substan- 
tial town. It has been wholly built since the con- 
struction of the Batesville & Brinkley Railroad. 

De View is an old village situated two miles 
south of McCrory, containing two general stores, 
a drug store, blacksmith and wood shop, a church 
edifice, and a school-house, with a Masonic hall in 
the second story. It has only a few families, and 
its business is being absorbed by the neighboring 
towns on the railroads. 

Gray's Station, on the Batesville & Brinkley 
Railroad, two and a half miles south of its cross- 
ing with the Bald Knob & Memphis Railroad, con- 
tains two general stores, a "temperance saloon," 
a boarding house, restaiirant, school-house and 
church combined, a blacksmith shop and a livery 
stable. 

Howell Station, also on the Batesville & Brink- 
ley Railroad, about eight miles farther south, 
contains three general stores, a blacksmith shop, 
church edifice, etc. 

McCrory, on the Bald Knob & Memphis Rail 
road, two miles east of its crossing with the Bates- 
ville & Brinkley Railroad, is only two years old 
and contains seven general stores, two grocery 
stores, a hardware and furniture store, a eomple- 



;rK: 



^ 1> 



284 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ment of mechanics' sliops, one of the largest stave 
factories in the State, a hotel, livery stable, tvro 
restaurants, two frame church edifices. (one for the 
white and one for the colored people), a public 
school-house, two physicians and from 250 to 300 
people. It was named after its founder, Wade 
McCrory, the owner of its site. It has a beauti- 
ful location, and being near the railroad crossing is 
the most accessible town from all parts of the 
county, and is, therefore, a prospective candidate 
for the subsequent location of the county seat, 
which in due time it will make an effort to secure. 
The town is well laid out. the streets running 
north and south and east and west, and being of 
good width. It is also easy of access by import- 
ant wagon roads. It has a large area of excellent 
farming country tributary to it. 

Riverside, located on the Batesville & Brinkley 
Railroad, two miles north of its crossing with the 
Bald Knob & Memphis Railroad, contains three gen- 
eral, a drug and a grocery store, a ' ' temperance sa- 
loon," hotel, livery stable, blacksmith shop, a steam 
saw-mill, a church and school-house combined, 
three physicians, etc. 

The intersection of the two railroads above 
named is called Martin Crossing, and there is noth- 
ing there but a depot and a small dwelling house 
near by. All the towns named above, that are sit- 
uated on railroads, have each a railroad depot and 
a postoffice, and all do their proportion of shipping 
products. The county has a few other post ham- 
lets or villages, consisting of a postoffice, store, etc. 



I. T. Andrews, planter, of Cotton Plant, Ark., 
is one of the leading planters of Woodruff County, 
and was born in Limestone County, Ala., in 1837, 
being the son of Daniel and Mary (Morris) An- 
drews, natives of Virginia and North Carolina, and 
born in 1814 and 1815, respectively. The parents 
were married in 1836, and to their union were born 
two children, a sou and daughter: I. T. and i 
Dionitia, wife of T. L. Westmoreland. Daniel 
Andrews died in 1S41, and Mrs. Andrews was mar- 
ried the second time in 1843 to J. H. Deaver. By 
this union she became the mother of live children: 



Mary A. (wife of Dr. J. AV. Westmoreland), Thomas 
H. , Martha J. (widow of Saul Slinger), Bettie 
(wife of H. C. McLawrence) and D. J. (wife of J. 
B. Whitfield). J. H. Deaver died in 1853, and 
Mrs. Deaver, who survived her husband, now lives 
with her widowed daughter, Mrs. Slinger, at Cotton 
Plant. She is and has been for many years a con- 
sistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. I. T. Andrews started into business for 
himself in 1858. by farming his mother's land in 
Tennessee, but left that State and immigrated to 
Arkansas in 1860, locating in Poinsett County. 
His mother purchased 240 acres of land, which he 
farmed until the breaking out of the war when he 
enlisted in the infantry under Capt. Westmoreland, 
and served until July 9, 1863. He was then capt- 
ured at Port Hudson, taken to Johnson's Island 
and there held until February 9, 1864, when he was 
transferred to Point Lookout; there retained until 
March 3, when he was sent to City Point and was 
there paroled. After the war he resumed fiarming, 
also operated a cotton gin in Woodruff County. He 
selected as his companion in life. Miss Martha West- 
moreland, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas West- 
moreland, and was united in marriage to her in 
1858. This union has been blessed by the birth of 
three children, but only one is now living: Samuel, 
who married a Miss C. Keath, and resides on a 
farm in this county. The children deceased were 
named: Edione and Minnie. Mrs. Andrews was 
born in Giles County, Tenn. , in 1836. Her father 
died in 1865, and her .mother in 1887, both mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. 
Andrews is a member of the I. O. O. F., Lodge 
No. 76, and he and wife have been members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church for seventeen years. 
Mr. Andi'ews is one of the enterprising farmers of 
the county, is the owner of 230 acres of land in 
Woodruff County, Ark., with 120 acres under cul- 
tivation and his principal crops are corn and cotton. 
Dr. L. L. Battle, a man of remarkable ability 
and great prominence in the profession, is num- 
bered among the leading members of the medical 
fi-aternity in Woodruff County, Ark., and origin- 
ally came fi-om Wake County, N. C, where he 
was born March 20. 1828. He was reared in 



^ 



•^1 



^. 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



285 



Shelb}' County, Tenn., whitlipr his parents, Will- 
iam and Chloe (Body) Battle, moved from their 
native State of North Carolina, both dying in 
Memphis, Tenu., and here our sul)ject received a 
liberal education. He began the study of medicine 
when eighteen years of age, and having chosen this 
profession as his life's vocation, he graduated from 
the Memphis Medical College in 1849, and in 1851 
from the JefiPerson Medical College, of Philadel- 
phia, Penn. Thus becoming thoroughly fitted to 
successfully pursue his calling, he settled in Hhelby 
County, Tenn, but at the end of two years came 
to Mississipjji County, Ark., and in 1855 returned 
to his first location. Here he remained until 1885, 
then came to Riverside, where he has since suc- 
cessfully practiced, and is now a member of the 
Woodi'uff County Medical Association, and is vice- 
president of the Trio-State Medical Society of 
Memphis. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and since 
1854 has been a married man, his first wife being 
Miss Martha B. Chester, a daughter of Robert I. 
Chester, of Jackson, Tenn. , by whom he has the 
following children: Dr. AVilliam B. , Mrs. Dr. J. 
W. Jones, Mrs. L. P. Cooper, Jr., Mrs. John 
Cunningham and Miss Patsey C. Dr. Battle's 
second wife was a Mrs. Preston, who bore him one 
son, Preston, and for his third wife he took Mrs. 
M. W. Riley. The Doctor is one of the wealthy 
men of the count}', and owns about 1,500 acres of 
land, of which 375 acres are under cultivation. In 
1849 he was appointed surgeon of a company of 
men on their way to California to dig gold, but 
before reaching their destination thirteen men 
starved to death and the Doctor was reduced in 
flesh thirty-live pounds. His expedition suffered 
many hardships and privations, and met with many 
thrilling adventures, too numerous to be given to 
this volume. During the hostilities between the 
foreigners and Americans in South California, in 
the winter of 1849 and 1850, he was appointed 
surgeon of the latter' s forces. 

John B. Beard, a prosperous and well-known 
farmer and ginner of Howell Station, is a native of 
Arkansas and was born in 1851, being the son of 
Samuel and Eliza (Beauy) Beard. Samuel Beard 
came to Arkansas from Mississippi, at an early day. 



and settled in Woodruff County. He was an indus- 
trious, enterprising farmer and citizen, and his 
death, which occurred in 1857, was mourned by 
many. His excellent wife survived him about 
fifteen years. Of a family of seven children, John 
B. and one other are the only surviving members, 
he being the younger. He was reared by his 
widowed mother, and as the school facilities of his 
boyhood were few, his education was of necessity 
neglected, but by constant reading and his keen 
sense of observation he has become a well-in- 
formed man. In 1881 Mr. Beard was married to 
Mollie, daughter of Thomas and Esther Berry. 
Mrs. Beard is a native of Arkansas, her birth 
occurring in Woodruff County, where her aged 
father is now residing, her mother having died 
some years ago. Mr. Berry was one of the early 
settlers of this portion of the country, and relates 
many interesting episodes of the first experience of 
the pioneers, what they were-obliged to submit 
to, their privations and inconveniences without 
number; these now seem almost improlialjle. To 
Mr. and Mrs Beard a family of four childi-en have 
been born, three sons and one daughter. He has 
000 acres of land with 300 under cultivation, and 
in connection with the substantial buildings of his 
farm he owns a fine town residence. His farm is 
only three miles from town, which of coiirse makes 
it very much more valuable. He certainly is justi- 
fied in feeling proud of his possessions, for they 
are his only by personal efforts and hard work. 
He is a Democrat and voted for Greeley in 1872. 
He is a liberal contributor, and lends his support 
to all worthy movements for the good or growth 
of the county. Mrs. Beard is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

John W. Becton, planter and ginner of Cotton 
Plant, owes his nativity to North Carolina, his 
birth occurring in that State in 1834, and he is the 
son of Thomas and Nancy M. (White) Becton, also 
of North Carolina origin, born in the year 1814. 
Mr. Becton was a prosperous planter, and at the 
time of the war was worth $100,000, hut. like 
many others, lost all he had during that disastrous 
period. He was a well-educated gentleman, a Uni- 
versalist in his religious belief, and a great Bible 



^■v^ 



\\&- 



IkL 



286 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



reader, oftentimes being able to speak fluently on 
subjects at a better advantage than those who 
professed a clearer knowledge of the same. His 
death, which occurred in 18G7. was regi-etted by his 
many friends and acquaintances. His father, John 
B. Becton, a wealthy planter, was born and died 
in North Carolina, the date of his birth being in 
the year 1777. His father was one Michael Bec- 
ton. Mrs. Becton, the wife of Thomas Becton, 
died in 1869. Her father, Reuben White, was a 
native of North Carolina, and a man of unusual 
attainments and business qualitications. John W. 
Becton, the .subject of this sketch, is the eldest of 
four sons and daughters: Corie (now the wife of 
ex-Gov. James Robinson, now of Kentucky, and 
one of the war Governors of that State), Mary E. 
(the wife of Rev. B. F. Mills. Mr. Mills was an 
ex-Federal officer in the Civil War, married during 
that time, and is now residing in Michigan), Sarah 
A. (Mrs. West, of Durham, N. C), Olie (Mrs. 
Kornezy, of Kingston, N. C. ), Edward G. (holding 
a prominent position as teacher in Texas'), Fred B. 
(a merchant of Kingston, N. C.) and William R. 
(died in 1878). John W. Becton was given the ad- 
vantages of a good common-school education, and 
these facilities he was not slow to improve, being 
to-day a well-educated man. He was married in 
1859 to Miss Sallie, daughter of James and Pearcy 
Nunn, of North Carolina, where Mr. Nunn died 
in 1801. Mrs. Nunn survives her husband, and 
though at quite an advanced age enjoys ordinary 
health. Mrs. Becton was born in North Carolina, 
and died May 5, 1886, having borne twelve chil- 
dren, all of them deceased. She was a member, 
in excellent standing, of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and respected by her many friends and 
acquaintances. On December 15, 1886, Mr. Bec- 
ton was united in marriage to Miss Alice Foy, 
daughter of James H. and Catherine Foy, who 
resided in North Carolina the greater portion of 
their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Becton are the parents 
of two children, only one now living. In January 
of 1860 Mr. Becton moved to Prairie County, 
Ark. , and after a residence of seven years came to 
Woodi'uff, having lived on his present farm for 
seventeen years. His plantation is among the 



best in the county, consisting of 720 acres, with 
225 under cultivation. Among the improvements, 
which are numerous, he owns and operates a good 
gin. One of the finest fruit and grain farms in 
the State is the property of Mr. Becton, situated 
in Boone County. He also raises and deals in 
stock quite extensively, being considered a supe- 
rior judge of all breeds. He served in the late 
war, enlisting in Company G, Twenty-first Ar- 
kansas Infantry, and remained in Tennessee until 
the fall of Vicksburg. There he was captured, but 
soon after paroled, returning at once to Arkansas. 
He accompanied Gen. Price on his raid through 
Missouri and Kansas, and surrendered at Devall's 
Bluff. At the close of hostilities Mr. Becton 
found himself almost destitute, with a wife and 
three children dependent on him, but, nothing 
daunted, he never lost courage, and by his untir- 
ing energy and great ambition stands to-day one 
of the wealthy and influential men of the county. 
He served as justice of the peace two years in 
Woodruff County, and since the war has been a 
stanch Republican, though formerly a Whig. His 
first vote was cast for President Fillmore. Mr. 
and Mrs. Becton are held in high esteem by their 
many friends. The latter is a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. 

Eli Burkett, an enterprising planter, black- 
smith and wood workman, first saw the light of 
day in Upson County, Ga., January 28, 1828, 
being the son of John and Celia (Ethridge) Bur- 
kett. John Burkett was born September 10, 1805, 
in Marlborough District, S. C, and was reared to 
farm life, which occupation he followed the re- 
mainder of his years. He was married to Miss 
Ethridge, in Wilkinson County, Ga. , August 4, 
1826, and by her became the father of eight chil- 
dren, four of them now living: Enoch V., William 
L., Mary (the wife of J. A. Baley) and Eli. Mr. 
Burkett was a member of the Baptist Church, as 
was also his wife; his death occurred December 
29, 1869. Mrs. Burkett was born in Cumberland 
County, N. C, August 5, 1803, and died in 1885. 
Her parents were natives of North Carolina. Eli 
Burkett' 8 early life was passed on the farm help- 
ing his father, and attending school a few months 



;f* 



@ k^ 



,u 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



287 



in the year. He was marriecl to Miss Rosanah 
Gilbert, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jabez 
Gilbert, of Butts County, Ga- Their marriage 
was solemnized June 4, 1850, and to them were 
born seven children: John, Jabez, Margaret (the 
wife of J. B. McMurtrie), Drewry, Thomas, Davis 
and Lee. Mr. Burkett immigrated from Georgia 
to Arkansas, in 1869, locating in Woodriiil County, 
where he bought 140 acres of land, with sixty un- 
der cultivation. In connection with his farming, 
Mr. Burkett owns and operates a blacksmith and 
wood shop, which he established in 1873. He 
manufactures wagons, buggies and farming imple- 
ments; he has built up a good trade, of which he 
is well deserving, being an industrious, hard- 
working man, and respected by all. In societies 
he is identified with A. F. & A. M. , Colony Lodge 
No. 190, and of the I. O. O. F., De View Lodge 
No. 71. At the breaking out of the late war, Mr. 
Burkett enlisted in January, 1862, in the Thirty- 
second Georgia Infantry, Company I, where he 
served as a private, until NovemV)er, 1864, when 
he was promoted to second lieutenant, and com- 
manded his company on that memorable day, 
March 19, 1865, at Bentonville, N. C, in which 
eight of his company was killed and thirteen 
wounded, he receiving a wound in this battle, 
which disabled him until April 16, when he was 
discharged at the hospital at Thorn as ville, N. C. 
Mrs. Burkett is a native of Butts County, Ga. , 
this county being the place of her birth, which oc- 
curred April 15, 1825. Her parents were residing 
in Georgia at the time of her demise, Mr. Gilbert 
dying February 4, 1864, his wife surviving him 
until April 29, 1888. 

J. W. Buster & Bro. Throughout Woodruff 
County and vicinity there is probably no more favor- 
ably known business firm than that of Buster Bros. , 
which has been established since 1877. They are 
careful and painstaking buyers, and are thrifty mer- 
chants, strictly attending to business, thereby gain- 
ing a large share of the county's patronage. They 
estaVilished the postoffice at Riverside, and kept it in 
charge for two years. Conjointly the members of the 
firm own 500 acres of land, with about 270 under 
cultivation. Their parents, Samuel and Emily K. 



(Lewis) Buster, were of Virginia and Alabama, re- 
spectively, and wore married, in Germantown, Shel- 
by County, Tenn. In 1850 they came to Arkan- 
sas, and located in Woodruff County, where the 
father purchased a farm, cultivating and living on 
it until his death, which occurred in 1852, that of 
his wife occurring in 1880. To the father and 
mother was born a family of eight children, three 
now living: John W., Lucy and Thomas M. The 
latter was born in Shelby County, Tenn., January 

4, 1844, but was principally reared in the home of 
his parents' adoption (Woodruff County), and from 
his earliest youth has given much of his attention 
and time to farming, and in connection with his 
duties at the store assists his brother in the man- 
agement of their extensive plantation. Thomas M. 
was married, in 1872, to Miss Rebecca Bellington, 
who departed this life in 1879, leaving two chil- 
dren: Fannie and Rebecca. He and his lirother 
are Masons, having been initiated into the secrets 
and sworn allegiance to this society; they also be- 
long to the K. of H. J. W. Buster came into this 
world in 1834, and like his brother, spent most of 
his boyhood and received his education in the State 
of Tennessee. During the war he enrolled him- 
self with the Fifth Arkansas Regiment, was wound- 
ed by a gunshot at Mark's Mills, and was captured 
at Decatur, Ala., but managed to make his escaj)e. 
He served until the surrender, which sounded the 
bugle- note of peace, then returned home. He is 
unmarried. 

N. D. Byrd, a prominent merchant of De View 
Township, who, by his pleasing and affable manner 
and keen sense of honor, has won many friends, is 
the son of Bryan and Sallie (Ross) Byrd, of Henry 
County, Tenn., nativity, being born in 1826. Bryan 
Byrd, N. D. 's father, was l)orn in Chester County, 

5. C. , and reared to farm life; was a carpenter by 
trade, and eventually became a minister of the 
Baptist Church. Ho immigrated from Tennessee 
to Arkan.sas in 1855, locating in Yell County. His 
marriage with Miss Ross was solemnized in North 
Carolina and by her became the father of twelve 
children; only one of that large family is now liv- 
ing, N. D., the subject of this sketch. The senior 
Byrd was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and 



a j^ 



-« s> 



K^ 



288 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



died in Yell County in 1850, his wife surviving him 
until 186-1. He and his wife were connected with 
the B&ptist Church. N. D. Byrd started out in 
the world for himself in 1847. his first venture was 
farming on rented land in Tennessee in which he 
was quite successful. On December 30, 1847, he 
was united in holy matrimony with Miss Frances 
J. True, and to them were born six children, four 
boys and two girls, three of them now living: Jo- 
sephine (the wife of L. B. Smith), Leonidas and 
Thomas C. Mrs. Byrd died in 1855 in full faith 
of the Methodist Episcopal Chm-ch. Mr. Byrd re- 
mained a widower until 1865, then married Miss 
Alice Crook, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James 
Crook, of Marshall County, Miss. Mr. Byrd came 
to Arkansas from Tennessee in 1870. locating in Van 
Buren, Crawford County, residing here one year, 
then came to this place where he engaged in farming 
until 1886. Since 1886 he has been occupied in 
the mercantile business and has established a most 
lucrative trade. He served in the late war, enlist- 
ing in the cavalry in 1863, and received his dis- 
charge after one year of brave and chivalrous serv- 
ice. Mr. and Mrs. Byrd are members of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Chnrch, and are highly 
esteemed by all who are fortunate in knowing them. 
James H. Campbell, merchant. Augusta, Ark. 
This successful and enterprising business man 
owes his nativity to Mecklenburg County, Ky. , 
where his birth occurred in November, 1843, and 
is one of six children, three now living: William 
P., James H. and Mrs. R. D. Hopkins, born to 
the union of Alexander and Sallie \V. (Kenchelve) 
Campbell, the father a native of Ireland, and the 
mother of Kentucky. The father died in the last- 
named State, but the mother died in "Woodruff 
County, Ark. James H. Campbell attained his 
growth and received his education in Kentucky. 
In 1861 he came to Augusta, and the same year 
he enlisted in Company A, First Kentucky Cavalry, 
and served until the sm-render. He was wounded 
through the right shoulder-blade by a gunshot 
at a railroad fight under Gen. Forrest, and was in 
the principal engagements of his regiment. At 
the close of service he returned to Kentucky, and 
there remained until 1870, when he came back to 



Augusta, where he has since resided. The firm of 
W. P. Campbell & Bros, was organized in 1872, 
and still continues. They carry a large stock of 
goods and general merchandise, and handle a great 
deal of cotton each season. They are also inter- 
ested in considerable real estate. Mr. Campbell is 
secretary and treastirer of the White River Hedge 
Company, which has sold over 100 miles this sea- 
son. He was married, in 1872, to Miss Eliza Hop- 
kins, of Kentucky, and a daughter of Dr. H. H. 
Hopkins. To this union were born two children: 
Tilman and Alex. H. Mr. Campbell is a member 
of the Knights of Honor, and has been recorder 
of same since the organization, in 1878. He has 
been mayor for several years. 

R. Cariker. In numerating the names of the 
prominent jjlanters of Woodruif County, the name 
of R. Cariker should not be omitted. He is a na- 
tive of Tennessee and was born in Hardeman County 
in 1853, as the son of G. M. and Elizabeth (Gray) 
Cariker. G. M. Cariker owes his nativity to Mid- 
dle Tennessee, having been born in that State in 
1829. He immigrated to Arkansas in 1859, locat- 
ing in Woodruff County, where he purchased 440 
acres of land, and was married to Miss Grey, of 
Tennessee, in 1852. To this union a family of six 
children have been given: Thomas J., Lyciu-gus, 
Levina (the wife of E. H. Arnold), Fiiller (de- 
ceased), Cynthia E. (now Mrs. B. F. Doughty) 
and R. Cariker (the subject of this sketch). Him- 
self and wife were members of good standing in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and enjoyed a 
large circle of fi-iends and acquaintances. He died 
in this State, in 1878, his wife having "gone 
before ' ' in the year 1857. R. Cariker was mar- 
ried in 1875 to Miss Tululae Sears, a native of 
Georgia, and born in 1858, and whose parents 
were also natives of Georgia. R. Cariker is a 
farmer by occupation, and is an A. F. & A. M. , 
belonging to Augusta Lodge. He owns 170 acres 
of excellent land, with about ninety under cultiva- 
tion, the principal crop being corn and cotton. 
Mr. Cariker is a prosperous agriculturist, favors all 
public improvements, such as churches, schools, 
etc. , and is a man held in high esteem by the entire 
community. 



^-. 



11^ 



Iht 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



289 



A. C. Carter, a leading and long- established 
merchant of Cotton Plant, and who is known the 
county over, having settled himself in business in 
that town in 1871, is a native of Rowan County, 
N. C, and was born in 1810, the son of Thomas 
and Eliza L. (Johnson) Carter, of North and South 
Carolina origin, respectively. Thomas Carter was 
of Scotch-Irish descent, a well to- do farmer, and 
was married in North Carolina, where he died 
when A. C. was about twelve years old. His wife 
is living at the age of seventy-six. a devout 
member of the Presbyterian Church. She was 
twice married, her second husband dying during 
the war. A. C. Carter is the third in a family of 
four sons and two daughters, and received all the 
education to be had at that period. He left the 
parental roof at the age of sixteen, and worked as 
a farm hand until 18<)1, when he enlisted in the 
war and joined Company K, Fourth North Caro- 
lina Infantry in Lee's army, participating in 
nearly all the battles of that army. He was 
wounded in June, 1862, at Cold Harbor, and was 
sent home on furlough for some time. In April, 
1864, he surrendered with Lee, and shortly after 
returned to his home. Rowan County, N. C. , and 
engaged in farming till the spring of 1870, when 
he came to Arkansas and farmed till the fall of 
1872 ; after which he embarked in the mercantile 
business with one Robert Holt, their capital con- 
sisting of only a few hundred dollars. Notwith- 
standing that the financial start was very modest, 
he stands to-day among the best-known firms of 
the town. Mr. Carter has a fine farm of 212 acres 
in Monroe County, with 170 under cultivation, 
and on which farm is a good residence. A fine 
block in the town erected by him is another mark 
of his ambition and enterprise, all the work of 
perseverance and economy. He was married in 
1872 to Miss Emma Gideon, of Mississippi na- 
tivity, who came to Arkansas with her parents 
when small, and left an orphan when (juito young. 
Two children have been born to this union, one son 
and one daughter. Mr. Carter, believing that 
education is the foundation stone to future success, 
spares no pains or expense to give his children 
every advantage to be had. In his political views 



Mr. Carter is a stanch Democrat, voting for Gree- 
ley in 1872. He affiliates with the Knights of 
Honor and Knights and Ladies of Honor at Cotton 
Plant, and has held various offices in these lodges, 
quite recently holding the office of Assistant Dicta- 
tor in the former lodge, and that of Treasurer in 
the latter. He was formerly a member of I. O. O. 
F. , and wherever he goes is greeted with a royal 
welcome and a hearty hand-shake, all going to show 
that he is far from unpopialar. He and wife are both 
members of the Methodist Church, and in all 
church and educational matters, he is a ready and 
liberal contributor. 

Capt. William A. Chaney, prominently identi- 
fied with the mercantile interests of Cotton Plant, 
! and one of the leading planters of the county, is a 
native of Tennessee, his birth occurring in Tipton 
County, in 1838, as the son of Capt. Joseph E. and . 
Nancy (Shelton) Chaney. They were natives of 
Virginia, and born in Petersburg, where they were 
reared and married, but in an early day moved to 
West Tennessee. They died in Tipton County, 
Tenn. , Mr. Chaney passing away when William 
was only three or four years old; Mrs. Chaney' s 
death occurred in 1870, at the age of seventy years. 
Both were members of the Missionary Baptist 
Church, and he served in the War of 1812, with 
Jackson at New Orleans, wearing the title of 
captain. He was of Irish descent, and possessed 
of great educational attainments. Grandfather 
Thomas Shelton was a native of Virginia, one of the 
early settlers of Tennessee, and moved from there 
to Brandon, Miss., where he died very wealthy. 
Capt. William A. Chaney, the youngest of eleven 
children, and the only one now living, remained 
with his mother until grown to maturity, and re- 
ceived liberal advantages for an education, all of 
which he was careful to improve. In March, 1858, 
he was married to Ann J. Versur. a daughter of 
Dr. William Versur, of Tennessee (who died in 
Lonoke, Ark. , having come to that place in 1858). 
Subsequently removing to Arkansas he settled in 
Lonoke, where his wife died in 1859. In ISGl he 
joined a company of the First Arkansas Cavalry of 
Fagan's army, and gave his efficient service until 
the close of the war, being in Arkansas, Missouri, 



« k. 



^. 



290 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Texas and Kansas, in various ranks. He was mus- 
tered out as captain, and served in nearly all the 
engagements with great credit. In March, 1865, 
Capt. Chaney was united in marriage with Miss 
Emma, daughter of J. K. Crossett, a jjrominent 
physician in "White County. There he died in 
1887, having made it his home from 1858. Mrs. 
Chaney was born in Mississippi. To their union 
have been given seven children, three daughters 
and two sons now living. Soon after the war the 
Captain returned to Tipton County, Tenn. , where 
he farmed until 1871, and then came to Cotton 
Plant, since being engaged in farming and mer- 
chandising. He owns a large amount of property 
(improved) in Tennessee and Arkansas, and a very 
nice residence in town. He is a Democrat and 
voted for Bell in 1870. The K. of H. Lodge at 
Cotton Plant counts him as a member, and he was 
formerly an Odd Fellow. Capt. Chaney is sparing 
no pains or expense to educate his children, and is 
giving them every opportunity to become accom- 
plished. His wife is an earnest worker and mem- 
ber of the Methodist Church. 

L. D. Cole, a wealthy farmer and ginner of 
Barnes Township, is a native of Georgia, and was 
born in Cass County in 1851, the son of Jacob W. 
and Laura (Banks) Cole. Jacob "\V. Cole was a 
Virginian by birth, and when a young man immi- 
grated to Georgia, where he was married and re- 
sided until his death in 1880. He served in the 
Confederate army in the First Georgia Infantry as 
captain, but was discharged after two years on ac- 
count of disability. His father, Plum Cole, also a 
native of Virginia, died in Gilmer County, Ga., at 
the age of one hundred and twelve. He was a 
Presbyterian in his religious faith, and his wife, who 
died when one hundred and thirteen years of age, 
was also of the same belief. Plum Cole was of 
Irish descent, and served in the War of 1812 with 
Jackson. Mrs. Cole, the mother of the subject of 
this sketch, is now residing in Texas, a devout 
member of the Baptist Church. Her father, Will- 
iam Banks was born in the Old World, but is at 
this time a resident of Georgia, at the age of nearly 
one hundred years. Mr. Banks has always been 
a farmer and miner, enjoying fair prosperity, and 



the respect of all who know him. L. D. Cole, the 
third child in a family of six sons and three 
daughters, received his primary education in the 
schools of his native State, and also spent four 
years at Stilesborough (Ga. ) College. In 1870 he 
came to Cross County ^nd worked for one year as 

' a farm hand, also putting in a crop one season for 
himself. He was married in 1873 in Cross County 
to Tolly, daughter of John and Lucinda Clark. 

, Mr. Clark was married in South Carolina, and in 
1849 came to what is now Cross County. At that 
time it was a perfect wilderness, but by his un- 
ceasing labors he soon raised his place from its 
embryo state to that of high and successful culti- 
vation. Himself and wife were members of the 
Presbyterian Church, and died in 1858 and 1863, 
respectively. Mrs. Cole was born in South Caro- 
lina, and was one of five children, two sons and 
three daughters. The year of Mr. Cole's mar- 
riage, he came to Woodruff County and settled in 
the woods in Barnes Township, where he improved 
a farm and resided until 1885. He then came to 
his present farm, which was at that time entirely 

' unimproved, but through energy and persevering 
labor he now has a home of 360 acres in two farms 
with 200 acres under cultivation. It is all his own 
property, and the result of his industry, which 

' considering the inconveniences and hardships en- 
dured by all pioneers at that time is truly com- 
mendable. Mr. Cole trades in cattle and hogs, 
and for two years has been running one of the best 
steam gin and corn mills in the county. He was 
court and deputy sheriff of Barnes Township for 

i four years, and is an active worker in all educa- 

! tional purposes. He is a Democrat, and voted for 
Greeley in 1872. Mrs. Cole is a member in good 
standing of the Methodist Church, to which her 
husband liberally contributes. 

D. R. Compton. There is no sketch within 
the Biographical Department of this work which 
presents a better example of the rise of young men 
fi'om a lowly place to a position of honor and re- 
spect, than appears in these few lines, for, at the 
age of nineteen years, Mr. Compton started out in 
life for himself, and is now the owner of 370 acres 
of land, of which 150 acres are under cultivation. 



!> I^ 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



291 



He was born in Pittsylvania County, Va. , October 
16, 1830, and is the oldest child born to Reuben 
and Nancy (Farmer) Compton, who were also Vir- 
ginians. He was reared and educated in his na- 
tive county, and upon first leaving home, went to 
West Tennessee, where he was engaged in farming 
for about nine years. In 1 800 he took up his per- 
manent abode in Woodruff County, Ark., and was 
for a short time located near Augusta. From 1862 
until the close of the war, he has served in Com- 
pany E, Twenty-second Arkansas Infantry, and 
since the war he has been engaged in conducting 
his farm, his efforts in this direction being attended 
with the best results. In 1853 his marriage with 
Miss Tabitha Lax was celebrated, and of six chil- 
dren born to them, only two are living: David and 
Edward. His marriage to his present wife, whose 
maiden name was Berna Neill, took place in 1882, 
and their union has been blessed in the birth of 
three children: Reuben H., Virginia B. and Colum- 
bus N. 

B. B. Conner, a so-to-speak pioneer of Wood- 
ruff County, and a man who, by courage and a firm 
determination to overcome the obstacles encoun- 
tered in making a home in a new country, was 
born in Giles County, Tenn., on March 29, 1829, 
and is a son of Lewis and Nancy (Preston) Con- 
ner, the former a Kentuckian and the latter a na- 
tive of Tennessee. They were married in Ten- 
nessee and lived and died in Giles County, where 
the father made the occupation of tanning and 
farming a means of livelihood. Four of their eight 
children born to this marriage, are now living: 
James H. , Bolivar B., John C. and Mrs. Carter. 
Bolivar B. Conner was a pupil in the common 
schools of Giles County in his youth, and learned 
the art of agriculture on his father's farm, which 
occupation he continued to follow after coming to 
Woodruff County, in 1851. He purchased a quar- 
ter section of land, with twenty-one acres cleared, 
on which was a little log cabin in which he settled 
and set himself energetically to work to clear his 
land, and that he has been successful will be clearly 
shown when the fact is stated that he now owns 
1,000 acres of as good land as there is in Wood- 
ruff County, and has some 600 acres under the 



plow. His farm is one of the finest and most val- 
uable in the State and is admirably adapted to the 
raising of all kinds of cereals. He has a hand- 
some I'esidence, fitted up in modern style, and is 
so situated financially that he can now enjoy life. 
He was married, in 1854, to Eliza L. Hall, a na- 
tive of Virginia, and by her he has had a family 
of seven children, five of whom now live: Mrs. 
Stacy, Emerson H. , Mrs. Cora McDonald, Minnie 
L. and John L. Mr. Conner is a Mason. 

E. J. Crossett, a leading merchant and a very 
prominent citizen of De View, was born in Carroll 
County, Tenn., in 1845. J. K. Crossett, his father, 
was born in South Carolina, in 1815, and was 
reared and educated to farm life, which occupation 
he never departed from. In 1836 Mr. Crossett led 
to the hymeneal altar, Miss Elizabeth Cupp, of 
Carroll County, Tenn., originally from South Caro- 
lina, her parents being from that State. To Mr. 
Crossett' s marriage a family of eight childi-en was 
born, six of them now living: W. R. , J. J., R. B. , 
C. M. , Emma (the wife of W. A. Chaney) and E. 
J. They immigrated from Tennessee to De Soto 
County, Miss., in 1845, thence to Arkansas in 
1853, locating in this county. Mr. Crossett pur- 
chased 160 acres of land, which he brought to a 
successful state of cultivation. Mrs. Crossett died 
in 1860, a consistent Christian and an earnest 
worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church, of 
which she was a member. In 1861 Mr. Crossett 
was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Corley, of St. 
Francis County, Ark., and to their union two chil- 
dren were born: Addie and Ida (the wife of J. D. 
Parttow). Mr. Crossett was a constituent of the 
I. O. O. F., and died in 18S7, at his home in this 
county. E. J. began life for himself in 1865. 
His war record, though not a brilliant one, will 
always be remembered by him as one on which 
there is not a blemish, and he has the satisfaction 
of knowing that he was earnest in the discharge of 
his duties. He enlisted under Capt. Wilson, in 
the Twenty- second Arkansas Cavalry Regiment (B), 
entering service in 1863, remaining until the sur- 
render in 1865, at Wittsburg, Ark. He then re- 
turned home, and for one year farmed, at the end 
of which time he learned and became skilled in the 



^ 



f 



\ 



292 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



carpenter's trade, which occupation be followed 
until 1871. Subsequently dropping^ his trade, be 
again resumed the tilling of the soil, continuing 
in this up to the year 1878, at which time be em- 
barked in the mercantile business in De View, 
remaining in this place ever since. Mr. Crossett 
was united in marriage with Miss Muttie McMurtry 
in 1870, and to their union four children were born. 
Mrs. Crossett was born in Tennessee, in 1853, and 
came with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Moses Mc- 
Murtry, to this county when about two years old. 
Mr. McMurtry was a native of Ohio, and his wife 
was born in Mississippi. Both died in 1878, in full 
communion with the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
In politics Mr. Crossett votes with the Democratic 
party. Himself and wife belong to the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. He is a courteous, hospitable 
gentleman, making numerous friends, few if any 
enemies, and enjoys with his estimable wife, the 
respect of all. 

Dr. F. D. Dale, physician and surgeon, of 
Augusta, Ark. Few men have attained more 
prominence in Woodruff County in a social as well 
as a pi'ofessional point of view, than Dr. Dale, 
who is courteous and pleasant in all his relations 
to the public. He owes his nativity to Jefferson 
County, Ky. , where his birth occurred on February 
14, 1847, and was reared on a farm until eighteen 
years of age, receiving the rudiments of an educa- 
tion in the common schools, but supplementing the 
same by a course at St. Mary's College, at Lebanon, 
Ky. At an early age he began the study of medi- 
cine and graduated at the University of Louisiana, 
in 186y. The same year he commenced practicing 
in Augusta, Ark. , and there he has remained ever 
since, his time being entirely devoted to the relief 
of suffering humanity. He has built up an exten- 
sive practice and is one of the tirstclass physicians 
of the town. He has one of the finest residences 
in Augusta, and his surroundings show him to be 
an energetic citizen. He has done much toward 
building up the country. He is president of the 
WoodrufF County Medical Association and a mem- 
ber of the Railway Medical Association of Surgeons 
of the United States. He was a member of the 
town council two years. His marriage occurred in 



1872 to Miss Ida Hamblet, of Augusta, and the 
fruits of this union are three children: Hamblet, 
Ruth and Pat. The Doctor is a member of the 
Masonic order, K. T., K. of H. and K. & L. of H. 
He is the fourth in order of birth of eight children, 
six sons and two daughters, born to the union of 
Delancey and Ruth (Caruthers) Dale, natives of 
Spencer County, Ky. The paternal grandfather 
was a native of Virginia, and of Irish origin, while 
the maternal grandfather was of German origin. 
Delancey Dale followed the occupation of a farmer 
and lived and died in his native county. The 
mother is yet living. 

Hon. J. B. Dent, widely and officially known 
throughout Wood County, and a prominent citizen 
of Augusta, is a native of Monongalia County, W. 
Va. , being born May 10, 1831, and is a son of 
James and Dorcas (Berkshire) Dent, the former a 
Virginian and the mother from Cumberland, I\Id., 
the marriage of the parents taking place in the 
former State. The paternal grandfather, John 
Dent, was the first sheriff of Monongalia County, 
W. Va. , and was a captain in the Revolutionary 
War, his father-in-law. Col. Evans, by his bravery, 
also won his title in that struggle. John Dent 
died in Virginia, having been known throughout 
his entire life as a man of active and energetic 
habits, retaining these even in his old age. The 
maternal grandfather, William Berkshire, was a 
Baptist minister, and his son Ralph was chief just- 
ice of West Virginia for several years. James 
Dent was captain of a dompany of militia in his 
young days, and in 1835 moved with his family to 
Putnam County, 111., where he made his home un- 
til his death, in 1883, his wife dying in 1878. Six 
of their eleven children are now living: Mrs. Mc- 
Coy, Mrs. Parrett, Hon. J. B., Mrs. Douglass (of 
Iowa), Mrs. Taylor (of Kansas) and S. E. J. B. Dent 
was put to school at an early day, and after acquir- 
ing a fair knowledge of the English branches, he 
entered Judson College, remaining here for two 
years. Upon starting out in life for himself he 
accepted a position as salesman in a wholesale 
house of Chicago, filling this position for two 
years; later was in business in Galena, where he 
remained also two years, and afterward spent 



"^ ^ 



% 



e w. 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



293 



some time in Cairo. la 1801 be eulisteil in Com- 
pany A, First Illinois Cavalry, and was commis- 
sioned second lieutenant, but at the end of one 
year be joined the Fourteenth Illinois and was 
made captain of Company C. When mustered 
out of service was major of his regiment. He was 
in the battles of Lexington, Buffington's Island, 
Knoxville, Cumberland Gap, and was in all the 
battles from Dalton to Altanta, and during his war 
career was thrice captured, once at Lexington, in 
1861, aod again in 1864, while with Stonemau on 
his raid on Macon, and was put under lire of his 
own batteries at Charleston, S. C. , but remained 
uninjured. When captured the third time he was 
on a train going from Charleston to Cincinnati, 
and was taken back and put in Libby prison. After 
being held in this dungeon for two months was ex- 
changed. In the fall of 1865 he came to Arkansas 
and located in Woodruff County where he met 
friends and decided to permanently locate. Al- 
though his finances were at a very low ebb he 
bought a farm, and is now one of the largest real- 
estate owners in the county, his lands amounting 
to about 5,000 acres, 2,500 of which are wild land, 
and the remainder of very fertile soil. He offi- 
ciated as coxmty assessor in 1874, and for three 
terms held the position of county and probate 
judge. In 1888 he was elected on the Democrat 
ticket to the State legislature, and is now tilling 
the duties of that position in a manner highly sat- 
isfactory to his townsmen who honored him with 
their votes. He was a delegate to the National 
Convention that nominated Cleveland for the pres- 
idency, which met in St. Louis. He was one of 
the men who defended Gov. Baxter and replaced 
him in office, acting as lieutenant from Augusta 
during the Brooks-Baxter trouble. During the 
Ku-Klux and militia times he fearlessly expressed 
his opinion, defended himself against both parties 
and assisted in protecting his neighbors from the 
depredations of these lawless men. The Major is 
a whole-souled and honorable man, and is ever 
ready to defend his country, friend or neiglibor. 
He has taken the degree of Knight Templar in 
the order of Masons, and takes great pride in his 
lodge. 



Capt. S. E. Dent, merchant, Eiverside, Ark. 
This prominent and highly esteemed business man 
owes his nativity to Putman County, 111., where 
his birth occurred, in September, 1843, and is the 
son of James and Dorcas (Berkshire) Dent, she a 
sister of Judge Berkshire, of the Old Dominion. 
Both parents were natives of Virginia, and were 
married in Monongalia County, W. Va., where 
they remained until 1833. Then they immigrated 
to Illinois, and located in Putman County, where 
they passed their declining years, both dying since 
the war. They had a family of ten children, six 
now living: Mrs. Nancy McCoy (in Illinois), Mrs. 
Emily Parrett (widow of Judge Parrett), Margaret 
(deceased), Mrs. Lucinda Douglass (in Johnson 
County, Iowa), Mrs. Gilla Taylor (in Red Cloud, 
Neb.), Judge J. B. and S. E. (who is the youngest 
of the family). The last named was principally 
reared and educated in Illinois, and his principal 
occupation in boyhood was in attending the com- 
mon schools and in assisting on the farm. He 
remained under the parental roof until the break- 
ing out of the war, and, although quite yoiuig at 
that time, he determined to enlist. Through the 
influence of his brother. Judge J. B. Dent, he was 
successful, and enlisted first in the First Illinois 
Cavalry. He was captured at Lexington, Mo. , and 
about a year later the regiment was mustered out. 
He went to Nashville in the Sixth United States 
Infantry, and served until the surrender. He was 
captain of Company F, Sixth Regiment, at the 
time of the battle of Nashville. He was an in- 
trepid and fearless young man, and fought his way 
with vigor. After being mustered out he went 
home, and in March, 1867, came to W^oodruff 
County, Ark., located on a farm, and has since 
been engaged in tilling the soil. In September, 
1885, he embarked in mercantile pursuits at River- 
side, carries a large and select stock of goods, and 
also buys and sells cotton and cotton seed. He 
will handle about 1,000 bales of cotton this sea- 
son. His marriage occurred in 1873 to Miss Ella 
K. Darling, by whom he has two children living: 
Emma and Robert both attending school in Illinois. 
Capt. Dent was married the second time, June 1, 
1885, to Miss Blanche Bancroft, a daughter of 



^rr 



^f 



L^ 



294 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Judge Bancroft, and the result of this union was 
two children: Major and Olga. Mr. Dent is a 
member of the Masonic order, K. T., K. of H. and 
K. & L. of H. The Dent family are relatives of 
the Grant family. Capt. Dent has always been a 
Democrat in politics, and, although not an aspirant 
to any political office, he takes a deep interest in 
the political welfare of the country. He organized 
the first Democratic club of Woodruff, in the cam- 
paign of 1888, and the club is still in existence. 
He is a prosperous and influential citizen of the 
county. 

J. H. Douglas, the genial and ever-popular 
superintendent of the F. G. Oxley Stave Company, 
of McCrory, owes his nativity to Wisconsin, his 
birth occuiring in Jackson County in the year 
1851. His father, Thomas Douglas, was born in 
Donfreece, Scotland, in 1819, and at an early age 
learned the lumber business, which occupation he 
has followed all his life. He was married to Miss 
Caroline S. Tyler in 1849, and they became the 
parents of five children, only two of whom arrived 
to the age of manhood and womanhood: Ruby 
Amanda (the wife of Dr. R. Rodgers) and James 
Henry (the subject of this sketch). Mr. Douglas 
emigrated from Scotland to Wisconsin in 1836, 
and engaged in the lumber business, which he car- 
ried on successfully for twenty-five years, subse- 
quently going to St. Jjouis, where he engaged in 
the same business, and thence to Walnut Ridge, 
Ark., still following this pursuit. He then went 
to San Diego, Cal., where his death occurred in 
1888. His wife, who survives him, is a native 
of Connecticut, and was born in 1851. She is 
a member of the Congregational Church, as was 
also her husband. J. H. was married in Walnut 
Ridge, Ark., in 1876. to Miss Amanda J. Snow, 
and the result of this marriage is six boys, only 
three living: Bertrun Bruce, Charles Hirun and 
Arthur Henry. Miss Snow was the daughter of 
Mr. and Mrs. George Snow, natives of Chatta- 
nooga, Tenn. , her birth occurring in 1858. Mr. j 
Douglas received his education in St. Louis, and [ 
commenced life for himself at the early age of six- ; 
teen years. He has represented the public corpo- 
rations ever since he has been in the employ of the 



F. G. Oxley Stave Company, which is one of the 
most extensive manufacturing companies in the 
United States. He was first paymaster and gen- 
eral purchasing agent of the firm. In societies he 
belongs to the A. F. & A. M., and is a Knight 
Templar, being a member of Hugh De Payne Com- 
mandery, also belongs to Little Rock and Walnut 
Ridge Chapter No. 86, and affiliates with the K. 
of P., Douglas Lodge No. 56, and I. O. O. F., 
Janesville Lodge, Ark. Mr. Douglas is a man of 
fine business qualifications, and is universally es- 
teemed. He is of pleasing address, hospitable and 
courteous, enjoying with his wife a wide circle of 
friends and acquaintances. 

William T. Echols, one of the leading cotton 
dealers in WoodrufP County, and a member of the 
firm of Henderson, Echols & Co., dealers in farm 
implements, wagons and general merchandise, of 
Cotton Plant, first saw the light of this world in 
De Soto County, Miss., in 1844, and is a son of J. 
M. and Mary E. (Henderson) Echols. Mr. J. M. 
Echols was of French origin and was born in Vir- 
ginia, coming to St. Francis County in 1848, where 
he followed the pursuits of farming and real estate. 
His wife died in 1862. In religion she was a Bap- 
tist, having belonged to this church for a number 
of years. William T. enlisted in the Confederate 
army, in the Second Arkansas Cavalry, and served 
with Gen. Price in his raid throughout Missouri 
and Kansas. After the war he returned to Wood- 
ruff County, where he again took up farming, fol- 
lowing this until 1869, when he moved to Cross 
Roads, near Cotton Plant. He was married in 
1871 to Isabella Davies (a native of Virginia, and 
who died in 1877, leaving two children, now de- 
ceased). He was married the second time in 1880 
to Mrs. Mattie Blakemore (originally of Missis- 
sippi). Mr. Echols entered into business with the 
present firm of Henderson, Echols & Co. in 1875, 
at Cross Roads, and in 1879 removed to Cotton 
Plant, where they are now doing a large business, 
and have a capital stock of $12,000. Mr. Echols 
is one among the largest land owners in Woodruff 
County, having over 1,000 acres, with about 600 
under cultivation, all of which he owes to his own 
industry. Politically he is a strong Democrat, and 



-e- >y 



4. 



Ih^ 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



295 



was appointed postmaster of Cotton Plant, holding 
this office four years. Mr. and Mrs. Echols are 
members of the Presbyterian Church. 

Rolfe Eldridge. a prosperous planter of Point 
Township, of keen jjerception, prompt in business 
and thoroughly alive to the interests of the county, 
is of Tennessee nativity and was born in Shelby 
County, in January, 1842. His father, Rolfe Eld- 
ridge, Sr. , was born in Virginia in 1806, and im- 
migrated from Virginia to Tennessee in 1830, 
and thence to Arkansas in 1850, locating in what 
is now Woodi'uff County. In 1820 he was mar- 
ried to Miss Carolina Hall, a native of Virginia, as 
were also her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Eldridge 
reared a family of nine children, six girls and 
three boys: Elizabeth (deceased), Harriett, Caro- 
lina (Mrs. Eldridge). Laura, Lucy (wife of Mr. 
F. E. Pope), John T., Robert and Rolfe. Mr. 
Eldridge, Sr. , was justice of the peace for a num- 
ber of years in this county and was a devout mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife, 
belonging to the same denomination, died in 1880. 
Rolfe, Jr., was married in 1869 to Miss Ella Wat- 
son, originally of De Soto County, Miss., and this 
union has been blessed with five children: Sam- 
mie, Rolfe, Robert, John, and Ella (deceased). 
Mrs. Eldridge died in 1880, and Mr. Eldridge was 
again married in 1887 to Miss Mollie Dawson, the 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Dawson, of Ar- 
kansas. To them one child has been given, Cora, 
a bright little lady. In response to the call to 
arms in defense of his country Mr. Eldridge en- 
tered the army under the command of Col. Gause. 
He enlisted iu February, 1862, and first was in the 
cavalry under Capt. Hooker, participating in the 
battles of Prairie Grove, Helena and Pleasant 
Hill, and in all the principal engagements during 
his service. After the war he resumed the culti- 
vation of his farm, which consisted at that time of 
200 acres, since which time he has added to it un- 
til he now owns 1,500 acres, with 1,000 under cul- 
tivation, and finely improved, the most important 
crops gi'own being corn and cotton. He is inter- 
ested in the finest cottt)n gin in the State, which 
now has four plants running with all the improved 
machinery. Mr. Eldridge is one of the most suc- 



cessful and energetic farmers in the State, and his 
elegant and commodious residence, fine grounds 
and outbuildings all show that thrift, enterprise 
and refinement predominate. Himself and wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and he belongs to the Masonic lodge and Knights 
of Honor. 

Dr. G. B. Fakes, a prominent citizen, retired 
physician and surgeon, and considered one of the 
wealthiest planters in Woodruff County, making 
his home in Barnes Township, is a native of Wil- 
son County, Tenn. , and was bora in 1840. His 
father, William C, first saw the light of day in 
Kentucky about 1813, and his mother was born in 
Wilson County, Tenn., in 1816. Mr. Fakes was a 
well-to-do farmer, and he and wife were connected 
with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. His 
wife resides in Wilson County, where the greater 
part of her life has been spent. Grandfather John 
Fakes is a Scotchman by birth and emigrated to 
America when a young man, settling in Kentucky 
where he married and passed the remainder of his 
life, working at his trade, that of a hatter. The 
maternal grandfather was a native of Virginia, 
where he married and lived for a number of years 
after, but his death occurred in Tennessee. Dr. 
Fakes is the third in a family of eleven children, 
and with them was reared on a farm, receiving all 
the advantages of the schools of that period. In 
1860 he came to Woodruff County, where he took 
up the study of medicine, but was interrupted, by 
the outbreak of the Rebellion. He cast aside the 
dry and musty volumes of medical lore, and joined 
the First Arkansas Mounted Riflemen as a private 
soldier and was appointed assistant-surgeon, serv- 
ing as such for two years. After the war he con- 
tinued his practice with marked success for some 
years, but retired later on, after gaining an envi- 
able reputation as a son of iEsculapius, He was 
married in 1863 to Miss Eleanor J., daughter of 
William and Mary Edmonds, natives of Alabama, 
but after their marriage came to Woodruff County 
in 1849, settling in woods which soon became an 
improved farm. Mr. Edmonds was an influential 
and very wealthy citizen, and his death, which oc- 
curred in 1808, was regretted by the entire com- 



V 



^ '^ij' ^ * >- 



-< s> 



296 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



munity. His wife survived him some twenty-four 
years, and still lives in the faith of the Methodist 
Church. The Doctor's marriage has been blessed 
with two children, only one of them living, a 
son. He has a farm of 1,000 acres, with about 400 
under cultivation. A large portion of this farm 
was inherited by Mrs. Fakes, and is without doubt 
one of, if not the finest farm in the county, and by 
the careful management of Dr. Fakes it has been 
doubly increased in value. The county recognizes 
in Dr. Fakes one of the most popular and enter- 
prising citizens, and well worthy the respect and 
confidence reposed in him. He is now engaged in 
the manufacture of lumber and shingles, stipplying 
the long- felt want of a mill of that kind in the 
county, and was also at one time the proprietor of 
a store opened on the old homestead of Mr. Ed- 
monds, and which was well patronized by the sur- 
rounding residents. Dr. Fakes is a Democrat, 
and is connected with several secret societies, being 
a member of the Seymour Lodge No. 1,208, A. F. 
& A. M. , Augusta Lodge, also belongs to the 
Royal Arch Chapter at Augusta. The K. of H. , 
De View Lodge, count him as one of its members, 
and the K. of L. find him well qualified to dis- 
charge the duties of Protector of the lodge. Him- 
self and wife are members in good standing in the 
Methodist Church. 

James Felker, a farmer of prominence, also 
stock raiser and ginner of Pumpkin Bend Town- 
ship, is the son of Peter and Nancy (Eaves) Felker, 
and was born in Tennessee, in 1822. Peter Felker 
(his father) was born in Tennessee, and his wife in 
Abbeville District, S. C. They were married in 
South Carolina, and soon after settled in Ten- 
nessee, but when James was a boy they changed 
their location to Cherokee Purchase, near Chat- 
tanooga, and there spent the remainder of their 
lives. After a happy marriage of nearly eighty 
years, Mr. Felker passed away in 1877, aged one 
hundred and three years, his wife surviving him 
until 1883, dying at the age of ninety-seven. Mr. 
Felker was a very successful farmer, and amassed 
a large fortune, but during the war became finan- 
cially embarrassed. He was one of the early 
settlers in Southeast Tennessee, and carried the 



mails at an early period. He was the son of Will- 
iam Felker, a soldier in the Revolutionary War, 
and while en route for home with his wife, or after 
getting home, was assassinated by British soldiers. 
Grandfather Eaves was of English descent, a 
farmer, and at the time of his death was living in 
Abbeville District, S. C. James Felker was the 
third in a family of four sons, all of them living as 
follows: William (a merchant of FraDklin County, 
Ark.), Stephen (a farmer of Missouri) and Jesse 
(farmer and merchant of Georgia). They are all 
enterprising men, and have accumulated very com- 
fortable fortunes. James received a limited edu- 
cation, as the schools of Tennessee at that date 
were inferior in quality and few in number. He 
was married in Hamilton County, Tenn., in 1847, 
to Caroline, daughter of William and Polly 
Brewster. Mrs. Felker was born in Tennessee, 
and died in 1867, having borne a family of seven 
childi'en, four now living: Misnier (wife of Ensley 
Ball), Margaret (wife of Hughey Gilluly), Jesse 
and Louisa. Mr. Felker was again married in 
1872 to Mrs. Charlotte Guest, a native of Georgia, 
and born in 1833, who died in 1878, and in 1882 
Mr. Felker was wedded to his present wife. She 
was Mrs. Adrain Hawkins, a native of Mississippi, 
and born in 1848, the daughter of William Worth- 
ington. Mr. Felker' s first home in Arkansas was 
in St. Francis County, where he resided iintil the 
year 1869, then came to Pumpkin Bend, and set- 
tled in an almost complete wilderness. Of this he 
owned 830 acres, and has 130 cultivated, all the 
result of his own labor, with little or no assist- 
ance. He raises a great many cattle, horses and 
hogs, and for nearly fifteen years has run a gin 
and corn mill, and for a short time had a good 
steam saw- mill attached. For some years Augusta 
was the nearest postoffice and market, which made 
it quite a long distance to go, the journey being 
contemplated and talked of a long time before its 
execution. Mr. Felker enlisted and served about 
three years in the Confederate army, in Company 
C, with Col. McGee of Price's army. He par- 
ticipated in the battle of Helena, Fitz Hugh, Wal- 
lace's Ferry, Little Rock and all through the 
Missouri raid. Ho served as lieutenant most of 



V 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



297 



this time, and surrendered at Wittsburg. Mr. 
Felker is a strone and thorough Democrat, and 
voted for Polk, in 1844, and every Deuxocratic 
candidate since, with the exception of the war 
period. His financial condition is based on a solid 
foundation, which is all due to hard work, perse- 
verance and close attention to business. He is one 
of the most prosperous of Pumpkin Bend citizens, 
and enjoys the respect of the entire community. 
Although he has lived thirty years in the bottom 
lands, he has always had very good health, and is 
still well able to stand and endure the varying 
changes of weather. He comes of a long-lived 
lace, and bids fair to carry the record of his an- 
cestors. Mrs. Felker is a member of and in high 
standing in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 
V\' . E. Ferguson is not only known as a popu- 
lar and worthy citizen, but as county and circuit 
clerk of Augusta, Ark. Though claiming Coahoma 
County, Miss., as his place of birth, which occurred 
on September 10, 1851, Mr. Ferguson was reared 
in WoodrufP County, Ark. His parents, James 
P. and Maria L. (Alcorn) Ferguson, originally 
from Kentucky, immigrated to WoodrufP County 
in 1850, when W. E. was but eight years of age, 
and after moving to this county settled in Augusta 
Township, where the father 2:)urchased a tract of 
land from Dave Johnson, one of the early pioneers 
of the county. Some of this land he found im- 
proved, and a portion was in its wild and natural 
state. In 18(51, Mr. Ferguson moved to Augusta, 
making his home there ever since. He was a Union 
man in principle, and opposed the secession of the 
States, but the first Confederate company that was 
raised in his adopted county, through courtesy, 
made him lieutenant. He resigned, and in way of 
acknowledging the compliment thus shown him, 
presented the boys in gray with blankets. He has 
been a farmer and land speculator, and, although 
the owner of an extensive tract of land, he is prac- 
tically living a retired life. Hon. James L. Alcorn, 
one of Mississippi's distinguished senators, is a 
brother of Mrs. Ferguson. There are five children 
now living born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. 
Ferguson: William E., Mary M. (widow of Ander 
son O'Neil), Minnie T., Bettie T. and Alcorn. W. 



E. Ferguson's younger days were passed princi- 
pally in WoodrufP County, and being ])laced in the 
common schools to be educated, he remained in 
there until fifteen years of age, when he entered 
the Emory and Henry College of Emory, Washing- 
ton County, Va. , to complete his studies, but 
only remained through the sophomore year. After 
leaving this institution, he returned home, staying 
but two years, and acting as deputy sheriff, then, 
1873, entered the Lebanon Law School, from which 
he graduated the following year. Ho was admitted 
to the bar at Augusta the same year, after which 
he practiced his profession until October, 1874, 
when he found that he would be compelled to take 
up his father's business in the farming interest in 
order to save the brisiness, the employes of his 
father having involved him to a considerable 
amount. W. E. then assumed charge of affairs, 
and superintended the place, buying and weighing 
and ginning cotton. He worked diligently for two 
years, straightened things out, and then went to 
Dardanelle, where he found employment as a clerk. 
He remained in this position until September, 
1878, when he returned to Augusta, and clerked 
for L. Rosen, continuing with him until 1880, 
when he was elected to the office of assessor. In 
1882 he was elected sheriff and collector, and re- 
elected in 1884 without opposition in his own 
party. In 1886 he was elected to his present office 
(that of county and circuit clerk), and re-elected 
in 1888. Mr. Ferguson is one of the prominent 
political leaders of Woodruff County, and has a 
host of friends, his affability and thorough edu- 
cation qixalifying him for any position of trust the 
people may confer upon him. He was married in 
May, 1884, to Miss Mary E. Douglass, a native of 
Iowa, who bore him two children: Louise and 
Ruby. Mr. Ferguson is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, also a Chapter Mason and Knight of 
Honor and Knight of Pythias. In 1870 he entered 
the commercial school of Evansville, Ind., remain- 
ing at this institution of learning one term. 

R. K. Fitzhugh, Jr. In making mention of 
the subject of this memoir, it is not an injustice 
to him when it is said that he is foremost in agri- 
cultural pursuits, and as a planter is exceedingl}' 



1 



\ 



<S k- 



298 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



successful. He is a native of Virgipia, his birth 
occurring in Greene County in 1854. He is a sou 
of Rufus K., Sr., and H. E. (Baytop) Fitzhugh, 
the former of King George County origin and the 
latter of Gloucester County, Va. In 1859 Mr. Fitz- 
hugh came to Arkansas, purchased a tract of land, 
and in 1866 moved his family to this place, and 
being an extensive slave holder in his native State, 
brought with him a large number of negroes. He 
became an extensive land owner, his place being 
known as "Walnut Woods," and at the time of 
his death he had about 550 acres under cultivation. 
He died in 1888, his wife and ten children surviv- 
ing him. R. K. Fitzhugh is next to the oldest of 
the family, and although principally reared in 
Arkansas, he received his education in the Agri- 
cultural and Mechanical College of Auburn, Ala. , 
sraduating fi-om this institution in 1874. Since 
his graduation he has turned his attention to farm- 
ing, and has 800 acres of land in his home place, 
near Augusta, veith 600 acres under cultivation. 
On this farm is a large cotton-gin, having a capac- 
ity of ten bales per day. He has held the office 
of county surveyor for three terms, being first 
elected in 1880, and socially is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity. 

Dr. B. A. Fletcher, physician and surgeon, 
Augusta, Ark. This prominent practitioner was 
born in Fayette County, Miss., October 14, 1862, 
and, quite naturally perhaps, early formed a de- 
termination to follow the practice of medicine, for 
his father. Dr. John P. Fletcher, is a physician 
and a graduate of the New Orleans Medical Col- 
lege. The father, a native of Tennessee, married 
Miss Mary A. Cooper, a native of Mississippi, and 
in 1871 they moved to Arkansas and located in 
Lonoke County, where the father still lives, prac- 
ticing his profession in Mississippi and Arkansas. 
The mother died in 1873. Dr. B. A. Fletcher, 
the youngest in a family of ten children, was but 
eight years of age when he came with his parents 
to Arkansas. His early scholastic advantages as 
he grew up tended to increase the natural desire 
which he possessed to follow the medical profes- 
sion, and quite early in life began the study of 
medicine. He attended the session of 1883-84, 



graduating from Bellevue Medical College of New 
York City. He then began practicing in Lonoke 
County, and there remained until 1885, when he 
came to Augusta, and has since been engaged in 
the practice of his profession at that place. He 
has met with flattering success for a young physi- 
cian, and his future prosjiects are bright. His 
brother, J. J. Fletcher, who established a drug 
store in Augusta, died in 1885, and the Doctor 
came to this place to settle the estate. He con- 
cluded to remain, and is now building up a good 
practice. He was married in December. 1884, to 
Miss Mary A. Baker, of Virginia, who has borne 
two children, only one of whom is living: Mary A. 
The Doctor is director of the County Medical As- 
sociation and secretary of the Woodruff County 
Board of Medical Examiners and also of the county 
society. 

W. W. Folsom, who has been editor of the 
Woodruff County Vidette for the past ten years, 
was born in Charlotte, N. C, on August 23, 1836. 
At the age of twelve years he entered the office 
of the Columbia (Term.) Record, where ho served 
a time at the printing business. Leaving Colum- 
bia in the year 1860, he became a citizen of Jack- 
son, Term., from which point he went into the 
Southern army, in the Sixth Tennessee Infantry, 
and served to the close of the war in Gen. Cheat- 
ham's division. At the close of the war he came 
home like many others, penniless, but went to work 
to build up his own and the fortunes of his bright 
Southland, as a citizen of Mississippi, engaging in 
a mercantile and farming life. In 1875 he became 
a citizen of Arkansas, and since that time he has been 
laboring to build up every interest of his adopted 
State. In 1879 he became the editor of the 
Brinkley Times, the office of which was burned 
in November of that year when he became the 
editor and proprietor of the Vidette. In that 
capacity he has given his every energy to the ad- 
vancement of the State, and particularly to the 
pushing forward of Woodruff County, and by his 
untiring energy and perseverance has succeeded in 
giving prominence to his paper, among his breth- 
ern of the press, both in and out of the State, In 
1888 he was made president of his State Press As- 



8.>y 



-5. > 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



299 



sociation, and is now serving his second term as a 
member of the executive committee of the National 
Editorial Association. He is still devoting himself 
to the advancement and development of Woodruff 
County, and will take pleasure in giving informa- 
tion to any person wishing to know the advantages 
of this beautiful and fertile region. 

George W. Gordon, a conscientious and up- 
right citizen, known and respected by all for the 
ability and faithfulness with which he discharges 
all duties imposed upon him, is a wealthy planter 
residing near Riverside, Ark., and born in Giles 
County, Tenn. , July 4, 1847, and is a son of J. P. 
W. D. and Martha (Anderson) Gordon who were 
also Tennesseeans. The Gordon family were early 
settlers of the State and before the war the father 
was an extensive trader in negroes and owned a 
large plantation. He was also the owner of an 
hotel and livery stable at Pulaski, and died at this 
place in 1863, his wife having died in 1853. To 
these parents were born four sons and thi'ee daugh- 
ters, of whom their son, George \V., was the 
youngest boy. His boyhood days were spent in 
Pulaski, Tenn., and he there received his early 
schooling, but upon reaching a suitable age he 
began farming, continuing in this occupation for a 
number of years. On December 24, 1873, he took 
up his abode in Woodruff County, Ark., where he 
has since been engaged in the duties of farm work. 
He ovms 535 acres on Taylor's Bay. In 1880 he 
was elected to the office of constable, serving two 
years, also filling the position of deputy sheriff, 
and in 1882 was chosen county assessor, remaining 
in this appointment four years. In 1886 was 
defeated for sheriff by a small majority in the 
primary Democratic election. He is a worthy 
constituent of the Masonic fraternity, and he and 
wife, whom he married in 1873, and whose maiden 
name was Kate Shell, are the parents of three chil- 
dren: Clarence, Lelia and Fannie. Mrs. Gordon 
was born in Woodi'uff County. Himself and wife 
are worshipers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
He taught two private and three public schools 
near Riverside, also served as Sunday-school super- 
intendent for three years. 

Dr. E. O. Grigsby, the trusted and tried friend 



of suffering humanity, the center of a host of 
friends, is a prominent physician and citizen of this 
(Woodruff) county, was born in Madison County, 
Miss., on March 18, 1835, the son of John R. 
Grigsby, of Scotch descent. His father, John R. 
Grigsby, was born in Rockbridge County, Va. , in 
1781, and was reared and educated to farm life. 
When quite young he immigrated from his native 
State to Henderson County, Ky. , where he married, 
and after losing this companion he then went to 
Mississippi, where he was again married to Mrs. 
Elizabeth Sanders (maiden name Briggs) in 1833. 
To this marriage three children were bom, two 
boys and a girl: E. O. , M. R. and Eliza (deceased). 
Mr. John R. Grigsby served in the War of 1812, 
and was called to his final home in 1847. Mrs. 
Elizabeth Grigsby was born near Natchez, Miss., 
in 1805, and died in 1841. Dr. Grigsby' s career 
as a man and physician dates from 1857. He at- 
tended lectiu'es at St. Louis Medical College at 
that time, and graduated from this institution. 
He first practiced medicine in Madison County, 
Miss. , locating in sight of the county school-house 
he attended when a boy, and in the neighborhood 
where he was reared an orphan, and there he re- 
mained u^ntil the late war between the States, and 
when Mississippi passed the ordinance secession, 
his Southern pride bade him go, and he enlisted 
at once in a company then forming and known as 
the Madison Rifles, afterward Company I, in the 
Tenth Mississippi Regiment, where he seyved 
twelve months as a private, though frequently de- 
tailed as medical assistant for special duties. At 
the expiration of his twelve mouths of service as a 
private, he was commissioned as assistant-surgeon, 
and assigned to duty with the Tenth Mississippi 
Regiment, the same in which he had served as a 
private soldier. In 1864 he was promoted to full 
siu-geon, ordered to report to Gen. Forrest, who 
assigned him to duty with the Seventh Alabama 
Cavalry, under the command of Col. Colvin, where 
he remained until the close of the war, when re- 
turning to Mississippi and liuding himself unable 
to live the life of former days, he immigrated to 
Arkansas, and in 18(57 located in De View, where 
he has been engaged in the successful jjractice of 



<S k^ 



300 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



his profession ever since, with the good-will of a 
host of friends around him, and always true to his 
trust and generous to a fault, and not lacking in 
those qualities which go to make up the courteous 
and affable gentleman. Dr. Grigsby was married 
to Mrs. Eliza Brigham in 1808, and by her became 
the father of two children: Nettie O. and John R. 
(deceased). Mrs. Grigsby' s maiden name was 
Norrell. and was l)orn in Tennessee in 1830, and 
came with her parents to Mississippi when quite 
small, and from Mississippi to Arkansas in 1851. 
Her father was married in Alabama, and was the 
parent of seven children, two of whom are now 
living: Eliza and Amanda (the wife of Mr. James 
Crawford, of Walnut Springs, Tex.). Mr. Norrell 
served in the War of 1812, and was a devout and 
earnest Christian, belonging to the Baptist Church, 
and died in 1853, his wife surviving him but 
eight years and was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. The only association to which 
Dr. Grigsby belongs is the Knights of Honor and 
the society of true honorable men. He is now 
engaged in the drug and grocery business, in con- 
nection with his practice, and has been for the past 
six years. 

J. T. Hamblet, merchant, Augusta, Ark. In 
the list of industries of the city of Augusta that 
of merchandising takes a prominent position, and 
among the houses engaged in this branch of bus- 
iness that of Mr. Hamblet is entitled to due notice 
and recognition. Mr. Hamblet was originally 
from Dinwiddle County, Va., where his birth oc- 
curred in 1825, and is the eldest child born to the 
marriage of G. B. and Joannah Hamblet, na- 
tives of the Old Dominion. The parents immi- 
grated to Tennessee, and there resided until the 
death of the father, which occui-red in 1841. The 
mother died in Woodruff County. Ark. J. T. 
Hamblet was principally reared in Tennessee, and 
his early scholastic advantages Were enjoyed in 
that State. He began clerking in a store in Mem- 
phis in 1843, and there remained until 1848, when 
he came to Augusta, Ark., and engaged in the 
mercantile business, which he has since continued. 
He is the oldest merchant in the county, and does 
a general furnishing business, caiTying a large and 



select stock of goods, and is one of the leading 
merchants in the county. He has always attended 
strictly to business, and this in some measure ac- 
counts for success. He is also the owner of con- 
siderable real estate. Mr. Hamblet chose for his 
companion in life Miss Cordelia P. Penn, and was 
united in marriage to her in 1850. They have 
three children living: Mrs. Josie Harry, Ida Dale 
and Georgie Elsberry. Mr. Hamblet has been a 
member of the Masonic fraternity for forty years, 
and is one of the first-class citizens of the county. 
Dr. T. A. Hightower has attained to an estab- 
lished reputation as a physician of ability. A resi- 
dent of McCrory, his birth occurred in Limestone 
County, Ala.. June 5, 1850, he being the son of 
James Hightower, a prosperous farmer. The lat- 
ter, who was of Virginia nativity, was born in 1817 
and accompanied his parents to Kentucky from 
the Old Dominion, and then to Alabama when quite 
a young man. Concluding that it was not good 
for man to be tilone, he selected for his helpmate. 
Miss Lucy Westmoreland, their marriage occuring 
in 1840. Their union was blessed with a family 
of nine children: John C, James L., William E., 
Lou C. (Mrs. R. R. Riley), Robert L., Bettie (the 
wife of Mr. Gilbert), India, Martha and T. A. Mr. 
Hightower was a member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, and a man respected by all. His death 
occurred in Limestone County, Ala., in 1879. His 
wife, who was born in Giles County, Tenn. , in 
1831, is now residing in Alabama. Dr. Hightower 
was married in 1875 to Miss Emma Simp-son, in 
Lawrence County, Ala. She is the daughter of 
Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Simpson, and was born in 1858. 
Dr. and Mrs. Hightower are the parents of five 
children: Isaac, Pearl, James, Katie and Thomas. 
The Doctor was educated in Tennessee, and at- 
tended medical lectures at the University of Nash- 
ville. Tenn.. in 1870-73. He first practiced 
medicine in Town Creek, Ala., in 1873, but immi- 
grated from Alabama to Tennessee in 1878, and 
that year came to Arkansas, locating in this county, 
where he has since resided, enjoying, as he well de- 
serves, a large and lucrative practice. Dr. High- 
tower is identified with the following orders: K. 
i of P., Douglass Lodge No. 56, K. of H. and A. F. 






t^l (B 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



301 



& A.M., belonging to the Blue Lodge, Chapter, and 
Commandery No. 1. Mrs. Hightower is a mem- 
ber in high standing of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and a general favorite in society. 

J. P. House, merchant, Augusta. Ark. To be 
successful in any calling in life a man must be 
honest, indiistrious and saving, and vyith these es- 
sential qualities he can not fail to accumulate 
property, and at the same time hold the respect 
and esteem of his fellow- men. Mr. House was 
originally from Hardeman County, Tenn., and is 
the son of A. B. House, a native of Tennessee, and 
a planter, who is still residing in White County, 
Ark. The maiden name of the mother was Eliza 
Wilkes, who was also a native of Tennessee. J. 
P. House was in his eighth year when he came to 
White County with his pai-ents, in 1858. He re- 
ceived a fair education in the common schools, and 
early in life was taught the duties of farm life. He 
left the parental roof at the age of eighteen years, 
and clerked in a store for three years. He then 
studied law, and was admitted to the bar in White 
County, where he practiced his jarofession for four 
years in that and Woodruff Counties. He estab- 
lished the Vidette in 1877, and ran it until 1879, 
when he gave it up. After this he began keeping 
books for Hamblet & Penn, and held this position 
until 1884, when he engaged in mercantile pur- 
suits with a partner, E. H. Conner, the hrm title 
still continuing House & Conner. They carry a 
general line of merchandise, and are doing a suc- 
cessful business. Mr. House selected his wife in 
the person of Miss L. Purssell, and was united in 
marriage to her in 1880. She died in 1886, leav- 
ing one child, John W. Mr. House is a member 
of the Masonic fraternity. Knights & Ladies of 
Honor, and Knights of Pythias, and a Knight 
Templar and Knight of Honor. 

Joseph L. Howell. Mr. and Mrs. David 
Howell, of North ('aroliua, the former a prosper- 
ous farmer of that State, were the parents of nine 
children, as follows: James L. , Eliza (wife of 
Nedy Hyatt). Mary (now Mrs. H. C. McCraken). 
C. J. (Mrs. J. I. Jaredd), N. E. (Mrs. Morgan 
Osborn), Adaline (Mrs. George Butler), Joseph L. 
(the subject of this sketch) and two sons deceased. 



Mr. Howell was claimed by the dread destroyer. 
Death, in 1864, his wife having preceded him in 
the year 1848. They were earnest workers and 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Joseph L. began life for himself in 1852, as travel- 
ing agent of musical instruments, and also taught 
music until 1801. During the war he went to 
Texas, and freighted cotton from Waco to San 
Antonia for the Government. After the close of 
hostilities, Mr. Howell came to Arkansas and set- 
tled in this county, engaging in farming, which 
occupation he has since followed, being to-day one 
of the wealthiest planters of the county. He 
owns between 5,000 and 6,000 acres of land, 
about 1,200 in a fine state of cultivation. A good 
gin is one of the many improvements made by him, 
which was rebuilt during the year 1889, enabling 
the ginning of fi-om fifteen to twenty bales per 
day. Mr. Howell was married to Miss Fannie 
Butler, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joel J. 
Butler, of Georgia, and their marriage resulted in 
a family of five children, three girls and two boys: 
Martha (the wife of Dr. Mewborn), EfBe (Mrs. 
Richard Izard), Eddie, Joseph and Fannie (de- 
ceased). Mrs. Howell was born in 1838, owing 
her nativity to Georgia, where her parents were 
life-long residents. Mr. Butler died in 1864, and 
his wife two years before. Mr. Howell has erected 
a very fine residence in Howell Station, and is the 
founder of that place. He is foremost in all en- 
terprises relative to the welfare of town and coun- 
t}', many of which owe their origin and successful 
completion to his dver ready support and to his 
spirit of progression. His wealth enables him to 
contribute largely to all charitable purposes, and 
in performing many good works he follows the 
Bible injunction, "Let not thy left hand know 
what thy right hand doeth." 

S. L. Ingalls, real-estate and insurance agent, 
Augusta, Ark. In a country like Arkansas, with 
so much land still unoccupied or not built upon, 
the office of the real-estate agent is an important 
one, and exercises considerable bearing upon the 
welfare of the community. He is an instrument 
for the building up of the country and making the 
wilderness to blossom as the rose, figuratively 



302 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



speaking. Among those largely interested in this 
line of business is Mr. S. L. Ingalls, who is also 
an insurance agent, one of the most important 
branches of business in any community. Mr. In- 
galls was born in Boston, Mass., in 1846, and is a 
son of Ellas T. and Eliza (Chase) Ingalls, natives 
also of Massachusetts. This family was early set- 
tlers of the New England States, and the Great- 
grandfather Ingalls was the founder of the city 
of Lynn. Elias T. Ingalls was a shoe manufactiu'er, 
and followed this pui'suit up to the breaking out of 
the war, after which he was the buyer for his son, R. 
M. Ingalls, of Louisville. He is still living at his 
home in Massachusetts. S. L. Ingalls, the young- 
est son of seven children, five sons and two daugh- 
ters, received his education in his native State, and 
in 1861 went to Louisville, Ky., where he remained 
with his brother in the shoe business until 1865. 
He then returned home and was book-keeper in 
Boston until 1870, when he came to Arkansas, lo- 
cated at Jacksonport, and was also book-keeper 
here for E. L. Watson for some time. In 1876 he 
came to Augusta and was book-keeper for Hamblet 
& Penn for two years, after which he was made 
deputy county and circuit clerk, filling this position 
for eight years. In 1884 he embarked in his 
present business, represents twelve fire-insurance 
companies and is a large real-estate dealer, both in 
town and country. He owns one of the finest resi- 
dences in Augusta. By his marriage, which oc- 
curred in 1871, to Miss Kate H. Weiss, of Louis- 
ville, Ky., he became the father of two children, 
both deceased. Mr. Ingalls is justice of the peace 
of Augusta Township. He is a brother of Senator 
Ingalls, of Kansas. He is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity. Chapter, K. of H. and K. & L. of H. 
He is also a member of the K. of P. 

Richard T. Jett, one of the most prominent 
and influential citizens in the vicinity of Gregory, 
was born in Kentucky (Barren County) in 1834. 
His father, R. H. V. Jett, was a native of Virginia, 
born in 1806. He followed the occupation of mill- 
ing, and in 1828 was married to Miss Elizabeth 
Bradley, of Maryland, by which union were born 
ten children, eight boys and two girls, seven now 
living, viz. : Mary J. (wife of Gabe Corn), Rich- 



ard T., Catherine (wife of William Langstay), Al- 
bert N., J. S., James F. and G. W. Mr. Jett 
was a member of the Christian Church, and died 
in 1872. Richard T. Jett immigrated from Ken- 
tucky to Arkansas in 1870, locating in Woodruff 
County. He turned his attention to the improve- 
ment of land and now cultivates some 300 acres, 
the principal crops being cotton and corn. He has 
erected a good residence, and enjoys the acquaint- 
ance of many residents about Gregory, in the 
southern portion of the county. The year 1858 
witnessed his nuptials with Margaret A. Haden, 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Haden, of Ken- 
tucky. To their marriage three children have been 
given, two girls and one boy: Carrie (wife of Law- 
rence Richey), Josie (now Mrs. James Snodgrass) 
and Albert C. Mr. Jett is an expert machinist 
and followed that business for several years. From 
1861 till 1866 he engaged in steamboating, and 
now has an interest in a large saw-mill, also in 
partnership with W. J. and E. G. Thompson, 
Minor Gregory and R. Eldridge in the possession 
of a gin, the style of the firm being Mill & Gin 
Co. They run four stands and have the latest im- 
proved plans. Mr. Jett possesses any amount of 
energy, and his having an interest in anything 
means the siiccessful termination of that enter- 
prise. His refined surroundings and hospitable 
board ensure for him the respect and esteem of all 
who know him. 

F. B. Jones is a member of the general mercan- 
tile firm of S. M. Jones & Co., of Riverside, and 
was born in Limestone County, Ala., in the year 
1851, and is a son of I. H. W. and Mary Jones, 
who were natives of the State of Alabama. They 
removed to WoodrufF County, Ark. , in November, 
1861, and located four miles east of Augusta, and 
here both died on a farm which they had pur- 
chased. At the time of the father's death he 
owned 480 acres of land, about 200 of which was 
under cultivation. Of the seven children born to 
them two are now living: F. B. and S. M. F. B. 
Jones was in his ninth year when brought to 
this State, and here he grew to manhood, receiving 
his education in the St. John's Masonic School of 
Little Rock. He also graduated from the East- 



"® "V 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



303 



man Business College of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. , in 
187-t, and after clerking for his uncle in Searcy for 
some time, the present firm was established (in 
1885), and has since continued under very favorable 
auspices. They carry a general line of merchan- 
dise, and also handle large quantities of cotton and 
produce. F. B. Jones has land to the extent 
of 420 acres, and has ] 50 acres under cultivation, 
and in addition to giving much of his attention to 
his farm, he raises considerable stock. He has 
served as constable one term, and he and his 
brother have charge of the postofifice, which was 
established in 1884, S. M. Jones being appointed 
postmaster one year later. Mr. Jones was married 
in 1883 to Miss Claudia H. Jelks, by whom he had 
one child, now deceased. 

S. M. Jones, of the general mercantile firm of 
S. M. Jones & Co., of Riverside, is an Alabamian, 
who was brought to Arkansas by his parents when 
an infant, and until ten years old was a resident 
and attendant of the schools of Woodruff County. 
The nest fifteen years were spent in White Coun- 
ty, and since then he has resided at his present 
place of abode. In the spring of 1884 he engaged 
in the mercantile business, but gives the most of 
his attention to the conducting of his farm, which 
comprises a tract of 430 acres, with 200 acres under 
cultivation. He is a member of the Masonic fi'a- 
ternity, and is an intelligent and enterprising 
young man. May 3, 1887, he was married to 
Miss Mary B. Word, a native of Arkansas. Maj. 
B. M. Jones is a merchant and proprietor of a 
hotel at Riverside. He was born in Limestone 
County, Ala. , March 24, 1 830, and is a son of 
John J. and Martha (Wilburn) Jones who were 
born in Virginia. They removed to Northern Ala- 
bama at an early day and there resided until their 
respective deaths, the father being an energetic 
tiller of the soil. Maj. B. M. Jones was reared 
and educated in Alabama, and in 1858 came to 
M'hite County, Ark., and located at Searcy, where 
he carried on the mei'cantile business for several 
years. In 1802 he enlisted in Company E. Thirty- 
sixth Arkansas Infantry as first lieutenant, was pro- 
moted to captain, and at the time of the surrender 
was mustered out as major, and returned to his 



home at Searcy, where he remained until 1884. 
Since that time he has been a resident of River- 
side, engaged in merchandising, and also buys 
cotton very extensively. To his marriage with 
Susan Greene in 1860 one child was born, who is 
now deceased, and by his present wife, who was a 
Miss Elizabeth A. Dismukes, he has three children : 
Henry, Lizzie and Fannie. 

Maj. D. D. Leach is one of the few men who 
fully recognize that a thorough education is abso- 
lutely necessary if a man wishes to become eminent 
in the practice of law, and he is also cognizant of 
the fact that a systematic course of reading gives 
variety to thought and a clearer perception to the 
motives of men. The Major is a prominent attorney 
of Augusta, and was born in Homer, Mich., March 
29, 1841, being a son of R. T. and L. M. (Cal- 
houn) Leach, the former a native of New York 
and the latter of Pennsylvania. After their mar- 
riage they removed to Michigan (about 1840), and 
a few years later settled in Wisconsin, and in 1871 
removed to Arkansas, locating in Augusta where 
the father died in 1875. His widow still survives 
him. He was deputy sheriff, constable and city 
marshal for some years, and by trade was a mill- 
wright, at which he worked for years. D. D. Leach 
was reared principally in Waukesha, Wis. , receiv- 
ing his education in Carroll College. After study 
ing law in Waukesha for some time he removed to 
Colorado, and while in Central City, in 1864, passed 
a legal examination, and was admitted to the bar. 
Prior to this, he had enlisted in the Twenty-eighth 
Wisconsin Infantry (in 1862), and was an able 
soldier of the Union until the close of the war. For 
bravery and good conduct he was advanced in the 
rank of ofiicers to that of major. In 1868 he came 
to Augusta, Ark., and established himself as a law- 
yer, continuing in this profession ever since, win- 
ning for himself an excellent reputation as a pleader, 
his speeches being eloquent and to the point. He 
held the office of prosecuting attorney for ten years, 
and in 1886, was a candidate for Congress on the 
Republican ticket, but owing to the large Demo- 
cratic majority in his district he was defeated. The 
Major is a member of the Masonic fraternity and 
the K. of H., being Past Grand Dictator of the 



304 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



latter lodge and is Deputy Supreme Protector of 
the K. & L. of H. , and has also been Thrice Illus- 
trious Grand Master of the Grand Council of the 
State of Arkansas. In 1864 he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Dora Smith, a native of Wisconsin, 
and by her is the father of three childi-en, Cal- 
houn D. surviving. 

A. C. Lewis is known as a worthy son of John 
Lewis, a native of Missouri, who was born in 1800, 
and educated to farm life, but when quite young 
he left his father's home and operated a steam- 
ferry on the Mississippi River at St. Louis. He 
was married, in 1822, to Miss Nancy M. Curiy, 
and by her became the father of the following 
family: Harvey, Robert O. , Elizabeth (the wife of 
William S. Halloway) and A. C. (the subject of 
this sketch). Mr. Lewis was a gallant soldier in 
the Indian War, and at the time of his death, in 
1848, was residing in St. Louis County, Mo. Mrs. 
Lewis died in the same county in 1863, a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as was also 
her husband. A. C. Lewis first saw the light of 
day in St. Francis County, Mo., in 1835, and com- 
menced life on his own responsibility at the age 
of eighteen years. After managing his mother's 
farm until the war, he laid down the implements 
of peace to take up those of a soldier, and enlisted 
in the artillery service under Capt. Emmett Mc- 
Donald. In 1861 he was captured and taken to 
Vicksburg. During his career he participated in 
the battles of Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge and the 
skirmishes at Corinth, the battles of luka. Baker's 
Creek and the siege of Vicksburg, serving as sec- 
ond lieutenant in the battery for a short time, just 
before the closing of hostilities. In 1866 Mr. 
Lewis was married to Miss Barbara Edmond, 
daughter of William Edmond aud wife, of Ala- 
bama. Mrs. Lewis was born in Tennessee, and 
died in 1869, leaving three children: Fletcher, 
Eleanor (the wife of Joseph Grant) and one child 
not named. Mr. Lewis chose for his second wife 
Miss Lena Jelks, and to them five children have 
been given: Ada, Letitia, John, Austin and Gracie. 
Mr. Lewis owns and operates a cotton-gin and 
grist-mill, which is second to none in the county. 
His farm consists of 780 acres of land, with 300 



acres under cultivation, the principal crop being 
cotton and corn. He and wife are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is a public- 
spirited man, supporting all educational and relig- 
ious enterprises; a good financier, he is also a prac- 
tical farmer and excellent business man, well 
worthy the respect and esteem in which he is held 
by all who are so fortunate as to know him. 

Thomas T. Locke, planter, ginner and mer- 
chant, and one of the representative men of Cotton 
Plant Township, is originally from Rowan County, 
N. C, being born in 1825, and one of six children 
given to J. Richard and Margaret (Gheen) Locke. 
Richard Locke and wife were of North Carolina 
nativity, and died in that State in 1836 and 1849, 
respectively. He was a prosperous farmer, and 
his father, Alex. Locke, was also of North Carolina, 
his birth and death occurring in that State. The 
maternal grandfather, Joseph Gheen, was of Dutch 
descent, a native of North Carolina, and died in 
Kentucky. Thomas T. Locke is the only member 
of his father's famUy living. He was educated in 
the common schools of his home, and in 1851 was 
married to Margaret A., daughter of Daniel and 
Hethey Harris, who were natives and life-long res- 
idents of North Carolina. To Mr. and Mrs. Locke 
seven children have been born, two of them now 
living: Thomas A. and Ida L. (wife of Frank P. 
Hill). Mr. Locke came to Woodruff County in 
1858, settling on his present farm, which is live 
miles north of Cotton Plant. It is, without doubt, 
one of the finest farms in the county, consisting of 
640 acres, with over 450 under a careful state of 
cultivation. On his daughter's marriage he pre- 
sented her with 200 acres, which in itself is a very 
fine farm, and the two farms combined make a very 
fine plantation. Mr. Locke operates a plantation 
store and a gin, which has been in successful opera- 
tion since his residence in Arkansas. It would 
seem that with so much on his mind something 
would have to be neglected, but Mr. Locke man- 
ages his farm, gin and mercantile business in a 
way that demonstrates his perfect efficiency to com- 
plete anything he undertakes. Mrs. Locke died 
in 1868, while in Mississippi, where she had gone 
for her health, and in 1876 Mr. Locke again mar- 



^. 



® 1.^ 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



305 



ried, this time to Mrs. Mary E. Lintliicnin, of Ar- 
kansas, and a daughter of the Hon. Parley P. Hill, 
who was among the first settlers in Woodruff 
County, and one of its most prominent citizens in 
an early day. He was a member of the legisla- 
ture from Woodruff County from 1848 to 1849, 
and a wealthy planter. His death occurred in 
1866. Mr. Locke served in the war a short time, 
under Capt. Cauley, in 1864. Previous to the war 
he was a Whig, voting for Taylor in 1848, but since 
that time has been a stanch Democrat. He has 
been connected with the Cotton Plant Presbyterian 
Church since 1864, and has presided as an elder 
since 1877. Mrs. Locke has been a member of 
the Presbyterian Church for a great many years, 
and is known and respected by every one. Mr. 
Locke is a good citizen, lending his support to all 
worthy movements, and is of the character of men 
who help to biiild the villages into towns and the 
towns into cities. 

Robert C. Lynch is the youngest of the chil- 
dren of William D. and Eliza J. (Mann) Lynch. 
The former, of Irish descent, was born in Mississippi 
in 1819, and in 1846 moved to what is now Wood- 
ruff County, becoming engaged in the mercantile 
business in Cotton Plant, where he built the first 
store, and was largely the means of making the 
town what it is at this time. When Mr. Lynch 
moved here his nearest postofiSce was Des Arc. 
He entered a large amount of Government land in 
the township, and made it his home until his 
death, which occurred in 1876. He was a Mason. 
Robert C. Lynch was born in Cotton Plant in 
1855, and received a good education, graduating 
from the Mound City Commercial College of St. 
Louis in 1874, after which he embarked in the 
mercantile business with his father. Upon the 
demise of the latter he took the old homestead 
(which he still owns and on which he was born, 
consisting of 320 acres), and other land in the 
county, having over 300 acres under cultivation. 
He carried on farming with good success. Mr. 
Lynch was married in 1876 to Augusta J. Woods, 
a daughter of Daniel and Jane Woods, natives of 
North Carolina. He is now occupied as book- 
keeper for Alexander Salinger, of Cotton Plant, 



in connection with his agricultural duties. Mr. 
Lynch is a member of the Knights of Pythias, in 
which he holds the office of Keeper of Records and 
Seals; is also a member of the A. F. & A. M., of 
the K. of H. , and of the K. and L. of H., in 
the last-named lodge filling the office of Past 
Dictator. Mrs. Lynch is a member of the Presby- 
terian Church. Her husband is a highly respected 
citizen, and one of the leading men of Cotton Plant, 
having the finest residence in the place. 

John J. McDonald. Perhaps the most impor- 
tant of Mr. McDonald's history is his war record, 
which is without a blemish, and though not char- 
acterized by any special act of prominence, it is one 
to which he can refer with pardonable pride, and 
that may be read by those who are to come after 
him with a sense of honor. He enlisted in the 
Confederate army in 1861, and joined the Sixth 
Georgia Infantry, his service extending over the 
States of Virginia, North and South Carolina. 
During this time he participated in the battles of 
Seven Pines, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, 
Second Manassas, battle of the Wilderness, and the 
seven days' fight around Richmond, besides many 
minor engagements. He was with Stonewall Jack- 
son when that great general was killed, but was 
never himself wounded or captured. Early in 1865 
he was sent South, and was under Johnston at his 
surrender. His two older brothers (twins) William 
and John, were in the same war, both receiving 
severe injuries in the seven days' fight. After 
they were all at home he in company with his 
father and one sister came to White County, but 
about a year later his father returned to his native 
State. Mr. McDonald is a native of Jones County, 
Ga., and was born in 1842, the son of John and 
Wealthy (Clifton) McDonald, originally from North 
Carolina and Georgia, respectively. They were 
married in Georgia and reared a family of eight 
children, of whom John J. is the fourth in order of 
birth. Mrs. McDonald died in 1854. Mr. Mc- 
Donald married again, and with the exception of a 
few years spent in Arkansas, as before stated, re- 
sided in Georgia all his life, his death occurring 
there in 1874. He served in one of the Indian 
wars. His father, Henry McDonald, a Scotchman 



306 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



by birth and a soldier in the Revolutionary War, 
died in North Carolina. John J. McDonald was 
married in 1870 to Miss Mary, daughter of Will- 
iam Thompson. She was born in Georgia and 
died after nine years of wedded life. For his sec- 
ond wife Mr. McDonald chose Victoria Turner, 
whose parents, Stephen and Susan Turner, were 
married in North Carolina and from there moved 
to Jackson County, Ark., where the former died, 
but Mrs. Turner is still living. Mrs. McDonald 
was born in Jackson County and died in 1889, a 
member of the Christian Church. She bore five 
children: John L. , William H., Walter H. Eu- 
gene and Rufus. In 1809 Mr. McDonald moved 
to White County, and since 1880 has resided on 
his present place, consisting of 000 acres with 125 
in a successful state of cultivation. The farm at 
the time of his purchase was nearly all woods, but 
it is now second to none in the county, as far as 
careful cultivation is concerned, all brought to 
this condition by the individual efforts of Mr. Mc- 
Donald. He is an enterprising farmer and citizen, 
lending his support to all worthy movements for 
the good and growth of the county, and enjoys the 
esteem and respect of those who know him. He 
has been school trustee for many years, and many 
a successful termination of some enterprise owes 
its existence to a large degree to his quick judg- 
ment and keen penetration. He has been a Dem- 
ocrat during life, and voted for Greeley in 1868. 
The Colony Lodge No. 190, A. F. & A. M. , find in 
him one of its best members. 

Ransford P. McGregor, a man looked up to 
and held in the highest esteem by his fellow-citi- 
zens, also a wealthy planter of Cotton Plant, is a 
native of Tennessee, and was born in Rutherford 
County, in 1848, being the son of Ransford and 
Isabella (Henderson) McGregor. The senior Mc- 
Gregor was probably born in Davidson County, 
Tenn., in 1801, and his wife in Rutherford County. 
They were married in the latter State, where their 
entire lives were passed. Mrs. McGregor was 
called to her final home in 1849, and her husband 
died in 1882. He was a justice of the peace and 
a leading farmer at the time of his demise. His 
father was of Scotch-Irish descent, and among the 



early settlers of Davidson County, Tenn. , his death 
occurring in Wilson County. His grandfather, 
Col. James Henderson, was killed at the battle of 
New Orleans, January 8, 1815. He was colonel of 
a Tennessee regiment, and a man of considerable 
prominence. Ransford P. was the youngest of 
seven children, five sons and two daughters. He 
is the only one married, and the only one living 
out of their native State. His education was greatly 
interfered with by the war, Ijut notwith.standing he 
is a well-read, intelligent gentleman. At the age 
of twenty-seven he left his home and went to Ala- 
bama, where he engaged in farming for a few 
years, and in 1878 came to Cotton Plant, where he 
was married in the year 1879. His wife was Sallie, 
daughter of William Cooper, of South Carolina. 
She was left an orphan when quite small, but was 
reared and educated by Dr. T. D. Chunn. To Mr. 
McGregor's marriage seven children were born, 
four sons and three daughters, all of whom are be- 
ing educated by a private tutor at home. He resided 
on a farm one mile east of his present home, till 
1889, then came to the town, where he has recent- 
ly built a very fine residence. His farm is second 
to none in the county, consisting of 3,000 acres 
with about 1,000 under a high state of cultivation, 
also a good school house and yard in connection 
with his property in town. Mr. McGregor is one 
of the principal land holders of the county, rising 
from the possessor of a few hundreds to one of the 
wealthy and influential men of the county. He 
has a good steam gin, which has been in successful 
operation since his residence here, and is now gin- 
ning twenty bales per day, and he will produce 
about 600 bales of cotton from his land this year. 
Mr. McGregor is a stanch Democrat, and voted for 
Greeley in 1872. He is known far and wide for 
his charities and liberal contributions, doing many 
of his kind acts and generous deeds, which never 
reach the ears of the outside world. Mrs. Mc- 
Gregor is a member in good standing of the Pres- 
byterian Church. 

Andrew J. Marsh. I. M. and Jane M. (Walker) 
Marsh, the esteemed parents of our subject, were 
natives of North Carolina and Tennessee, respect- 
ively, their marriage occurring in the latter State, 



' ^|s~ 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



SCi 



and ia 1858 they moved to Arkansas, settling in 
WoodiufF County, four miles from the present site 
of Howell Station. Here the senior Marsh im- 
proved a large farm, residing on it until 1867, at 
which time he returned to Tipton County, Tenn., 
where he lived for several years, but while visiting 
in Arkansas, in the year 1869, was claimed by 
Death. His wife died from injuries received from 
a vicious mule at her home in Tipton County, 
Tenn., in 1870. They were both members of the 
Presbyterian Church. To their marriage a family 
of thirteen children were born, Andrew J. being 
the ninth in order of birth. His education was 
from necessity very limited, as the schools in the 
days of his youth were not many. He was thor- 
oughly drilled in the management and successful 
operation of the farm, and has proved himself a 
worthy example of the sons of the soil. Since 
his twelfth year Mr. Marsh has resided in Arkan- 
sas, and is an ardent admirer of the land of his 
adoption. In 1871 he settled on his present farm 
(it then being ia the woods), three miles northeast 
of Howell Station, and is now the owner of 400 
acres of excellent land, with 125 under cultivation, [ 
all the result of hard work and good management. ' 
With the exception of two years in Colona, where 
he engaged in the merchandising business, Mr. 
Marsh has always followed the occujsation of farm- 
ing. In 1864 he enlisted in Company C, Third 
Missouri Cavalry, operating in Indian Territory, 
Missouri and Kansas; also participated in numer- 
ous skirmishes in Arkansas. He was with Gen. 
Price on his famous raid through Missouri, Kansas 
and Indian Territory, surrendering at Shreveport, 
La., June 7, 1865. After the war he returned to 
his home. Mr. Marsh has been married three 
times, his first marriage being in 1869 to Miss 
Sarah A. Sanders, who bore him two children. She 
died in 1872, leaving an infant twenty-four hours 
old. Mrs. Marsh was born in Mississippi, and 
came with her mother and step-father (Mr. Collins) 
to this State, settling in Woodruff County. Her 
mother is now residing in Texas. In 1873 he was 
again married, to Mary Tubbs, of Humphreys 
County, Tenn., she being the mother of two sons. 
This wife dying in 18S2, in 1885 he married Julia 



Joyner. He has met with many accidents, narrow- 
ly escaping death at times, one accident in par- 
ticular being the fall of a nail-keg filled with mud. 
This keg fell thirty-two feet striking him on the 
head, fracturing it and breaking his arm and shoul- 
der. Politically he is a Democrat, hisfiret vote 
being for Seymour, in 1868. He was foiinerly allied 
with the lodge of K. of H. at Cotton Plant, and, 
with the exception of his sister, is the only mem- 
ber of his family residing in WoodrufP County. 
Mr. Marsh, his wife and two children belong to 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is 
steward. 

Robert T. Martin. Among the leading planters 
of Cadee Township the name of Robert T. Martin 
is well knovm. This name is synonymous' of all 
that is honorable and ujiright, and is a guarantee 
that the confidence reposed in him will not be be- 
trayed. He was born in Spartanburg District, S. 
C, in 1846, and is the son of Thomas JefFerson 
and Louisa M. (Dodd) Martin. Thomas J. Martin 
and wife were natives of South Carolina, and in 
1850 came to Cass County, Ga., thence to Missis- 
sippi, where his death occurred in 1858. He was 
a major in the South Carolina militia at an early 
day. His father, Thomas Martin, was also of 
South Carolina nativity, though of Scotch-Irish 
descent, and during his life was a very prominent 
planter. His wife was of French origin. To 
Thomas J. and wife a family of five children were 
born, of which Robert T. is the oldest. After her 
husband's demise, Mrs. Martin and her family 
moved to Arkansas, settling in what is now Wood- 
ruff County, where she died May 3, 1866. She 
was the daughter of Thomas Dodd, a native of 
South Carolina, but who resided in Georgia, also 
Mississipi^i. and finally ended his days in Arkansas, 
in 1865. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and at 
the time of his death was a successful planter of 
St. Francis County. Robert T. Martin has called 
Arkansas his home since his thirteenth j'ear; though 
the facilities for schooling were far from satisfac- 
tory in his early youth, he has, by constant read- 
ing, become conversant with the events of the 
times. In 1862 Mr. Martin joined Company G, 
Eighteenth Arkansas Infantry, and was in service 



\c]e 



> ''V 



308 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



east of the Mississippi till the siege of Port Hud- 
son. He participated in the fights of Farming- 
ton, Corinth, Big Creek, Ironton, and all through 
the raid of Gen. Price in Missouri, Kansas, In- 
dian Territory, etc. He surrendered at Helena, 
June, 18G5, and was held prisoner for about 
eight days after the capture of Port Hudson. 
After the close of the great struggle Mr. Martin 
resumed his occupation of farming, and in July, 
1807, he married Mattie E. Robertson, a native of 
Georgia, and a daughter of Elijah and Sarah 
(Miliner) Robertson. Mr. and Mrs. Robertson re- 
sided in Georgia for a number of years, then 
moved to Florida, thence to Cape Girardeau, Mo., 
and during the war they came to Arkansas. After 
a short residence in Arkansas they moved to Mis- 
sissippi, and then again to Alabama, where Mrs. 
Robertson now lives, her husband having died in 
Alabama a number of years ago. He was at one 
time a farmer and merchant, and later a contractor 
and builder. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
Martin eleven children have been born, two sons 
and one daughter now living, and all enjoying ex- 
cellent educational advantages, no expense nor pains 
being spared. Mr. Martin lived near Cotton Plant, 
engaged in farming until 1883, then came to How- 
ell Township, where he is now residing. While in 
Howell he engaged in the mercantile business, 
which he successfully carried on for three years in 
connection with his farming. He is one of the 
leading land holders of Woodruff County, owning 
1,300 acres of land, 600 of which are under culti- 
vation, and on this farm is erected one of the most 
magnificent residences in this county, all the re- 
sult of good management and careful attention to 
every detail of business, however trifling or insig- 
nificant. He has met with several severe reverses, 
in 1867 and 1869 lost all, but after a short ab- 
sence in Mississippi, he retiu-ned, and went to 
farming on shares till 1873. Subsequently he pur- 
chased 16-t acres near Howell, this being his first 
land, since which time he has constantly added to 
his possessions until obtaining the present amount 
of land, which he calls his own, and all through 
his own exertions. He has served in the official 
position of coilrt deputy, sheriff, etc. In his 



l)olitical views Mr. Martin has been a life-long 
Democrat, voting for Greeley in 1872. He is a 
member of A. F. & A. M. Lodge, at Cotton Plant, 
of Richmond Lodge, and was once secretary of I. 
O. O. F., at Cotton Plant, now disbanded; also a 
member of Augusta Lodge No. 1122, K. of H. , and 
he, with his wife, belongs to the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. 

Rufus J. Martin is OQe of the many successful 
planters residing near Snapps, Ark., and, like thS 
majority of them, has worked his way up to his 
present position through his own endeavors. He 
; has given his attention to farming all his life, and 
to say that he has been merely successful would 
but mildly express the results which have attended 
his endeavors. He owns excellent farming land to 
the amount of 480 acres, and has 230 acres under 
cultivation, all his land being well improved with 
I good buildings, fences, etc. Mr. Martin was born 
I in Lawrence County, Ark., December 22, 185-1, 
and is a son of Rufus and Ann (Hickerson) Martin, 
of North Carolina, who immigrated to Arkansas at 
at early day, settling in Lawrence County. About 
1855 they removed to Woodruff County, and iu 
1873 settled in Little Rock, where they now live. 
The father followed farming for nearly fifteen 
years, and was a very extensive land holder in the 
State. He is president and a large stockholder of 
the Batesville & Brinkley Railroad, and is now in 
the broker, banking and real- estate business. The 
following are their children: Rufus, Anna, Jessie, 
Gustave, Susie and Raymond. Rufus J. Martin 
was reared in his Woodruff County, and after 
attending the common schools he completed his 
education at a well-known collegiate institute in 
North Carolina. Since 1880 he has been married 
to Florence Shish, by whom he has three children : 
Katie, Winfield and Willie. Mr. Martin is an 
intelligent and thrifty farmer, and socially is a 
Mason. 

Dr. William J. Mathis, of the firm of Mathis 
& Baker, physicians and surgeons at Cotton Plant, 
is a native of Paris, Tenn. , and was born Septem- 
ber 7, 1851, the son of Josiah and Angelina 
(Paynter) Mathis, who were Kentuckians by birth. 
Josiah Mathis dates his existence to the year 1816, 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



309 



his wife having been bom in 1826, but when very 
young they moved to Henry County, Tenu. , were 
there married, and spent the remainder of their 
life. Mr. Mathis was a member of the Baptist 
Church, and his wife of the Methodist. Their 
death occurred in 1863 and 18.80, respectively. 
Josiah Mathis was the son of Jesse Mathis, and at 
the time of his death enjoyed the distinction of 
being a prosperous farmer. Jesse Mathis, who 
died in Henry County, Tenn., was born on the 
ocean; he died in 1875, having been in the War of 
1812, and with Jackson at New Orleans. His 
father, William Mathis, came originally from 
France, and died in Kentucky. Grandfather Will- 
iam Paynter, of Irish descent, first saw the light 
in the Blue Grass State, and died in Henry County, 
Tenn. The father of our subject was twice mar- 
ried, his last wife being the mother of William J. 
He was the oldest of six children born to their 
union. Educated at Caledonia Academy, in Henry 
County, Tenn., at the age of nineteen he began 
the study of medicine, and took a course of lectures 
in 1872 and 1S73 at Nashville University, grad- 
uating from that institution in 1879. After prac- 
ticing in Henry County until 1881, he came to St. 
Francis County, and in 1887 located in Cotton 
Plant, where he has since resided, continuing his 
practice with marked success. In November, 1875, 
Dr. Mathis was united in marriage with Miss 
Emma W., daughter of Harry Wyms, of Houston 
County, Tenn. Six children have blessed this 
union, only two now living, a son and daughter. 
Dr. Mathis is conservative in politics, and voted 
for Tilden in 1870. He is a member of a Masonic 
Lodge in St. Francis County, and is Medical Ex- 
aminer in the K. of H. and K. & L. of H. 

R. W. MuiTay is one of the pioneers of the 
early history of Arkansas, and one who has been 
largely instrumental in the rapid and steady 
growth of his adopted county. Mr. Murray is a 
Tennesseean by birth, being born in Hardeman 
County, July 18, 1831. His parents, James and 
Eliza (Beazel) Murray, were also Tennesseeans, 
and about 1845 came to the State of Arkansas, 
settling in Woodruff County, and resided there 
until their respective deaths in 1803 and 1806. 



Their family was a large one, but only seven chil- 
dren are now living. K. W. Murray was al)out 
eight years of age when brought to Arkansas, and 
here he grew to mature years and received such 
education as the schools of that day afforded. He 
became familiar with the duties of farm life at a 
very early date, but when the war broke out he 
dropped all work to take up arms, and enlisted in 
Company A, Eighth Arkansas Regiment, serving 
about three years. After the cessation of hostil- 
ities he returned home and again took up the du- 
ties of the farm, and has made agriculture his 
calling ever since. Owing to his early removal to 
this State he has witnessed the development of 
Woodruff County into a very prosperous county. 
He was married in 1861 to Miss Mary M. W^alker, 
by whom he had eight children, only three of whom 
are now living: Lee, Addie and Stella. His sec- 
ond marriage took place in 1882, his wife being 
Miss Sallie E. Campbell, and is the mother of two 
childi-en: Elmo and Edith. 

W. J. O' Shields. In the township in which 
the subject of this sketch lives there is not to be 
found a more attractive farm than his, and which 
calls forth the admiration of all who see it. His 
residence, barns, outbuildings, and, in fact, all 
necessary conveniences, bespeak of prosperity and 
show that he is a thrifty farmer, and of the 500 
acres of excellent farming land which he possesses 
there are about 225 under cultivation. This he 
devotes to the raising of cotton and corn, and he 
also raises the necessary stock for the successful 
conducting of his farm. He was born in Jackson 
County, Ga. , July 23, 1833, and is a son of Jethro 
and Polly (Boyce) O' Shields, the father a native of 
South Carolina and the mother of Georgia. They 
were married in the latter State, and at the time of 
the late conflict resided at Kesaca. In 1867 he 
and his family came to Woodruff County, Ark., 
and here he departed this life daring the following 
year, his wife's death having occurred in Georgia 
prior to his coming to Arkansas. W. J. O' Shields 
is one of the three surviving members of a familj' 
of seven children, and was reared and educated in 
the State of Georgia. In 1862 he enlisted in Capt. 
Keith's Company and was on active duty dui'ing 



« k_ 



310 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



the entire war, coining out of the army with no 
wound or mishap of any sort. He came with his 
father overland to Arkansas and in December, 1869, 
he purchased the farm where he is now living. 
He was married Jauuary 1, 187(3, to Paralie Amelia 
Thompson. 

J. P. Penn, one of the foremost in the ranks 
of Augusta's prominent and enterprising business 
men, and a citizen of good repute, was born in 
Maury County, Tenn., October 8, 1833, and from 
his earliest youth has been familiar with farm 
work, and by his own pluck and indomitable will 
has acquired the property he now owns, being one 
of the largest real estate holders in the county. 
He was sixteen years old when he came to the 
State of Arkansas, receiving the larger portion of 
his education in his native State. Upon his arrival 
in this county his sole possessions consisted of the 
trunk which contained his clothes. He immediately 
sought employment and hiring out to a farmer 
worked on a farm for some years. By strict economy 
he soon laid by some money, and in 1852 he began 
clerking for Hamblet & Penn, his brother being a 
member of this firm. After remaining with them 
two years he began clerking for Purssell & Bro., 
and upon this firm selling out he continued in the 
employ of their successor one year. He and his 
brother, Thomas H. , then became proprietors of 
the establishment and the business continued under 
the firm name of T. H. Penn & Bro. until the 
breaking out of the Rebellion. In 1861 J. P. en- 
listed in the service and served the cause he es- 
poused faithfully until the final surrender. He 
clerked one year after his return home and then 
formed a partnership with John T. Hamblet in the 
mercantile business, remaining in the firm until 
1882, when he sold out and engaged in the real- 
estate business. He was first married to Lucy 
Bland, by whom he had three children, all de- 
ceased. Again he was married, taking for his sec- 
ond wife, Martha H. Hall. He is a member of 
the Masonic fraternity. His parents, Philip and 
Louisa (Brisco) Penn, were born in Prince Edward 
County, Va., and removed to Tennessee during 
the early history of that State. Here the father's 
death occun-ed, but the mother died in Woodruff 



County. To this couple were given ten children, 
five of whom are now living. 

Capt. D. F. Price, a well-to-do planter residing 
near Snapps, was born in Prince Edward County, 
Va. , November 21, 18-11, and is a son of Nathaniel 
and Mary (Compton) Price, also Virginians of 
English- Irish descent, respectively, who spent their 
lives in their native State. The father was a tobac- 
conist and farmer, and was a man who possessed 
sterling traits of character well worthy the emula- 
tion of all. His father was born in Ireland, but at 
an early day came to America, and took part in the 
War of 1812, rising to the rank of captain. Capt. 
D. F. Price was one of eight children, only four of 
whom are now living: Harry, D. F., Josie and 
Cora. The subject of this memoir was reared and 
educated in Virginia, and remained with his father 
until the latter' s death. Upon reaching the age 
of eighteen years he left home and went to Mem- 
phis, Tenn. , and worked for a cotton firm in that 
city until 1861, when he dropped his work and 
enlisted in Company A, Fourth Tennessee Infantry, 
and served until the surrender, holding the rank 
of captain of his company after the battle of 
Smithville, N. C. At the battle of Shiloh he was 
wounded in the right leg by a gunshot, but fully 
recovered after a short furlough home. He re- 
ceived two other slight wounds which were of 
not much importance, and after the war he returned 
to Tennessee, and commenced farming in Gibson 
County, continuing until 1869, at which time 
he went to Fayette County, where he followed the 
same occupation for two years. In January, 
1871, he came to WoodrufF County, Ark., and now 
owns an excellent farm of 120 acres, with seventy- 
five acres under cultivation, which he devotes to the 
cultivation of cotton and corn. Miss A. F. Corley 
(a daughter of C. C. Corley), became his wife 
in 1872, and by her he has a family of four 
children: Corley G., Arthur, Cora and Otis. Mrs. 
Price is a consistent member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Chvirch. 

W. A. Reed, prosperous and exceedingly pop- 
ular, takes his place in the corps of Woodruff 
County's most eminent business men as one of the 
oldest merchants of Lone Grove. He is a native 



Tf* 



:^^ 






WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



311 



of Tennessee, being born in Murfreesboro in 1856. 
His father, John W. Reed, was of Scotch descent, 
born about 1831. He was of Virginia origin, but 
at the time of his death, in 1801, was a prosperous 
mechanic in Tennessee. In 1854 he was married 
to Miss Annie E. Alexander, and to them two chil- 
dren were born: W. A. and Ada W. (now deceased). 
Mrs. Reed was again married in 1863 to J. W. 
Bruster, of Nashville. Mrs. Bruster was a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and died 
in 1883. W. A. Reed, the subject of this memoir, 
immigrated from Tennessee to this State in 1871, 
locating in this county. For the first four years he 
rented land and farmed, meetinsj with great suc- 
cess. His next business venture was a clerkship 
for four years with B. F. Hall, at the end of which 
time he formed a partnership with Mr. Hall, the 
firm being known as Hall & Reed. After a few 
years (about four) Mr. Reed purchased Mr. Hall's 
interest, and since then has conducted the btisiness 
on his own responsibility. His trade is a very 
good one, his yearly sales amounting to quite a 
snug sum. In the year of 1879 Mr. Reed was 
married to Miss Ellen M. Land, a daughter of 
Mr. and Mrs. Abram Land, of this county. To 
this marriage four children have been born: Flor- 
ence M. , Kenneth A., William Logan and Douglass 
A. (deceased). In secret societies Mr. Reed affili- 
ates with the K. of H. , and although a young man 
is counted among the foremost and is one of the 
most successful merchants in the village. He ad- 
vocates and donates liberally to all public enter- 
prises, such as schools, chui'ches, etc., and is 
respected and esteemed by all. He has a fine 
residence, and the sociability of himself and wife 
make his home a favorite place of entertainment in 
the community. 

John W. Revel, conceded to be a very pop- 
ular and prosperous planter, and one of, if not the 
best in the county of his adoption, was born in 
Northampton County, N. C, February 1, 1832, 
and is a son of Louis and Martha (Outland) Revel, 
who were of English Dutch descent, and natives of 
North Carolina. They immigrated to the State of 
Tennessee about the year 1844, and located in 
Shelby County, living here until their deaths, the 



mother dying in 1868 and the father in 1870. John 
W. is the eldest son of eleven children, and from 
the time he was twelve years of age was a resident 
of Tennessee. When at the outbreak of the Rebell- 
ion he, with all the ardor and enthusiasm of youth, 
espoused the Southern cause and enlisted in Com- 
pany A, Eighteenth Mississippi Cavalry, but was 
subsequently captured, and taken to Alton, thence 
to Fort Delaware, being confined in prison some 
twenty months. After being discharged, he came 
home, and in December, 1865, determined to seek 
his fortune, turned his face farther westward and 
accordingly settled in Woodruff County, Ark., 
where he rented land for three years, and tilled the 
soil. In 186'J he purchased a portion of the farm 
which he now owns, and which then had but few 
improvements; adding to this from time to time, 
he now owns 1,200 acres, having about 550 of these 
cultivated and fairly improved. He has labored 
hard to make his farm one of the best in the county, 
and judging from its appearance and the amount 
realized from it every year, he has admirably suc- 
ceeded. His land is exceedingly fertile, and about 
400 acres is devoted entirely to the cultivation of 
cotton. He has been married three times. In 
1868 he married Abbie Brown, having by her one 
child, now deceased, and in 1873 he wedded Katie 
Didlake, she being the mother of one child, also 
deceased. He married his third wife, Mary L. 
Miller, in 1882, and by her has a son, John W., Jr. 
Mrs. Revel is a member of the Methodist Episco 
pal Church, and in his political views Mr. Revel is 
a Democrat. 

Edmond Roddy, sheriff and collector, Augusta, 
Ark. Mr. Roddy is now filling his third term as 
sheriff and collector of Woodruff County, and no 
man ever held the position who was better fitted to 
discharge the duties connected with it than he. 
He was born in this county (then Jackson) on No- 
vember 11, 1850, and is the son of Thomas B. and 
Elizabeth R. (Erwin) Roddy, the father a native 
of Spartanburg District, S. C, born in 1821, and 
the mother a native of North Carolina. The 
parents wore married in Jackson County, Ark. 
Thomas B. Roddy was left an orphan when very 
young, both his parents dying the same day of 



iHl 



312 



HISTOET OF ARKANSAS. 



some malignant, disease, and he came with an 
uncle to Tennessee fi'om his native State. In 
1833 he came to Jackson County, Ark. , located 
about four miles east of Augusta, entered a tract 
of land in the woods and cut and hewed logs to 
make a cabin. Here he opened a farm and tilled 
the soil for a number of years. He then purchased 
a second farm in the woods, three miles north of 
Augusta, cleared it and resided there until May, 
1887, when his death occuiTed. The mother died 
in 1858. There are only two children of this mar- 
riage: Edmond and Morgan A. The subject of 
our sketch was reared to agricultural pursuits, and 
received his education in the log school-house of 
pioneer times. He remained on the farm until 
1874, when he hired to W. P. Campbell, then 
clerk of the circuit court, now clerk of the supreme 
court of the State, and remained with him until 
his election to the ofiBce of sherifP in 1878. He 
served one term and was defeated on a second run. 
He purchased a farm, moved on it, and there re- 
mained for three years. In 1886 he was re-elected 
to the office of sheriff and again elected in 1888. 
He owns 500 acres of land, and has 300 acres 
under cultivation. He also ownes a homestead of 
twenty-live acres in Augusta. He was married on 
February 12, 1877, to Miss Beatrice Skinner. 
Mr. Roddy is a prominent political worker, and is 
a first-class citizen. He is a member of Knights 
of Honor, and Mrs. Roddy is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Roddy spent 
one year at the Gulf of Mexico, on account of a 
slight misunderstanding between himself and 
Powell Clayton's militia, occurring in 1868 and 
1869. 

Ed. Scales, a successful merchant of McCrory, 
is a native of Tennessee, having been born in Tip- 
ton County, in 1855. His father. Dr. James Scales, 
was also of Tennessee origin, a prominent physi- 
cian in that State. He attended medical lectures 
in Louisville, Ky., and Philadelphia, Penn,, and 
after graduating, was recognized as one of the 
shining lights of his profession. In 1860 he immi- 
grated to Arkansas, locating in Woodruff County, 
where he met with great success, building up a 
large and esteemed practice. In 1854 Dr. Scales 



was married to Miss Jennie Whitner, and by her 
became the father of six children: Ed., Alice (wife 
of Dr. James, of Cotton Plant), Pleasant, Walter, 
Cornelius and Augustus. Dr. Scales purchased 
160 acres of land on his arrival in the county, 
which has been increased to 1,200 acres. He is a 
member in high standing of the Masonic order, 
and an influential, enterprising citizen. Mrs. 
Scales died in 1878. Ed. Scales began life for 
himself in 1878, at that time engaging in mercan- 
tile business, in De View, but is now located at 
McCrory, in the same branch of trade, the firm 
name being Crosby & Scales. They have a liberal 
patronage, and enjoy an average annual patronage 
of about 140,000. In 1881 Mr. Scales was united 
in marriage with Miss Rebie Johnson, the daughter 
of Stephen Johnson and wife, of North Mississippi. 
To this union two children were born : Edwin (now 
deceased) and James. Mr. Scales lielongs to the 
K. of H. and Douglass Lodge No. 56, K. of P. 
He is deemed one of the progressive merchants 
and citizens of McCrory, and an affable and court- 
eous gentleman. 

John Shearer. Although America can not claim 
Mr. Shearer as one of her native-born citizens, De 
View proudly and justly claims him as one of her 
most prosperous merchants. He is a native of 
"Bonny Scotland," his birth occurring in Edin- 
burgh in 1840. His father, John Shearer, Sr. , 
first saw the light of day in the highlands of Scot- 
land in the year 1815. His occupation was that of 
a ship carpenter, which he followed for a livelihood 
until his death, in 1852, on board a ship that was 
wrecked. He was married in 1840 to Miss Jane 
Heslop, and by her became the father of one child, 
John, Jr., the subject of this sketch. John 
Shearer, Jr., sailed from Scotland in 1844, landing 
in New York, and went from there directly to Mon- 
treal, Canada, where he remained twelve years, 
then traveled through several States and came to 
Arkansas in 1860, located in this county, and in 
1870 he was united in marriage with Miss Hettie 
E. Brown, by whom he had five children, only one 
of them now living, Ruth. Mrs. Shearer was born 
in Lauderdale County, Ala., in 1852, and came 
with her parents to Arkansas, from Tennessee, in 



fv*- 



Ah 



l^ 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



313 



1861. Her father, Mr. Brown, was born in North 
Carolina, in 1820, and her mother owes her nativ- 
ity to Franklin County, Tenn., where her birth 
occurred in 18'2'2. Mr. and Mrs. Brown were 
married in 1844, and to them a family of eight 
children were bom: Andrew J., AVilliam, Abigail, 
Hettie and Lena, the others having died in infancy. 
Mr. Brown died in 1879, and his wife in 1865, 
both dying in Augusta, Ark. They were members 
in good standing in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. AVhen John Shearer, Jr., first came to 
this State, he worked for $1 per day on the 
White Kiver levee, then was employed by a Mr. 
Allen, a blacksmith of Augusta, this coiinty. Sub- 
sequently he worked for Dr. Leach as chore boy 
and errand boy, and later for James Ferguson as a 
farm hand on his plantation on Cache River. At 
the breaking out of the late war Mr. Shearer, Jr., 
enlisted in the artillery service, ixnder Capt. Mc- 
Gowen, of Jacksonjiort, Ark., in 1861. He partici- 
pated in all the principal engagements, serving 
with great bravery until the final sui'render. At 
the close of the war he found himself penniless and 
almost destitute of clothing. An old boot leg 
served him for shoes, a crownless hat sheltered ( ?) 
his head from the weather, and the few articles 
that comprised his clothing were all in rags; he 
was indeed a picture of dispair. But possessing 
an unbounded amount of pluck and energy he came 
out all right, and in the year of 1869 he was able 
to engage in farming on a small scale, in connec- 
tion with a mercantile business at White Church. 
In 1873 he came to De View and again embarked 
in the mercantile business with a stock invoicing 
about $8,000, also has a store at McCrory, Ark., of 
about the same value. His career is an illustration 
of what can be accomplished by perseverance and 
determination of purpose. To day he stands one 
of the wealthiest men in the county. He owns 880 
acres of land with 260 cultivated, and owns 
real estate valued at S3, (MX), in McCrory, and 
$1,500 worth of property in De View. This ho has 
accumulated by his own individual efforts, and all 
since the war. Mr. Shearer is a member of Lodge 
No. 45, F. & A. M., being initiated into that order 
in 1867, Chapter 37, Council 22, at Augusta, and 



Hugh De Payne Commandery No. 1, at Little 
Rock. He also belongs to the K. of H. and K. & 
L. of H. , of De View. Politically he is a Demo- 
crat, and though a stanch adherent to his party, is 
not a political enthusiast. He stands high in this 
community, both socially and financially, and this 
sketch shows him to be, what he certainly is, a 
shrewd financier. Mrs. Shearer is a favorite in 
social circles, entertains largely in her easy, grace- 
ful manner, and is an earnest worker in the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, to which she lielongs. 

D. P. Shoup, merchant, Augusta, Ark. Among 
the enterprising business establishments of Au- 
gusta, whose operations are worthy of record, is 
that of Mr. Shoup, who is not only deeply inter- 
ested in mercantile pursuits, but is also one of the 
first-class farmers of the county. He was born in 
Bedford County, Penn., on August 7, 1851, and 
came to Woodruff County, Ark. , with his parents 
in infancy. He was reared in Yell County of this 
State and received a fair education. In 1867 he 
went north and traveled to different points; but, 
finally, in 1875, located in Woodruff County, Ark., 
where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits for 
four years. In 1880 he embarked in the mercan- 
tile business and has since continued this in con- 
nection with agricultural pursuits. He owns about 
1,400 acres of land, has about 700 acres under 
cultivation and raises a vast amount of cotton. He 
was married, on January 7, 1875, to Miss Elva 
Gulic, a native of Mississippi, and the fruits of 
this union are four living children: Freddie, Ida, 
Ruby and Charlie. Mr. Shoup is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, Royal Arch, K. of H. and K. 
& L. of H. He has also held the position of city 
alderman. He is the second of three living chil- 
dren (William A., Daniel P. and Joseph W. ) born 
to the imion of Jonathan T. and Virginia (Pound) 
Shoup, natives of Pennsylvania and Mississippi, 
respectively. The parents were married in Pike 
County, Mississippi, whither the father had gone 
when a young man, and he died at Danville, Y'ell 
County, Ark., in 1860. His wife died in 1859. 
The father was a merchant and carried on this 
business in diflferent places. He came to Arkansas 
in about 1851. He had two brothers, Abraham 



-^1^ 



314 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



and Henry, who were born in the Keystone State. 
They removed to the State of Ohio, and since that 
time has lost all trace of them. They were owners 
of considerable property which was left them. 

L. D. Snapp is one of the thoroughly reliable 
and upright business men of Woodruff County, and 
is said to be one of the largest and most successful 
real estate owners in the county, he owning 3,000 
acres with 1,000 acres under cultivation. On this 
property are thirty-five tenement houses, all occu- 
pied, and his own private residence, a very hand- 
some structure, also a large cotton-gin which has a 
capacity of twenty-five bales a day. He has done 
more than any other one man in developing the 
couuty; and it is through his influence that a post- 
oifice has been established bearing his name, and at 
this place he has a general mercantile establish- 
ment which nets him a fair annual income. He is 
a man of exceptionally fine character, and noted for 
his exceeding liberality, always being ready to as- 
sist the poor and distressed. His birth occurred in 
Taney County, Mo., April 22, 1842, and here he 
received the greater part of his education and rear- 
ing. He abandoned farm work at the outbreak of 
the Rebellion to take up the weapons of warfare 
in defense of his country, and in 1861 enlisted in 
Company E, Third Missouri Cavalry, serving imtil 
June 27, 1865. He was promoted to the rank of 
first lieutenant of the company, meriting it by 
his bravery and was in all the engagements of 
the Trans-Mississippi Department. Two brothers 
fought with him in the army and one was killed at 
Iho battle of Glasgow. After the proclamation of 
peace Mr. Snapp returned to Missouri and in the 
fall of 1 866 came to Woodruff County, Ark. , where 
he has since made his home. He was married on 
March 4, 1869, to Miss Mary H. Luckenbill, by 
whom he has had a family of ten children, five 
now living: James C, Harry, Walter, Myrtle 
and Pearl. The parents of our subject, Harrison 
G. and Emily D. (Parry) Snapp, were born in East 
Tennessee, and in 1838 moved to Missouri, where 
they died. Of a large family of children born to 
them four only are now living. 

Francis M. Spradliu is a planter of White 
River Township, whose operations are extensive 



and lucrative. Born in Coweta County, Ga. , Oc- 
tober 22, 1830, he is the son of David and Sarah 
(Stone) Spradlin, also natives of Georgia. In the 
year 1845 Mr. and Mrs. Spradlin immigrated to 
Arkansas, and located in what is now Woodruff 
County near White Church, making one of the first 
entries of land in this part of the State. There 
were no improvements whatever on the land, and 
they camped out until thev could build, their home 
for many years being a little log-cabin covered with 
clap-boards. Of the family of eleven children born 
to them onl}' foui- are now living: Francis M., 
Missouri, William I. and Susan Hariston. Mr. 
Spradlin was a quiet, unassuming man, and lib- 
eral in his contributions, but many of his generous 
deeds were never known to the outside world. 
His death in 1856 was lamented by all who knew 
him. Mrs. Spradlin only survived her husband 
two years. Francis M. Spradlin was fourteen 
years old when he came to Arkansas, and the edu- 
cation that he received was given him in Georgia, 
as there were no schools in this county at that 
time. His youthful days were spent in helping 
to clear away the forest of his parents' new 
home, and in 1861 he left the quiet monotony of 
the old homestead to enlist in Company E, Col. 
(lause's regiment, serving until the final surrender. 
He has resided on the farm where he now lives 
for twenty-eight years, and his recitals of the many 
inconveniences and privations endured years ago, 
and the improvements up to the present day, 
sound almost incredulous. In this place are 160 
acres of land highly cultivated, and he also has an 
interest in a tract of 240 acres partially improved. 
In 1872 Mr. Spradliu erected a cotton-gin, which 
was run with horse-power until 1885, after which 
he has put in an eighteen-horse-power engine, and 
has successfully conducted it since that time. Mr. 
Spradlin was first married in 1857 to Miss Amanda 
Hubbard, and the second time to Josephine Scott, 
in ] 863. His third wife was Miss Martha Thomas, 
by whom he has one child living, Columbus. Mr. 
Spradlin was married in 1872 to Miss Sarah Chil- 
dress, and to their union two children were born: 
Norella and Wyatt. Mr. Spradlin is a member of 
the Baptist Church, and has served as magistrate 



^^ 



V 



^ s 



^ 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



315 



for fourteen years. He is a prosperous and well- 
to-do farmer, and is worthy the respect and esteem 
shown him by the entire community. 

Hon. T. E. Stanley, attorney at law, Augusta, 
Ark. Every life has a history of its own, and, al- 
though in appearance it may seem to possess lit- 
tle to distinguish it from others, yet the political 
career and experience of Mr. Stanley, as well as 
his popularity in his profession, have contributed 
to give him a wide and popular acquaintance with 
nearly every individual of Woodruff County and 
throughout the State, if not personally, then by 
name. Mr. Stanley was born in Lawrence County, 
Ala., on October 15, 1844, and is a son of Joseph 
H. and Maria L. (Hill) Stanley, the former a na- 
tive of North Carolina and the latter of Virginia, 
and both of Scotch origin. The father was a 
planter and immigrated from North Carolina to 
Alabama in about 1823. He died in Courtland, 
that State, in 1852, and his wife died in 1871. The 
paternal grandfather, Jonathan Stanley, was killed 
near Corinth, Miss., by a robber. Hon. T. E. Stan- 
ley is the only one living of three children born to 
his parents. He was reared and educated in his 
native State, and there remained until the break- 
ing out of the war when, in June, 1861, he enlisted 
in the Sixteenth Alabama Infanfry, and served 
until May, 1865. Previous to the war he attended 
school at La Grange Military Academy, and was 
but sixteen years of age when he enlisted. Al- 
though he entered the army as a private he left the 
ranks as a lieutenant. On the retreat from Corinth 
in May, 1862, he was wounded by a gunshot 
through the left hand, was wounded the second 
time at Murfreesboro in the hip, and received a 
third wound at Chickamauga, where his right foot 
was almost crushed to pieces. He was a boy of 
great nerve and will-power, hardly knew what it 
was to fear, and his career as a soldier is one of 
honor and renown. He was in all the principal 
engagements of the Western army, and at the 
close of the war he returned home, where he fol- 
lowed agricultural pursuits until 1869. In 1870 
he entered Cumberland University, at Lebanon, 
Tenn. , and after passing a strict examination, 
graduated from the Law Department in 1872. The 



same year he came to Augusta, opened an office, 
and in 1876 was elected to the legislature, serv- 
ing three consecutive terms. He was also a dele- 
gate to the Cincinnati convention which nominated 
Hancock and English, and was brought into the 
race before the Democratic convention for Governor 
in 1882. He is a prominent man and a bright 
ornament to the legal profession. He is the owner 
of about 1,400 acres of land in Woodi'uff County, 
with about 900 acres under cultivation; also own- 
ing some real estate in Alabama. Mr. Stanley was 
married in May, 1873, to Miss Laura McCurdy, a 
native of Augusta, Ark., and the fruits of this 
union have been three living children: Louise, 
Thomas E., Jr., and Joseph H. 

Capt. James A. Stoker, pre-eminent among the 
farmers of Barnes Township, was born in Stanly 
County, N. C, in 1831, and is the son of David H. 
and Sarah (Coleman) Stoker. Mr. Stoker and wife 
were natives of North Carolina, where he spent his 
life, and was killed in that State in 1864. He was 
a wealthy farmer, sheriff for fourteen years, and 
captain of State militia for a number of years. He 
organized a regiment for the Mexican War, but was 
not actively engaged in it himself. He was a son 
of Allen Stoker, who was born in Rowan County, 
and died in Davie County, same State, a farmer, as 
well as a soldier in one of the early wars. His 
father was a native of the "Emerald Isle." Mrs. 
Allen Stoker was a sister of Wade Hampton (Sen- 
ator), thus making Capt. James Stoker a cousin of 
Senator Wade Hampton, United States senator from 
South Carolina. Grandfather Coleman was a farmer 
of Irish descent, and died in Stanly County, N. C. 
Mrs. Stoker, mother of James A. (Captain), died 
in Sebastian County, Ark., in 1868, a devoted mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church. Capt. James A. was 
the first in a family of five children, and was edu- 
cated in the common schools of his native State. 
At the age of eighteen he went to Texas, but in 
1849 took passage on a steamer at New York for 
California, here spending four years as an employe 
in the mines of that State. He then returned to 
North Carolina, and in 1S53 was united in marriage 
with Frances, daughter of Akrela and Lucindn 
Griffin, of North Carolina. To this union five chil- 



® w. 



4^ 



316 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



dren were born: Robert W., Ira, Albert, Hattie 
(deceased) aud Delia. Capt. Stoker moved to New- 
ton County, Mo., in 1856, and there formed the 
first company of Confederate troops of regulars, 
organized in that county (Company A). He was in 
command of the company about eighteen months, 
and fought in numerous battles, among them being 
Oak Hill, Richwoods, Lexington, Pea Ridge, etc. 
At the battle of Oak Hill he entered the fray with 
118 men, but after the fighting ceased, found 
only eleven were left of that gallant 118. After 
eighteen months of service, and one without a blem- 
ish on his record as a soldier, he resigned, and sub- 
sequently joined Col. Tom Livingston's Partisan 
Rangers. He served as a member of this staff until 
the death of the Colonel, which occurred in Mis- 
souri in the latter part of 1864. Capt. Stoker then 
returned to Arkansas, but soon after Gen. Price 
made the request that he act as special guide for 
his advance guard, during his raid through Missouri 
and Kansas, which he did and surrendered 200 men 
at Forsyth, Mo. , at the close of the war. His family 
were living in Arkansas during the hostilities, but 
in 1865 he moved to Jackson County, and in 1867 
moved to Central America. A short residence in 
the latter place proved to the Captain that Arkan- 
sas was more to his taste, so he returned to this 
State, settling in Woodruff County, where he has 
since resided. He has a fine farm of 400 acres, 
with 140 under the plow, and keeps himself well 
posted on all subjects relative to the improvments 
of the day, and is in every respect a wide-awake, 
enterprising farmer and citizen. In his political 
views Capt. Stoker is a Democrat, and voted for 
Buchanan. Mrs. Stoker is a member of good 
standing in the Christian Church, and is respected 
and esteemed by all who know her, as is also her 
husband. One episode worthy of mention in the 
Captain's life, and which will be of interest to 
his numerous friends, is that of the Pool expedi- 
tion, in 1857. He in company with 135 men, all, 
except himself, from Newton County, Mo., under 
command of J. P. Ogden, and Mr. Pool acting as 
guide, started out to explore the west and north- 
west of the Wichita Mountains in search of the 
golden treasures supposed to be hidden in these 



mountains. Going in the vicinity of the Blue- 
stone Park, they went southwest until they reached 
the Pigist River, then went down into New Mex- 
ico. While en route the guide related to the com- 
pany that, while lost in the vicinity of these mount- 
ains, in 1854, he discovered large deposits of gold. 
He was lost eight months, but was never able to 
find his way back to where he supposed he had 
discovered the vein. He had on his person some 
nuggets of gold. This party was out sixty or sev- 
enty days. 

E. G. Thompson, of the firm of Thompson & 
Gregory, general merchants, Augusta, Ark. 
Prominent among the mercantile resources of the 
town of Augusta is the dry-goods trade. It is 
thoroughly representative in its character, being 
conducted with much ability and succe.ss. Fore- 
most among those engaged in it here are Messrs. 
Thompson & Gregory, who have won the confi- 
dence and respect of the public by their honest, 
upright dealing. Mr. Thompson is a native of 
Lewis County, Mo., born September 1, 1850, and 
is the son of A. M. and Helen (Waters) Thomp- 
son, natives of the "Old Dominion." The father 
was a tiller of the soil, and immigrated to Missouri 
with his parents at quite an early day, and died 
on the old homestead in Lewis County. The 
mother is still living on the home place. E. G. 
Thompson is the youngest of foiu- sons born to his 
parents. When seventeen years of age he entered 
La Grange College, Missouri, and graduated from 
that institution in the class of 1871. In October 
of the same year he came to Augusta, Ark. , studied 
law and was admitted to the bar in 1872, but never 
practiced. One year later he engaged in the real- 
estate and banker's business, which he has since 
carried on. He is agent for a great deal of land 
besides being the owner of about 15,000 acres of 
his own, with a vast amount under cultivation. 
He entered the mercantile business in 1883, under 
the present title, and has since continued. They 
carry an immense stock of goods and do a heavy 
business at all their stores, it being probably the 
largest business firm in Woodruff Count}-. Mr. 
Thompson is a thorough business man, as is also 
his partner. They do a considerable cotton trade. 



s^ « 



2iJ" 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



317 



and besides their store at Augusta also have estab- 
lishments at Grays and Louo Grove. Mr. Thomp- 
son was married in 1872 to Miss Fannie Gregory, 
a sister of his partner. They have throe living 
children: Leah C. , Helen M. and Lottie L. Two 
children are deceased. Mr. Thompson is a member 
of the Masonic fraternity and the K. of H. and is 
a very j)rominent man. 

Judge William T. Trice is a man well versed 
in the lore of his chosen profession, and fully 
competent to discharge the duties to which he has 
been elected, that of judge of county and probate 
court of Woodruff County. He is a native of 
Arkansas, and lirst saw the light of day in Wood- 
ruff County, May 17, 1859, being the son of 
Judge Tazewell W. and Martha A. (Dunlap) Trice. 
Judge Trice, Sr. , was born in Virginia in 1812, 
and his wife in Limestone County, Ala., in 1827. 
They were married in Mississippi in 1854, and 
came to Woodruff County in 1858, settling in 
Freeman Township, on unimproved land, where 
the remainder of Mr. Trice's life was spent. He 
was a man of an excellent English education, and 
began practicing as an attorney at twenty-five 
years of age. He was a probate judge in Alal)ama 
four years, and in 1872 was elected county and 
probate judge; but this election did not amount 
to anything, he being counted out with the rest of 
the ticket. He was a man of many accomplish- 
ments, and well qualified to fill the positions that 
he did so successfully. He owned a fine farm of 
600 acres, on which he was residing at the time of 
his death, in December, 1873. The A. F. & A. 
M., Richmond Lodge, at Cotton Plant, counted 
him as one of its members for many years. He 
was the son of William A. Trice, who was born 
in England, and came to America when a young 
man, first locating in Virginia, but afterward im- 
migrated to Alabama, where he was living at the 
time of his death as a successful farmer. Mrs. 
Trice was a daughter of John Dunlap, a prosper- 
ous farmer, who died in Alabama. His parents 
were born in Ireland. Mrs. Trice is now living, 
and for a great many years has been a member of 
the Methodist Church. Judge William T. Trice, 
the subject of this sketch, is the fourth in a family 



of six children, all residing in Woodruff County, 
and, with the exception of one, all married. Judge 
William T. was reared to farm life, receiving a 
good common-school education, and at the age of 
eighteen began the study of law, and as the result 
of his untiring efforts in that direction was his 
admission to the bar, in 1882, by Judge J. N. 
Cypert, since which time he has practiced with 
great success, being now a successful attorney of 
Woodruff County. In January, 1884, Judge Trice 
was united in marriage with Minnie C, daughter 
of Capt. John R. and Elizabeth Sholton. Mr. 
Shelton was born in Tennessee, but came to Ar- 
kansas (Woodruff County) in 1854, where he oc- 
cupied himself with farming. He was a soldier 
in the Confederate army, and received the title of 
captain, his death occurring in 1881. Mrs. Shel- 
ton is still living, and belongs to the Methodist 
Church, as did her husband. Mrs. Trice was born 
in 1804. To Judge and Mrs. Trice two sons have 
been born, both still living. Judge Trice lived on 
a farm until 1887, then came to Cotton Plant, 
where he has a fine residence. His farm in Free- 
man Township is second to none of its size in the 
county. Its extent is 180 acres, with 100 under 
cultivation. This farm was obtained largely by his 
own efforts, but partially by inheritance. Judge 
Trice was justice of the peace two years, from 1884 
to 1886, and in 1888 was elected county and pro- 
bate judge, which position he tilled with honor 
and distinction. He is a member of the K. & L. 
of H. , Aurora Lodge, at Cotton Plant, No. 1314, 
in which he is present Protector, and of the K. 
of P. , at Cotton Plant, Lodge No. 94, is Master of 
Finance. He is a strong Democrat, and voted for 
Hancock in 1880. Himself and wife belong to the 
Methodist Church, in which he is steward. 

P. A. Vaughan, of Howell, Woodruff County, 
Ark., is a native of Virginia, his birth occurring 
in Petersburg, in 1825. He is one of thirteen 
children born to Thomas and Martha P. (Rivers) 
Vaughan, only five of whom survive: P. A., John 
F. , Virginia (the wife of S. Gardner, of Memphis, 
Tenn.), Minerva and Roljert. Mr. Vaughan served 
in the War of 1812, and died in Fayette County, 
Tenn., in 1838, his wife surviving him until 1843. 



:^ 



^^ 



318 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



P. A. Vaughan was united in matrimony with Miss 
Mary Whitmore, of Fayette County, Tenn., in 
1849. She died in 1864, having borne seven chil- 
dren only two now living: John T. and Charles E. 
In 1866 Mr. Vaughan was married to Miss Sallie 
Clark, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Clark, 
of Louisiana, and eight childien have blessed this 
happy marriage, four boys and four girls, five of 
whom are alive: Roberta (now Mrs. Joel York), 
Augusta C. , Minnie, Peter A. , Jr. and Martha P. 
Mr. Vaughan served in the late war under Capt. W. 
F. Cody, enlisting in 1862, and remaining on the 
field of action until the final surrender. After the 
cessation of hostilities he returned home and en- 
gaged in farming, which occupation he is still pursu- 
ing. The life of this worthy citizen presents an 
excellent example of what may be accomplished by 
energetic application and determination, for he 
started with comparatively nothing, and is now the 
possessor of 1,500 acres of land, with 500 under 
cultivation, being to-day one of the " solid " men, 
financially, of the county. He immigrated from 
Tennessee to this State in 1850, and purchased a 
small, insignificant tract of land lying in the 
heart of a forest, built a log-house, and began 
clearing what is now one of the finest farms in the 
county. Mr. Vaughan owns the only brick farm- 
house here, the bricks for which were burned by 
him, so he knows and can appreciate the labor 
requisite in that work. It is certainly an elegant 
home, and what is better, a hospitable one, the 
fi'iend or stranger alike receiving a hearty welcome 
by Mr. Vaughan and his estimable wife. The lat- 
ter is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
William S. Waide, an agriculturist and stock 
raiser of considerable prominence, is the son of 
William and Mary (Ray) Waide, of Hickman 
County, Ky. , nativity, being born in 1845, and one 
of four children (one son and three daughters). 
William Waide, Sr., was born in Virginia and his 
wife in Kentucky. Their deaths occurred in 1846 
and 1863, respectively. After Mr. Waide's death 
in Kentucky, the family came to Woodruff County, 
and here Mrs. Waide ended her days, after a wid- 
owhood of seventeen years. The subject of this 
sketch received but a meager education, as the 



schools in his early boyhood days were very lim- 
ited; sometimes a few weeks only would be the ex- 
tent of his schooling for the year. Mr. Waide and 
a sister are the only surviving members of the fam- 
ily, and since 1861 Woodruff County has been his 
home. In 1862 he joined Company G, Eighteenth 
Arkansas Infantry, which was stationed east of 
the Mississippi river until the fall of Port Hudson, 
when he was captured and held a prisoner for eight 
days. He was then paroled, came home and fin- 
ished his war career in Arkansas and Missouri, be- 
ing with Price in his raid through Missouri, Kan- 
sas, etc., and finally surrendered at Wittsburg, in 
May, 1865. After the war he resumed his occupa- 
tion of farming, and in March, 1871, he was united 
in marriage to Miss Emma Riddle, who was born 
in North Carolina, and the daughter of John and 
Cely Riddle. Mrs. Waide's parents came to what 
is now Woodruff County when she was only six 
months old (1850). Mr. Riddle was a justice of 
the peace some years, and a soldier in the Confed- 
erate army, being captured and dying a prisoner 
in Alton, 111. , during the war. Mrs. Riddle died in 
1853, and was a life-long member of the Method- 
ist Church. To Mr. Waide's marriage foiu- 
children have been born, three sons and one daugh- 
ter. In 1875 he settled in the woods on 360 acres 
of land, three miles east of Howell's Station, and 
since clearing the land has got one of the finest 
farms in that portion of the county, and all due to 
his own efforts. Mr. Waide is largely engaged in 
stock raising, and is a hard-working, ambitious 
farmer and citizen, lending his hearty support to 
all worthy movements for the advancement of the 
country. He is a Democrat in his political views, 
voting the Seymour ticket in 1868. He is a mem- 
ber of the I. O. O. F. and K. of H. at Augasta. 
Mrs. Waide is a communicant of the Baptist 
Church. 

Dr. J. W. Westmoreland, in his connection 
with the professional affairs of White County, as a 
practicing physician and surgeon, located at Cot- 
ton Plant, has attained to well-deserved promi- 
nence. He is a native of Tennessee, and was born 
in Giles County, in 1838, being the son of Laborne 
and Nancy (Neale) Westmoreland. The birth of 



^^ 



e "V 



9 W. 



^^ 



WOODRUFF COUNTY. 



319 



these individuals occurred in Virginia in 1812, 
and South Carolina in 1807, respectively, and they 
were married in Giles County, Tenn. , where their 
lives were spent, with the exception of two years 
in Mississippi. Mr. Westmoreland died in 1800, 
his wife surviving him four years. He was the 
son of Reuben Westmoreland, from Virginia, orig- 
inally, and one of the early settlers of Tennessee, 
where he was residing at the time of his decease. 
He was a descendant of the family of Westmore- 
lands who were numbered among the Virginia 
colonists from England. Grandfather Neale was 
born in Ireland, but came to America when a 
yoimg man, and followed the occupation of farm- 
ing, living at the time of his death in Giles County, 
Tenn. J. W. Westmoreland, the seventh in a 
family of twelve children, was reared with them 
to farm life, receiving such educational advantages 
as were to be had in that day. He began the 
study of medicine at the age of nineteen, and in 
1859 was 'graduated from the University of Nash- 
ville, Tenn. Subsequent to his graduation he 
practiced in Giles County, for two years, moving 
thence to Woodruff County, Ark. , from which lo- 
cality, after a residence of seven years, he went to 
Alabama. In 1883 the Doctor returned to Arkan- 
sas, settling in Cotton Plant, where he has since 
lived. In 1862 he joined Hooper's Second Com- 
pany of Arkansas Troops as quartermaster, but 
soon after was detailed to furnish supplies until 
the close of the war. In March of 1859, Dr. 
Westmoreland was united in marriage with Mary 
A. Deaver, a daughter of James M. and Mary S. 
Deaver, of Giles County. Her father died in 
Giles County, Tenn., but his wife is now living in 
W^oodruff County. To the Doctor's union two 
bright children have been born, which inherit the 
love of study from their father, and the charming 
disposition of the mother. Dr. Westmoreland 
owns 160 acres of land seven miles from Cotton 
Plant, which is in a tine state of cultivation. For 
some years he was engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness in Alabama, and for several years in the drug 
business at Cotton Plant. In his political views 
he sides with the Democrats, having voted for 
Breckenridge in 1860. He is a member of Lodge 



No. 3367, K. of H. at Cotton Plant, and also the 
I. O. O. F. The Doctor has met with several re- 
verses, which resulted in financial losses, but by 
his iintiring determination and perseverance, it is 
easy to see that he is not one to be discouraged or 
kept down. 

J. C. Widener is a prosperous planter living 
near Augusta, and is the owner of a fine farm of 
200 acres, which have been carefully tilled, and 
all the buildings put in good repair. This farm 
has been his home for the past thirty years, and he 
now has 100 acres of land under cultivation, which 
is devoted principally to the raising of such com- 
modities as cotton and corn. Our subject was born 
in Gwinnett County, Ga., March 30, 1840, and is 
a son of Littleton and Nancy (House) Widener, 
both of whom were bom in the "Palmetto State." 
In the year 1857 they immigrated to W^oodrntf 
County, Ark., and heresjaent their declining years. 
The father was a blacksmith and wagon maker by 
trade. To these parents were given eight children, 
three of whom are now living, J. C. Widener be- 
ing the eldest. He was reared in Gordon County, 
Ga. , and came with his parents to Arkansas, en- 
listing from this State in 1861, in Company B, 
Eighth Arkansas Infantry, and was but a short 
time in service. After learning the mechanic's 
trade he worked in machine shops for five years, 
assisting in making supplies for the army. Since 
the termination of the great struggle he has re- 
sided in Woodruff County, excepting the six years 
spent in Texas. He was married in 1866, to 
Lucinda C. Harris, a native of Georgia, and by 
her has had two children, both of whom are de- 
ceased. During the past fall Death claimed his 
estimable wife. 

Dr. J. E. Woods, physician and surgeon, Au- 
gusta, Ark. Dr. Woods owes his nativity to 
Livingston County, Ky., where his birth occurred 
March 5, 1843, and -is the son of Henry W. and 
Nellie (Hodge) Woods, both natives of Kentucky. 
The grandparents were from Virginia, and were 
early settlers of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Woods 
passed their last days in their native State. The 
father was a successful agriculturist, and this vo- 
cation followed up to the time of his death. Of 



*v 



it 



320 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



their large family of children, seven are now liv- 
ing, and Dr. J. E. ^^'oods is the third eldest child 
living. He was reared and received a fair educa- 
tion in Livingston County, remained on the farm 
until eighteen years of age, and then began the 
study of medicine at Marion, Ky. He then entered 
the University of Louisville Medical College, and 
attended first course of lectures at that institution 
in 1863. He then graduated at Long Island Col^ 
lege, Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1864, after which he 
began practicing at his home in Kentucky. In 
September, 1865, he came to Augusta, Ark. , began 
practicing, and is the oldest practitioner in that 
place. He is a very successful physician; is of 
pleasing address and most agreeable manners, 
possessed of a mind clear, penetrating and com- 



prehensive, thoroughly posted in his profession, 
and a practitioner of decided merit. He has been 
president of the Woodruff County Medical Society 
and delegate of the National American Medical 
Convention fi'om Arkansas. He is a member of 
the board of examining physicians of the county, 
and a prominent citizen. He was married April 
24, 1866, to Miss Clara T. McCurdy, a native of St. 
Francis County, Ark. , where she was reared. Four 
children were the result of this union: Nellie, 
Harry M., Kitty and Roscoe. Dr. Woods is an 
Odd Fellow and a Knight of Honor. Mrs. Woods 
is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Her 
father, Samuel M. McCurdy, was a very brilliant 
and prominent attorney in his day, and occupied 
positions of influence. 




ir^ 



CROSS COUNTY. 



321 



I. 



» > * < < 



Cross County— Act of Formation— Eauly and Subsequent Settlements— Names of Pioneeus- 
Origin of County Name— Seats ok Justice— Judicial Transactions— Buildings for Public 
Use— Situation, Boundary and Area— Surface Description— Municipalities— Court 
Affairs and Bench and Bar— Noted Cases— Ecclesiastical History— Schools 
—List of Officials— Secret Societies— Political Status— Rail- 
roads — General Development— Family Record. 



When the summer harvest was gather'd in, 

And the sheaf of the gleaner grew white and thin. 

And the ploughshare was in its furrow left. 

Where the stubble land had been lately cleft.— Longfellow. 




'ROSS County, Ark., traces 
its beginning to an act of 
the General Assembly passed 
in November, 1862, entitled, 
' ' An act to establish the 
county of Cross." 

Section 2 of that act 
reads as follows : ' ' All that portion of 
the counties of Poinsett, St. Francis 
and Crittenden embraced within the 
following boundaries, viz. : Beginning 
at the northwest corner of Township 9 
north, of Range 1 east; thence east to 
the northeast corner of Township 9 
north, of Range 6 east; thence south 
to the southeast corner of Township 9 
north, of Range 6 east; thence south to the south- 
east corner of Section 7, in Township 6 north, of 
Range 1 east: and thence north to the beginning, 
shall be and the same is hereby created and estab- 
lished a separate county, called the county of 
Cross. The temporary seat of justice of said county 
of Cross, and until the same maj* be permanently 
located, shall be at Wittsburg in said county." 



Thus was formed Cross County; and its history, 
though extending over but comparatively a few 
years, has been one of substantial growth and ma- 
terial advancement and progress. 

The settlement of any locality is always of 
interest. What is now Cross County, then forming 
a part of Poinsett, Woodruff and Crittenden, was 
early settled by an exceptionally sterling class of 
citizens; in most cases men of means, who came to 
this section because here was offered an oppor- 
tunity to secure sufficiently large tracts of fertile 
land, which promised to make a happy home, and 
independent fortune for the owners. 

Among the earliest of known pioneers were the 
McCallisters, who settled near the present village 
of A^anndale; the Searcys, Tyers, Greenwoods, 
Hydricks, Neeleys, Halks and Stacys; all living 
here prior to 1840. 

Since then the Hares, McClarans, Hintons, 
Crumps, Cross, Pepys, Shavers and Hamiltous, 
Warrens, Lewellens, Levesques, Jones, Magetts, 
Vanus, Barnes, Blocks, Deadarick, lIcFarrans, 
Applewhites, and the Rev. W. C. Malone have 
become permanent residents. Later others came 



'*V 



9 k_ 



-^ 



322 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



to this section mostly between 1850 and ISfiO, and 
the numerous descendants of most of thorn are 
living in this county at the present day. 

Samuel Filligan was unquestionably the earliest 
white settler in the present territory of Cross. He 
located on the waters of Cooper's Creek, about two 
miles northwest from Wittsburg and now five miles 
east of Wynne, on the Memphis branch of the St. 
Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad, as 
early as 1798. There he was living when N. 
Rightor located the following Spanish grants for 
William Russell in the year 1813: No. 494, 495, 
498, 2379, 2382, 2383. 2374, 2375 and 2387. After 
Mr. Russell had completed his surveys, Mr. Filli- 
gan purchased eighty-four acres from the south- 
west part of Spanish gi-ant No. 498, to complete his 
farm; this deed bears date July 25, 1820. 

All these Spanish grants have been cleared and 
improved, and now comprise some of the finest 
farms in Cross County. Upon the authority of 
William M. Block, real-estate agent and abstractor 
of Cross County, it is learned that William Russell 
was choosing valuable lands to locate as early as 
1808. All the property that he selected proved 
to be very valuable, and on one grant, 2379, Witts- 
burg was afterward built. 

In 1851 Thomas P. Hare, then some twenty- 
four years of age, settled at al)out the center of 
Cross County, half a mile south of where Vanndale 
stands. This was wild and dense timber, and he 
cleared the land on which is a part of the village 
of Vanndale. His wife, who was a Miss Turbeville, 
and two children, accompanied him to this new 
home. On the day that they took possession a wild 
turkey sat in a tree immediately at hand, and 
watched, as if with apparent interest, the proceed- 
ings of these strange comers. Mr. Hare lived here 
thirty two years, cleared over 200 acres of land, 
and died full of years and honors, in February, 
1883. 

Col. David C. Cross was for a long time a lead- 
ing citizen of Cross County, having come from 
Western Tennessee to this locality about 1850. 
He bought a large tract of land in Cross' present 
limits, became a large land speculator, and at the 
outbreak of the civil strife owned some 85,000 acres 



in Poinsett and what is now Cross County. When 
the mutterings of war were heard he was elected 
colonel of the Fifth Arkansas Regiment, but saw 
very little actual service, and on account of ill 
health soon returned to Cross County. In 1862 
when the county of Cross was organized, it was 
given the name of Cross in his honor. The first 
seat of justice was located at a point on his land, 
he donating some fifty-three acres for a town site. 
This place was named Cleburne. Mr. Cross was 
a generous-spirited, infiuential gentleman of the 
old school, possessing exalted ideas, and is remem- 
bered by the citizens of the county which bears his 
name with pride. 

Rev. R. G. Brittaiu, was born in Buncombe 
County, N. C, in 1826. and was reared to farm 
labor, till the age of eighteen years. During this 
time he attended the common schools and later at 
Wa.shington College, near Jonesboro, Tenn. , which 
school he left at the age of twenty one years, and 
volunteered in the Mexican War. Serving for one 
year, he was in a battle fought near Saltillo, in 
1840, and at the close of the war, returned and 
settled in Arkansas. He at once entered the min- 
istry, and has been preaching in this State ever 
since, at the present time being in charge of the 
Harrisburg and Vanndale station. He was mar- 
ried in 1849, to Miss Sarah A. Bland, who died in 
1863, leaving two children: James Henry and 
Mary Elizabeth. Mr. Brittain was married the 
second time in 1867, to Miss Mary K. Kellum, of 
Searcy, White County. To this union was born 
one child, John Thomas. 

The county court, soon after the organization, 
ordered an election, to appoint commissioners to 
select a suitable location for the permanent seat of 
justice of the county. The election was held in 
the winter of 1862, and resulted in the choice of 
John Applewhite, William H. Barnes and John 
McElroy. The Civil War then raging so demoral- 
ized affairs generally in this region, that these 
commissioners made no report till July, 1865. 
Their accepted report, as spread upon the minutes 
of the county court record of July, 1865, is as fol- 
lows: 

" The commissioners, etc., have proceeded to 



^. 






(5 i.w 



.^t » 



^ 



CROSS COUNTY. 



323 



select a suitable site for the said county seat, and 
have located the same immediately in the center of 
said county of Cross, on a portion of the northeast 
quarter of Section 34, and a portion of the north- 
west quarter of Section 35, in Township 8 north, 
Range 3 east, of the fifth principal meridian; 
said lands being donated to this county, bj' one 
David C. Cross, as is hereinafter described, and it 
further appearing that said commissioners have 
proceeded to lay off the site so selected by them, 
into the form of a town, the same being divided 
into blocks, lots, streets and alleys; which town 
said commissioners have designated by the name 
of the town of Cleburne. And it further appear- 
ing to the court, that there is contained within, in 
the limits of said town, about fifty -two acres of 
land, and that the center block in said town, in- 
cluding the improvements thereon, and containing 
about one and three-fifths acres of land has been 
donated to the county by said Cross, as a public 
square, whereon may be erected a court house, 
and that the buildings now situated on the same 
are very suitable to be used as a court house and 
clerk's office for the time being, and it further ap- 
pearing that said Cross has also donated to the 
coimty, in addition thereto, one-half of the re- 
maining lots and blocks in said town, to be used 
and appropriated by the court in assisting to raise 
funds for the erection of permanent public build- 
ings, etc." 

Cleburne soon became the seat of justice of 
Cross County, but the fond dream of building a 
town here was never realized. No public build- 
ings were erected; the county clerk had his office 
at the residence of Col. Cross, and the various 
courts held their sessions in a tenant house upon 
the farm. It is literally a deserted village now, a 
few huts occupied by negroes, being all that is 
left to mark the place, where once Cross County 
transacted its judicial business and administered 
its laws. 

At the May term of the couuty court in 1868, 
a petition signed by a majority of the taxable in- 
habitants of the county, praying the removal of 
the seat of justice of the county of Cross, and 
asking the court to order an election for the pur- 



pose of electing three commissioners to decide a 
suitable site for the same, was presented and ap- 
proved. The election which was ordered and held 
on Saturday, June 6, 1868, resulted in choosing 
J. M. Levesque, Louin Chappell and J. M. Lan- 
dron as a committee to locate a site for the county 
seat. The report of this committee is spread upon 
the minutes of the August term, 1868, of the 
county court, and is substantially as follows: 
" That the seat of justice, of the county of Cross, 
be at the town of Wittsburg, and that the deed of 
donation by Caroline M. Austell to said commis- 
sioners of Lots No. 201, 202, 205, 206, 299, 300, 
301 and 302, in said town of Wittsburg, as a site 
for the court house of said county is accepted by 
the court, and ordered to be filed for record, and 
it is further ordered, that the contract and agree- 
ment of certain citizens of said town of Wittsburg, 
donating to the county the use and enjoyment of 
the new church and school-house, now in course 
of erection in Wittsburg as a court house, during 
the sittings of the terms of the various courts, 
until such time, as the county may erecjt a court 
house proper, be also accepted by this court, and 
tiled and recorded; and said building is declared 
to be the court house of this county, and shall be 
the lawful place for the holding of said courts, 
until further ordered by this court. ' ' 

It will be seen that the citizens of Wittsburg 
contributed for the county's use a church and 
school-house. These structures served their pur- 
pose as public buildings during the entire time 
that W^ittsburg was the seat of justice, as no court 
house was ever erected there. 

On the completion of the Helena branch of the 
St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad 
through Cross County, Wittsburg began rapidly to 
decline as a place of importance, and it was soon 
thought advisable to again change the location of 
the county seat. Accordingly, at an election held 
in September, 188-1:, Vaundale was chosen by the 
people as the proper judicial center, and after be- 
ing contested by Wynne, was formally declared to 
be the county seat in April, 1886. 

During the twenty-seven years that has inter- 
vened since the formation of Cross County there 



^ 



324 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



has always been decided opposition to the various 
places in which the seat of justice has been located; 
consequently, the people have not been disposed to 
invest very extensively in permanent improvements. 
For this reason no court house was erected either 
at Cleburne or Wittsburg; but when the county seat 
was finally located at Vanndale, in 1884, it was 
done so under such flattering conditions that the 
people at once concluded that its infancy was over. 
Actions for the erection of a court house affording 
ample accommodation for the present, with a view 
also to the rapidly accumulating demands, were at 
once begun. County Judge S. S. Hare, in 1887, 
appointed Thomas B. Smith as building commis- 
sioner, who soon employed B. J. Bartlett as archi- 
tect, and from his plans and designs an advertise- 
ment was published soliciting sealed proposals for 
the building's completion. 

The lowest bid received was from Slagh & 
Powers, well-known contractors of Little Rock, to 
turn the completed building over to Cross County 
for $13,700. Upon proper bond being given, this 
bid was accepted, and in September, 1887, work 
was commenced. On the early date of May 24, 
1888, the building was completed, and accepted 
by the commissioner, and Cross County at last had 
a coui't house in which it may justly take no little 
pride. 

Occupying a large open space in the center of 
the town, its beautiful proportions and symmetrical 
lines at once attract the observer. It is a two- 
story structure, with high basement; and a com- 
manding tower built of brick, with stone trim- 
mings, and in size is 50x58 feet. The lower floor 
is devoted to offices for the various county officials; 
these rooms are large and commodious, and fitted 
and fui-nished with all necessary appointments. 
On this floor also is a fire-proof vault, for the re- 
ception of the county books and records. The 
ujjper story is wholly appropriated to court uses, 
the large court room being conveniently and tastily 
furnished and trimmed, with everything that its 
purpose may require. Indeed, a personal exami- 
nation shows nothing wanting in any essential de- 
tail throughout the building. 

Few counties in Arkansas can boast of a better 



or more convenient court house; none of one more 
economically and honestly constructed. 

The county will always be under great obliga- 
tion to Judge Hare for frugality, and to Commis- 
sioner Smith for business perception and close 
attention to details, while the architect's work 
stands as a lasting memento to his jirofession, and 
the completed edifice a credit to the builder's 
skill. 

The county also owns a jail, situated at Witts- 
burg. It was erected several years ago, but is 
now in bad repair. To the credit of Cross County, 
however, be it said that but little use is mani- 
fested for this building, and it stands almost a 
wreck of other times — lonely, tenantless and for- 
saken. 

Cross County is located in the eastern part of 
the State, and is bounded on the north by Poin- 
sett, east by Crittenden, south by St. Francis and 
west by Woodruff and Jackson Counties. It con- 
tains an area of 600 square miles, or 384,000 acres, 
of which about one-thirtieth is in a state of culti- 
vation. The St. Francis River runs from north to 
south through the eastern part, and is navigable 
about nine months in the year. The L'Anguille 
River runs through the western part of the county. 

The surface of the county in the eastern part, 
owing to its low and flat condition, is subject to 
overflow from the St. Francis River. Through 
the middle portion runs, fi'om north to south, a 
ridge of the Ozark chain of mountains, known as 
Crowley's Ridge, which begins at Cape Girardeau, 
in Missouri, and ends abruptly at the Mississippi 
River, at Helena. This is the great water-shed of 
the county, the country east draining in the St. 
Francis and west in the L'Anguille. West of this 
ridge are some excellent table lands, rolling enough 
for drainage, and watered by many springs of 
never-failins water, which break forth alone: the 
ridge; this land is better adapted to grasses and 
grains than to the growth of cotton. On the east 
side the soil is a sandy loam, rich and fertile, and 
adapted to the cultivation of any crop. 

Along the summit of the ridge the lands are 
somewhat thin, though good farms are found, in a 
high state of cultivation. 






^ 



CROSS COUNTY. 



325 



Cross County has its usual complement of 
towns and villages. 

Cherry Valley is a thriving village, situated in 
about the center of Mitchell Township, and twelve 
miles north of Wynne, on the Knobel branch of 
the Iron Mountain Railroad. 

Mr. G. W. Stacy, who lived about a mile from 
the present village, had for some time held a com- 
mission as postmaster, and kept the office in his 
residence on his farm. This office derived its name 
from a large grove of wild cherry trees, on Coop- 
er's Creek, in the vicinity. 

On the completion of the railroad, in 1882, 
Mr. Stacy erected a hotel at the railroad, and on 
the completion of this (which was the first build- 
ing in the place), removed the postoffice there also; 
the name of Cherry Valley was retained, and from 
that time the village grew rapidly, being now 
(1889) the third largest place in Cross County. 

Its business interests consist of two general 
stores, conducted by Mitchell & Stacy and Clam- 
pitt Bros. ; one di'ug store, by Dr. C. P. Jones; two 
saw-mills, A. Jordan and R. H. Wade & Son, 
proprietors; one stave factory, by the Cherry Val- 
ley Stave and Heading Company; carpenters, 
Smith Bros. andW. M. Taylor; blacksmith, George 
Hydrich; cotton-gin, M. W. Riley; lawyer, J. H. 
Gunning, and justice, A. H. Brown. Cherry Val- 
ley Hotel is conducted by G. W. Stacy; two 
churches are found, Methodist and Baptist; one 
school ; the physicians are C. P. Jones and J. G. 
Wright. The population of Cherry Valley is about 
200; S. L. Clampitt, postmaster. The most im- 
portant enterprises in this vicinity at the present 
time; are its valuable timber resources; as the tim- 
ber is being cut away the land is rapidly being re- 
duced to a state of cultivation and the soil of this en- 
tire township is generally conceded to be the best 
in the county. The health of this immediate region 
is excellent; Dr. Jones reports but two deaths in his 
entire practice during the past year. The terri- 
tory adjacent to Cherry Valley and throughout 
Mitchell Township offers flattering inducements to 
settlers; good land can be secured at reasonable 
prices, and a cordial welcome awaits all industrious 
and enterprising immigrants. 



Vanndale, the county seat of Cross County, is 
a flourishing little city, six miles north of the cross- 
ing of the Bald Knob and Knobel branches of the 
Iron Mountain Railroad, in Searcy Township, situ- 
ated very near the center of the county, at the 
western base of Crowley's Ridge; it has a popu- 
lation of about .300. 

A long time ago a postoffice was established on 
a farm southeast of the present town site, where 
J. M. Vann was postmaster for many years; the 
office was called Vanndale in his honor, and on 
the completion of the Knobel branch of the Iron 
Mountain Railroad through Cross County, he moved 
his store and the postoffice to a point on the rail- 
road, and that location continued, or retained, the 
old name of Vanndale. 

Here soon sprang up a very busy little town. 
J. P. May erected the first residence in 1882, and 
later started a store. This place soon attracted 
the merchants from Wittsburg, who from time to 
time moved to the new town, and Wittsburg soon 
became a village of small proportions. In 1884, 
as stated, the seat of justice was located here, and 
its subsequent growth has been steady and rapid. 
In addition to its commanding court house erected 
in 1887-88, at an expense of $13,700, it has a 
commodious school, costing $1,000, a Methodist 
Episcopal Church with parsonage, two hotels and 
a stave factory. 

The following firms and business men compose 
the commercial interests of the town: General 
stores, R. Block, Killough & Erwin, Applewhite & 
Co., J. M. Vann and W. R. Foote; grocery stores, 
J. T. Rolfe and F. M. McClaran; drug stores. 
May & Malone and T. D. Hare; stave factories, 
Applewhite & Co. ; saw-mills and cotton-gin, J. 
T. Lewellen; blacksmiths, W. J. Woolf and 
'Squire Oliver; livery stables, G. W. Griffin, car- 
penters, William Davis, D. E. Whitney and D. J. 
Randal; hotels, Vanndale Hotel, T. Rolfe, propri- 
etor, and Johnson House, J. W. Killough, propri- 
etor; physicians, Drs. J. D. McKie, J. B. Scarbor- 
ough, T. D. Hare and J. L. Hare; real-estate 
agent, William Block; lawyers, T. E. Hare and 
O. N. Killbrough. 

The people of Vanndale are enterprising, clever 



IfZ 



M" — ^ 



>?-. 



326 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



and hospitable, ready to extend a sincere welcome 
to strangers and to encourage new enterprises that 
promise to reflect credit on the community. Among 
the business men of the town are to I)e found sev- 
eral of the most substantial and solid tirms in 
Eastern Arkansas. 

The timber and agricultural resources surround- 
ing the place are rich and varied, and, in fact, Vann- 
dale is an admirable point for people seeking new 
homes. One can not do better than to investigate 
the inducements its surroundings offer as a place 
of settlement. 

The city of Wynne is located near the center of 
Cross County, at the junction of the Helena and 
Memphis branches of the Iron Mountain Railway. 
Where this thriving city now stands was a wil- 
derness six years ago. The first house was built 
in 1883. In June of the same year B. B. Mer- 
ryman started the first store, and soon after Mr. 
Austell received the commission as first postmaster 
of the place. The town has a beautiful situation 
on an elevated plateau at the western base of 
Crowley's Ridge. The surrounding plain receives 
ample drainage from the L'Anguille River, the 
land gradually declining to the valley of that 
stream. An examination of its situation gives 
abundant evidence that it is, as reported, one of 
the healthiest locations in Eastern Arkansas. 

Its citizens are people of activity and enter- 
prise, who have in the short space of six yeans, 
cleared the timber from the land and built their 
town. Its streets are lined with many neat and 
tasty residences, some of which would be a credit 
to a much older and larger town. 

There are three church organizations here, 
Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist, with one 
good church edifice; a public school, with an at- 
tendance of about 150 pupils. 

The business interests are represented by the 
following firms: General stores. Smith, Graham 
& Jones, Johnson & Hamilton, Daltroff, Sparks 
& Oliver, Goodman & Potlitzer, and Martin & 
Neeley; groceries, John Cobb, Landers & Mitch- 
ell, W. L. Lancaster, William Ivy, W. J. Pardew, 
H. Davis, B. F. Stanley and Poe Bros. ; drug 
stores, T. A. Bedford and J. W. Hazelwood & Co. ; 



jeweler, Harry Vaughn; hotels, E. J. Commercial 
Traveler, J. Badinelli, proprietor, Wynne Hotel, 
B. F. Stanley, proprietor; livery stables, James 
Lyon and Martin & Kirby; physicians, William D. 
Allen, C. H. Montgomery and Paul Gargaro; black- 
smiths, Lipscomb & Snowden; lawyer, J. E. Rob- 
ertson; gents' furnishing goods, R. G. Oliver; 
saloons, Robert Orr and Brusch & Hamilton; bar- 
bers, C. Stewart and Dillard & Johnson; meat 
markets, John Greene & Co. and J. H. Chappelle. 

The city of Wynne was incorporated by an act 
of the county court May 28, 1888. An election 
held July 10 of the same year resulted in the 
election of the following city officers: Thomas L. 
Thompson, mayor; Charles M. Mebane, recorder; 
Shields Daltroff, Robert M. Smith, C. M. Harris, 
W. M. Johnson, S. A. Martin, aldermen. 

At that time it had a population of 400. It 
now has about 1,000 inhabitants, and is rapidly 
growing. In commercial importance it ranks 
among the first of Eastern Arkansas towns, and 
numbers among its merchants some of the soundest 
firms in the State. It is surrounded by a more 
than ordinary rich farming country which, how- 
ever, is not yet very extensively cleared, and rich 
timber land within a mile or so of town await the 
advent of the husbandman. 

A disastrous fire on the night of September 2, 
1887, destroyed over two-thirds of the business 
portion of the town, entailing a loss of upward of 
$200,000. Since then the burned district has been 
rebuilt with a better class of buildings, so that 
what appeared to be a calamity at the time is now 
looked upon as a real blessing. 

Wittsburg is not a town of the present, but of 
the past. Situated at the head of navigation of the 
St. Francis River, it was at one time the distribut- 
ing and shipping point for nearly all Northeastern 
Arkansas. With this immense tributary country, 
its volume of trade was for many years simply 
marvelous, shipping, it is said, 30,000 bales of 
cotton annually, with several business firms doing 
a business of from $100,000 to $300,000 per year. 

The completion of the railroad through the 
eastern part of the State gave markets and ship- 
ping points to the country that supported Witts- 



I) >y 



.> 



CROSS COUNTY. 



327 



burg, so that from the adveut of the iron horse its 
fall was rapid. It was the county seat of Cross 
County from 1868 to 1884, but })ri()r to the latter 
date a great many of the merchants had forsaken 
the town and removed to Vanndale or Wynne. 
Most of the merchants of both of these ])lace8 
either started their business in Wittsburg or served 
their apprenticeship as clerks for some of the large 
firms there. 

To-day it is a wreck and ruin of its former 
greatness. Large logs and timbers show where 
warehouses and stores occupied its streets. A few 
large stores are standing yet, but they are rapidly 
falling beneath the action of destroying time, and 
in a few years more the last of them will have dis- 
appeared. It still contains a church, school-house 
and one store, carried on by Mr. Casbeer, who is 
also the postmaster. 

At the organization of the county, in 1862, pro- 
vision was made for the county and probate court. 
In 1873 this was abolished and a board of super- 
visors, comfjosed of thiee men, who had control of 
county matters alone, established in its stead. 
Probate matters were referred to the circuit judge, 
sitting in chancery. This state of affairs continued 
until the adoption of the new State constitution, 
October 13, IHH, and by that constitution was 
provided the holding of county and probate court 
by the same judge, who is styled county and pro- 
bate judge. The criminal law and chancery courts 
are condensed and known as the circuit court, and 
presided over by the circuit judge, who holds all 
three courts during one term, criminal cases taking 
precedence. 

The first attorneys to locate in Cross County 
were William Neeley, Samuel L. Austell, James 
G. Frierson, Earl C. Bronaugh, Martin L. Clardy, 
J. S. Brookfield and Charles S. Cameron; these 
men settled here during and immediately after the 
war. Some of these men were noted for their in- 
tellecttial and legal acquirements, notably James 
G. Frierson, E. C. Bronaugh and Charles S. 
Cameron. 

Mr. Frierson was afterward elected State sen- 
ator from Cross County, and Mr. Cameron became 
noted for his eloquence and oratorical ability. 

21 



In 1868 he was the Democratic nominee for repre- 
sentative in Congress, was elected, but unquestion- 
ably counted out through fraud. He is now prac- 
ticing law in Chicago. 

In 1869 George H. Sanders was licensed to 
practice law in this county; he lived here about 
three years after, and during that time made a 
very enviable reputation for his legal ability; he is 
now located in Little Rock. From 1880 to 1885 
Mr. N. W. Norton was one of the legal lights of 
this community. 

The personnel of the bar of the county, at the 
present time, consists of Hon. T. E. Hare, who 
represented the county in the State legislature 
from 1878 to 1882; Hon. J. D. Block, at present 
prosecuting attorney for the Second judicial cir- 
cuit; O. N. Killough, J. R. Robertson and J. 
H. Gunning. 

In 1878 William Nesbitt, aged twenty-three, 
procured a license to marry Mrs. H. M. Hammett, 
a widow of forty-six years of age. The proposed 
marriage was so distasteful to the family of Mrs. 
Hammett, that her two sons, David L. and 
' ' Dock, ' ' vowed that the marriage should never 
take place. So on the evening preceding the day 
appointed for the ceremony they went to her house 
where Nesbitt was, and shot him through the win- 
dow. Mrs. Hammett grasping a gun, ran to the 
door and shot at her fleeing sons, but with no ef- 
fect. Mr. Nesbitt died in the course of an hour. 
" Dock " was soon caj^tured, but the next day at- 
tempting to make his escape, was killed by ,the 
deputy sheriff, W. T. Levesque. His brother, 
David L., was caught in Brinkley by J. D. Block, 
was brought to Cross County, tried and convicted, 
and sentenced to a term of five years in the State 
prison. He served but a few months of this term, 
being pardoned by Gov. T. J. Churchill. 

During the term of Sheriff Levesque he exe- 
cuted Charles Carr, who had been sentenced to be 
hanged for rape. He previously escaped by break- 
ing jail, but was captured in Mis,souri, returned 
and executed at Wittsburg, in October, 1878. This 
was the first legal execution in Cross County. 

In 1882 a negro, named Abraham Sublett. was 
executed by Sheriff L. T. Head for wife murder. 



^ 



>> 



328 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



For several years a noted desperado, Martin 
Mitchell, made the swamps in the eastern part of 
Cross and adjoining counties his resort. As early 
as 1877 he killed a man in Mississippi County, for 
which he was compelled to leave the country. In 
1882 he killed J. T. Greer, a clerk in a store at 
Byhalia, Miss. , for which crime a reward was of- 
fered for his capture, and he came to the swamps 
of the St. Francis River, in Cross and adjacent 
counties. Here he held forth for some time, defy- 
ing the authorities and resisting capture, till three 
brothers, John, " Dock" and '" Woodie " Hammett, 
citizens of Cross County, determined to hunt him 
down. They found him with several choice spirits 
of a similar desperate character, in the swamps of 
Craighead County, where a pitched battle was at 
once fought, and as the Hammett boys killed one 
of his companions he immediately shot John Ham- 
mett dead. 

It seems that no further attempt to capture him 
was made at that time, but in 1885 he was arrested 
for selling whisky; he was confined in the jail at 
Wittsburg, and from this, however, he soon made 
his escape. One Irvin, an old companion of his, 
who for some cause had become his enemy, at- 
tempted his capture. They met accidentally while 
out hunting, when on sight a duel, with rifles, was 
fought. Mitchell was slightly wounded, but Irvin 
was killed on the spot. 

Mitchell made the swamps of Cross County his 
stronghold for several years following, hunting, 
trapping, and even working in the timber and raft- 
ing some, till in 1887, while in St. Francis County, 
he became involved in a difficulty with Charley 
Conway, who, it was supposed, shot at him through 
a window, as he sat beside a fire. The shot was 
fatal, and as he died all Eastern Arkansas felt re- 
lieved at being rid of one of its most desperate 
and dangerous outlaws. 

Religious movements have obtained throiighout 
Cross County from an early day. Among the 
Methodists, Cherry Valley Church was organized 
in 1885 with about fifteen members, J. F. Jerni- 
gan being their first pastor. The original mem- 
bers were Joseph Taylor, Eliza Taylor, Eva Stacy, 
Glen Mitchell, Marshal Brooks, William Taylor, 



Mrs. Emma Taylor, Mrs. Martha Bowns, J. W. 
Bogard, Mrs. Ada Jordan, Sanders Cagle, Mrs. 
Amanda Cagle, Mrs. Rebecca Stacy, John Taylor 
and James Taylor. The membership now numbers 
aboiit thirty-six. 

Cherry Valley Baptist Church was organized as 
the New Salem Baptist Church, a long time ago at 
a point about one mile southeast of the present vil- 
lage of Cherry Valley. In 1885 the old church was 
torn down and a new edifice erected at the latter 
place. It is in a flourishing condition, with a pres- 
ent membership of about twenty-five. 

Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
was constituted and organized about 1848 at a point 
one and a half miles southeast from the present 
village of Vanndale. Some of the original mem- 
bers were S. S. Hare, Rev. Thomas P. Hare, Rev. 
Jacob Hare, Jacob S. Hare, Rev. John Hare, David 
Hare, Rev. Rensalier Vann, Col. David C. Cross, 
T. N. Deadrick, Charles Magett, John D. Magett, 
James Lewellen, William Barnes, Dr. B. D. Mc- 
Claran and John Sullivan. 

Mount Zion was a great religious center in the 
early days of this country, and the White River 
annual conference was organized by Bishop Keener, 
within the walls of this old country church in 
1870. During protracted meetings, crowds of 
people came to this church from long distances, 
and it was often presided over by ministers of 
noted intelligence and education. 

In 1885 the church was moved to the village of 
Vanndale, where the ladies .of the Ladies' Aid 
Society had erected a fine church edifice. It is at 
present in a very flourishing condition, and in 
good growing order; it has a membership of about 
115, and is presided over by the Rev. R. G. Brit- 
tain. Mr. Brittain was also pastor of this church 
in 1856, thirty-three years ago; was then trans- 
ferred to work in other sections of the State, and 
returned here again for two years in 1866. He 
is now preaching on the last year of his appoint- 
ment here. 

Around this old church, in days gone by, the 
old settlers, as they passed away from this world, 
were laid to rest. Here, upon the summit of 
Crowley' s Ridge, beneath the shade of forest trees. 



V 



-4h. 



CROSS COUNTY. 



329 



which stand as sentinels to guard their silent home, 
they sleep in peace; here, half a century and more 
ago, they labored strong with the hope of youth, 
and an indomitable ambition to reduce this wilder- 
ness of nature to l)road and smiling tracts of cul- 
tivated fields, to found their fortunes and to build 
their homes. Here, forty years ago, they met be- 
neath these trees to organize a church, and here, 
when that old church was built, have they returned, 
but borne by sorrowing friends, to find an everlast- 
ing rest, as Death, from year to year, has called 
them home. 

Another generation now worships in another 
church built for them, and many changes mark the 
progress of Time; yet as one stands amid these 
graves and reads the names of these old pioneers, 
upon the stones which mark their resting place, it 
is easy to realize how appropriate is this place, 
founded and consecrated by themselves to God, 
in which to rest, till the everlasting trumpet pro- 
claims the resurrection morn. 

The First Presbyterian Church at Wynne was 
organized in 1887, with the following members: 
George F. Dixon, Mrs. L. M. Koonce, Mrs. John 
Graham, Miss Mary Graham, Miss Mary Dixon, 
Mrs. George F. Dixon, Robert H. Mebane and Dr. 
W. T. Mebane. Since the date of formation, the 
membership has gradually increased, and is now in 
a very flourishing condition. Rev. S. T. Reid is 
pastor. 

The Wynne Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
was organized at Wynne, by the Rev. J. F. Jer- 
nigan, in 1885, with the following original mem- 
bers: J. S. Brookfield, William Standley and wife, 
R. S. Martin and wife, W. S. Martin and wife, 
David Tyer and wife, and William Head and wife. 

In 188- this organization erected an attractive 
church edifice, the only one in Wynne. It now 
has a membership of about forty, and is progress- 
ing with encouraging success. Rev. A. C. Griffin 
is pastor. 

The public schools of Cross County are finan- 
cially in a flattering condition, there being an 
abimdance of reserve money in the treasury to 
guarantee good salaries to teachers, and conse- 
quently good service can be secured. The county 



is fairly well supplied with school buildings, and 
the county examiner reports groat advancement 
in bettor buildiugs and a higher grade of teachers. 
In 1887 the enumeration was: White, 1,424; col- 
ored, 8fi0; making the total number of children of 
school age, 2,284. The examiner's report of 1888 
shows a slight falling off, probably from incomplete 
returns. 

In 1887 there was $6,030 expended for teach- 
ers' salaries and for building, and in that year 
there was a surplus left in the hands of the county 
treasurer of over $6, 500. 

In 1888 there was nearly $8,000 expended for 
the same purposes, and the county still had a 
reserve fund of over $5,000 on hand. 

There are twenty-six districts in the county, 
mostly supjilied with good school buildings. The 
school-house at Vanndale is a fine building, erected 
in 1877 at a cost of $1,000. Its dimensions are 
24x48, one-story frame. It is situated in a fine 
park of six acres. At Wynne is a high school em- 
ploying three teachers. 

The present county ofiicials are: County judge, 
AY. F. Robinson; clerk, J. M. Levesque; sheriff, 
J. B. Hamilton; treasurer, Eli Bailes; coroner, A. 
Phillips; surveyor, J. W. McElroy; assessor, T. 
W. May. 

Since the formation of Cross County the va- 
rious ofiices have been filled by the following 
named: 

County judges: S. L. Austell, W. A. Lee, I^ 
B. Robertson, L. N. Rhodes, J. C. McElroy, S. S. 
Hare and W. F. Robinson. 

Clerks: B. D. McClaran, James Levesque, 
W. K. Stokes, B. Rolleson. T. O. Fitzpatrick, J. 
N. Dobson, L. C. Chappelle and R. E. Dobson. 
The present clerk, J. M. Levesque, has served six 
terms or twelve years. 

SherifiPs: J. N. Dobson, L. Chappelle, W. H. 
Cole, J. M. Levesque (Mr. Levesque served from 
1874 to 1880, six consecutive years), J. H. Legg, 
L. T. Head, J. W. Killough and J. B. Hamilton. 

Treasurers: Robert Meek, W. F. Gray, G. N. 
Legg, A. J. Harrell, G. W. Grifiin (served two 
terms), J. M. Simmons (three terms), J. A. Sadler 
and Eli Bailes. 



\ 



(S U. 



>>. 



330 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Coroners: K. B. Pledger, J. Fountain, David 
Fitzpatrick, J. T. Rolfe, J. H. Legg, J. Apple- 
white, L. N. Block, P. A. Warren, Perry Warren 
(four terms), J. H. Brinkley, J. T. Rolfe and A. 
Phillips. 

Surveyors: M. Halk, G. Jones, Henry Cum- 
mins, H. Bond, T. O. Fitzpatrick, William M. 
Block, H. Newsom, B. Rolleson and J. W. Mc- 
Elroy (four terms, eight years). 

Assessors: J. E. Gailey, L. N. Rhodes, R. 
M. Spain, J. H. Legg, W. P. Brown (four terms, 
eight years), H. C. Winters and T. W. May. 

J. D. Block of Wynne, Cross County, was 
elected, in the fall of 1888, prosecuting attorney 
of the Second circuit, comprising Mississippi, 
Crittenden, Cross, Poinsett, Craighead, Greene 
and Clay Counties. The first representative to the 
State legislature from Cross County was David 
Fitzpatrick. In 1868-74, J. A. Houghton; 1874- 
76, G. M. Sharp; 1876-78, B. Rolleson; 1878-82, 
T. E. Hare; 1882-84, W. C. Malone; 1884-86, 
N. W. Norton; 1886-88, J. D. Block, and 1888- 
90, J. F. Patterson. 

In 1871, Mr. J. G. Frierson, of Cross County, 
represented this, the First senatorial district, in 
the State senate. The present senator for the 
First district, Mr. R. Pope, is, too, a citizen of 
Cross County. 

J. G. Frierson was also a delegate to the State 
constitutional convention, in 1874. In the fall of 
1888 he was elected circuit judge, and died in 
1884. 

Hon. T. E. Hare was a member of the Demo- 
cratic National Convention at Chicago in 1884. 

Secret societies seem to thrive as well in Cross 
County as elsewhere. Arcadia Lodge No. 183, A. 
F. & A. M. , was organized in 1865, at Cleburne, 
with the following charter members: R. Vann, AV. 
M. ; W. H. Robins, S. W. ; W. H. Barnes, J. W. ; 
E. J. Williams, Treas. ; W. A. Lee, Sec. ; W. D. 
Peterson, S. D. ; J. H. McFarran, J. D. ; C. J. 
Searcy, Tyler; J. M. Levesque, William Taylor, 
J. C. McElroy, A. S. Graves and M. S. Fielder. 

This lodge is now located at Vanndale, and has 
a membership of twenty- five. The following were 
the oflScers during the year 1889: G. AV. Griffin, 



W. M. ; William Taylor. S. W. : W. E. Fountain, 
J. W. ; J. E. Buchannon, Treas. ; S. S. Hare, Sec. ; 
Isom Julian, S. D. ; Z. Couch, J. D. , and Robert 
Lawrence. Tyler. 

In former years this was one of the brightest 
lodges in the State. It still numbers among its 
members many who are noted for their knowledge 
in Masonic matters. It is in a flourishing and 
good working condition. 

Wittsburg Lodge No. 606, K. of H. , was or- 
ganized at Wittsburg October 19, 1877, with the 
following charter members: Louin Chappelle, 
James Applewhite, L. N. Block, John W. Kill- 
ough, Alvis L. Malone, Robert E. Dobson, John Q. 
Thomas, Shields DaltrofE, James M. Levesque, R. 
Block, George M. Arnold and Ann Reddick Pope. 
The lodge was removed to Vanndale in 1886, and 
its present standing is all that could be desired, 
the insurance feature ofPering attractive induce- 
ments to members. The present officers are: J. M. 
Simmons, D. ; J. E. Erwin, V. D. ; J. Q. Thomas, 
A. D. ; James Applewhite, Treas. ; J. P. May, 
Guide; J. W. Killough, P. D. ; S. M. McKenzie, 
G. ; J. W. Lewellen, S. ; O. N. Killough, R. ; R. 
Pope, F. R. ; J. W. Killough. Rep. to the G. L., 
and J. B. Scarborough, Med. Ex. The lodge has 
a membership of fifty-four. 

Pearl Lodge No. 175, K. & L. of H. , organ- 
ized at Wittsburg on September 15, 1879, was 
moved to Vanndale in 1886, and consolidated with 
a lodge already in existence there. The object of 
this order is social and beneficial, its membership 
numbering about seventy-five. The charter mem- 
bers were G. M. Arnold, I. M. Deadrick, S. W. 
Thornton, J. M. Levesque, L. N. Block, S. 
Daltroff, W. C. Malone, J. M. Simmons, J. W. 
Killough, R. Pope, A. S. Casbeer, J. Q. Thomas, 
H. H. Ross, P. Van Patten, Walter Gorman, J. E. 
Erwin, Ike Block, Ben Block, A. L. Malone, R. 
Block, L. Chappelle, G. W. Griffin, A. J. Harrall, 
W. H. Gardner, E. W. Simmons, Lola Thornton, 
Fannie J. Block, J. M. Arnold, Nannie Levesque, 
M. V. Deadrick, Mary A. Simmons, Josie Thomas, 
Delana Kisbeer, M. E. Killough, Cora Gorman, 
Roselle Erwin, Fannie Block, Mollie Simmons, 
Hester Block. Emma Chappelle, M. E. Griffin, M. 



V]^ 



-^ L> 



CROSS COUNTY. 



331 



A. Gardner and Anna Block. The present officers 
are: J. M. Simmons, Protector; Mrs. Josie C 
Thomas, Vice-Protector; Mrs. R. Erwin, Chaplain; 
J. M. Vann, Treasurer; T. E. Hare, Secretary and 
Financial Secretary; J. P. May, Guide; J. E. Er- 
win, Guardian; S. A. McKenze, Sentinel; J. Q. 
Thomas, District Deputy Supreme Protector; J. 
W. Killough, J. E. Erwin and John Thomas are 
Trustees. 

Vanndale Lodge No. 677, K. & L. of H. 
was organized May 29, 1883, with the following 
charter members: Joseph Samuels, Ida H. Vann, 
W. R. Foot, H. H. Roberts, E. M. Rolleson, T. E. 
Hare, F. M. Hare, J. T. Rolfe, F. M. Applewhite, 
John P. Hilburn, Mollie Head, L. H. McKie, 
James D. McKie and James T. Lewellen. This 
lodge increased in membership and carried on a 
separate existence until January 28, 1886, when 
Harland P. Gage, Supreme Protector, granted a 
dispensation for the consolidation of the two lodges, 
Pearl of Wittsburg No. 175, and Vanndale No. 677. 
The two lodges were united February 23, 1886, 
retaining the name of Pearl Lodge No. 175. 

The Vanndale branch of the American Building, 
Loan & Tontine Saving Association (parent office 
at Memphis, Tenn.), was organized in Vanndale in 
September. The stockholders who organized this 
branch are: J. M. Levesque, J. W. Killough, R. 
Block, W. M. Block, T. E. Hare, C. M. Gardner, 
O. N. Killough, J. T. Lewellen, R. L. Block, J. T. 
Rolfe, O. A. Hamilton, C. W. McClaran and D. J. 
Randal. The establishment of this association in 
Vanndale will unquestionably prove of value to the 
community, as it affords the investment of small 
sums by all, and is, in its nature, virtually a sav- 
ings bank. The present officers are: T. E. Hare, 
president; C. M. Gardner, vice-president; R. L. 
Block, secretary and treasurer; O. N. Killough, 
attorney. 

On May 16, 1889, Levesque Lodge No. 52, 
K. of P., was established at Wynne, with a mem- 
bership of about thirty-live; following were elected 
officers: S. DaltrofF, C. C. ; C. M. Mebane, V. C. ; 
W. J. Brusch, P. ; S. A. Miller, K. of P. & S. ; G. 
N. Sparks, M. of F. : C. D. Oliver, M. of E. ; J. K. 
Hancock. M. at A., and G. ^V. Brown, P. C. 



The Ladies' Aid Society of Vanndale was or- 
ganized in April, 1883, by iMre. Hattie Marshall, 
Mrs. Dr. McKie, secretary, and Mrs. Ida H. Vann, 
treasurer. The principal object of this society 
was to build a Methodist Church. To those la- 
dies much praise is due, for now the church is an 
accomplished fact, having been erected at an ex- 
pense of $1,500 and a parsonage whiijh cost $350. 
This money was mostly raised by suppers and en- 
tertainments given by the association. The pres- 
ent officers are: Mrs. J. L. Thomas, president; 
Mrs. Roselle Erwin, treasurer, and Mrs. Ida H. 
Vann, secretary. 

Among the enterprises of Cross County worthy 
of mention is the Wynne Ripsaw, published by D. 
J. Burks, which was established at Wynne October 
1, 1888. It is the official organ of Cross and Poin- 
sett Counties and is ably conducted, the publisher, 
by his earnest efforts, doing much to advance the 
condition of the people in social and moral matters. 
Seeing the prospects of the future in this section, 
it invites with liberal spirited cordiality, immigra- 
tion from overcrowded neighborhoods to the rich 
and fertile bottom lands of this county. 

As the county of Cross was not organized at 
the time of the beginning of the Civil War, most 
of the soldiers from the county's present limits 
are credited to Poinsett. However, this county 
raised five companies and sent some 500 men into 
the field. 

The first company was organized in the spring 
of 1861, under the command of Capt. Will H. 
Trader. They were attached to the Fifth Arkan- 
sas Infantry. For the first year this company saw 
but little fighting, but in the latter part of the 
struggle was in many important battles and sur- 
rendered with Gen. Joseph Johnston, in North 
Carolina, in May, 1865. Also, in the spring of 
1861, Company C, of the Thirteenth Arkansas 
Regiment, was organized in Poinsett County, with 
a good many men from the limits of Cross in its 
ranks. This company was immediately sent to the 
! front and took part in the battles of Belmont, Shi- 
lob and Corinth. After the latter battle the regi- 
ment was reorganized and Lieut. J. M. Levesque 
was elected captain. The company then passed 



-^ s b> 



k^ 



332 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



thi'ouijh the Kentucky campaign, participating in 
the battles of Perryville, Richmond and Murft-ees- 
boro. At a reorganization of the regiment, after 
the latter battle, Capt. Levesque was detached from 
this company, when he returned to Cross County 
and raised a company of cavalry. This company 
operated in Eastern Arkansas till 1864, when it 
joined Price on the Missouri raid. On account of 
illness Capt. Levesque did not accompany it on 
this campaign. The company surrendered at Witts- 
burg in May, 1865. In 1862 Capt. Tom Westmore- 
land raised a company, and in 1864 a company 
under the command of Capt. T. N. Deadrick was 
sent into the field. 

More than one-half of the men forming these five 
companies were either killed in battle or died from 
wounds or sickness, and their vacant places at the 
family hearth have been mourned for many years. 

There were no engagements between troops in 
Cross County, yet the armies of both sides often 
passed up and down along Crowley's Ridge, annoy- 
ing the citizens and often interrupting their farming 
operations and other pursuits. 

The political status of Cross County is Demo- 
cratic. Out of a vote of 1,900 about two-thirds 
vote the Democratic ticket in State and National 
issues. In county affairs the Republicans vote for 
whom they consider the best man, not being rec- 
ognized as a county organization, and, consequent- 
ly, never placing a ticket in the field. 

Cross County is well supplied with railroads, 
being traversed north and south twice, and east 
and west once by different lines. These roads 
afford excellent facilities for shipping produce and 
supplies, and have helped amazingly to lu-ing Cross 
County to the position of prosperity which it at 
present enjoys. 

The Helena branch of the St. Louis, Iron 
Mountain & Southern Railroad has 28.85 miles 
of main track in this county which cross the entire 
breadth, nearly through the center, from north to 
south. It was constructed in 1882. 

The St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas has a length 
of 16.85 miles, and crosses the county north and 
south along its western line. It was also con- 
structed in 1882. 



The Memphis branch of the St. Louis, Iron 
Mountain & Southern passes through Cross County 
east and west, and has a length within these limits 
of thirty-one miles. Ground was broken and con- 
struction began on the road in 1886. It was com- 
pleted and open for travel in June, 1888. 

During the years between 1850 and 1860 the 
value of realty in Cross County was held very 
high. About this time the section was attracting 
the attention of rich and enterprising planters from 
the east and south who emigrated here and im- 
proved large tracts of land, which soon became 
valuable and productive plantations. At the out- 
break of the war farming on a large scale was 
practically suspended, and the industries of the 
country paralyzed. The close of hostilities found 
the people impoverished and all lands greatly re- 
duced in value. The people at once began to 
overcome this state of things by renewed perse- 
verance and labor, and just as the future seemed 
to give them flattering hopes for a return of pros- 
perity, the period of reconstruction followed, lasting 
from 1868 to 1874. During this time industries 
suffered more than from the effects of the war. 
Property of all kinds declined in value, while the 
rate of taxation was greatly increased till Cross 
County became nearly bankrupt. After this time 
all industries took on a healthy growth; labor be- 
came settled and the country prospered, large areas 
of land being placed again in cultivation which 
had been lying idle since the war. The construc- 
tion of the various lines of railroads through this 
county has developed many enterprises and estab- 
lished the timber interests which are scarcely 
equaled by any county in the State. 

Saw- mills and stave factories dot the three 
lines of railways that pass through this county, 
and manufacture vast quantities of fine timber 
into merchantable lumber and staves, which are 
shipped to all markets of the United States. 

The St. Francis River is a means of transporta- 
tion of hundreds of thousands of logs rafted to the 
mills on the lower waters. 

Crowley's Ridge, passing through the center 
of the county, is especially adapted to the growth 
of fruits, berries and vegetables. This indus- 






CROSS COUNTY. 



333 



try is slightly developed at tho present time, 
yet there is an inviting field for hniidreds to en- 
gage in these pursuits. 

Stock raising may be made a source of immense 
v?ealth, as the range of Cross County is almost 
absolutely unsurpassed for pasturage. The west- 
ern portion is dotted with prairies, comprising 
from 100 to 10,000 acres, which afford the finest 
spring and summer grazing grass, while the bot- 
toms of the St. Francis basin furnish grass and 
corn, on which the cattle feed and fatten during 
the entire winter, without attention. 

While cotton, that king of agriculture, is the 
principal product of the planter, yet cereals of 
every description grow abundantly, and it is easy 
to see that, with a diversity of crops, the farming 
interests would be improved and their value en- 
hanced. 

The experiments with grasses and clover have 
proved very satisfactory, and show that they will 
grow as well here as in any part of Tennessee or 
Kentucky. 

After reviewing the resources of Cross County, 
with its various interests — its railroad facilities, 
fertile soil and salubrious climate— one may safelj' 
assert that this county is destined with such ad- 
vantages as to become in the near future one of 
the foremost in Eastern Arkansas. 



Dr. William D. Allen, of Wynne, Ark., has 
been a successful practitioner of Cross County, 
Ark. , for forty years, and is ever to be found at 
the bedside of the sick and afflicted. His birth 
occurred in Baton Rouge, La., in 1823, and he was 
the fifth of a family of ten children, the result of 
the union of William and Clementine J. (Quillin) 
Allen, natives of Tennessee. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
Allen removed with their parents to Louisiana 
when children, and there attained their growth. 
William Allen was a farmer by occupation, also 
carried on stock raising, and remained in Louis- 
iana until 1836, when in the spring of that year he 
came to Arkansas. He settled about six miles 
southeast of the present village of Wynne, in 
what was then Phillips County, Ark., and when 



there were about forty families living along Crow- 
ley's Ridge, a distance of about sixty miles. Here 
Mr. Allen, Sr. , bought about 4,000 acres of land, 
on which he at once began making improvements, 
clearing land, erecting buildings, etc., and he 
brought with him a large nuiul)er of negroes, who, 
with his family, numbered fifty-six souls. He 
chartered a small steamboat to transport his fam- 
ily and slaves to Arkansas, and landed at a point 
called Andrew's Lauding. This boat was the sec- 
ond one up the St. Francis River. He then went 
to work and cleared about 400 acres, and resided 
on the same until his death, which occurred in 
1846. The mother lived until 1880, and died at 
the age of seventy-eight years. Dr. William D. 
Allen was twelve years of age at the time his father 
moved to Arkansas, and prior to that time had at- 
tended school in his native State. After moving 
to Arkansas his father engaged a private teacher 
for his family and other children in the vicin- 
ity, and the Doctor received instruction in this 
manner for three years; then as new settlers 
came in they had permanently established subscrip- 
tion schools. At the age of twenty-one years Dr. 
Allen went to Lexington, Ky., and entered the 
Transylvania University, where he took a literary 
course of three years. There were attending, at 
that time, Gen. Morgan, William Walker, Gen. 
Buckner, Col. Pickett, and a number of others, 
who have since become known in history. From 
there Dr. Allen went to Louisville, where he took a 
year's course in medicine, and then went to the 
University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated 
after a strict examination, in May, 1849. He 
then returned to Ai-kansas, and at once began 
the practice of his profession in the country sur- 
rounding his father's homestead. The Doctor has 
been in the constant practice of his profession since 
that time, and in tho immediate vicinity of the 
place. In 1852, Dr. Allen was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Eliza Oliver, a granddaughter of 
John Johnson, who came to Arkansas in 1812, set- 
tling in Phillips, now St. Francis County, where he 
cleared a large tract of land, and there died al)Out 
1830. Many of his descendants are still living in 
this section, prosperous and well-to-do. After 



^ 



'«.K 



>« 



334 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



maiTiage Dr. Allen continued his practice, and in 
connection speculated considerably in land, mak- 
ing large sums on some of their sales, and 
on some tracts making extensive improvements. 
In 1884 he came to Wynne, a station on the rail- 
road, that had just been named, and at that time 
there was but one shanty in the place. His office 
was a small log-cabin. In 1886 he erected an 
office which was destroyed in the fire that year. 
The Doctor is a member of the Masonic frater- 
nity, Forrest City Lodge No. 34, and he and 
family are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. To his marriage were born four children : 
Willie, John, Walter and Emmett. The first three 
are living in St. Francis County, where they own 
fine farms, and the last is attending medical lect- 
ures in New Orleans. 

S. L. Austell, farmer, Wittsburg, Ark. This 
successful agriculturist owes his nativit}' to Cross 
County, Ark., where his birth occurred in 1848, 
and is the son of Samuel and Mabel Caroline (Wof- 
ford) Austell, natives of South Carolina, but who 
came to Arkansas at an early date. The Woffords 
were early pioneers, and Grandfather Isaac Wof- 
ford built the first house in Wittsburg. He opened 
a large farm, and there passed his last days, his 
death occurring in 1849. Samuel L. Austell at first 
settled on Crowley's Ridge, near the present city 
of Wynne, but removed to the bottoms, about one 
mile from Wittsburg, where he cleared about 100 
acres. Mr. Austell was for many years one of the 
leading spirits of that section. He took a promi 
nent part in politics, and was elected the first 
county judge of Cross County. He was also quite 
prominently spoken of as Governor of Arkansas. 
He died in 1S6(), and the mother in 1870. At one 
time he owned nearly all the land around Wynne, 
and speculated largelj^ in real estate. S. L. Austell 
was reared principally to farm labor, and received 
his education in the public schools. After the 
death of his father, he, with his brothers, man- 
aged the farm until 1880, when he bought out the 
only remaining heir. This farm consists of about 
1,100 acres, with 140 under cultivation. Mr. 
Austell also owns about 100 acres near Wittsburg, 
and in 1884 he bought the old home of the widow 



of Maurice Block, at Wittsburg. Mr. Austell ovms, 
aside from this, 500 acres on Crowley's Ridge, 175 
of which are under cultivation. This land he 
rents out, but farms the principal part of the bal- 
ance himself. In 1860 his father built a cotton- 
gin, and this our subject still runs. In the early 
days of the country. Grandfather Wofford started 
a ferry across the St. Francis River, at Wittsburg, 
and this descended by inheritance to S. L. Austell, 
having been in the family for many years, as may 
be seen. In 1877 Mr. Aiistell married Miss Page 
Johnson, a daughter of Thomas Johnson, who 
moved to Cross County, Ark., in 1864, and here 
followed farming until his death, which occurred 
in 1875. The mother is still living. Mr. and Mrs. 
Austell became the parents of five children, three 
of whom are deceased: Blanche (deceased), Samuel 
(deceased). Pearl and Thomas (living) and Clay 
(deceased). The family are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church at Wittsburg. Mr. Aus- 
tell is only moderately active in politics, but takes 
a deep interest in school matters, being at present 
one of the directors. He is an active, energetic 
citizen. 

Eli Bailes, farmer and treasurer of Cross 
County, is prominent among the comparatively 
young men of Cross County, whose career thus far 
has been both honorable and successful. Well- 
informed on the general topics of the day, he can 
not but impart to those with whom he comes in 
contact something of the truths with which his 
mind is stored. He was born in York Covmty, 
S. C, in 1850, and was the youngest of a family 
of seven children born to Eli and Mary A. (Alex- 
ander) Bailes, natives, respectively, of South Caro- 
lina and North Carolina. The father was a tiller 
of the soil and died in his native State in 1886. 
The mother died in 1887. Eli Bailes was reared 
in South Carolina and his time was divided in early 
life between assisting on the home place and in get- 
ting a limited education in the common schools. 
During the war his father and two brothers were 
in the Confederate army and one brother was killed. 
Eli Bailes came to Arkansas in 1867, located in 
St. Francis, boiight a farm of 110 acres, erected 
buildings, cleared land and remained there until 



-1^-. 



D "V 




1877, when he came to Cross County and located 
on the Bay Ridge farm. He remained there for 
fom- years and then removed to the McCrae farm, 
where from overflow and several bad speculations 
he met with temporary financial embarrassment. 
He remained on this farm until 1885, and then 
came to Deadrick, now known as Levosque, where 
he farmed about 450 acres. On this farm he has 
a store, mostly intended for his own plantation 
supplies, but has a fair stock of goods and is doing 
a good business. On December 1, 1888, he was 
appointed postmaster at Levesque and on the first 
of the following year, at a special election, he was 
made treasurer of Cross County. He has always 
taken a deep interest in politics and is known as 
one of the hardest workers for the Democratic 
party. He has been married twice, first in March, 
1869, to Miss Dovie Lembler, a native of South 
Carolina, but who was reared in St. Francis County. 
She died in September, 1875, and left two children, 
a son and daughter: Charles Edward and Dovie 
Ethel. His second marriage took place on Janu- 
uary 19, 1877, to Miss Maggie "Wood, who was 
born and reared in St. Francis County. ^ The fruits 
of this union were four chikh'en, two o»whom are 
living; Robert H. and Lucile. Those deceased 
were unnamed. Mr. Bailes is a good farmer and a 
respectable citizen. 

R. B. Bamson, one of the prominent citizens of 
Bedford Township, was born in Devonshire, Eng- 
land, in 1838, being a son of William and Sarah 
(Louis) Bamson, also natives of England, who be- 
came the parents of four children: William, ^lary, 
John (who served twelve years in the English army, 
and was taken with dropsy and died at Canton, 
China, in 1864) and R. B. (our subject.) Mr. and 
Mrs. Bamson both died in 1874, in their seventy- 
second year, having never been outside of their na- 
tive county. R. B. Bamson was apprenticed to a 
gunsmith at the age of fourteen, with whom he 
worked seven years, after which he followed his 
trade in England until twenty-seven years of age. 
Coming thence to America, and landing in New 
York September 1, 1860, he worked in a machine 
shop on Fiftj'-second Street forS5. 50 per day, and 
the following year went to Savannah, Ga. , where 



he was employed in a carriage shop at §6 per day, 
there remaining until May, 1862, when he joined 
the Confederate army, in the Fulton Dragoons, 
commanded by Capt. Waley. He served until May, 
6, 1865 (when he was paroled), most of the time 
acting as a sharpshooter and scout, and was one of 
the ' ' boys ' ' who captured Gen. Crittenden, and 
was the possessor of that officer's pistols. After 
the war Mr. Bamson returned to Georgia and set- 
tled in Decatur, where he was married in 1866 to 
Mrs. S. T. Puitte, Jiee Moore. After his marriage 
he opened a shop and was engaged in the repair 
and manufacture of guns. In 1870 Mr. Bamson 
came to Arkansas, and bought a farm in Cross 
County, where he resided for three years, then re- 
moving to Douglas County, Mo., buying a farm 
there. He sold out two years later and went to 
Baxter County, where he was engaged in farming 
and also opened up a shop. Four years afterward 
he settled at Rome, Ga. , resumed farming, and 
also ran a grist-mill and saw-mill three years. In 
1879 Mr. Bamson returned to this county and pur- 
chased a farm, also opening a gunsmith .shop, in 
which business he is still engaged. He owns a farm 
of eighty acres, with thirty acres under cultivation. 
In addition to farming and his gunsmith business 
Mr. Bamson owns a one-third interest in a steam- 
gin, which turns out annually 375 bales of cotton. 
Himself and wife are the parents of four childi'en, 
three of whom are still living: W. B. and M. E. 
I (twins) and Neoma. Mr. and Mrs. Bamson are 
I members of the Methodist Episcopal Churth, 
South. The former is also a member of the 
County Wheel, and is an enterprising citizen, lend- 
ing his aid to all work for the public welfare, and 
extending a welcome to anyone seeking a home in 
this community. 

T. A. Bedford, druggist, A\yuue, Ark. A very 
reliable as well as popular di-ug store is that of 
Mr. Bedford, who engaged in the drug business in 
Wynne, in February, 1889, and who has every 
requisite and convenience in this line. He is a 
native of Middle Tennessee, where his birth oc- 
curred in 1842, and is the second of four children 
born to John H. and Lizzie (Allen) Bedford, na- 
tives of Tennessee, where the father was for many 



r^ 




years engaged in farming, manufacturing tobacco 
and merchandising. In 1849 he and family moved 
to West Tennessee, nine miles from Memphis, and 
there he engaged in the cultivation of cotton, con- 
tinuing at this until his death, in 1851. After this 
his widow moved with the family to Columbia, 
Tenn. , where she remained for three years for the 
purpose of educating her children. They were 
then sent to Lebanon to complete their education. 
The mother died in 1870. T. A. Bedford attended 
school until the end of 1860, when he came to Ar- 
kansas and purchased a farm in what is now Cross 
County, about five miles west of "Wynne, bought 
about thirty negroes and embarked in the cotton 
raising business. After making one crop he went to 
Tennessee to visit his mother, and while there en- 
listed in the Confederate army, Company K, Fourth 
Tennessee Cavalry, commanded by Col. Paul An- 
derson, and was assigned to duty in Gen. Bragg' s 
army. He was in the battles of Murfreesboro, 
Chickamauga, Perryville, Dalton and Resaca, and 
was captured in May, 18G4, while bearing a disj^atch 
from Gen. Hood, would not take the oath and was 
sent as a prisoner to Alton, 111. There he remained 
until peace was declared. In 1866 he returned to 
Arkansas to look after the property he had left 
there, and found his slaves, mules and horses gone 
and the plantation overgrown with underbrush. 
He settled here, however, and returned to agricult- 
ural pursuits. In January, 1868, he married 
Miss Mary Rebecca Cogbill, a native of Tennessee 
and a daughter of George Cogbill, who came to 
Arkansas, in 1860, settled in Cross County, and 
followed farming until his death, in 1867. Mr. 
Bedford also tilled the soil until the death of his 
wife, in 1882, and in the following year he went 
to AVittsburg, and was in the drug business at that 
place for some time. He was then in the ware- 
house and shipping business, which occupation he 
still continues. To his marriage were born three 
children: Thomas A. J. (is at present postal clerk 
on the Memphis Si Bald Knob Railroad), Mattie R. 
(is a graduate of Shelby ville, Tenn., in the class of 
1889), aud Mamie (is attending school at Nashville, 
with the same teacher under whom the elder sister 
graduated). In 1886 Mr. Bedford was appointed 



postmaster of Wittsburg, and opened the office in 
his drug store. He remained at Wittsburg until 
1888, when he resigned the postoffice (having sold 
the drug store in 1887) and went to Wynne, where 
he purchased the drug .stock of Bunch & Hamilton. 
He now has as line a drug store as can be found in 
Eastern Arkansas, and carries a complete line of 
pure drugs and chemicals, toilet articles, paints 
and oils and the usual druggists' sundries. For 
compounding and putting up prescriptions he has 
the assistance of S. A. Miller, a graduate of the 
Pennsylvania School of Pharmacy, at Philadelphia 
and York (Penn. ) School of Sciences. This assist- 
ant has a complete chemical outfit and is thus pre- 
piared to analyze water, mineral ores and chemical 
compounds. Mr. Bedford owns a farm one and a 
half miles east of Wynne. 

Alonzo A. Berry, M. D. , numbered among 
the rising young medical practitioners in this 
portion of Ai'kansas, is a worthy son of Bart- 
lett A. and Elmira (Hennasu) Berry, natives of 
North Carolina. The former, now in his fifty- 
seventh year, has held a public office since twenty - 
one years of age. He was first sheriff of his 
county (Burke), which position he held during the 
war, and was again elected in 1887, discharging his 
duties of trust at the present time. He was a rep- 
resentative to the State legislature two terms in 
the Lower House, and also represented his district 
in the State senate from 1880 to 1884. Mr. and 
Mrs. Berry are members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, and the parents of ten children: 
Lenore, Letitia (wife of Dr. Flow, of North Caro- 
lina), Alonzo A. (our subject), Clara E. (wife of 
Dave Berry, of North Carolina), Robert B., Lillie 
P. , Bartlett A. , Jethroe W. , Forrest C. and Mar- 
vin G. A. A. Berry was born in North Carolina in 
1865, and was educated in the common schools of 
his county, attending also Rutherford College, and 
Finley High School, at Lenoir, N. C, from which 
he graduated at the age of eighteen years. Fol- 
lowing his literary course, he entered the Louisville 
Medical College, and the Kentucky School of 
Medicine, at Louisville, Ky., graduating in 1887. 
He then returned to North Carolina, where he 
commenced practicing, but remained only a short 



CROSS COUNTY. 



337 



time, coming the same year to Arkansas, and locat- 
ing in Bay Village, Cross County, where he now 
enjoys a large and lucrative practice. He is rap- 
idly becoming one of the leading physicians of the 
community. 

Maurice Block, deceased, was for many years a 
leading merchant in what is now Cross County. 
He was born in Germany in 1819, and spent his 
youth until fifteen years of age at home with his 
father, who was a merchant, and in attending 
school. At the above mentioned age his father 
wished him to learn the baker's trade, but this not 
proving satisfactory to Maurice, the latter left 
home and went to Paris, where he worked in a 
clock factory, doing the fine ornamental brass work 
and putting on the finishing touches. He worked 
at this until twenty-two years of age. The year 
previous he wedded Miss Bettie Bloon, a native of 
Paris. In 1842 he came to the United States, 
landing at New Orleans, where he started out by 
selling goods through the country, and remained 
in that city for four or five years. While there 
Mrs. Block was stricken with the yellow fever and 
died, leaving two sons: Losso (who died in St. 
Louis in 1849) and Nathan (who is a merchant in 
Memphis). Soon after the loss of his wife, Mr. 
Block took his children and removed to Memphis, 
Tenn. , where he continued his business of selling 
goods through the country for nearly a year. On 
May 17, 1849, he married Miss Anna Woubilman, 
also a native of Germany, and in July of the same 
year they moved to St. Louis, where they resided 
for two years. In 1851 they moved to Arkansas, 
settled in Bolivar, the old county seat of Poinsett 
County, and here made their home for little more 
than a year. After this they removed to the Cold 
Water Spring, and here Mr. Block began clerking 
for David Block (a man of the same name but no 
relation), and remained in that capacity for two 
years, when be became a partner in the busi- 
ness, doing the largest cross roads trade on Crow- 
ley's Ridge. In 1859 they shipped 70(1 bales of cot- 
ton and over 10,000 coon-skins. During the year 
1858 this firm had the contract to furnish the city 
of Memphis with beef, and during that year they 
shipped over 2,600 head. This firm was dissolved 



in 1859 by Mr. David Block retiring, and the sub- 
ject of this sketch thou moved to Farm Hill in 
1800, and there started a store. He soon built up 
a large trade by his honest upright dealings, and 
bought a farm which promised to give good re- 
turns, Ijut the war breaking out he was compelled 
to close his store in August, 1861. In the fall of 
that year the Confederate soldiers burned 139 bales 
of cotton for him and a large quantity still in the 
seed, amounting in all to nearly 300 bales. Mrs. 
Block, with the assistaace of two negro women, 
succeeded in saving a quantity of cotton by throw- 
ing the straw out of the bed ticks and filling them 
with cotton. Five months later this was taken 
from the ticks and made into two bales which Mr. 
Block, with the assistance of his son Isaac, took to 
Island No. 37, where they sold it for $1.20 per 
pound. During the years of the war Mr. Block 
bought cotton and cattle, which he succeeded in 
smuggling into Memphis, and which resulted in 
immense profits, as he often sold calico at II 
per yard, coffee at $1 per pound and salt at 
1100 per barrel. Those goods and others he 
would buy in exchange for cattle and cotton. In 
1865 Mr. Block formed a partnership with his old 
partner, David Block, J. J. Hamilton and A. A. 
Luckey, and started a large store at Wittsburg, at 
the head of navigation on the St. Francis River. 
Mr. Luckey retired after six months. This firm, 
known as D. Block & Co. , soon became one of the 
largest commercial firms this section has ever 
known, doing over 1100,000 annually, and during 
the last year, 1875, their sales were over §175,000. 
Ml'. Hamilton withdrew in 1874, and the subject of 
this sketch died on October 14, 1875. His widow 
continued his interest in the business until 1878, 
when David Block died, and the firm was dissolved, 
the business being sold out to J. Hall & Co. To 
the union of Maurice Block and his estimable wife 
were born ten children, seven sons and three 
daughters; Adam (died in infancy). Isaac (is a re- 
tired merchant and farmer residing at Wynne), 
William M. (is a real-estate agent at Vanndale), 
Joseph (a mute, has the position of manager of the 
freight department for the Missouri Pacific Rail- 
road, at Wynne), Samuel (died in 1870 at the age 



^ •HQr 

•-— ►- 



338 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



of thirteen years), Julia (is the wife of Ben Block, 
a merebant at Memphis), Jefferson Davis (a lawyer, 
at present prosecuting attorney from the Second 
judicial district of Eastern Arkansas), Callie (wife 
of B. T. King, real-estate agent of Spriugtield), 
Robert E. Lee (county school examiner of Cross 
County) and Fannie, who died at the age of ten 
years, in 1880. Maurice Block was long a leading 
merchant in this section, and was an active energetic 
citizen. He was the father of a family of childi-en, 
all of whom are noted for their success in life, and 
most of whom have been the author of their own 
fortunes. His widow, hale and hearty, is still liv- 
ing and enjoying the ample means left of her hus- 
band's estate, makes her home alternately with 
one or the other of her children. 

Sol. Block, senior member of the firm of Block 
& Ralph, merchants and planters, at Bay Ridge, 
Ark., is a native of Baden, Germany, where his 
birth occurred in 1827. He was educated in the 
common schools and under a private tutor, until 
about twenty-one years of age, when he came to 
the United States (1849). Here he engaged in 
business for himself in the State of Illinois, re- 
mained there until about 1860, when he moved to 
St. Louis and there engaged in the insurance busi- 
ness (life, fire and accident). After residing in 
that city for about ten years he removed to Mem- 
phis, where he followed the same business for 
about the same length of time. In 1878 he came 
to Forrest City, Ark., was engaged as book-keeper 
for two j'ears, and then, after making a trip to 
Europe, returned to Chicago, where he made his 
home for several years and was engaged in the in- 
surance business. Later be returned to St. Louis, 
where he embarked in the cigar and tobacco busi- 
ness, continuing at this until 1886, when be came 
to Cross County, Ark., and in company with 
J. Ralph, erected a fine storehouse on the farm, 
which had recently been purchased bj' Mr. Rapb- 
aelski, and which Block & Ralph manage. This 
farm embraces a tract of 1,400 acres of land and 
at one time was valuable propert}', but had been 
allowed to run down and needed everything in the 
way of improvement. They at once began to make 
extensive improvements, soon had 500 acres under 



cultivation, some of which they cleared from the 
timber. They rebuilt the dwelling, erected a large 
brick stable and a first-class cotton-gin. saw and 
grist mill. This gin and mill is the best in the 
county, costing about $8,000. They have an en- 
gine of sixty-five horse-power and can gin twenty- 
five bales of cotton, and saw 20,000 feet of lum- 
ber per day. The lumber is shipped to St. Louis. 
In the store they keep a full line of general mer- 
chandise, buy and .ship cotton and all country pro- 
duce. They carry a stock of goods valued at !?6,000 
and have a rapidly increasing trade. Mr. Block 
was married, in 1863, to Miss Amelia Raphaelski, of 
English and German parentage. She was born in 
Liverpool, England, and came to the United States 
with her parents in childhood. Mr. Jacob Ralph, 
Mr. Block's partner, was born in Memphis, is still 
a young man, and was in business in Chicago for 
a short time. He was married, in 1S86, to Miss 
May Bronson, and the fruits of this union has been 
one child, a daughter named Mabel. This large 
farm is one of the prettiest as well as the most val- 
uable to be found in this part of the country, and 
by it may be seen what can be accomplished when 
the right steps are taken and a proper amount of 
energy is brought to bear. 

I. Block, one of the prominent business men 
and planters, of Cross County, Ark., was origi- 
nally from St. Louis County, Mo., where his birth 
occurred in March, 1851, and is the son of Maurice 
and Anna (Woubilman) Block. [See sketch of 
Maurice Block.] I. Block attended school at Har- 
risburg, in Poinsett County, until the outbreak 
of the war, and during those troublesome times he 
assisted his father in many expeditions, smiiggling 
cotton into Memphis, and goods and provisions to 
the people back home on his return. During those 
trips they met with many adventures, and endured 
much hardship, but with cotton at 1500 per bale, 
and all goods that could be brought home yielding 
an enormous profit, they continued this business 
until the end of the war. In 1866 I. Block at- 
tended school for one year at Wittsburg, and dur- 
ing the next three years he assisted his father on 
the farm. During 1868 he spent another year in 
school at Covington, Tenn., and then his father 



-" — 4 i 



CROSS COUNTY. 



339 



gave bim a farm, after which for five 3'ears he was 
engaged m cultivating the soil, "baching if on 
the farm. He was quite successful, raising a great 
deal of cotton, corn and live-stock. In 1875 he 
went to Wittsburg, and engaged as clerk with his 
brother, L. N. Block & Co., continuing with this 
firm for about eight months. At that time his fa- 
ther dj'ing, he entered the firm of D. Block & Co. , 
representing his mother's interest in that business, 
and continued with the same for about three years, 
or until 1S79, when the firm dissolved partner- 
ship. After this he became a member of the firm 
of L. N. Block & Co. , and the title was changed to 
Block Bros. & Co. This firm immediately began 
to do a large trade, the first year handling 185,000 
worth of cotton, dealing extensively in live-stock 
and machinery. This firm continued in business 
until the decline of Wittsburg as a trading point, 
when they dissolved. For about two years they ran 
a branch store at Wynne, under the title of Block & 
Co. , and these two stores were connected by a Bell 
telephone, the only one ever used in Cross County. 
These stores were closed out together. In 1882 Mr. 
Block bought 160 acres on the Helena branch of 
the Iron Mountain Railroad, at Wynne, and con- 
tinued to add to this tract of land until now he is 
the owner of 766 acres. In 1884 he built a saw- 
mill and ginnery at Wynne, and the saw-mill soon 
became valuable property, as the railroad created a 
large market for lumber, and during this time Mr. 
Block acquired the reputation of being the shrewd- 
est saw-mill man in Cross County. They sold this 
mill in 1888. After clearing out the commercial 
interests at both Wittsburg and Wynne, ^Ir. Block 
applied himself diligently to clearing his large 
farm adjoining the town of Wynne. In four years 
time he had cleared up, and reduced to a state of 
perfect cultivation, 400 acres, and made improve- 
ments on the same, which have at once placed this 
plantation among the highest improved places in 
the State. This fine piece of land adjoins the town 
of Wynne, and extends two miles along the rail- 
road, lioing enclosed for over two miles by solid 
plank fence. Along the front everj' twenty acres 
has a neatly constracted tenant house; each 40 acres 
has a double four-roomed cottage, and each house 



is surrounded by a plank fence. This row of 
cottages, extending for two miles along the road, 
each one painted white with red trimmings, pre- 
sent the appearance of a street in a town. There is 
no plantation in Eastern Arkansas that is better im- 
proved, or shows better taste, or business judg- 
ment in improving or erecting buildings than this. 
In addition to this place, Mr. Block owns over 
1,000 acres in all parts of Cross County, and on 
those tracts there are about 150 acres under culti- 
vation. Mr. Block now spends most of his time in 
looking after his extensive farms, and occupies as a 
residence an attractive home in the city of Wynne. 
This residence was constructed in 1884 and 1885, 
and'is furnished with taste and care. He was mar- 
ried in 1878, to Mrs. Fannie Puryear, a widow and 
daughter of J. M. Levesque [see sketch], and his 
wife, with her many social graces, is a true help- 
mate to her husband, and his home-life is a pattern 
of domestic peace. Mr. Block has also built in 
Wynne a large two-story brick house, with a hall 
for exhibitions, and the store rooms are elegantly 
fitted up, and are very attractive. He has also built 
a number of the houses in the town and several 
small stores. He is a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity and the Odd Fellows Lodge. 

Raphael Block is a leading merchant of Vann- 
dale, was born in the town of Tremblade, Alsace, 
France, in May, 1852, and was the fourth in a 
family of five children, born to Herman and 
Rebecca Block, the father a successful business 
man of the old country. Raphael remained at 
home attending schools, until thirteen years of 
age, and in 1871 determined to seek his fortune in 
America, and came to Wittsburg, Cross County, 
Ark. , and engaged as a clerk for D. Block & Co. , 
but about two years later, became an employe of 
G. M. Arnold & Co., general merchants of the 
same place. In 1874 he engaged in general mer- 
chandising at Wittsburg, being associated with B. 
Block, and they immediately began doing an ex- 
tensive trade, the largest in all probability that has 
ever been done l)y any one firm in Cross County. 
This partnership was dissolved in 1886, and our 
subject became sole proprietor, and in 1887 he 
bought the interest of J. W. Killough, of that 



@ u_ 



340 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



well-known mercantile tirm of Killough & Erwin, 
of Vanndale. and since January 1, 1889, has been 
sole proprietor of this establishment also. He has 
a large and well -selected stock of general mer- 
chandise, amounting to about $10,000, and he 
commands a large and constantly improving trade. 
He is quite extensively engaged in buying and 
shipping cotton, and is an enterprising and won- 
derfully successful young busine.ss man, and is 
courteous, pleasant and cheerful, a leading spirit 
in the commercial affairs of the county. He is 
quite an active politician, and is always found at 
the polls on election day. Socially he belongs to 
Arcadia Lodge No. 183, of the A. F. & A. M., at 
Vanndale, and he also belongs to the K. of H. and 
the K. & L. of H. December 28, 1874, he was 
married to Mrs. Hester C. (Hamilton) Perry, a 
daughter of J. G. Hamilton, a member of the firm 
of D. Block & Co. They have had five children: 
Herman (attending school at the Christian Broth- 
ers' College of Memphis), Felix, Nina, David and 
Mary (who died in infancy). 

Joseph Block, freight agent for the Missouri 
Pacific Kailroad, is a son of Maurice and Anna 
Block, his birth occurring in Poinsett County, 
Ark., in 1853. He is unfortunately a deaf mute, but 
has a bright mind, and is perfectly capiible of filling 
the position of responsibility conferred upon him by 
the railroad company. He entered the Little Rock 
Deaf and Dumb Asylum at the age of fourteen 
years, and continued in this institution until eight- 
een years of age, when he began to learn the sad- 
dler's trade, serving an apprenticeship of three 
years at Memphis. He then worked at his trade 
a short time as journeyman, and received very good 
wages. After this he engaged in business for him- 
self at Wittsburg as a saddler, but soon began and 
conducted a saloon under the firm title of Joseph 
Block & Co. for two years at the above mentioned 
place. In 1884 he secured a situation as express 
agent for the Southern Express Compau}', and 
held this position for one year to the universal 
satisfaction of the company and all its patrons. 
La'^er he became assistant freight agent, and in 
1888 was promoted to general freight agent for 
the station of Wynne. This railroad companjr em- 



ploys over 8,000 men, and Mr. Block is the only 
mute in their employ. He is exceptionally brilliant, 
and, but for his infirmity, would long ere this have 
been included among the prominent business men 
of this section. He is moral, reliable and temper- 
ate in all his habits. 

William M. Block, the present efficient and 
esteemed deputy treasurer of Cross County, and 
real-estate dealer at Vanndale, was born on the 
place known as the Bond Farm, in Poinsett (now 
Cross) County, about eight miles northeast of 
Vanndale, March 9, 1853, being the third son in a 
family of eight children born to Maui'ice and Anna 
(Woubilman) Block. He was educated in the com- 
mon schools of this county, and in 1871-72 attended 
i the Tipton County high school, at Covington, 
Tenn., subsequently taking a course in 1872-73 at 
the University of Mississippi at Oxford. Upon his 
return home in September, 1873, Mr. Block was 
appointed deputy county clerk, under Thomas O. 
Fitzpatrick, which ofifice he creditably held imtil 
the following March, when he became engaged in 
the livery business at Wittsburg, and the follow- 
ing November was again appointed deputy clerk, 
under James N. Dobson. In this position he 
served until the death of Mr. Dobson in December, 
1875, at which time he was appointed deputy col- 
lector of taxes, under James M. Levesque, remain- 
ing so occuj)ied until the following Jime. Mr. 
Block engaged in his present business as real-estate 
agent and abstractor of titles, in June, 1876, and 
has made and owns the only set of abstract books 
in Cross County. On May 19, 1880, he was ap- 
pointed clerk of Cross' County, to fill an unexpired 
term, and also has held ofiice as justice of the peace 
for six years, having been a notary public the same 
length of time. The abstracts of Mr. Block's are 
a model of neatness, by which the transfers of title, 
and all liens affecting the title of any property in 
the county can be readily found. He owns con- 
siderable property in this and adjoining counties, 
and also a fine residence in Vanndale, and has no 
superior as a thoroughly posted man on the real- 
estate of this county. Mr. Block was married on 
December 18, 1878, to Miss Alice Austell. They 
are the parents of three children. 



-.|v 



-\^ 



CROSS COUNTY. 



341 



J. D. Block. To the thoughtful mind a con 
trast between the work of the bar of the present 
day, and a lawyer's life journoy iifty years ago in 
Arkansas, is something worthy of more than pass- 
ing interest. The great task necessarily performed 
by those faithful practitioners of years gone by, 
did not combine to form a smooth path of gentle 
declivity leading to a beautiful temple of justice, 
elaborately arranged with all the comforts and be- 
longings of the present. Neither is success in the 
legal profession now, won by lack of energy or 
persevering effort, in the line of this gifted calling. 
Mr. Block, one of the younger attorneys of Cross 
County, and its present prosecutor, has attained to 
a fi-ont rank as a member of the bar of the Second 
judicial district. Born in Poinsett County, Ark., 
he is the son of Maurice and Anna W. Block, rep- 
resentative people of this county, to whom luention 
is made elsewhere in this volume. A thorough Ar- 
kansan by bringing up, as well as by birth, he se- 
cured a good common school education, which only 
served to fit him more thoroughly for the study of 
law, whose practice he had decided to make his life 
vocation. After a careful course he was admitted 
to the bar and at once entered upon what was des- 
tined to be a remarkable experience, for one so 
young in years. From his majority the field of 
politics seemed to offer unusual attractions for him, 
and at an early age he was found active in local 
political movements throughout Cross County. In 
1886 he was elected to the State legislature, and 
had the distinction of being the youngest member 
in that important body. His term of service was 
marked by such decided ability and fitness for the 
position, that he was subsequently honored by be- 
ing made prosecuting attorney of his district, re- 
ceiving the largest vote given any man on the 
ticket. Mr. Block has also held the office of county 
school examiner. His public life has already been 
one to which he may refer with credit. Brave, 
candid, truthful, with decided opinion, his moral 
and political convictions have been strong and un- 
wavering. His manners stamp him a gentleman, 
and his career thus far promises to render him one 
of the most distinguished of Arkansas' lawyers. 
Mr. Block if for no other reason would be promi- 



nently recognized on account of his connection 
with that well-known family of Cross County, 
whose name he bears. 

Kobert Lee Block, county school examiner, of 
Cros.s County, Ark. . was born in 1860, about six- 
teen miles northeast of Vanndalo, being the young- 
est child born to Maurice and Anna Block [see 
sketch]. At the age of six years he was taken by 
his parents to Wittsburg, where he received the 
benefits of the schools of that place for eight 
years. The three following years he spent in the 
Christian Brothers' Institute at Memphis, and, be- 
ing of a studious turn of mind and very industri- 
ous, he succeeded in acquiring an excellent educa- 
tion, and graduated from that institution as an A. 
B. in June, 1884. His first start in life for him- 
self was in the capacity of a clerk in a drug store, 
at Jonesboro, where he continued to remain until 
September 28, 1884, after which he went to Spring- 
field, Mo., to accept a position as cashier and book- 
keeper for Priest & King, remaining with them 
luitil August, 1885. His next position was as bill 
clerk with the Springfield Grocery Company, and 
after continuing in their employ until May, 1886, 
he went to Memphis and became stock clerk for 
Robson, Block & Co. , remaining with them until 
October 12, 1886, when failing health compelled 
him to seek change of employment. From that 
time until January 16, 1887, he was an employe of 
Buck & Trexler, at Crawfordsville, Ark., and then 
worked for C. O. Richards & Co. , as commissary 
clerk on the Memphis branch of the Iron Mountain 
Railroad. On June 10, 1887, the work on the 
west end of the road was finished, and the day 
following he became book-keeper and clerk for 
William M. Block, real-estate agent at Vanndale, 
and with him still remains. January 12, ISS'J, he 
was appointed county school examiner, and since 
filling this position has striven to raise the grade 
of teachers and the standard of schools by recom- 
mending only those who hold the higher grade 
certificates, and the excellent education which he 
has eminently fits him for this responsible place. 
Being enterprising and ambitious to rise in the 
world, he, in partnership with E. L. Applewhite, 
on September i), 1889, started a stock farm on 8 



-,|V 



342 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



tract of 700 acres of land, they being joint owners 
of the same, which they stocked with 130 head of 
cattle, a one-half Norman horse, seven brood mares, 
four horses, two Kentucky jacks and eight mules. 
They have recently put up twenty-five tons of hay, 
for winter use, besides 1,000 bushels of corn, and, 
as can readily be seen, are admirably equipped 
to keep their stock in good condition throughout 
the winter. They have seventy acres planted in 
rye, timothy and clover, for spring pasture. Mr. 
Block belongs to an old and influential family of 
the county, and has five brothers, all prosjjerous 
and intelligent men, and, like himself, are pro- 
gressive and enterprising in their views. 

"W. P. Brown, an old settler of Wynne Town- 
ship, is a native of North Carolina and a son of 
Thomas and Elizabeth (Speight) Brown, who also 
came originally from that State. He has been a 
resident of this county since fifteen years of age. 
Thomas Brown was numbered among the promi- 
nent physicians of Colerain, Bertie County, N. 
C. , and was also proprietor of one of the lead- 
ing hotels of that place. He came to Arkansas 
when a boy, but only remained a short time, 
when he attended the medical school at Philadel- 
phia, from which he graduated, subsequently set- 
tling in Colerain, Bertie County, and commencing 
his practice. He remained there until his death, 
in February, 1861. He was twice married, first 
to the mother of our subject, who bore ten chil- 
dren, two still living: W. P. and T. H. Mrs. 
Brown died in 1855, and in 1858 Dr. Brown was 
married to Miss Harriet Eiddick. Dr. Brown was 
a member of the A. F. & A. M., and also of the 
I. O. O. F. , and was a man of considerable means. 
His father owned 100 slaves and gave each of his 
four children twenty-five negroes. The Doctor 
was the owner of a saddle belonging to Gen. Zach- 
ary Taylor, and which he used during the Mexican 
War. W. P. Brown was born in 1846, and passed 
his early days in North Carolina, until fifteen 
years of age, when he came to Arkansas, residing 
with an uncle's family in this county. At the age 
of seventeen years he enlisted in the Confederate 
service and served two years in McGee's regiment. 
After the war Mr. Brown commenced farming his 



aunt's place, where he remained until 1807, later 
returning to North Carolina and settling up his 
father's business. Coming again to this county in 
December of that year, he rented a farm and re- 
mained upon it until 1871, when he was married to 
Miss Laura Jenkins. After his marriage he bought 
a farm of eighty acres, which had some clearing, 
but no buildings. In 1884 Mr. Brown traded this 
farm for his present place, consisting of eighty 
acres, which was imimproved, with the exception 
of a house, and of this amount he now has about 
fifty acres under cultivation. Himself and wife 
are the parents of six children, all at home: 
Thomas, Oline, Mattie, Hattie, Paul and Porter. 
Mr. Brown was elected assessor of this county in 
1876, in which capacity he served eight years. Mr. 
and Mrs. Brown are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. The former belongs to the 
Knights of Honor, antl is a man who favors all pub- 
lic enterprises. 

John B. Bruner was born in Springfield, Ohio, 
in 1844, and is the fourth of nine children, born to 
Daniel and Eunice (Bond) Bruner, the father a na- 
tive of Ohio, and the mother the first female child 
born in Dunkirk, N. Y. John B. Bruner was 
reared and attended school in Springfield, Ohio, 
Jamestown, N. Y. and Meadville, Penn. , in all of 
which places his father was engaged in merchant 
tailoring. He acquired a good education, and at 
the age of sixteen years began clerking in a drug 
store in Dunkirk, and later served in the same 
capacity in Jamestown, N. Y. and Franklin, Penn. 
In 1860 he went to the " Hoosier State," and em- 
barked in the lumber business, but after a year or 
two returned to Jamestown and resumed clerking; 
after a short time he became dissatisfied with his 
location and went to Michigan, and served in the 
same capacity for a grocery firm. In 1871 he went 
to Memphis, and became a traveling salesman for 
a liquor house, but discontinued this about four 
years later and engaged in business for himself. 
After remaining there about two vears lie beean 
traveling for a St. Louis firm, remaining with 
them seven years, purchasing in the meantime, in 
1881, a farm of 200 acres, one mile north of Vann- 
dale: 160 acres are under cultivation, and is excel- 



f 



V 




^ 



lently adapted to raising cotton, corn, grass, etc. 
He has some thoroughbred Durham cattle, a high 
grade of Jerseys, and his hogs are a cross between 
the Berkshire and Poland China. On this farm, in 
18S7, he erected a fine residence, it being a two- 
story frame, 60x42 feet, containing nine rooms, or- 
namented by a tiiimber of handsome double porches, 
and presenting a handsome view from the road. 
He made other improvements in the way of build- 
ings, and has a fine new barn and other substantial 
outbuildings. His farm is nearly all under fence, 
and he has recently set out over a mile of hedge. 
He is a thoroughgoing and thrifty farmer, who 
sees the advantage of raising the best of every 
thing for his family's use, including fruit and ber- 
ries. With his introduction of blooded stock, new 
seed grains, different and improved methods of 
farming, the community will at least have an oppor- 
tunity of seeing what taste and enterprise, com- 
bined with skill and industry, can accomplish. In 
manner he is agreeable and courteous, and his wife, 
whose maiden name was Bettie Mansford, and 
whom he married on February 1, 1875, is an edu- 
cated and accomplished lady. She was born in 
Madison County, Tenn. , and her father has for a 
long time been a well-known farmer of Gibson 
County, and is still residing there. 

T. D. Bryant, pastor of the Cumberland Pres- 
byterian Church, of Nolton, and a man thoroughly 
respected by his fellow-citizens, is originally from 
South Carolina, as were also his parents, Joab and 
Mary (Stewart) Bryant, of Scotch and English de- 
scent. Joab Bryant was a leading farmer of his 
count}", and though not educated was a well-in- 
formed and a good business man. Mr. and Mrs. 
Bryant were married in 1831, and were the parents 
of twelve children, nine of whom are living: Louisa 
(now Mrs. Eeid), F. A. (a Methodist minister of 
Texas), J. R. (also of Texas), Minerva (now Mrs. 
Hemphis), Elizabeth (who married F. L. Dullard), 
W. J., J. W., T. D. (our subject), M. L.,B. W. (a 
manufacturer of Mississippi), G. W. (a resident of 
South America) and Joseph (a resident of this 
county). The grandfather (on the father's side), 
James Bryant, was a soldier in the War of 1812. 
Joab Bryant and wife wore connected with the 



I Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The senior 
Bryant died in 1874, and his wife in 188'J. He was a 
Mason. T. D. Bryant was reared to farm life. In 
his boyhood days the advantages for schooling were 
very limited, but by close application to study ho has 
educated himself, mostly at home. At the age of 
fourteen Mr. Bryant enlisted in the Confederate 
service, joining the First Regiment of Heavy Ar- 
tillery of South Carolina, which was stationed 
at Fort Sumter, and in 1862 joined the regular 
army; was in a number of hard-fought battles, and 
witnessed the bombardment of Fort Sumter on 
April 7, 1863, and was present at its capitulation. 
He was captured at Smithtield, but, escaping, was 
recaptured the same night. Mr. Bryant served as 
orderly and was promoted to sergeant. While in 
the army he was wounded four times, once in the 
head by a piece of shell, again, on James Island, 
by a bayonet thrust into the left side, which entered 
between the fifth and sixth rib; then again in the 
knee joint and also in the arm by a bayonet. After 

«the war he returned home and the following year 
moved to Kentucky, where he engaged in farming 
in the eastern part of the State and also taught 
school. In 1867 he removed to Dwyer County, 
Term., where he farmed, following this for two 
years, then taught for two years in McNairy County, 
Tenn. He returned to South Carolina and busied 
himself with farming and teaching for twelve years. 
In 1882 he removed to Alabama and in 1886 immi- 
grated to Arkansas, settling on his present prop- 
erty, which comprises 120 acres of land, with 
thirty-five under cultivation. Mr. Bryant was 
born in 1846. He has been twice married, first in 
1866 to Miss N. J. Fitzgerald, of South Carolina, 
who died in 1871, and who was the mother of three 
children: George (a resident of this county). Ed- 
gar (a resident of South Carolina) and Elector (a 
teacher in South Carolina). Mr. Bryant was mar- 
ried the second time to Miss D. E. Fitzgerald, in 
1872. They have been given seven children, all 
living: Lillie. Joseph, Milas, Lelier, Lulu, 
Thomas and Talmage. Mr. Bryant began preach- 
ing in 1885, three months before joining the pres- 
bytery, and he is the founder of the first Creek 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, as well as the 






f^ 



\ 0i ^ 



344 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Cumberland Presbyterian Church of "Woodruff 
County. Mr. Bryant preaches in Cross, Wood- 
ruff, Poinsett and Jackson Counties, and is very 
active in all religious and educational enterprises. 
He is a Royal Arch Mason. 

Archie S. Casbeer began life as a saloon keeper 
at Wittsburg in 1870, In 1874 he commenced 
clerking in the store, and in March, 1879, opened 
a general merchandise establishment, which he 
continued for three years, after which he conducted 
a saloon and grocery combined. In 1886 he 
started his present store, carrying a small stock of 
general merchandise valued at about $1,000. He 
also owns 587 acres of land in this county, and 
forty acres in St. Francis County. Mr. Casbeer 
was born in St. Francis County, October 13, 1844 
being a son of Thomas M. and Martha A. (May) 
The former was born in Maury County, Tenn. 
on July 4, 1813, and was of German parentage, 
Thomas Casbeer, Sr. , the gi-andfather of our sub 
ject, immigrated to Arkansas in 1817, and was one 
of the early settlers of St. Francis County. 
Thomas Casbeer, Sr. , was a farmer, blacksmith 
and proprietor of a large saw-mill. He was mar- 
ried September 13, 1838, and died on September 
25, 1872. Mrs. Casbeer first saw the light in 
North Carolina, September 25, 1820, and died 
October 2, 1867; she was the mother of thirteen 
children, five of whom are now living. Archie S. 
Casbeer enlisted in the Confederate service in a 
cavalry regiment during the war, in which he 
served one year, and was in the battles of Big 
Creek, near Helena, Pilot Knob, Fort Scott, and 
a number of skirmishes. Mr. Casbeer is a Royal 
Arch Mason, a member of the I. O. O. F. , also of 
the Knights of Honor and Knights and Ladies of 
Honor. He is a strong Democrat, and has held 
the offices of constable and deputy sheriff. Janu- 
ary 7, 1874, he was married to Delana Block, -a 
native of this county, who died June 28, 1887, 
having become the mother of two children, one^of 
whom is living. She was a member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. Casbeer^has a 
gourd dated 1766, which was used as a powder- 
flask by his grandfather, T. M. Casbeer, Sr.,'^at 
the battle of New Orleans. 



William J. Cobb, Vanndale, Ark. The entire 
life of Mr. Cobb has been passed in an industrious 
manner, and not without fairly substantial results 
of success. He was born in Washington County, 
Ark., in 1846, was the second in a family of eight 
children born to William A. and Susan (Brodie), the 
father a native of North Carolina, and the mother 
of Tennessee. The father was reared to farm life 
and attended school in his native State until about 
twenty-one years of age, when he went to La 
Grange, Tenn. There he attended school for about 
a year, and was then ordained a minister in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church by the Tennessee Con- 
ference. He then began preaching on a circuit in 
North Alabama, and was engaged in this work 
about one year. In about 1838 he came to Arkan- 
sas, followed his ministerial duties in this State, 
and after a year or two was sent by the Conference 
of Arkansas to the Indian Nation, where he 
preached, and had charge of the mission schools of 
that Territory until about 1854. Prior to that 
time, about 1844, he had married in Washington 
County, Ark. , the daughter of Ludwick Brodie, a 
pioneer from Middle Tennessee, to Northwestern 
Arkansas. After giving up the work in the Indian 
Nation, he was on the retired list for a year or so, 
and in 1857, he, with his family, went to Florida, 
where, after residing about a year, they came 
further north, and located at Trenton, Tenn., in 
order to educate their children. Here he followed 
farming, was also engaged in merchandising, con- 
tinuing at this until 1862, when the family returned 
to Poinsett, now Cross County, and settled about 
two miles southeast of the present village of Vann- 
dale. Here he at once took charge of the Poinsett 
Male and Female Academy, which educational 
institution he conducted during war times, the last 
session of this school being held in 1865-66. He 
then joined the conference, and was immediately 
placed in charge of the Harrisburg Circuit, preach- 
ing from that time until 1873, in various districts 
and circuits of Eastern Arkansas. About that time 
he retired, and soon after died from a cancer, 
which had troubled him for many years. W. J. 
Cobb was attending school at Trenton, Tenn. , at the 
breaking out of the war. but came with his parents 



^^ 






to Arkansas, in 1862. lu 1863, at the age of 
sixteen years, he enlisted in the Confederate army, 
and was assigned duty in Eastern Arkansas, partic- 
ipating in his first engagement near Augusta, 
on White Kiver. He was with Gen. Price on his 
Missouri raid, and was in every engagement of that 
campaign. After that he returned with his regi- 
ment to Arkansas, and on May 25, 1865, surren- 
dered at Wittsburg. He then at once began farm- 
ing in Cross County, on his father's place, and 
here he remained until 1878, after which he went to 
Northwest Arkansas, and was engaged as clerk for 
A. A. Brodie, a merchant at Huntsville, Madison 
County. Here he remained four years, when he re- 
turned to Cross County, and again followed ag- 
ricultural pursuits on the old homestead. He 
remained there until 1887, when he moved to 
Vanndale, bought a lot, erected a dwelling, and has 
since made his home there, following the carpen- 
ter's trade. In February, 1889, he engaged with 
Killough & Erwin as clerk in the store at Vann- 
dale. He was married, in 1874, to Miss Alice 
E. Burnett, a native of Tennessee, bxrt who was 
principally reared in Arkansas, and who is a daugh- 
ter of John O. Burnett. Mr. Burnett was a soldier 
in the Confederate army, was wounded in the 
battle of Prairie Grove, and died from the effects. 
His family are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South. 

William H. Cole, one of the genial members of 
the enterprising firm of Smith, Cole & Davis, also 
the general manager of the three mills owned by 
this firm, is a Pennsylvanian by birth, being a son 
of Joseph and Ellen (Yost) Cole, of German de- 
scent, the paternal grandfather, Joseph Cole, was 
a hotel keeper and also owned an interest in a 
lumber business. He moved to Iowa, living in 
this State about four years, then in 1870 came to 
Mississippi County, Ark., where he busied himself 
in farming until his death, which occurred in 1872. 
To the parents were given seven children, five of 
whom are still living: William H., Clemenza E. 
(the wife of John J. Merrison), J. C, James R. 
and Edward F. William H. Cole (whose biog- 
raphy is here given) was born in 1852, and lived 
at home with his mother until 1875, when he staited 



in the mercantile business at Richardson's Land- 
ing, Tenn. , which he followed for four years, losing 
in this business some $10,000, after which he went 
into the lumber business, being very successful. In 
October, 1888, he removed his mill and fi^mily to 
this county and located near Bay Village, erected a 
saw-mill in charge of the firm of Cole & Davis, which 
was moved from Tipton County, Tenn., where it 
had been operated six or seven years by said firm. 
They bought 260 acres of timber land and erected 
their first mill, which turns out annually about 
1,500,000 feet of lumber, the capacity of this mill 
being 20,000 to 22,000 feet daily. In June, 1889, 
they bought the mill at Levesque, of John N. 
White, which has been improved and now turns 
out 2,000,000 feet annually. Messrs. Smith, Cole 
& Davis have now under lease another mill, which 
has about the same capacity as the one at Levesque. 
They also have a planing-mill connected with one 
of their mills. Mr. Cole was married on Septem- 
ber 25, 1877, to Miss Martha Isabelle Davis, and 
they are the parents of four children, two of whom 
are living: Elizabeth and John. Mrs. Cole is a 
member of the Old School Presbyterian Church. 
Mr. Cole is one of the prominent men of his coun- 
ty, known and respected by all. 

William H. Copland, a prominent and energetic 
farmer of Searcy Township, was born in Tennessee 
in 1827, and was the younger of two children, the 
result of the union of Thomas and Elizabeth (Huey) 
Copland, respectively of North Carolina and South 
Carolina origin. The father was a farmer by oc- 
cupation principally, but for a long time found 
employment in overseeing and railroad contracting. 
In 18-40 he was under contract to build three miles 
on the Georgia Railroad, and after that he fol- 
lowed agricultural pm-suits in the last-named State, 
but before he had gathered the crops, sold out 
and in 1843 came to Arkansas. He remained in 
this State but a few months when he went to 
Memphis and there resided for one year. From 
there he went to Georgia, thence to Mississippi, 
but not finding a location to suit him he returned 
to Tennessee, where he bought land and remained 
until 1849. He then went to Memphis, and later 
spent a number of months in various parts of Ar- 



^1 



i^ 



346 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



kansas, settling eventually in Poinsett County, 
where lie died in 1872 at the age of seventy-three 
years. William H. Copland remained with hi.s 
father until 1846, when he came to Arkansas and 
located in what is now Cross County, where he 
farmed for a number of years on rented land. In 
May, 1859, he married Mrs. Hester Stanley inee 
Hamilton), a daughter of Theopolis and Mary 
Hamilton, natives of Georgia and South Caro- 
lina, respectively. Mrs. Hamilton was born in 
a fort which the men protected from the Indiana. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton came to Cross County, 
Ark., in 1836, and settled on what is now known 
as the Bay Road. They were obliged to go a long 
way to mill and endured many hardships. Mr. 
Hamilton bought 160 acres of land in 1837, cleared 
about forty acres, erected buildings and made 
quite a pleasant home. He did much to improve 
the country, and took a great interest in politics, 
and in fact all that pertained to the good of the 
country. He died in 1849. His daughter Hester, 
the wife of the subject of this sketch, was married 
first in 1837 to Mr. George Shaver, also a descend- 
ant of one of the old pioneer families. He died 
in 1846 leaving his wife with three children: 
Obediah, Charles and Mary, all deceased and the 
sons dying in the army. In 1852 Mrs. Shaver 
married Mr. S. Stanley, who died in 1859 leavino- 
her with two children, Nancy and Leander, both 
of whom died in childhood, and the father and 
children dying within two weeks of each other. 
At the time of his marriage Mr. Copland had 
about 100 acres under cultivation, and now has 
another 100 acres also under cultivation. He has 
made many improvements, and in 1863 planted 
an orchard which is still the best in the county. 
His fine residence was erected in 1855. In 1870 
Mr. Copland erected a horse-gin, which he ran for 
ten years, when it was replaced with a steam -gin. 
This he sold in 1886. He is the owner of 440 
acres of land, 200 of which are under cultivation. 
In 1863 he enlisted in the Confederate army, was 
in all the battles of Gen. Price's raid through 
Missouri and never received a wound. In Novem- 
ber, 1864, he retui'ned home, surrendering at 
Wittsburg in the spring of 1865. Mrs. Copland is 



a member of the Baptist Church, and Mr. Copland 
is a member of the K. of H. In 1876 he fell from 
a horse and hurt his leg, rendering amputation 
necessary, the following year. To the marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Copland has been born one child, a 
son, Willie, whose birth occurred in 1861. He is 
living at home, and has control and management 
of the farm. Mr. and Mrs. Copland are among 
the intelligent and much respected citizens of 
Cross County and are universally resj^ected. 

S. DaltrofF, of the tirm of Daltroff, Sparks & 
Oliver, merchants at Wynne, Ark., is an affable, 
pleasant gentleman, and is now at the head of one 
of the largest firms in Eastern Arkansas. He be- 
gan his commercial life as an errand boy, and rose 
by rapid stages, until he occupied the highest 
places, and was always a trusted employe. His 
birth occurred in New Orleans, La., August 13, 
1852, and he was the youngest in a family of six 
children born to the union of S. and Fannie (Seelig) 
DaltrofF, natives of France and Germany, respect- 
ively. The parents were married in Mayence, 
Germany, in 1844, and immediately emigrated to 
the United States, landing at New Orleans early 
in 1845. The father started a private school of 
languages, teaching French, German and Hebrew, 
and continued this in New Orleans until 1853, 
when he went to Lake Providence, La. Here he 
started a general store, but soon discontinued, and 
proceeded to Vicksburg, where they remained un- 
til 1861. From there they went to Memphis, and 
here the mother died in 1880, and the father June 
29, 1881. S. Daltroff, Sr., was very talented, 
and from the conclusion of the war until his death, 
taught languages, mostly in Memphis. While in 
that city, and during the war, he was foreman of 
the cannon molding of the Confederate army, and 
when Memphis fell he followed the fortunes of the 
Confederate cause, and was located at Meridian, 
Miss. Here he remained until 1864, when he re- 
turned to his family at Memphis. S . Daltroff, Jr. , 
was reared principally in Memphis, where he at- 
tended the public schools, and later the Commer- 
cial College of Leddins. in the same city. After 
leaving school he began his mercantile career as er- 
rand boy, and advanced with this firm until he was 



V 



CiHl 



k 



CROSS COUNTY. 



347 



made shipping and receiving clerk over the wholesale 
department. He remained with this firm for seven 
years, or until 1873, when he engaged with Low- 
enstein & Bros., as shipping and receiving clerk. 
At the outbreak of yellow fever in Memphis Mr. 
Daltroff left this firm, made an extensive trip 
through the Southern States, and in 1875 came to 
Wittsburg, Cross County, where he accepted a 
position with D. Block & Co. He only remained 
with this firm two months, when he was trans- 
ported to the firm of L. N. Block & Co., and re- 
mained with the same until April, 1877, when he 
was admitted as a member of the firm. This part- 
nership lasted until 1879, when it was dissolved, 
and Mr. Daltroff accepted a position as book keeper 
for the firm of Block Bros. & Co., remaining with 
them until 1883, when he became a member of 
that firm, remaining in this company until 1886, 
when it was dissolved. He then became senior 
member of the present firm of Daltroff, Sparks & 
Oliver, the successors of Block Bros & Co. This 
firm almost immediately removed to Wynne, where 
they started a large store, but this was burned out 
in 1887. After this they erected a large brick 
building, covering 290 square feet of floor, which 
is the finest arranged commercial building in East- 
ern Arkansas. They carry a stock of goods val- 
ued at $15,000, which comprises a full line of dry 
goods, clothing, boots and shoes, hats and caps, 
groceries and general plantation supplies. Mr. 
Daltroff was married, in 1879, to Miss Willie Ma- 
lone, a daughter of Eev. W. C. Malone, of this 
count}'. She died in 1886, leaving three children, 
all daughters: Frederica, Bettie M. and Willie 
Florence. In December, 1887, Mr. Daltroff mar- 
ried Miss Rosa Ackerman, a native of Pennsyl- 
vania. On his an-ival at Wynne Mr. Daltroff 
erected a fine residence, which, after the death of 
his wife, in 1886, he sold to his partner, G. N. 
Sparks. In 1888 he erected another home, which 
is among the handsomest and best residences in 
Wynne. Mr. Daltroff is a member of the K. of P., 
Levesque Lodge No. 53, at Wynne, and he is 
Chancellor Commander of the same. He is a Royal 
Arch Mason, is a K. of H. and K & L. of H. , be- 
longing to John M. Hewitt and Pearl Lodges. 



He is active in politics, and is a stanch Democrat. 
R. J. Ellis, one of the oldest settlers of Mitchell 
Township, and among its leading farmers, is a 
native of Tennessee, and came to this county in 
1856 with his father, where he purchased a farm 
of eighty acres, remaining upon it for three years. 
Then he accepted a position as overseer of a large 
plantation owned by Jesse Cross, D. J. Burt and 
Maj. Wynne, a position that he held until the 
breaking out of the war, when he joined the Con- 
federate army, in Company C, of the Thirteenth 
Arkansas Infantry, and participated in the battles 
of Shiloh, Corinth, Richmond, Murfreesboro and 
a number of others. He was taken sick at Mur- 
freesboro and sent to the hospital, where he re- 
ceived his discharge and returned home. He was 
also .shot at the battle of Belmont in the arm, by a 
minie ball. Mr. Ellis sold his farm in 1865, and 
moved to Shelby County, Tenn., where he re- 
mained until 1871, engaged in farming one year, 
and the rest of the time operating a saw and grist- 
mill. In 1871 he returned to Cross County, entered 
103 acres under the homestead laws, and now has 
sixty-one acres under cultivation, with good build- 
ings. Born in Carroll County, Tenn., in 1833, he 
is the son of William and Elizabeth (Allin) Ellis, 
natives of North Carolina and Tennessee, i-espect- 
ively, and the parents of ten children. W'illiam 
Ellis moved to Arkansas in 1849, and located in 
this county, bought a farm of eighty acres, par- 
tially improved, and remained until 1865, then re- 
turning to Tennessee, where he died the following 
year; his wife survived him until 1886. Both 
were members of the Presbyterian Church. R. 
J. Ellis was married, in 1856, to Miss Sophia 
Burks, and they became the parents of five chil- 
dren, two of whom are living: W. A. and Eliza- 
beth (the wife of John Stephens). Mrs. Ellis died 
in 1873, and Mr. Ellis married his second wife in 
1875. She was formerly Miss Mollie Airs, and 
lived about four years after marriage. In 1881 
Mr. Ellis married Mrs. ^lary Robinson (nee Mitch- 
ell). Mr. and Mrs. Ellis are members of the 
Seven Day Baptist Church, his first and second 
wives having belonged to the Missionary Baptist 
Church. He is a memlser of the County Wheel 






9 W. 



348 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



and is a strong Democrat, taking an active interest 
in the politics of the day. 

James E. Erwin, merchant, Vanndale, Ark. In 
this brief outline of the life of this representative 
citizen of Cross County appear facts which are 
greatly to his credit, given as plainly as it is possi- 
ble to juit them, and without the intention of any- 
thing savoring of flattery. Mr. Erwin is a mem- 
ber of the general mercantile firm of Killough' 
Erwin & Co., of Vanndale, Ark., which business 
was established in 1889, and they carry a full stock 
of general merchandise, dry goods, groceries, cloth - 
ing and plantation supplies. Mr. Erwin owes his 
nativity to Tennessee, and his birth occurred in 
1849, and is the sixth of ten children born to W. 
F. and Lucinda (Tucker) Erwin, natives of Ten- 
nessee, where the father followed farming until 
1856. He then came to Arkansas, settled in 
Hempstead County, where he remained until 1868, 
when he came to Poinsett County, and located near 
Harrisburg. He there purchased a farm of over 
'200 acres, cleared much of it, made many improve- 
ments and here died in 1872. The mother died 
many years previous, about 1S55. James E. 
Erwin divided his time in youth between assisting 
on the farm and in attending the common schools 
where he received a good practical education. At 
the age of nineteen years he engaged as clerk after 
which he kept the books of a firm in Harrisburg. 
In the spring of 1873 he went to Wittsburg and 
became a book-keeper for the firm of D. Block & Co. 
until 1877, after which he bought an interest in 
the business and continued a member of the same 
until the firm closed out in 1879. On February 1 
of the same year Mr. Erwin, with J. W. Killough, 
formed the firm of Killough & Erwin, and Ijeo-an 
business at Wittsburg, continuing there until Feb- 
ruary, 1884, when they moved to Vanndale. In 
February, 1884, Mr. Killough sold his interest 
to R. Block, and for two years after this the firm 
continued as Block & Erwin. In 1889 Mr. Erwin 
sold out to his partner and soon started in a new 
store as the present firm of Killough, Erwin & Co. 
This firm carries a full stock of general merchan- 
dise, dry goods, groceries, clothing and plantation 
supplies. Mr. Erwin was married in 1872 to Miss 



R. M. Wade, a native of Virginia, and the daugh- 
ter of W. H. Wade, who came to Poinsett County 
I in 1860. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Erwin 
1 were born three children: William F. (attending 
school at Searcy College), Henry Gordon, and Hugh 
Maitland. The family are members of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. Erwin is an 
enterprising business man and for years identified 
with the commercial interests of Cross County, 
and is always found at the head of all improvements 
of a public nature. He takes a deep interest in 
school matters and is at present director of Vann- 
dale School. 

J. T. Fannin was reared on a farm in Georgia, 
and at the age of nineteen commenced farming for 
himself on a rented place, on which he remained 
three years, then moving to Western Tennessee, 
his place of abode for two years. In 1875 coming 
to Cross County, Ark., he rented for two years, 
when he bought his present farm, consisting of 
320 acres of fine bottom land, with thirty-five acres 
under cultivation. He now has 120 acres im- 
proved, and on it has erected a fine residence, having 
lost his former dwelling, furniture and household 
goods by fire in March, 1889. J. T. Fannin was 
born in Georgia in 1844, the son of John and Eliza 
(Thomas) Fannin, natives of North Carolina. Mr. 
Fannin, Sr. , was a farmer by occupation, rented 
land in North Carolina for awhile, and shortly after 
his marriage moved to Georgia, then, in 1862, go- 
ing to Kentucky, where he remained for two years. 
Returning thence to Georgia, in 1874 he went to 
Western Tennessee and settled in Fayette County, 
where he made his home for some eight or ten 
years, or until coming to Arkansas in 1S85, and 
locating in Cross County, where he still lives at 
the age of seventy- five years. Mr. Fannin took 
part in the Indian War of 1836, and in the Mexican 
War, and during the late war served in the Home 
Guards in the Confederate service. Mr. Fannin 
has been twice married, first to the mother of our 
subject, by which marriage he was the father of 
eleven children, seven of whom are still living: 
William (resides in Georgia), Martha (wife of A. 
Wadkins), Lafayette, Wylie A., J. T. (our subject), 
Alfred B. and J. A. (a resident of Western Tennes- 



iS^ & 






^1 



<2 k^ 



CROSS COUNTY. 



349 



see). Mrs. Fannin was a member of the Baptist 
Church, and died in 1883. Mr. Faniiiu was mar- 
ried the second time in 1885 to Elizabeth Thomas, 
who bore four children. J. T. Fannin was mar- 
ried in 1868 to Mrs. Harriet Daugberty {nee Gar- 
rin). This union resulted in the birth of seven 
children, six of whom are living: Thomas, Amanda, 
Emma, John, F. V. and Alice. Mrs. Fannin died 
April 16, 1885. Mr. Fannin was married the sec- 
ond time in December, 1888, to Miss Bettie Spill- 
man. They are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. Ml'. Fannin belongs to the K. of 
H. , and is a liberal contributor to all enterprises 
for the good of the community in which he lives. 
\Y. A. Faulkner is a son of William and Per- 
melia (Mullins) Faulkner. William Faulkner, Sr., 
was born and reared near London, England, and 
emigrated to this country some time in the 40' s, 
locating in Mississippi, and followed his trade, 
that of brick-mason and plasterer, until 1869, 
when he removed to Arkansas, settling in this 
county, where he entered land under the pre- 
emption laws. During the Rebellion, he served 
in the Confederate army for two years. Mrs. 
Faulkner died in 1859, leaving two children: W. 
A. (our subject) and James T. She was a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Faulk- 
ner was married the second time, in 1861, to Mary 
Jackson, who died in 1871, leaving one child, now 
deceased, and in 1872 he married his third wife, 
Mrs. Lou Smith (nee Ellis), who is still living. 
To this union were given four children, three of 
whom still live: Robert, Lillie and Edward. He 
and wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
W. A. was born in Mississippi, in 1855, where he 
spent his younger days, coming to this county 
with his father when fourteen years of age. At 
the age of twenty-one he rented a farm which he 
worked for three years. He then bought his pres- 
ent farm of 240 acres, which he works, besides 
one of 160 acres belonging to his wife. His farm 
is considered among the finest in the county, hav- 
ing good buildings upon it, a large orchard of 
some seven or eight acres and good stock. He 
was married, in 1879, to Mrs. Sarah Bowers (nee 
Auldrigh). They are the parents of two children : 



I. H. and N. B. His wife has been manied three 
times, her first husband being James Stephenson, 
her second Jacob Bowen, who lived only one 
month after their marriage, and the third, Mr. 
Faulkner. Mr. Faulkner is an enterprising and 
industrious farmer and highly respected by all who 
know him. 

William Fountain, one of the oldest and most 
respected farmers in Cross County, was born in 
1829 to the union of Cary and Sarah (Powers) 
Fountain, natives of North Carolina and of English 
descent, the paternal grandfather of our subject 
coming to this country from England. Cary 
Fountain was a farmer by occupation, and a slave 
owner. The paternal grandfather served in the 
Revolutionary War after emigrating to this coun- 
try, and the maternal grandfather served in the 
American Navy. Cary Fountain was the father 
of six children, two of whom only are living: Maria 
(wife of Wyatt Earp, of North Carolina) and Will- 
iam (our subject). The latter was reared on a farm 
in North Carolina, his native State, and at the age 
of fourteen engaged in teaming, hauling turpen- 
tine, in which occupation he was engaged for two 
or three years. He was afterward occupied in 
clerking in a dry-goods store for some years, and 
then learned the carpenter's trade, at which he 
worked for about twenty years. Mr. Fountain has 
been married three times; first to Martha A. Cut ch- 
ins, who died in 1855, leaving four childi-en, one 
now surviving, George A. , who resides in this 
county. His second wife was Clara A. Parker, a 
native of Tennessee; she was a member of the 
Methodist Church, and died in 1880, leaving one 
child now deceased. In 1880 Mr. Fountain was 
married to his third and present wife, Mrs. Char- 
lotte T. Martin [nee Shaver). They are the par- 
ents of two children: Cary E. and Ernest R. In 
1849 he left North Carolina for Tennessee, and re- 
mained there until 1 860, when he came to Cross 
County, Ark., locating on the place on which he 
now resides. This then consisted of 140 acres, 
upon it there being a log-cabin, with ten or twelve 
acres of land imder cultivation. He now owns 
827 acres, 100 under cultivation, and raises a large 
amount of stock, which costs but little to keep 



i \'~ 



350 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



through the winter. Mr. Fountain is a member 
of the Masonic lodge, and holds the office of Jun- 
ior Warden. He was formerly a notary public of 
Cross County, and has held the office of constable 
for about six years, serving as school director for 
some twenty years. He is also president of the 
County Wheel, and is one of the prominent Dem- 
ocrats of the county. 

Alexander Futrell, farmer and stock raiser of 
Vanndale, Ark. Among the influential and respect- 
ed citizens of Cross County, Ark., there is no one 
more justly entitled to representation in this work 
than Alexander Futrell. He was born in Northamp- 
ton County, N. C, in 1830, was taught the duties 
of farm life when quite young and received his 
education in the common schools. At the age of 
twenty-one he came to Arkansas, settled in Poinsett 
County, where he was engaged as overseer until 
the outbreak of the war. He then enlisted in 
Company A, Fifth Arkansas Regiment Infantry, 
and was in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Mur- 
freesboro, Chickamauga, Nashville and Franklin, 
and was in ten other of the principal engagements, 
besides many skirmishes. He was in the battle of 
Raleigh, N. C, and two days later siirrendered 
at Greensboro, N. C. He then made a visit 
to his old home, where he spent three months, 
then returned to Cross County, Ark. , settling on a 
tract of 100 acres of wild land, one mile west of 
the present city of Vanndale. In 1868 he married 
Miss Isabella F. Lewellen, daughter of James A. 
and Nancy E. Lewellen, after which he removed 
to hie new home, erected buildings and made 
many improvements. At the end of four years he 
had eighty acres under cultivation and has a 
pleasant and comfortable home. He raises a 
variety of crops and can make three-fourths of a 
bale of cotton to the acre and forty bushels of 
corn. By his marriage Mr. Futrell became the 
father of these children : Eddie E. (died at the age of 
seven years), John Lewellen, James A., Blanchard 
W., MaryB., Gordon C, Emma M., Ernest H., 
Pearl. Gordon C. died at the age of six years; Ern- 
est H. at the age of six months. The family are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. Mr. Futrell is one of the most progressive 



and enterprising farmers of the county; is honest, 
industrious and a man who has the respect of all. 
He is the youngest son born to John and Charity 
Futrell, and was left fatherless when a child. 
The father was also a farmer and was born, reared 
and passed his last days in the same county. 

William Ganley was a son of James Ganley, 
who was born in Ireland and emigrated to this 
country soon after his marriage, locating in New 
Jersey, about five miles below Trenton, on the 
Delaware River; afterward he moved to Philadel- 
phia, where he died about 1833. His wife, for- 
merly Bridget Donne, died in St. Louis from the 
cholera, as did also several of the children. They 
reared a family of eleven children, of whom Will- 
iam, our subject, was the seventh. The latter 
was born in New Jersey, March 17, 1827, and was 
reared in that State iintil about eighteen years of 
age, when he left home and came west, engaging 
in rafting lumber down the Mississippi from Min- 
nesota to St. Louis. In this occupation he con- 
tinued for eleven years, being the first man to take 
a raft of pine lumber fiom Minnesota to that city 
between the points mentioned, an industry that 
has now grown to one of considerable proportions. 
He then started for California, but passing through 
Cross County, Ark., became interested in the 
beauty of the country and stopped here, and has 
since made it his home. When first coming to this 
county Mr. Ganley embarked in the lumber busi- 
ness and afterward went to farming, in which he 
is still interested. He was married about 1852, to 
Martha Miles, a native of Alabama, who died in 
1862, leaving five children, one of whom only is 
living, Bridget, still at home. Mr. Ganley now 
owns 600 acres of land, with 100 acres under cul- 
tivation, located near the Tyronza River; he has 
good buildings and a large orchard. He is a 
Catholic in religion and a Democrat in politics. 

Cassius M. Gardner is a progressive farmer 
and stockman of Cross County, and was born 
about three miles east of the present village of 
Vanndale, in 1858, and was the eldest of seven 
children born to William H. and Martha A. (Ma- 
lone) Gardner, who were natives of Virginia and 
Tennessee, respectively. The former, with his 



~® V 



.(x: 



CROSS COUNTY. 



351 



father, was among the early pioneers of the State 
of Tennessee, and there received the most of his 
rearing. In 1854 he came to Arkansas and settled 
in what is now Cross County, and here he was 
married in 1850 to Miss Martha Malone, a daughter 
of Samuel Malone, one of the pioneers of Arkan- 
sas. Mr. Gardner purchased land for a farm and 
soon opened a store at a place called Pineville, and 
here held forth for a short time, being one of the 
first merchants of the place. In 1885 he sold his 
farm to locate in the village of Vanndale, and here 
he has since lived in retirement. His son, Cassius 
M. , attended the district schools of Cross County 
until he was seventeen years of age, and then for 
a short time was an attendant of the schools of 
Forrest City and Wittsburg. After clerking in the 
postoffice of the former place for a short time he, 
in 1878, settled in Wittsburg and became an em- 
ploye of Block Bros. & Co. and remained with 
them for nearly four years. He then returned to the 
farm, having previously purchased 240 acres, and 
here built a nice dwelling-house and made many 
other valuable improvements, clearing forty acres, 
and now has ninety acres in an excellent state of 
cultivation. In 1887 he bought forty acres adjoin- 
ing Vanndale, on which he erected a handsome 
cottage the following year, and in the winter 
moved to his new home. He has a fine property 
and is raj)idly making improvements, and, being 
enterprising and possessing ideas aside from the 
beaten track, his labors are always attended with 
good results. In 1885 he was married to Miss 
Helen Halk, a daughter of Nathan and Amelia Halk, 
the former of whom died in 1887. The latter still 
lives on her fine farm on the Cherry Valley Road. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Gardner have been born two 
children: Bertram F. (who died at the age of 
eighteen months) and Olive V. (who died when 
seven months old). Mr. Gardner belongs to Pearl 
Lodge of the K. & L. of H. of Vanndale, 

John Graham, a very successful farmer and a 
member of the firm of Smith, Graham & Jones, 
merchants at Wynne, owes his nativity to North 
Carolina, where his birth occurred in 1847, and 
is the eldest in a family of five children, born to 
C. C. and Mary E. (Mebane) Graham, both natives 



of North Carolina. The father conducted an iron 
furnace and owned iron mines in his native State, 
but sold his interest and mpved to Arkansas in 
1854. He bought a large tract of land, 1,100 
acres in all, southeast of the present village of 
Wynne, which was a dense wilderness at the time, 
and immediately proceeded to clear the land, erect 
buildings and to make other improvements. The 
house now on the place was partially erected in 
1854, and the modern two-story frame in I860. 
As early as 1855 Mr. Graham erected a horse- 
power cotton-gin, the only one at that time within 
ten miles. During the war Mr. Graham remained 
at home, followed farming to some extent, but 
was often interrupted by raids from Federal sol- 
diers. At the close of the war he engaged in 
merchandising at Wittsburg under the title of 
Knight, Graham & Co. Knight withdrew and the 
name was changed to Graham, Thomas & Co. 
This firm did an extensive biisiness, and the part- 
ners made considerable money. In 1870 Mr. Gra- 
ham withdrew from the business and soon went 
to Memphis, where he engaged in the commission 
business under the firm name of Rutland, Gra- 
ham & Co. After two years Mr. Graham with- 
drew and was soon elected president of the Me- 
chanic and Trader's Bank in Memphis. He was 
in this office for about four years when ho resigned 
and engaged in the brokerage business. During 
his residence in Memphis he erected a number of 
dwellings, also some business houses and was an 
active business man up to the time of his death, 
which occurred August 18,1886. In Mr. Graham's 
life we can trace the active and successful business 
man. In fact, few men in the early history of our 
country have shown a greater knowledge of how 
to carve their fortune from the rough elements of 
the times. He was esteemed as one of the most 
progressive, intelligent and energetic business men 
of the community, and was in every way a worthy 
man and citizen. 

" 'Tis ever wrong to say a good raau dies". 

He always lived a correct life and was one of 
the leading members of the Second Presbyterian 
Church in Memphis. John Graham was reared to 
farm labor and attended the common schools at 



9 ^r 



-« 9 



1±. 



352 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



home imtil 1858, when he attended school at 
Greensboro, N. C. Subsequently he was under 
the instruction of a teacher at a private school and 
remained there until the breaking out of the late 
war. In 1863, when only sixteen years of age, he 
enlisted in Company A, McGee's regiment caval- 
ry, and for a year operated in Eastern Arkansas. 
In 1864 he joined Gen. Price in his Missouri raid, 
was in the battle of Pilot Knob and in all the bat- 
tles until AVest Port, when, holding the field until 
Price could escape with the wagon train, our sub- 
j ect was captured, taken to Kansas City and later 
to Fort Leavenworth, where he was held in 
captivity, and after some time was removed to 
Camp Morton, Ind. , and here retained until 
the close of the war, being released about June 1. 
He immediately started for home and made the 
journey from Memphis on foot. He at once took 
charge of his father's farm. In 1866 he went to 
Mebaneville school, remained there one year and 
then came home, residing with his parents for one 
year. Froai there he removed to the bottoms, en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits for himself and 
there remained three years. Following this he 
took charge of the old homestead, while his father 
went to Memphis, and tilled the soil for five years, 
after which his father gave him an interest in the 
place, on which he erected a dwelling and there re- 
sided. At the time of the father' s death he bought 
out the heirs and moved back to the old home- 
stead. Since then he has cleared about sixty acres 
and now has 500 in a fine state of cultivation, 
and on another tract near by he has sixty acres 
under cultivation. He moved his gin to the home 
place, has a good dwelling, orchard and is con- 
sidered one of the best farmers in the county. He 
is quite extensively engaged in stock raising, jirinci- 
pally mules, and has been very successful at this, 
raising some of the largest and finest mules ever 
seen in the State, and as good as any from Ken- 
tucky or in fact, any State. He seeds down a large 
part of his farm to improve and fertilize the soil. He 
raises large crops of cotton and corn and is a prac- 
tical, as well as a scientific farmer. His farm em- 
braces about 600 acres under cultivation, lying on 
the west slope of Crowley's Ridge, and presents a 



magnificent view, for, from his residence, nearly 
every acre is spread out like a picture before the 
eye. He was married in December, 1870, to Miss 
Jennie Allen, a daughter of Abijah Allen, one of 
the early settlers and prominent farmers of St. 
Francis County. Eight children were the result 
of this union: Mary C. , Charles C. (died at the age 
of three years), John M. , Abijah Allen (died at the 
age of three weeks), Jennie Clay, Willie Vernon 
(died at the age of three years), Carey Osceola and 
James Franklin. Mrs. Graham is a member of 
the Presbyterian Church. In 1888 Mr. Graham 
joined with his partners in the large mercantile firm 
at Wynne. He is the leading spirit in all move- 
ments pertaining to the good of the country, and is 
not only a leading farmer, but is a member of the 
leading commercial firm in Cross County. 

G. W. Griffin is a successful farmer, and is the 
proprietor of the Vanndale livery stable. He was 
born in Georgia in 1839, and was the eldest in a 
family of six children born to Tilam M. and Eliza- 
beth (Raspberry) Griffin, the former a blacksmith 
by trade, who, in 1854, came to Arkansas, and 
settled one mile east of the present village of Vann- 
dale, where he began followiug his trade, his es- 
tablishment being the first of the kind in this sec- 
tion of the country. Here he died in 1856, his 
wife's death having occurred in Alabama, prior to 
the coming of the family to Arkansas. G. W. 
Griffin acquired a fair knowledge of the English 
branches in Tennessee and Alabama, and after his 
father's death, when only eighteen years of age, 
he took charge of the blacksmith shop, and contin- 
ued this business without a break until the ojiening 
of the war. He enlisted in Capt. Martin's Com- 
pany, Fifth Arkansas Regiment, Trans-Mississippi 
Department, and was in the battles of Greenville, 
Prairie Grove, Jenkins' Ferry, and Pleasant Hill, 
and also in a number of minor engagements, serv- 
ing in the cavalry for some time. After his return 
from the war he farmed for one year, then opened 
the shop at the old stand continuing there until 
the spring of 1882, when he moved to the village 
of Vanndale, and engaged in business there. In 
1860 he bought a small tract of land comprising 
five acres, added five more in 1867, and two years 



:f^ 



^. 



CROSS COUNTY. 



353 



later bought fifty-five acres, all of which was wild 
land. He has since had it all cleared, and has 
continued to purchase from time to time, until he 
now owns 331 acres, and has 100 acres under till- 
age. His dwelling-house and barns are in good 
condition, and his fences are kept in excellent re- 
pair, in fact he is a thoroughgoing and thrifty 
farmer, as can easily be seen in giving a glance at 
his farm. He is Worshipful Master of Arcadia 
Lodge No. 183, A. F. & A. M. Mr. Griffin was 
elected to the office of county treasurer, and served 
two terms by reelection. He has also held the 
office of justice of the peace for three years. In 
1861 he was married to Miss Mary E. Snowden, a 
native of Fayette County, Tenn. , who came with 
her father, W. H. Snowden, to Arkansas in 1858. 
This gentleman was also a blacksmith, and died in 
1881. To Mr. and Mrs. Griffin was born the 
following family of children: Silas W. (who lived 
to be twenty-seven years of age, and died April 10, 
1889), Susan C. (who was married, died in 1886), 
Sarah Irene, Nannie Izoarah, Annie, Mollie Vir- 
ginia, Mattie, Charles George, Frank Lee, Hugh 
and one that died unnamed. Mr. Griffin is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. 

James O. Halk is a son of M. T. and Permelia 
(Stacy) Halk, who came to Arkansas from Georgia, 
and settled in what was then Poinsett (now Cross) 
County, in 18-t3, entering 200 acres of land in the 
locality known as "Crowley's Ridge." As part 
of his first crop he put in six acres of cotton, 
which was considered a large amount in that sec- 
tion of the country at the time. He afterward 
sold his farm and bought a place containing 400 
acres on the west side of the ridge, where he lived 
at the time of his death, in 1SS7, at the age of 
sixty-three. Mr. Halk enlisted in the Confederate 
army during the war, and served as a private on 
Price's raid through Missouri. In his three years' 
service he was not jjermitted to fire a gun. Him- 
self and wife were members of the Methodist 
Church; they had a family of ten children, eight 
of whom are still living: James O. , Flora (wife of 
W. L. Neal). Bettie (wife of J. N. Abies), Helen 
(wife of C. M. Gardner), John, Robert, Gussie 



and Elsie. The last four children are at home 
with their mother, who lives on the old homestead. 
When James O. Halk was twenty years old he was 
presented by his father with eighty acres of fine 
farming land, upon which he engaged in agricult- 
ural pursuits and stock raising for himself, and 
now has some seventy-six acres under cultivation, 
with a good house, buildings and fences, and con- 
siderable stock, mostly cattle, mules and horses. 
Mr. Halk was married in his twenty-first year to 
Miss Julia Shaver, of this county. They are the 
parents of five children, three living: Annie, Zem- 
mie and Sheton. James O. Halk was born in this 
county in 1857, and is one of the leading young 
Democrats of the commvmity. His wife is a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

John J. Hamilton (deceased) is a son of The- 
ophilus Hamilton, one of the pioneers of this section, 
and who came to Arkansas in his childhood. The 
family came to Middle Tennessee, settled on what 
is now called the Bay Road in Cross County, and 
here John J. Hamilton spent his youth in farming 
pursuits, and had but limited educational advan- 
tages. When twenty-one years of age he left home 
and commenced working for himself as an over- 
seer on the plantation of Col. Cross, with whom 
he remained two years. On April 17, 18-18, he 
married Miss Parmesia Shaver,a daughter of Charles 
Shaver, who was among the very first of the pio- 
neers of what is now Cross County. Mr. Shaver 
came to this State, perhaps as early as 1815, set- 
tled on Sugar Creek where he cleared up a good 
farm, and erected the first mill in this section. 
Soon after his arrival the Indians stole nearly all 
his stock. He lived on the original place, now 
known as Bay Village, until his death. After the 
conclusion of his contract with Col. Cross, Mr. 
Hamilton purchased a small tract of land on Otter 
Creek, in the northern part of Cross County, 
where he and his young wife moved, and began 
clearing up a place for a home. They remained 
there three years, and during that time Mr. Ham- 
ilton cleared about thirty acres. They then moved 
to a tract of 480 acres, and later bought near the 
first settlement. Here they remained for about 
ten years, during which time Mr. Hamilton cleared 



Ali: 



^ » 



l4v 



354 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



about 100 acres. In 1866 the commercial firm of 
D. Block & Co., of Wittsburg was formed, consist- 
ing of David and Maurice Block, and the subject 
of this sketch. This firm soon l)egan to do an 
astonishing business for this section, their business 
yielding annually from $100, 000 to $300, 000. The 
partners in this business died, Mr. Maurice Block 
first and John J. Hamilton May 3, 1878. The 
latter, a few years previous to his death, with- 
drew from the firm, and removed to the old home 
at Bay Village. Here he built a cotton-gin, opened 
a general store and drug store, and thus was prac- 
tically the first business enterprise started in the 
place. He lived but one year after moving back. 
His success in business enabled him to leave a fort- 
une to his heirs and widow, consisting mostly of 
real estate in Cross County. He was very public 
spirited, and very active politically. He was self- 
made, carved his way to fortune, and mainly edu- 
cated himself after marriage. The result of his 
union with Miss Shaver resulted in the birth of 
ten children: Hester C. (wife of R. Block), Will- 
iam Boone (died at the age of twenty- four years), 
Obediah A., Charles M. (merchant at Wynne), 
David H. (died at the age of twenty- seven years), 
J. B. (at present sheriff of Cross County), A. P. 
(died at the age of six years). Forest (merchant at 
Wynne), Effie (wife of Willis Levesque, of Cross 
County) and Edward (clerk at railroad office). 

C. M. Hamilton, merchant, Wynne, Ark. This 
prominent business man, of the firm of Johnson & 
Hamilton, fir.st saw the light of day near Wittsburg 
in 1855, and was the fourth of nine children born 
to the union of J. H. and P. (Shaver) Hamilton. 
[See sketch of J. J. Hamilton.] C. M. Hamilton 
was taught the duties of farm life when young, at- 
tended the common schools until twenty years of 
age, when he engaged in the drug business at 
Wittsburg in partnership with R. M. Smith, and 
continued at this for eight years. Also during this 
time be had an interest in a similar store at Forrest 
City. In 1879 he opened a general store, and for 
several years conducted the two establishments. 
In 1885 he sold the drug store, and turned his 
attention to the general store, which business is 
conducted under the firm name of Hamilton, Smith 



& Co. He was very successful, and during the year 

1887, he shipped about 700 bales of cotton. 
This firm dissolved partnership in the same 
year, and in July, 1888, Mr. Hamilton formed a 
partnership with W. M. Johnson, and opened an 
extensive general store at Wynne. They carry a 
stock valued at $6,000, buy everything a farmer 
has to sell, and have everything he wishes to buy. 
Mr. Hamilton has been married twice, first in 1878, 
to Miss Spraggins, a native of Arkansas, and daugh- 
ter of D. Spraggins, who was a pioneer of this sec- 
tion, a merchant at Wittsburg for a number of 
years, and also an extensive farmer. She died in 
January, 1887, and left two children: Charley and 
Floy. His second marriage occurred in October, 

1888. and the same year he built a neat cottage in 
Wynne, where he now has a pleasant home. Aside 
from this he has two other residences which he rents, 
and also a residence in Forrest City. He is some- 
what active in politics, and votes with the Demo- 
cratic party. Socially he is a K. of P. , Lodge No. 
52, and a K. of H. , and belongs to the K. & L. of 
H. He is a good and an enterprising citizen. 

J. B. Hamilton, sheriff. Cross County, Ark. 
Were one to ask the leading characteristics of Mr. 
Hamilton as a man, the answer would come al- 
most involuntary that he is brave and fearless, hon- 
est, but unpretending, and a man who has been 
tried, but not found wanting, and one capable of 
discharging his official and private duties with 
competency. J. B. Hamilton was born in Cross 
County, Ark., in 1862, and is the son of John and 
Parmesia (Shaver) Hamilton. [For fuiiher par- 
ticulars see sketch of father. ] He passed his boy- 
hood days in assisting on the farm and in attend- 
ing the common schools, finishing his education by 
a course in the Commercial College at Memphis, 
Tenn. In 1880 he went to Poinsett County, where 
he was in business in Harrisburg for two years. 
In 1885 he started a livery stable at Wittsburg, 
but in 1886 moved his business to Wynne, and 
continued to follow this occupation in that city un- 
til in June, 1889, when he sold out. Mr. Hamil- 
ton has always taken a deep interest in politics, 
served as deputy sheriff for two years under 
Sheriff J. W. Killough, and in 1888 was elected 



6 ^» 



!£: 



CROSS COUNTY. 



355 



sheriff and collector of Cross County. At the 
time of his election he was just twenty-seven years 
of age, and is the youngest sheriff ever elected to 
that office in Arkansas. Mr. Hamiliton was mar- 
ried December 19, 1888, to Miss Rona Cogbill, a 
native of Cross County, and the daughter of W. 
H. Cogbill, who has been a citizen of Cross Coun- 
ty for some time. Mr. Hamilton is a member of 
the K. of P., and is one of the brightest young 
men of the county. He is pleasant and courteous, 
and his abilities have been recognized by the people 
as may be seen from the office to which they have 
elected him. To his marriage has been born one 
child, a daughter, Margery. 

B. F. Hamilton, Wynne, Ark. Prominent 
among the very successful business men of Wynne, 
stands the name of B. F. Hamilton, who is gentle- 
manly and courteous in all his relations with the 
public, and whose popularity is estaljlished. He 
was born in Cross County, Ark., in 1866, and is 
the eighth of ten children born to John G. and 
Parmesia (Shaver) Hamilton, old settlers of this 
county. The father died in 187U, but the mother 
is still living. B. F. Hamilton passed his boy- 
hood days in assisting on the farm and in attend- 
ing the common schools until eighteen years of 
age, when he engaged as drug clerk for Hamilton 
& Norton, at Wittsburg. After remaining in that 
capacity for a year and a half, he changed to a 
position in the same business for M. C. Collins 
at the same place. One year later, in partnership 
with T. A. Bedford, he began business for him- 
self at Wittsbui'g, continuing there for two years, 
when Mr. Bedford withdrew, and the same busi- 
ness was continued with the present partner. In 
1887 they removed to Wynne, and started a store 
in the same business. In February of 1889, they 
sold out, and under the same firm name are con- 
tinuing in business at Wynne. Mr. Hamilton, 
though still a young man, is at present treasurer 
of the city of Wynne; is quite active politically, 
and always takes a deep interest in all things that 
tend to the upbuilding of the county or town. He 
is one of the successful and well-known citizens of 
the town, and comes of an old and honored family. 

F. M. Hare, one of the most prominent farm- 



ers of Cross County and among its old settlers, 
is a son of Jacob and Emma M. (Wheeler) Hare, 
the former of whom was a native of North Caro- 
lina, being married about 1826. His wife came 
originally from New Brunswick. Removing from 
North Carolina in 1832, they settled in Fayette 
County, Tenn., thirty-two miles east of Memphis, 
where Mr. Hare bought a large tract of land (some 
6,000 or 8,000 acres), mostly under cultivation, 
and also owned about seventy negroes. He was a 
minister of the Methodist Church for nearly twenty- 
five years. Previous to leaving North Carolina 
(near 1830) Mr. Hare represented his county and 
three adjoining counties in the State senate one 
term. Upon locating in Tennessee he engaged in 
farming and the prosecution of his ministerial 
duties. Later, or in 1854, he moved to Arkansas 
and settled in Cross County, where he bought 
about 2,000 acres of land, and where he died in 
1859. He was one of the best-educated men of 
the county, having acquired his learning in the 
leading schools of North Carolina. Mrs. Hare died 
in 1873, leaving a family of ten children, only two 
of whom are now living: F. M. (our subject) and 
Bettie (the widow of the late Dr. Crump, who re- 
sides in Jonesboro, Ark.). F. M. Hare was em- 
ployed as overseer of his father's slaves for a num- 
ber of years, and in 1861 organized a company for 
the army, joining the Fifth Arkansas Infantry; he 
was ajjpointed first lieutenant. The regiment was 
commanded first by Col. Cross, but afterward was 
put under command of Col. Murray, of Pine Bluff, 
a graduate of West Point, being with Morgan in 
his raid through Ohio, during which Mr. Hare 
was captured at Buffington Island, on July 19, 
1863. He was taken to Johnson's Island and 
kept nine months, and then transferred to Point 
Lookout and afterward to Fort Delaware, from 
which place he was exchanged and rejoined his 
regiment. After the war he returned home and 
found the farm dilapidated, the negroes set at lib- 
erty and fences burned. Mrs. Hare, the mother 
of our subject, had succeeded in fencing up some 
forty acres and had a small crop of corn. Mr. 
j Hare took hold of the old place on his return from 
I the army and remained upon it for two years, when 



^^ 



_rf 9 



itl 




he was married, in 1867, to Miss Lizzie Reid, a 
native of Fayetto County, Tenn., and daughter of 
William and Edit (Brown) Reid, of North Caro- 
lina origin. Two years later he bought the farm 
on which he now lives, a fine place, well under 
cultivation. Mr. and Mrs. Hare are the parents 
of ten children, nine still surviving: Pearl, Eda, 
Enjma, Nellie, Birdie, Francis, Sallie B., Thomas 
R. and Frederick. Mr. Hare was born in Fayette 
County, Tenn., in 1838, is a member of the A. F. 
and A. M., and also of the K. of H. He is a 
Democrat politically, but does not take a very act- 
ive part in politics. He has a fine farm of 220 
acres, with eighty-five acres under cultivation and 
is one of the leading farmers of the township. 

Hon. T. E. Hare is an eminent lawyer of Cross 
County, and by virtue of his ability as a jurist and 
his victories at the bar is eminently worthy a 
prominent place among the leading members of 
the legal fraternity. He is systematic and exact in 
all things and counts as worthless, all knowledge 
that is not accurate, and in his defense of the 
richt is bold and unyielding. He was born on 
land now occupied by the village of Vanndale and 
was the third in a family of five children born to 
Thomas P. and Olivia B. (Turbeville) Hare, 
natives, respectively, of North Carolina and Vir- 
ginia. In 1851 they came to Arkansas and settled 
on a large tract of land, comprising 1,000 acres, 
in Cross County, all of which was in a wild condi- 
tion but this he began immediately to improve and 
cleir, and proceeded to build him a home in the 
then almost wilderness. He succeeded in clearing 
about 200 acres of land and put it under cultivation 
and in addition to his farm work his time was con - 
siderably occupied in preaching the Gospel, be- 
coming well known in both capacities. His death 
occurred February 23, 1883, his estimable wife 
still surviving him, a well-preserved and intelligent 
old lady. T. E. Hare, their son, spent his youth 
on his father's woodland farm and in addition to 
receiving the advantages of the common schools he 
entered and graduated from the University of 
Mississippi, at Oxford, leaving that institution in 
1873, he being only nineteen years old at the 
time, the youngest of his class. After teaching 



one term of school he began practicing law in 
Cross and other counties, becoming so well and 
favorably known that, in 1878, he was elected to 
the legislature from Cross County and was 
re-elected in 1S80. While a member of this 
I body, he introduced a railroad bill extending the 
[ charter of the Helena & Iron Mountain Railway 
soon after the road was built from Knobel to 
Helena. He was a member of the Judiciary 
committee during this time and was the youngest 
. member of the house. In 1884, he was a delegate 
: to the Democratic National Convention at Chicagfo, 
and was the youngest of this body also. In con- 
nection with his practice of law, he makes loans 
of foreign capital, of which he invests about $1,000 
to $5,000 per month, and in every enterprise in 
which he engages he meets with splendid success. 
He owns an excellent farm of 120 acres, of which 
seventy-five are under cultivation, and is jiresident 
of the Vanndale branch of the American Building 
& Loan Association. October 28, 1880, he was 
married to Miss Mary D. Shelton, of Haywood 
County, Tenn., and by her has one child, Thomas 
Shelton, bom June 15, 1883. Mr. Hare belongs 
to the society of the K. & L. of H. 

Edward Harris, one of Smith Township's suc- 
cessful farmers, is a native of the State of Georgia, 
and a son of W. M. and Lucinda Scaggin, also 
originally from that State. W. M. Harris moved 
to Mississippi in 1840 and in 1859 to Crittenden 
County, Ark. Three years later he came to this 
county, where he died in 1876. His wife survived 
until 1879, leaving at her death eight children, 
three of whom are living. Edward Harris was 
born in 1832 and remained with his parents until 
their demise, passing his youth in a manner similar 
to the early days of other boys. In 1881 he was 
married to Miss Mary Anderson, daughter of 
William and Timby Anderson, all natives of Ala- 
bama. Mr. Harris enlisted in the Confederate 
army, in 1862, in the Twenty-third Arkansas In- 
fantry and served throughout the war, his career 
as a soldier being one to which he may refer with 
pride. Himself and wife are the parents of two 
children. Mr. Harris owns a tine farm of 222 
acres, with about thirty acres under cultivation. 



\^ d 



-^rv 



•fjlQ t— 



^U-, 



CROSS COUNTY. 



357 



He is a member of tlie Masonic order. His wife 
belongH to the Baptist Church. 

Augustus W. Hinton, who came to Cross Coun- 
ty in 1852, is a son of Samunl H. and Mary M. 
(Walton) Hinton, natives of North Carolina. The 
former became engaged in the mercantile business 
at the age of twenty-one, and in 1834 moved to 
Fayette County, Tenn., where he bought land 
and commenced farming. In the fall of 1835 he 
was marriod, eleven children being born to himself 
and wife, live of whom are still living: A. W. (our 
subject), Almira J. (the wife of Edward Hare), 
Samuel G., G. W. H. and Ella (wife of W. P. 
Beard). In 1852 Mr. Hinton took up his i-esideuce 
in this county and bought a (juarter section of 
land in Mitchell Township, with 100 acres under 
cultivation, upon which he resided until called 
away by death, December 25, 1806, at the age of 
fifty-two years. He had held the office of justice 
of the peace in Tennessee, and discharged the du- 
ties of county judge of Poinsett County before the 
division of that and Cross County. Mrs. Hinton 
died in July, 1887. They were both members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. A. W. Hinton 
was born in 1837, and was fifteen years of age on 
coming to Arkansas. He returned to Macon, 
Fayette County, Tenn., in 1854, and attended 
school, and three years later entered Andrew Col- 
lege, at Gibson County, Tenn. Coming home the 
following year, he was married to Miss Mary E. 
Akins, daiighter of William and Sarah C. (Kimble) 
Akins, natives of Alabama, and who were the par- 
ents of twelve children, four now surviving: Mary 
E. (who was born in March, 1836), Isabella (the 
wife of Samuel G. Hinton, a brother of A. W.), 
Ervin P. and Lettie W. (wife of S. G. Cun- 
ningham). M. Akin was a member of the " S. T. 
& H. M. ," and both he and his wife belonged to 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. The former was 
quite a successful farmer, and was the owner of 
some twenty or twenty-five slaves. He died in 
1859, and his wife in 1866. Samuel Hinton pos- 
sessed about seventy-five or one hundred negroes 
at the time of the war. A. W. Hinton joined the 
Confederate army in 1862, in the Twenty-third 
Arkansas Infantry, and afterward joined the cav- 



alry under Col. McGee. He was taken prisoner 
at Port Hudson, on July 12, then walked homo, 
a distance of 700 miles, and was paroled a short 
time after, sul)sequently joining McGeo's regi- 
ment of Arkansas Cavalry, and serving until the 
cessation of hostilities. Upon returning home, 
in June, 1865, he found his family in very desti- 
tute circumstances. H(^ then resumed farming on 
his mother-in-law's land, and worked a part of it 
for three years, until his father's death, when he 
took charge of the old homestead, in ISSl, purchas- 
ing his present farm of 160 acres, with seventy-five 
acres under cultivation. Mr. and Mrs. Hinton are 
the parents of nine children: Almira A. (deceased), 
W. T., S. W. I. (deceased) and Sarah M. W. 
(twins, Sarah is wife of J. B. Bullard), Helen H. 
O. , Mary E. (deceased), Susan C. (deceased), 
Solomon 11. and Robert E. (also deceased). Mr. 
Hinton is a very successful farmer, and has one 
of the best arranged farms for stock of any one in 
the county. He has been a school director for the 
last thirteen years. Mr. and Mrs. Hinton and 
family are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church; the former also belongs to the County 
Wheel, and is a leading Democrat of the county. 

Rowland R. Hodges, though comparativt*ly a 
newcomer in Cross County, is conceded to be one 
of its prominent farmers. He was born in Ken- 
tucky in 1845, and is a son of Edward and Lou- 
rena (Mullens) Hodges, also Kentuckians by birth, 
the family having come originally from Virginia. 
Edward Hodges owned a large plantation in Ken- 
tucky and one-third of twenty or more negi'oes. 
He was born in 1812 and was married in 1838. A 
strong Republican, he was a member of the Bap- 
tist Church, and died in November, 1888, in the 
same county in which he was born. Mrs. Hodges' 
birth occurred in 1822; she died in 1886, having 
become the mother of eight childi-en, seven of 
whom are now living: R. R. (our subject), Rebecca 
(wife of John Taylor), Joshua, Stephen, John, Ca- 
leph and Sarah A. (wife of John Sturgill). Row- 
land R. was reared and educated in the "Blue 
Grass" State, and at the age of twenty-one com- 
menced farming for himself on rented land. The 
following year be purchased 130 acres of land. 



J, 




where lie remained until 1876, then removing to 
within fifteen miles of Louisville and engaging in 
the saw- mill business, which he continued for two 
years. He then became associated with a man by 
the name of Vickers, as foreman, in the manufact- 
ure of wagons, but the business did not prove 
successful, and in 1881 he entered the employ of 
a firm in the manufacture of wagons at Owens- 
boro, Ky. , where he continued four years also as 
foreman. Previous to this he had come to Arkan- 
sas in 1880 and entered 160 acres of land in Craig- 
head County, whither he moved his family. In 
1885, resigning his position at Owensboro, he 
joined his family and then moved to Cross County, 
purchasing the grist-mill and cotton-gin which he 
still owns, and is also operating a saw- mill started 
about the same time. Mr. Hodges was married in 
1867 to Mrs. Martha M. McHargue (nee Miller). 
They are the parents of five children: Hiram H. , 
James S., E. R., David E. and Nannie B. In 
1863 Mr. Hodges joined the Federal army and en- 
listed in the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, serv- 
ing to the close of the war in Gen. Burnside's 
command. He participated in the battles of Straw- 
berry Plains, Perryville (Ky. ), and a number of 
skirmishes. Himself and wife are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Hodges belongs 
to the I. O. O. F. , is an enterprising citizen, and 
highly respected. 

O. J. Hodge, an agriculturist of prominence 
and a man thoroughly alive to the interests of his 
county, started out in life at the age of twenty-five 
years with $500, which was given him by his 
father, and which he invested in a small farm in 
Georgia, his native State, where he remained until 
1883, when he removed to Alabama and bought a 
farm in Marshall County. In 1886 Mr. Hodge 
again moved, this time to Cross County, Ark., 
where he purchased his present farm, consisting of 
570 acres, with 225 acres under cultivation, for 
which he paid about $5, 500 and which is now said 
to estimate some |7,000 or $8,000. The subject of 
this sketch was born in Georgia September 20, 
1850, and was the son of S. M. and Martha 
Hodge, originally of Georgia. Mr. Hodge was a 
farmer by occupation, and in connection with his 



farm owned a grist-mill. He enlisted in the Fed- 
eral army in the late war and was married in 1844. 
He was a Democrat in politics and belonged to the 
society of the A. F. & A. M. His death occurred 
in 1888, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife 
still survives him and lives at the old homestead. 
They were the parents of seven children, five of 
whom are still living: Josephine (widow of H. C. 
Christian, of Georgia), Samuel A. , O. J. (our sub- 
ject), Martha (wife of Robert Gordon), Annie 
(wife of T. E. Zellmer). O. J. Hodge was mar- 
ried December 28, 1873, to Miss Mary E. Harkins. 
They are the parents of eight children, five living: 
Nora Addie, S. J. T. (deceased), O. J., Mattie, 
Ida, T. J. and R. G. Himself and wife belong 
to the Missionary Baptist Church. Mr. Hodge has 
170 acres of land in one field, which is now all 
under cultivation, and a depot or shipping station 
on his property of the Iron Mountain & St. Louis 
Railroad, which runs on the west line of his 
farm. Mr. Hodge is a self-made man, having 
made all that he is worth, except the $500 given 
him by his father. He belongs to the A. F. & A. M. , 
and is a member of Sincerity Lodge No. 116, of 
Clinton, Ga. 

Newton P. Johnson, an energetic young farmer, 
and a native resident of Cross County, is a son of 
Lemuel Johnson who was born in Alabama, near 
Tuscaloosa. The latter, upon immigrating to Ar- 
kansas, settled in St. Francis County, and later 
moved to Cross County, where his death occurred 
in 1867. He was married twice, his second wife, 
Mary Ruminor, being the mother of Newton P. 
Mrs. Johnson was of German and Irish descent, 
her father having been born in Germany and her 
mother in Ireland. She died in 1875, leaving nine 
children, two of whom are living. Newton P. 
Johnson came upon the stage of action in Cross 
County on January 23, 1853, and lived with his 
mother until her death. He was married in 1879 
to Miss Rozella Ferguson, whose birth occurred in 
Shelby County, Tenn., in 1861. Her father, 
William Ferguson, was a native of Tennessee and 
a hardware merchant of Memphis. Mr. and Mrs. 
Johnson are the parents of two children: Charles 
F. and Lola F. The former owns 450 acres of 



^1 



CROSS COUNTY. 



359 



land, sixty acres comprising the farm on which he 
lives, and he has over 100 acres under cultivation. 
He also has three shares in the old homestead. In 
connection with farming he is occupied in the tim- 
ber business quite extensively. Mr. Johnson is a 
strong Democrat. His wife is a member of the 
Baptist Church. 

William W. Johnson, member of the firm of 
Johnson & Hamilton, merchants, Wynne, Ark. 
As a man of business Mr. Johnson's name is co- 
extensive with Cross County and the surrounding 
country. He owes his nativity to Holly Springs, 
Miss. , where his birth occurred in 1858. He passed 
his youthful days among relatives, attending school 
at Neophigan College, near Spring Falls, Tenn. 
but left this school in 1872 to attend Bethel Col- 
lege, McKenzie, Tenn. He left this school in 
1876 and then engaged with Clark, Johnson & 
Co., merchants at Memphis, remaining with this 
firm at their stores at Clarkson, Crittenden County, 
Ark. , for thirteen years, at first as clerk, then 
book-keeper and for the last five years as man- 
ager of the entire estate of 4, 700 acres, all under 
cultivation. Mr. Johnson left this firm in 1855, 
came to Wynne, Ark., and here opened a gen- 
eral store, as Johnson & Williams, which con- 
tinued one year, after which the title was changed 
to W. W. Johnson & Co., which was succeeded in 
1888 by the present firm of Johnson & Hamilton. 
This firm carries a stock of goods valued at $7,000 
and do nearly a cash business. Mr. Johnson was 
married in 1881 to Miss Hattie B. Forgey, a native 
of Tennessee, and they have three children: Julia, 
William and Charles. Mr. Johnson is a Knight 
of Pythias (belonging to Lodge No. 52) and also a 
member of Memphis Lodge K. of H. He is the 
youngest of three children born to the marriage of 
M. J. and Fannie S. (Cole) Johnson, natives of 
North Carolina and Louisiana, respectively. The 
maternal grandfather, L. H. Cole, during all his 
business life was engaged in slave trading. He 
was also extensively engaged in farming, owning 
large tracts of land in Louisiana, Mississippi and 
Arkansas. M. J. Johnson moved from North Caro- 
lina to Tennessee in 1848, and he and his father 
started a caiTiage factory, the first in Memphis. 



He, in connection with a brother, ran a stage line, 
in those early days from Memphis to Jackson, 
Tenn. , and they also built the first hotel, which 
they named the Boone Hotel. This building is still 
standing. The paternal grandmother, Mary B. 
Boone, was a granddaughter of the celebrated 
Daniel Boone. M. J. Johnson moved to Arkansas 
in 1859, as agent for his father-in-law, who 
was speculating in land, and started to open a 
large plantation about seven miles south of Crit- 
tenden County at the breaking out of the war. 
They then left Crittenden County and did not re- 
turn for several years. Daring the war they pur- 
chased a large plantation known as Kosborough 
Island, for which they gave $16,000, there being 
1,320 acres there, and which, owing to a de- 
fective title, was wholly lost. In 1874 they re- 
turned to the old place, which was then running 
wild, and this he practically recleared. They now 
have about 300 acres under cultivation in a tract 
of 450 acres. This all belongs to William W. 
Johnson, but is occupied by his parents at the 
present time. 

C. P. Jones, M. D. Prominent among the 
names of the leading physicians of Cross County, 
and, indeed, of Eastern Arkansas, appears that of 
Dr. C. P. Jones, of Cherry Valley, who was born, 
reared and educated in Northern Mississippi, and 
during his boyhood days worked on his father's 
farm. In 1879 he entered the Medical Department 
of the Vanderl)ilt University, at Nashville, subse- 
quently returning to this county, where he had been 
teaching school for two years, previous to starting 
upon his collegiate course. Commencing at once 
his practice, he continued until 1882, when he en- 
tered the Memphis Hospital and Medical College, 
and graduated the following year, later locating at 
Cherry Valley. He has since been very successful 
in his career as a practitioner, building up an envi- 
able patronage. Dr. Jones was married, in 1882, 
to Miss Nannie C. Stafford, daughter of W. 
B. and Mattie (Bowers) Stafford, of Tennessee 
nativity, both of whom are living in Poinsett 
County. Dr. and Mrs. Jones are the parents 
of three children, but one is deceased; Heber and 
Zellmer survive. Dr. Jones commenced in the 



® l>_ 



^4:- 



360 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



drug business in 1886, in which he is still engaged 
in connection with his practice. A stanch Demo- 
crat, he is very much interested in politics. Mrs. 
Jones is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. The Doctor was born in Mississippi in 
1851, being the son of Harden and Mary C. 
(Caruthers) Jones, who came originally from Ten- 
nessee and South Carolina, respectively, and who 
were married in the former State about 1836. Mr. 
Jones moved to Marshall County, Miss., at an 
early day, and from there to Pontotoc County, 
where he lived for twenty-nine years, dying in 
1885, at the age of seventy-two years. Himself 
and wife became the parents of eight children: C. 
P. (our subject), A. J., Taylor, D. D., James N., 
Frances C. (wife of James Johnson), Clementine B. 
and Evilee. Mr. Jones served in the Florida and 
Indian Wars in 1836. 

W. A. Jones, merchant, Wynne, Ark. Among 
the prominent business houses of Wynne, one de- 
serving of special mention in connection with the 
dry goods and grocery line, is the firm of Smith, 
Graham & Jones. This firm has assumed a posi- 
tion in the mercantile community creditable to 
themselves, and of benefit to the city. Mr. Jones 
was born on his father' s farm, known of old as the 
William Strong Place, a fine farm in the southern 
part of Cross County, on the St. Francis River, in 
1854, and is the only living member of a family of 
six children born to William A. and Mary J. (Gran- 
bery) Jones, natives of Virginia and North Caro- 
lina, respectively. The father came to Tennessee 
in youth, clerked for a few years, and then bought 
an interest in the same store. He continued at 
this business until perhaps thirty-six years of age, 
when he moved to a farm near Memphis, and tilled 
the soil for a few years, then, with the proceeds of 
the sale of this farm, he bought a fine jaiece of prop- 
erty partly in each St. Francis and Cross Counties, 
on the St. Francis River, and consisting of about 
1,200 acres. This is one of the historic places of 
this neighborhood, being situated on the old mili- 
tary road running from Memphis to Little Rock, 
and was conducted as an hotel by Mr. Strong. At 
the time of Mr. Jones' purchase, Mr. Strong had 
about completed a large house, which Mr. Jones 



immediately proceeded to finish, and it stands to- 
day as one of the best houses in the county. Early 
in the settlement of the place, Mr. Strong had con- 
ducted a large store, and for some time it was the 
county seat of St. Francis, while Arkansas was 
still a Territory. Mr. Strong was the first post- 
master, and this was the only postofiice for miles 
around. Mr. Jones purchased this place in 1848, 
and immediately instituted extensive improvements 
in the way of clearing land and farming. At the 
time of his death, which occurred in December, 
1860, he was the owner of about 500 acres under 
cultivation, over 300 of which he had cleared him- 
self. Mr. Jones was a member of the legislature, 
from St. Francis County, and a member of the 
State senate from this district, at the time of his 
death. He introduced a bill to form a new county; 
this was passed, the new county was added and 
named Craighead, while the county seat was named 
Jonesboro in his honor. While a citizen of Ten- 
nessee he was also a member of the legislature of 
that State, and after becoming a resident of Arkan- 
sas he was one of that State' s worthy and esteemed 
citizens. He was a self-made man, and, although 
his educational advantages were limited, he carved 
his way to social and political eminence, and leaves 
a name and memory that is revered by all. His 
son, W. A. Jones, passed his youth on the farm, 
attending country schools, until about sixteen years 
of age, when he went to Tennessee, where he attend- 
ed school for eighteen months. After this he re- 
turned and assumed the management of the farm, 
which he conducted successfully until 1886. The 
mother died in 1887. His sister, Mollie C. (Jones), 
wife of L. N. Rhodes, had been living with him, 
and died in 1883. Mr. Jones left the farm in 1887 
and engaged with Hamilton, Smith & Co., at 
Wittsburg, for the benefit of the experience to be 
derived. On January 1, 1888, the firm of Smith, 
Graham & Jones was formed, and in February they 
moved their business to Wynne. This firm carries 
a large stock, and has a well-assorted class of goods, 
with a rapidly increasing business. Mr. Jones is 
a member of the K. of H. and Levesque Lodge 
No. 52, K. of P. His life is another example 
of the self-made men of this section; his father 






-4^ 



CROSS COUNTY. 



361 



dying when he was young, and the demoralizing 
effect of the war, through which he passed his 
youth, it would cortainly seem to have some influ- 
ence over his future; but when he assumed charge 
of the large farm and the heavy incumbrance that 
he i)aid off in two years is the first exhibition of his 
inherited business qualifications. Since that time 
his life has been one of success, and now, sound 
and substantial, he takes his place among the lead- 
ing merchants of the county. 

James A. Jones, one of the self-made men of 
Cross County, and an enterprising and rising young 
agriculturist, is a son of Newton and Sarah (King) 
Jones, natives of Virginia and North Carolina. 
They were the parents of twelve children, six of 
whom are living: Zilphia (wife of J. A. Campbell), 
J. A. (our subject), Mary E. (the wife of M. A. 
Merriman), Martin, Henry and John. Mr. Jones 
died in 1863. His wife still survives him, and 
lives with her son, John, in Woodruff County. 
James A. Jones was reared to farm life in Missis- 
sippi, and at the age of twenty-four commenced 
farming for himself in Cross County, where he 
had moved with his mother in 1873, to a farm 
which he rented. In 1878 he bought his present 
farm, consisting of 160 acres, which had at that 
time about forty acres cleared, but by improving 
and cultivating has over eighty acres in a good con- 
dition. Mr. Jones was married in 1876 to Lora 
Ann Pearson, who died in 1878, leaving one child, 
Washtella. In November, 1878, Mr. Jones was 
married to his second wife, Sarah A. Bryant, who 
died in 188-1 and was the mother of three children, 
two of whom are still living: Newton and Jerome. 
Mr. Jones was married to his third and present 
wife, Missouri GrifBn, on August 23, 1884. They 
are the parents of two children, who are still living: 
James T. and Lessie. On coming to Arkansas 
Mr. Jones had nothing. Now he owns his fine 
farm with good buildings and stock, and is one of 
the most indiistrious and energetic young farmers 
in the township. 

A. Jordan was reared and educated in William- 
son County, Tenn., and supplemented his early 
training by attendance at the Bedford County I'ni- 
versity, between the ages of ten and fifteen. The 



war breaking out the university was closed, and in 
1866 young Jordan was a student at the college at 
College Grove, Williamson County, for eighteen 
months. He then commenced farming the old 
homestead, and in 1870 moved to Western Tennes- 
see, where he remained until the following spring, 
coming thence to Arkansas, and locating in Crit- 
tenden County. In 1874 Mr. Jordan became a 
resident of Cross County, and bought an imj)roved 
farm of 420 acres, where he resided some twelve 
years, after which he sold this place and purchased 
some 500 acres of timbered land, with sixty or sev- 
enty acres under cultivation. Mr. Jordan was 
born in Tennessee, in 1849, as a son of Williamson 
and Sarah (Davis) Jordan, natives of Virginia. 
Williamson Jordan went to Tennessee when a boy 
with his father, and settled in Williamson County, 
where he was mamed in 1844, being engaged in 
farming on an extensive scale and owning quite a 
number of slaves. There he lived until his death, 
in 1S61. He had been twice married; first in AVil- 
son County, Tenn., by which union he had three 
children, one now living. He was married the 
second time in 1844, to Miss Sarah Davis, who 
bore nine children; of these five survive: John M. , 
Powhattan (deceased), Adelbert (our subject), 
Catherine (now Mrs. Cooper, of Nashville), Addie 
(deceased), Samuel G. and Lizzie (now Mrs. Cap- 
ley). Adelbert Jordan has also been twice married. 
In 1868 Miss Ellen Gilliland, daughter of Samuel 
and Viola (Logan) Gilliland, became his wife, by 
which marriage he was the father of two children: 
Willie (deceased) and Ella V. Mrs. Jordan, who 
was a member of the Methodist Church, died in 
1868. Mr. Jordan was married the second time, 
in 1879, to Miss Ada Jelks, daughter of Dr. John 
A. Jelks. They have had four children: Blanch 
I., Pearl, John A. and Robert M. Mrs. Jordan 
is a member of the Methodist Church. Mr. Jor- 
dan is an outspoken Democrat, and in 1875 was 
elected justice of the peace of this township, which 
office he held for fourteen years. In 1863 he 
joined the Confederate army, and was in a com- 
pany consisting of about 100 men. At the close 
of the war there were only six of the company re- 
maining. In March, 1889, Mr. Jordan purchased 



:f: 



^^ 



^' 



.>• 



362 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



his present mill, and is now engaged in the saw- 
mill business in connection with farming, enjoying 
a largo patronage. 

I. S. Julian, who holds prominent citizenship 
among the residents of Brashy Lake Township, is 
a well-to-do farmer and a native of Tennessee, 
being the eldest son of John and Sarah (Murphey) 
Julian, of French and Irish parentage, and also 
natives of Tennessee. John Julian was engaged 
in farming in that State until 1858-59, when he 
removed to Alabama, where he still lives. Him- 
self and wife were the parents of eight children, 
five still living: I. S. (our subject), James M., 
George H., Mary J. (now Mrs. Carter, of Ala- 
bama) and J. P. ; all reside in Alabama excepting 
our subject. Mrs. Julian died in 1854, and two 
years later Mr. Julian married Miss Jane Wilson, 
who is the mother of one son, Samuel. Mr. and 
Mrs. Julian are connected with the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, as' was also the first wife. I. 
S. Julian was reared to farm life, and educated in 
the common schools of Tennessee, later attending 
the academy at Hai'rison, Tenn. At the age of 
twenty he entered upon a career as farmer, and 
also worked for a railroad company for two years, 
and on January 8, 1871, moved to this county, 
where he bought a farm of 160 acres of unim- 
proved land; since then he has pui-chased 330 
acres additional, and has 100 acres under cultiva- 
tion, though having given his children most of his 
land. In 1863 Julian entered the Confederate 
service, but remained only a short time as his 
health failed, at which he furnished a substitute. 
Mr. Julian was born in 1834, and has been twice 
married; first, in 1854 to Miss Rebecca J. Hender- 
son of Georgia, and a daughter of John and Eda 
(Brooks) Henderson, Mrs. Julian died in June, 
1856, leaving one daughter, Georgia A. (now the 
wife of Phelix House). February 14, 1858, Mr. 
Julian was married to Miss Rebecca J. Sherrill, 
of Tennessee origin. They became the parents of 
eight children, five still living: JohnM. (a Method- 
ist minister of Texas), James A. (a resident of 
this county), Elizabeth (the widow of the late 
George M. Galley), Isham, Jr., and William A. 
Mrs. Julian died September 4, 1889, leaving a 



large family and devoted husband to mourn her 
loss. She was a consistent member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, South, and is much missed 
by her many friends and acquaintances. Mr. 
Julian has been a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church (as was also his first wife) for the 
last sixteen years; he is also connected with the A. 
F. & A. M. 

John W. Killough, an exemplary citizen, a 
prominent merchant and stock raiser of Vanndale, 
was born in St. Francis County in 1840, and was 
the youngest son of John G. and Fannie P. Kill- 
ough. Hia parents died within one month of each 
other when our subject was but a child. His father 
was a school-teacher and also engaged in stock 
raising. After the death of his parents Mr. Kill- 
ougli was adopted in the family of Dr. John P. 
Mardis, of Poinsett County, remaining with him 
until twenty years of age. He then engaged in 
farm labor until the breaking out of the war, when 
he enlisted in the Confederate army, in the 
Twenty-third Arkansas Infantry, and participated 
in the battles of luka, Mississippi, Corinth, Poca- 
hontas (Tenn.), and at the siege of Port Hudson, 
and many skirmishes. After the seizure of Port 
Hudson he was paroled and returned home, and 
after his exchange assisted to organize a company, 
in which he was commissioned second lieutenant, 
and served principally in Eastern Arkansas. At 
the close of hostilities Mr. Killough again com- 
menced farming, following this till 1869, when he 
engaged in the mercantile business in Poinsett 
County, remaining here until 1873, then removed 
to Wittsburg, Cross County, and in 1879 entered 
into a partnership with a Mr. Erwin, and in 1884 
they moved their stock to Vanndale, where they 
opened a store, retaining the firm name of Killough 
& Erwin till 1887. Mr. Killough here erected a 
fine hotel, and a number of residences. He was 
married in 1861 to Miss Mary E. Rooks, a native 
of Tennessee. They were the parents of five 
children, three of whom are still living: Oliver N. 
(a lawyer of Vanndale), Ida Estella (wife of George 
P. Gardner, of Mammoth Spring) and John Wes- 
ley, Jr. (who is clerking at Mammoth Spring). 
Mr. Killough has served as justice of the peace two 



tiL 




years; was county judge in 1880, and was sheriff 
of Cross County three years, filling those offices 
with satisfaction to the citizens and credit to him- 
self. Mr. Killoiigh owns 4,000 acres of land, and 
has about 400 acres under cultivation, one third of 
which he cleared himself. He is also engaged in 
raising fine stock, mules, Poland- China hogs, etc., 
making a specialt\- of short-horn cattle. Mr. Kill- 
ough is a member of the Masonic order, also of 
the K. of H. and the K. & L. of H. , and is one of 
the leading citizens of Cross County, always fore- 
most in all work for the improvement of the 
county, and has made a worthy county official and 
a good business man. 

Oliver N. Killough, a rising young lawyer of 
Vanndale, was born in Poinsett County of this 
State, on February 18, 1865, being the eldest liv- 
ing son of J. W. andM. E. Killough. [See sketch. ] 
He attended the common schools near his home 
until he was fifteen years of age, then entered the 
University of Mississippi, at Oxford, from which he 
graduated as an A. B., in 1885, and soon after 
returned to Vanndale, where he taught one term of 
school. He next began clerking for Smith & Kill- 
ough, at Harrisburg, serving in this capacity for 
some time, then became deputy sheriff of Cross 
County under his father. During all this time he 
had been desirous of studying law, and in 1887 he 
entered the Law Department of the University of 
Virginia, and after taking a one year's course he 
returned to Cross County and was admitted to the 
bar on December 20, 1888, at Jonesboro. Since 
that time he has been actively engaged in the 
practice of his profession at Vanndale and was as- 
sociated with N. W. Norton, but since July, 1889, 
he has been by himself, and although quite a young 
man he has become well known throughout the 
county as a leading member of the legal fraternity. 
He belongs to Lodge No. 52, K. of P. at Wynne, 
also Lodge No. 606, K. of H., at Vanndale, and 
Beta Beta Chapter of Beta Theta Si college 
fraternity. 

W. L. Lancaster, postmaster and merchant, at 
Wynne, owes his nativity to Giles County, Tenn. , 
where his birth occurred August 15, 1844, the eld- 
est in a family of eleven children born to the union 



of Elisha and Malinda (Kerr) Lancaster, natives 
also of Tennessee. The grandparents on both sides 
were early pioneers of Maury County, Tenn., com- 
ing from Virginia at a very early date. Elisha 
died in 1880, and his wife many years previous to 
that. W. L. Lancaster was early taught the duties 
of farm life, and attended the common schools of 
that section until about sixteen years of age, when, 
at the breaking out of the late war, he flung aside 
the implements of peace and took up the weapons 
of warfare. He enlisted in the Confederate army. 
Company F, Forty-eighth Tennessee Infantry, and 
participated in the battles of Richmond, Perryville, 
Chickamauga, and was captured June 4, 1863, at 
Kenesaw Mountain, being retained from that time 
until the close of the war. After being released he 
returned home and was for two years engaged in 
buying cattle. In 1869 he came to Arkansas, set- 
tled in St. Francis County, where he purchased a 
farm and followed agricultural pursuits until 1873, 
but was also for some time engaged in mercantile 
pursuits in Forrest City, and was jailor of that 
county. He then came to Wynne and opened a 
general store, there being at that time but two 
other stores in the place. He purchased a lot, 
erected a store building, and had a good business 
which was rapidly increasing, until September, 
1887, when half the town, including his store, was 
destroyed by fire. In less than two weeks he was 
again in business, selling fi'om a tent, but in a few 
months moved into a store. September 1, 1889, he 
was appointed postmaster at Wynne. He was mar- 
ried in 1874 to Miss Fannie Speer, a native of Ten- 
nessee, and the fruits of this union have been two 
children: Dot and Normer. In 1883 Mrs. Lan- 
caster was called to her final home. She was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. 
Lancaster is a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
the Knights of Honor, and is also a Knight of 
Labor. 

John W. Lewelleu, the subject of this sketch, 
is recognized among his town'speople as one who 
has been instrumental in the upbuikling of the 
town in which he is a resident. Ho was born three 
miles south of the present village of Vanndale Jan- 
uary 13, 1850. his father and mother having moved 



IS w- 



364 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



from Northampton County, N. C , to Arkansas in 
that year. They were farmers, and Mr. Lewellen 
was one of the representative men of this section. 
He died in August, 1888, at the age of seventy-four 
years. John W. Lewellen received in his youth 
siich education as Cross County afforded, and was 
an attendant of the common schools, until he at- 
tained his majority. In 1871 he purchased 100 
acres of land from his father, on which slight im- 
provements had been made, and with the energy and 
perseverance which has ever characterized his ef- 
forts, he has made much more extended improve- 
ments, and in addition to farming his own land, 
farms some rented land. He at one time owned 320 
acres, but sold 160, and now has seventy-five acres 
of his land under cultivation. When the town of 
Vanndale was located, about one-half of it was laid 
out on his farm, and he donated five acres to the 
railroad, and four acres to the county, and on the 
latter, the court house of Cross County has since 
been built. In 1873 he built a fine residence in the 
town, but in 1885 sold it to Mr. R. Block. . He 
> has been one of the leading spirits in the school 
work of Vanndale, serving six years as director, 
and he has also been interested in the political 
matters of the county, but has not been an office 
seeker. He was married in January, 1876, to Miss 
Annie Stanley, a native of Cross County, and a 
daughter of Thomas Stanley, an old pioneer and 
sheriff of this county, and later a merchant of'Witts- 
burg, who died in April, 1877. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Lewellen six childi'en have been born: Gracie A., 
John T. , William E. (who died when about a year 
and a half old), James F., Norma E., and Joseph 
H. Mrs. Lewellen is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South. 

J. T. Lewellen is a prominent mill man and also 
operates a cotton-gin at Vanndale. He is a native of 
the county, born in 1858, and was the fifth of six 
children born to James A. and Nancy E. (Gardner) 
Lewellen, who were natives of the "Old North 
State," and came to Arkansas at an early day, set- 
tling in what is now Cross County, where they en- 
tered a tract of land comjarising 320 acres. By 
industry and good management they soon had 150 
acres imder cultivation, and in time he became one 



of the most successful and best- known farmers in 
the county, and his death, which occurred at his 
daughter's, three miles from Vanndale, in 1888, 
was lamented by his many warm personal friends. 
J. T. Lewellen attended the common schools until 
1879, when he rented his father's farm and began 
energetically to till the soil on his own account. 
He lived on the old homestead until the winter of 
1882 and was then married to Miss Mollie Block, 
a daughter of David Block, of Wittsburg. [See 
sketch.] After his marriage he removed to Vann- 
dale and erected a grist-mill and cotton-gin, his 
brother being associated with him in business for 
two years, then he became sole proprietor, added a 
sawmill, and is now managing a grist and saw 
mill and cotton-gin. In 18SS he ginned 852 bales 
of cotton, and his saw-mill supplies all the local 
trade besides what he ships to other points. His 
land now amounts to 420 acres in various tracts, 
and he has about eighty acres under cultivation. 
In 1883 he erected a fine residence in Vanndale, 
and has now one of the pleasantest homes in that 
village. His marriage has been blessed in the 
birth of two children: James Adelbert and an in- 
fant daughter (unnamed). He is a member of the 
K. & L. of H. 

Capt. J. M. Levesque, the worthy and esteemed 
county clerk of Cross County, enlisted at the out- 
break of the Civil War, in Company C of the 
Thirteenth Arkansas Infantry, the first regiment 
organized in that part of the State, Cross County, 
and was immediately elected orderly -sergeant of 
his company. The regiment was sent to Fort 
Pillow, and thence to Kentucky, and was also in 
the battle of Belmont, Mo., November 7, 1861, 
evacuating at Columbus, Ky. , in March, 1862. 
At the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862. Lieut. Joe 
Hall was wounded, and Mr. Levesque was chosen 
to fill his place as second lieutenant. Shortly after 
this the first lieutenant was wounded and dis- 
charged, and our subject was elected to his posi- 
tion, and at the reorganization of the regiment at 
Corinth, in April, 1862, he was elected captain, 
and served through the Alabama and Kentucky 
campaign, also participating in the battles of Rich- 
mond, Ky., under Kirby Smith, at Perryville, 





/HU/^'<f t/o^ 





ROSS County, Arkansas 




CROSS COUNTY. 



367 



Ky., and Murfreesboro, Tenn. At the reorgani- 
zation of the army, he was sent to the Trans -Mis- 
sissippi Department, and there engaged in recruit- 
ing a company of cavalry, mostly from Cross 
County; was in a number of skirmishes, but not 
in any important battles, his company going on 
the Missouri raid under Gen. Price. At the close 
of the war, he took up farming as an occupation, 
buying a farm of 336 acres, near Vanndale, but in 
1866 he was elected circuit and county clerk of 
Cross County, which office he held until the re- 
constraetion of the county, when he was dis- 
fi'anchised for having held office at the beginning 
of the war, and in participating in the Rebellion. 
He then again engaged in farming, in which he 
continued u^ntil 1874, during which time he im- 
proved his farm, and adding to it, till in 1878, he 
was the owner of 2,000 acres of land. In 1874 
he was elected sheriff of Cross County, and was 
re-elected in 1876, and again in 1878. In 1880 he 
was elected circuit and county clerk, and was also 
re-elected to that office in 1882, 1884, 1886 and 
1888, and is the present incumbent of this office, 
and that he has given satisfaction is shown by the 
fact of his having been elected to the same office 
for four terms in succession. In 1868 he was se- 
lected as one of the three men on a locating com- 
mittee, to choose a site for the county seat, which 
was then changed to Wittsburg, and in 1885 was 
appointed one of the committee which located the 
seat of justice in Vanndale. Mr. Levesque was 
born in Fayette County, Tenn., in 1834, and was 
the son of James and Elizabeth (Arnett) Levesque, 
natives of Tennessee and Mississippi, respectively. 
His father was a farmer by occupation, and died 
when our subject was live years old. His mother 
dying when he was the age of thirteen, he then 
went to live with an uncle, the Rev. William 
Levesque, of Alabama, remaining with him until 
he was sixteen years of age, when ho then returned 
to Fayette County, and was employed as a farm 
overseer until 1854. In this year he was mar- 
ried to Miss Nannie Willis, of Tennessee origin, 
and in the fall of that year he removed to Ar- 
kansas, settling in Cross County, in what was then 
a part of Poinsett County. Here he was again 



employed as a farm overseer, until 1860, when he 
was elected constable of Mitchell Townshij), and 
which office he held till the breaking out of the 
Rebellion, and the call for men for the Confederate 
service, to which he responded so readily. Ho has 
been a delegate to the Democratic State Conven- 
tion every year since 1876, and has the unbounded 
confidence of his party, which ho has never be- 
trayed, and is so wholly depended upon that he 
goes uninstructed and uses his own judgment in 
the convention. The results of this marriage are 
five children, three of whom are still living: Eliz- 
abeth (wife of Thomas B. Smith, of Cold Water- 
Township), Fannie (wife of Isaac Block, of Wynne), 
Willie T. (married and resides in Cold Water Town- 
ship), James Cheatham (deceased) and John Phil- 
lip (deceased). Capt. Levesque owns consideral)le 
property in different places throughout the county, 
and owns some 2,000 acres of land, of which there 
are 800 under cultivation. His farm, on which his 
son resides, is a field of 500 acres, which is as level 
as a floor, and on which are good buildings, mills, 
gins, barns, etc., in fact everything needed to 
carry on a well-equipped farm. When the Bald 
Knob Railroad was built through Cross County, 
the company named a station in honor of our sub- 
ject, and Levesque Lodge No. 52, K. of P., is 
also named after him. Capt. Levesque has been 
connected with the Masonic fraternity since 1861, 
and a member of the Chapter since 1872, and be- 
came a Knight Templar in 1889. Ho also belongs 
to the K. of P., K. of H. and the K. & L. of H., 
and I. O. O. F. The Captain is one of the most 
influential politicians of the county, and a highly 
respected man, and one of the county's self-made 
men, having come to it as a laborer, and is now a 
wealthy man, all due to his own efforts and honest 
industry. 

W. T. Levesque, one of the prominent young 
farmers of Cold Water Township, is a worthy son of 
J. M. and Nannie (Willis) Levesque [a sketch of 
whose lives immediately precedes this]. Born in 
Cross County in 1860, he was roared on a farm, and 
at the age of seventeen was appointed deputy sheriff 
of the county, his father being sheriff at that time, 
serving under him for four years; he was also 



J^ 



t--^ 



.1^ 



368 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



called upon to act in a similar capacity the next 
two years under Sheriff Legg. At the age of 
twenty-three Mr. Levesque commenced farming on 
his father's land, in which occupation he is still 
interested, also operating a saw-mill and cotton- 
gin. He was married in 1884 to Miss Effie Hamil- 
ton, of this county, a daughter of J. G. and Per- 
mesia (Shaver) Hamilton. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton 
are the parents of ten children (seven living in this 
county): Hester C. (wife of R. Block), W. B., 
O. A., D. H., C. M., J. B., P., B. F., Effie and 
Edward. Mr. Levesque is a member of the K. of 
H. , and of the K. & L. of H. He is enjoying a 
large business in his mill and gin and is justly 
recognized as among the county's leading young 
men. 

Philip B. Littlefield, a farmer of no mean 
ability, and one highly respected, is originally from 
Mississippi, but attained his manhood in St. Francis 
County, where he lived ixntil 1879; then going 
into Cross County occupied himself with farming. 
In 1872 his marriage to Miss Ann McDonnell (also 
of this State), was solemnized, and who died in 
1876, the mother of two children, now deceased. 
He was again married to Mrs. Ollie Rose (nee John- 
son) of Tennessee nativity, and a daughter of 
Thomas Johnson, who came to Arkansas in 1864 
from Missouri. By his second wife he became the 
father of one child, deceased. Philip B. Littlefield 
(our subject) was born in Panola County, Miss., in 
1852, and is a son of Andrew J. and Elizabeth 
(Beliew) Littlefield, of Alabama and Tennessee 
origin, respectively. Andrew J. Littlefield came to 
Panola County, Miss., where he remained until 
1858, then coming to Arkansas he settled in St. 
Francis County and entered a tract of land which 
he has converted into a good farm, and on which he 
made his home until his death in 1880. He and wife 
were members of the Baptist Church. Mrs. Lit- 
tlefield is still living, and is the mother of ten 
children, four of whom are deceased: Flemming M. 
(a soldier during the Rebellion was killed at Cum- 
berland Gap), Shelton (who served in the Confed- 
erate army and died in 1877), John S. (also in the 
late war, died in 1887), and an infant now deceased. 
Those living are : Zachariah, George W. , Mattie C. , 



Sarah E. , Jennie and Philip B. Philip B. Little- 
field is numbered among the Knights of Honor and 
is a strong Democrat politically, He owns valu- 
able property and has about 125 acres under culti- 
vation. Mrs. Littlefield is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

J. W. Logan, one of the early and prominent 
settlers of this county, is a Kentuckian by birth 
and a son of J. R. and Emeline (Wright) Logan, 
also natives of the Blue Grass State. The paternal 
grandfather, J. R. Logan, Sr., was a soldier in 
the Revolutionary War, during which he was 
captured by the Indians, and for two weeks had 
his thumbs tied together with sinews of deer, at 
night being suspended to a branch of a tree. At 
the end of three weeks, while under the care of 
one Indian, he managed to escape. J. R. Logan, 
Jr., the father of the subject of this sketch, served 
a short time in the Mexican War. He and his wife 
were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, and were the parents of seven children, 
three of whom are still living: J. W., Mattie C. 
(wife of J. Pryor, of Henry County, Ky.), and 
Mary F. (the widow of J. A. Patterson, and 
resides in Louisville, Ky.). J. W. Logan was born 
in Henry County, Ky., in 1840, and at the age of 
twenty-one commenced farming for himself on 
rented land in Kentucky, continuing imtil 1860, 
going thence to Canada, remained some five or 
six years and during that time traveled over a 
large part of British America, including Nova 
Scotia, New Brunswick, and Eastern and Western 
Canada. He returned in 1865 to Kentucky, but a 
year later started out again, and traveled over the 
Eastern and Northern States, and back to Canada. 
In 1874, Mr. Logan was married to Miss Florence 
M. Garr, of Jefferson County, Ky. , after which he 
settled down to farming near Louisville, also 
carrying on the dairy business until January, 1880; 
removing to Arkansas he settled within two miles 
of his present farm, bought 260 acres of land and 
in 1887 purchased his present farm on which 
he lives, now owning altogether 1,531 acres, with 
300 acres under cultivation. Mr. Logan has con- 
siderable stock and raises hay, corn, etc. , being 
considered one of the most prospero>is farmers 



) >y 



Al^— ^ 



^ 9 



^ 



CROSS COUNTY. 



369 



in the county. Himself and wife were the parents 
of six children (two of whom are deceased, the 
others are at home): James E. , Mamie, Virgie, 
George, Willie (deceased) and Jessie (also de- 
ceased). Mr. and Mrs. Logan are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

J. L. Lyon is the son of W. D. and Lydia 
(Arnold) Lyon, and was one of a family of thirteen 
children, eight of whom are still living: Elizabeth 
(wife of J. L. Robinson), P. L. (a resident of St. 
Francis County), Mattie (wife of G. W. Dallas), 
Nannie (wife of G. W. Timuel), Catharine, J. F., 
J. L. and B. A. J. L. Lyon was born in Missis- 
8ip2:)i in 1863, and at the age of twenty came to 
Arkansas with his father. For three years previ- 
ous to this he had been clerking in a store in Mem- 
phis, Tenn. Subsequently he took charge of his 
father's business for eight years, and in June, 1889, 
bought the livery stable of J. B. Hamilton, which 
he has iintil recently owned and conducted. Mr. 
Lyon has enjoyed a large and lucrative business, 
and is one of the representative men of Wynne. 
W. D. Lyon was a native of Alabama, and upon 
moving to Mississippi settled in Chickasaw County, 
where he engaged in farming, there remaining 
until 1864. During this time he served as sheriff 
of the county for several years, and later was ap- 
pointed county clerk to fill an unexpired term. In 
1864 Mr. Lyon moved to Shelby County, Tenn., 
where he was occupied in farming for nineteen 
years, and in 1883 came to Arkansas, locating in 
St. Francis County. In 1886 he became a resi- 
dent of Cross County and rented a farm in Searcy 
Township, where he died in June of the same year, 
at the age of seventy-five years. Mr. Lyon belonged 
to the Methodist Episcopal Church. He served in 
the war with Mexico, and was a member of the A. 
F. & A. M., and of the I. O. O. F. During the 
last eight years of his life he was afflicted with 
blindness. Mrs. Lyon is connected with the Old 
School Presbyterian Church. 

J. C. McElroy, the subject of this sketch and 
prominent in the affairs of his county and known 
^to all as a law-abiding citizen, was born in the State 
of Georgia in 1827, as the son of John and M. 
S. (Belk) McElroy. Mr. McElroy was reared on 



a farm, and removed with his father, John McEl- 
roy, to Arkansas in the year 18-18, and the follow- 
ing year married Miss Sara C. Lantroupe. Then 
settling an adjoining farm to his father, he has 
since lived there. Mr. McElroy was put on de- 
tached duty by the Confederate Government dur- 
ing the war, and had charge of the Government 
tanyards; also served in the postal service during 
that conflict. He was justice of the peace for sev- 
eral years, and also acted as county judge from 
1868 till 1874, since which .time he has taken no 
active part in politics. Mr. and Mrs. McElroy are 
the parents of nine children, three of whom are 
still living: John W., Sallie (wife of James A. 
Sadler) and Emmet L. (all residents of this coun- 
ty). Mr. and Mrs. McElroy are strict members 
of the Methodist Episcoj)al Church. The former 
is also a member of the A. F. & A. M. He is one of 
the prominent farmers of Bedford Township and a 
highly respected citizen. John W. McElroy, the 
oldest son, has been county surveyor of Cross 
County for six years. 

A. J. McElroy served four years in the Confed- 
erate service during the late war as a member of 
Company B, McRae's Regiment ,and participated 
in the battles of Helena, Red River, Prairie Grove 
and a number of other battles and skirmishes, re- 
maining in the field of duty until the suiTender in 
1865. Leaving home at the age of twenty-six he 
engaged in farming on 160 acres of land which he 
had bought in this county, and where he still re- 
sides. He now has upward of 100 acres under 
cultivation, with good buildings and good stock. 
Mr. McElroy was born in Georgia in 1833, as the 
son of John and Mary (Stephenson) McElroy, natives 
of South Carolina. Soon after the latter's mar- 
riage he came to Georgia, remaining imtil 1848, 
when he moved to Arkansas, settling in this county, 
where he entered 480 acres of land. Here he lived 
until his death in 1866, at the age of sixty-eight 
years. He was four times married. His first wife. 
Miss Shy, became the mother of one child, now 
deceased. By his second wife (Miss Belk) he bad 
five children, only one of whom survives: J. C. (of 
this county). After her death Mr. McElroy was 
married to Mary Stephenson, who died in 1859 



} >y 



-«. k- 



370 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



leaving nine childi-en. Two only of these are living: 
A. J. (our subject) and Elizabeth. Mr. McEIroy's 
fourth and last wife was Rachel McDiiffie. The 
union of A. J. McElroy to Miss Rebecca J. Lan- 
troupe, of Tennessee, was consummated in 1853, she 
being a daughter of AVilliam and Charity Lantroupe. 
Mrs. McElroy departed this life in 1880, having 
been the mother of eight children, four living: 
Rol)ert (in this county), George, James and Parlee 
(now Mrs. Weeden, who resides in Wynne). Mr. 
McElroj' is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, as was also his wife. He is a leading and 
respected farmer in this township. 

Mrs. Cora H. McKie. Many of the younger 
citizens of Vanndale, hold sacred the memory, and 
all respect the name of W. P. McKie, a former 
citizen of Vanndale, who came to this village in 
1872, and engaged in teaching school. Mr. McKie 
was born in Lafayette County, Miss. , on October 12, 
1847, and was a son of James M. and Juliette 
(Fondren) McKie, natives of Mississij^pi. He was 
reared and educated in Mississippi, and was mar- 
ried to Miss Cora H. Hare in 1873. [For sketch 
of the parents of Mrs. McKie see that of T. E. 
Hare, in this work.] To. Mr. and Mrs. McKie 
were born three children: Thomas "\V., James M. 
and Juliette B. Mr. McKie died on October 8, 
1882, after a short illness. He was very piopular 
in his community, and his death was deeply felt 
and much regretted by his large circle of friends. 
Mrs. McKee was born on November 3, 1857, her 
family being one of the oldest in the county, com- 
ing here in 1840. She is a member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, as was also her husband. 
He also belonged to the society of the Knights and 
Ladies of Honor. Mrs. McKie is a generous and 
hospitable lady, very popular, and a leading spirit 
in all church and charitable works. 

James D. McKie, a prominent physician of 
Vanndale, and a graduate of the Medical University 
of Louisville, Ky. , is a native of Mississij)pi, and 
a son of James M. and Juliette (Fondren) McKie, 
who were also of Mississippi origin. The father 
died in 1861, and his wife in 1888, in Lafayette 
County, Miss. James D. McKie received his literary 
education at the University of Mississippi, before 



entering the Medical University of Louisville, from 
which latter he graduated in March, 1876. Follow- 
ing this he began his practice at his home in Missis- 
sippi, and the succeeding October came to Arkansas, 
settling in Vanndale, Cross County, where he has 
built up a large and influential practice, in fact more 
than he can well attend to. Dr. McKie was married 
in 1879 to Miss Lula Lea, originally from Tennes- 
see. They are the parents of one child, Willie H. 
The Doctor and wife are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, and are also connected 
with the Knights and Ladies of Honor. He owns 
a tine residence in Vanndale, and also a farm of 
320 acres, with sixty-five acres under cultivation, 
having a tine orchard; he is somewhat engaged in 
stock-raising, and has about twenty head of horses. 
Dr. McKie is a highly educated gentleman, and a 
leading citizen of this section. 

John K. Malone, at present occupying the re- 
sponsible position as deputy county clerk of Cross 
County, was born in Poinsett County, and is a son 
of William C. and E. M. (Gardner) Malone, na- 
tives of North Carolina and Virginia, respectively. 
William C. Malone came to this State with his 
father in 1854, settling near the present site of 
Vanndale. He was a minister of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South, and a man of considerable 
importance in the county. In 1868 he was elected 
county clerk of Poinsett County, served one term, 
and in 1882 he was elected to the legislature to rep- 
resent his county (Cross) and was made the chair- 
man of the committees of education, agricultui'e, 
and temperance. In connection with his farming, 
Mr. Malone was engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness in Wittsburg, and later at Vanndale, where 
he died in November, 1885. At that time there 
were but very few men surviving, who had been 
here at the first settlement of this county. Mrs. 
Malone is still living at Vanndale. Our subject 
was born in 1862, and was educated in the com- 
mon schools of this county, and finished his school- 
ing at Little Rock. In 1885 Mr. Malone was 
appointed deputy county clerk, which office he still 
holds, discharging his duties with great credit to 
himself. Mr. Malone is a strong Democrat, and 
takes an active part in jjolitics. He is a young man 



•k^ 



CROSS COUNTY. 



371 



of ability and promise, and a son of a noted and 
higlilj' respected man, and is rapidly rising into a 
citizen of note and prominence. 

Thomas L. Martin is not unknown to the many 
residents of Cross County. A native of Alabama, 
be is a son of Joseph and Sallie (Fitzgerald) Mar- 
tin, who came originally from North Carolina, 
Joseph Martin having moved to Tennessee when a 
boy. At the age of twenty-one he went to Ala- 
bama and settled in Lawrence County, where he 
engaged in farming, being the owner of several 
negroes. In 1858 he came to Arkansas and settled 
in this township, and entered 120 acres of land. 
Mr. Martin was twice married; first, to Miss Rut- 
tidge, by whom he had four children, all now de- 
ceased. His second wife was the mother of our 
subject. Mr. Martin was a member of the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church, and died in 1863, at 
the age of seventy-six years. Thomas L. Martin 
was born in Lawrence County, Ala., in 1841, and 
was reared to farm life, coming to this county with 
his father in 1858. In 1861 he joined the Confed- 
erate army, serving as one of the celebrated "Walk- 
er Grays," for a short time, and in February, 1862, 
he became connected with the Fifth Arkansas 
Provisional Regiment, known as the Walker Regi- 
ment, in which he served until the surrender of 
Island No. 10, in 1862; there he was captured and 
sent to Camp Douglas, being held until the fol- 
lowing September. He rejoined his command in 
December, at Port Hudson, was again captured in 
the following May and sent to New Orleans, and 
afterward to Fortress Monroe, where he was pa- 
roled. Returning home, he walked a distance of 
500 miles in fourteen days and a half, reaching 
his destination in August, 1863. In the following 
April ho started for Kirby Smith's headquarters, 
but did not again go into active service, being en- 
gaged in getting together Government cotton. Aft- 
er the war Mr. Martin resumed his farming opera- 
tions and rented land until 1876, when he bought 
his present place, consisting of 100 acres, which at 
that time had only four acres under cultivation. 
He now owns another farm of 2()0 acres, and has 
al)out 100 under cultivation. He is a member of 
the K. of H. and of the Agricultural Wheel. Mr. 



and Mrs. Martin are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. The former is one of the lead- 
ing farmers in Bedford Township, and is respected 
by all who know him. He has been twice married ; 
first, to Elizabeth Wigby, on February 1, 1866, 
by whom he had three children: Maggie Emma 
(born September 28, 1869), Thomas Jeiferson (born 
Decemljer 17, 1870) and Kittie Ellen (born No- 
vember 17, 1873). Mrs. Martin died September 
30, 1881, and Mr. Martin subsequently married 
on December 6, 1882, having four children by his 
second wife (she was a widow, Mrs. Mollie F. 
Everet): Wesley Hargus (born March 1, 1884), 
Eliza Dolphus (born March 6, 1885), Edgar Shu- 
ford (born December 15, 1887) and Porter Feath- 
erston (born October 7, 1889). 

John P. May, druggist, Vanndale, Ark. This suc- 
cessful and enterprising business man is a native 
Tennesseean, born in Madison County, in the year 
1844, and at present is a member of the well-known 
firm of May & Malone. He is a son of John May, and 
a grandson of John May, Sr. , who was a native of 
the Old Dominion, but who was one of the pioneers 
of Eastern Tennessee. He was an extensive planter, 
and was working about 100 hands at the time of 
his death, which occurred about 1846. John May, 
father of our subject, was a native of Tennessee, 
and also became very extensively engaged in farm- 
ing, in Mississippi, going to that State in 1845. 
He resided in La Fayette County until 1860, and 
then came to Arkansas, and settled in what is now 
Cross County. Here he purchased 2.000 acres of 
land, on the Memphis & Jacksonport dirt road, on 
L'Anguille River, known as Shaver's Bridge, and 
opened up about 400 acres of laud, erected build- 
ings, and made a comfortable home for his family. 
While on a trip to Memphis, in 1863, he was taken 
sick, and died at Marion, Crittenden County, Ark., 
November 23, of that year. His wife (the mother 
of the subject of this sketch), whoso maiden name 
was Miss Cynthia M. Cook, was born in North 
Carolina, and after the death of her husband con- 
tinued to live on the farm until November, 1867, 
when the place was sold, and she has since made 
her home with her son, John P. May. The latter 
attended school at College Hill. Miss., and at Mem- 



372 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



phis, Tenn., until sixteen years of age, or ixntil 
1860. Two years later be enlisted in Company D, 
Thirtieth Arkansas Regiment Infantry, and was 
elected corporal of Company D, and in January, 
1863, was promoted to orderly-sergeant, and filled 
that office till 1864, when the Thirtieth regiment 
was consolidated with the Thirty-second Arkansas. 
Shortly afterward he was promoted special courier 
in the Trans-Mississippi Department. He partici- 
pated in the battles of Greenville, Mo., Prairie 
Grove, Ark.; was at the evacuation of Little Rock; 
was at Mansfield, La., Pleasant Hill, La., Camden, 
Ark., and Jenkins' Ferry, Ark. He was also in a 
number of skirmishes on the different campaigns, 
and was made special courier in October, 1864, for 
Gen. John S. Roane, serving in that capacity until 
the close of the war, or until May, 1865. His com- 
mand was disbanded at Marshall, Tex., and he sur- 
rendered at Little Rock. After being paroled at 
Memphis, June 6, 1865, he returned home, and im- 
mediately engaged in farming; left the old home- 
stead in 1867, and farmed on rented land for one 
year, after which he went to Mississippi, where he re- 
mained one year on account of his mother's health. 
He then returned to Arkansas, and in November, 
of 1869, bought a farm about one mile soiith of 
Walnut Camp, known as the Mitchell farm. Here 
he remained until 1879, and during that time he 
cleared about fifty acres, erected buildings, and 
made many other improvements. At that date he 
sold out and bought a farm of 160 acres adjoining 
the old homestead, on the west side of Crowley's 
Ridge, where he remained two years. In 1880 he 
moved to Wittsburg, and engaged in hauling, which 
he continued until November 15, 1882, when he 
came to Vanndale, and erected the fii'st residence 
at that station. He opened a restaurant and con- 
fectionery store in December of that year, it being 
the third place of business started in Vanndale, 
and after a short time he converted his business 
into a drug store, and in 1885 admitted Mr. W. 
C. Malone as a partner. The latter died Novem- 
ber 26, 1885, and his interest succeeded to his 
wife. This firm now carries a full and complete 
line of drugs, paints, oils, notions, toilet articles, 
stationery, school books, tobacco, cigars and con- 



fectionery. Mr. May is a member of the K. of H. , 
and K. & L. of H. , of the Masonic fraternity, and 
is also one of the Building & Loan Association, of 
Vanndale. He was married February 14, 1871, to 
Miss Sallie E. Applewhite, a daughter of John 
and Nancy J. Applewhite, who came to Arkansas 
in 1859, and the father became extensively en- 
gaged in farming operations, which he continued 
up to the time of his death, in 1883. Mrs. Apple- 
white still resides on the old homestead, about 
three miles north of Vanndale. To the union of 
Mr. and Mrs. May were born six children, three 
of whom are deceased: Lena Burton (died in 1881, 
at the age of nine years), Fletcher Garland, Harry 
(died at the age of two years) and an infant daugh- 
ter, Helen. The eldest child died in infancy, and 
unnamed. Mr. May is one of the first-class busi- 
ness men of the place, is an exemplary citizen, 
and was a brave and fearless soldier. 

Thomas AV. May is justly recognized as one of 
the prominent farmers of this community. He has 
also attained to great esteem as a faithful public 
official of Cross County, now serving as county as- 
sessor. A native of Mississippi, he is a son of 
Thomas W. and Mary A. (Taylor) May, who came 
originally from Alabama and settled in Mississippi 
shortly after their marriage, locating in 1871 in 
Cross County, Ark. Here the senior May bought 
a farm of 320 acres, near Cherry Valley, which 
had about seventy acres under cultivation. Shortly 
after coming to this county he died, and the home 
place was then divided, and a portion of it sold. 
Mrs. May still resides on the remainder. Thomas 
AV. May, Jr., our subject, was born in Mississippi 
in 1859, and until 1879 heljaed his mother carry on 
the farm after his father' s death. In that year he 
was married to Miss Agnes Bowers, of this county, 
and daughter of Jacob Bowers, a well-known citi- 
zen of Cross County. Mrs. May died in August, 
1888, leaving four children: Ada, Edna, Effie and 
Pearl. Mr. May was married the second time on 
March 26, 1889, to Miss Georgia Jackson, also of 
Cross County birth. Mr. May has held some pub- 
lic office here for the past eight years. In 1881 
he was appointed constable of Mitchell Township, 
to fill an unexpired term, and was afterward elected 



i "V 



CROSS COUNTY. 



373 



to that position, serving two terms. In 1888 he 
was elected county assessor, which office he still 
holds. Mr. May bought a farm of 160 acres, in 
1885, near Cherry Valley, having about forty acres 
under cultivation, and has cleared as much more 
since owning it. He has since bought out the 
interest of the heirs of his first wife's parents to a 
large and valuable estate. An enterprising young 
man, he is very popular in the community in which 
he lives. 

Dr. William T. Mebane, physician and farmer, 
Wynne, came originally from Greensboro, N. C, 
where his birth occurred in 1825. Dr. William 
T. Mebane was the son of Dr. John A. Mebane, 
who was a native of North Carolina. The father 
was for a long time a prominent physician in 
North Carolina and also a soldier in the War of 
1812. He died July 11, 1864, at the age of sev- 
enty-three years. The mother (whose maiden name 
was Celia A. Sutton) was also a native of North 
Carolina. The paternal grandfather, Alexander 
Mebane, was a brigadier-general in the Con- 
tinental army during the Revolutionary War. He 
was one of the founders of the University of North 
Carolina and served in the Congress of the United 
States up to the time of his death. Dr. William 
T. Mebane began attending school before he was 
five years of age and in 1846 graduated at the 
University of North Carolina and in 1851 from the 
Medical Department of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania. He then received a commission in the 
United States Navy but unqualified. Instead he 
returned to Greensboro and soon removed to a 
plantation given him by his father in Mississippi. 
In December, 1851, he settled on the western base of 
Crowley's Ridge in St. Francis (now Cross) County, 
and here he purchased 730 acres, all wild land. 
He then began an extensive scale of clearing and 
improving and soon had a large tract under culti- 
vation. In 1853 he was appointed postmaster and 
held the office (which was called Eureka) in his 
house until about 1876, when the name was 
changed to Mebaneville. Dr. Mebane has been 
the only postmaster in Cross County and is, there- 
fore, the oldest postmaster in Ea.steru Arkansas. 
He at once began practicing medicine, which pro- 



fession he has kept up through all these years; 
still rides some and does an extensive office practice. 
He has a good farm with 180 acres under cultiva- 
tion and during all these years he has been an old 
landmark for Cross County. He was married in 
1854 to Miss Lucy Antoinette Magette (daughter 
of Charles G. Magette, one of the old settlers in 
this section). The fruits of this union were seven 
children: Lucy S. (widow of J. W. Koonce), 
Charles M., Mary (wife of R. M. Smith), Will- 
iam Thomas (died April 11, 1884, at the ago of 
twenty-four years), John Alexander (died October 
14, 1866, at the age of three years), Robert Henry 
(died August 2, 1888, at the age of twenty-two 
years) and an infant daughter, unnamed. Dr. 
Mebane has practiced his profession in that State 
for many years, is educated and refined and has 
been a close student for forty years. 

Charles Neely is a member of the firm of Martin 
& Neely, who are doing a large business at Wynne, 
carrying a complete and well-assorted stock of gen- 
eral merchandise. A native of this State he was 
born in 1860, being a son of W. A. and M. J. 
(Deadnam) Neely, originally from South Carolina 
and Arkansas, respectively. W. A. Neely was an 
attorney by profession, and practiced at Batesville 
and different places in Eastern Arkansas, after- 
ward moving to a farm in this county, where he 
died in 1866. He was a prominent man in the 
politics of the community and enlisted in the Con- 
federate service during the war, toward the close of 
which he served as an enrolling officer. Mrs. Neely 
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and died in December, 1865, just one month before 
her husband. Charles Neely was born in what is 
now Cross County, being educated in the common 
schools of this county, and at the age of eighteen 
engaged as a farm laborer, in which capacity he 
remained occupied for six j'ears. In 1886 he em- 
barked in the grocery l)usiness in this place, and 
gave his attention to that branch of trade until 
June, 1888, when he went into partnership with J. 
A. Martin. They are now doing a general mercan- 
tile business, amounting to about $15,000 annually. 
Mr. Neely also owns his residence in Wynne, and 
about ten acres of land under cultivation outside 



•\A ^ * - 



374 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



the town limits. He is a thorough business man, 
and is bonnd to succeed, also being a popular citi 
zen of Wynne. He is the only living representative 
of his family. 

Charles D. Oliver, merchant, Wynne, Ark. 
The well-known business firm of Daltroff, Sparks 
& Oliver was organized in 1887, and since that 
time has been doing a rapidly increasing Ijusiness. 
Mr. Oliver owes his nativity to St. Francis County, 
Ark., where his birth occurred in 1862, and is one 
of eight children, the result of the union of R. G. 
and Luginia R. (Palmer) Oliver, natives of Arkan- 
sas, and one of the Carolinas, respectively. The 
father was a successful agriculturist. Charles D. 
Oliver was left an orphan when quite young, and 
as he only attended school until eleven years of 
age, his education in consequence was rather limit- 
ed. He began working for James Fussell & Co., 
merchants at Forrest City, and there remained for 
nine years, during which time he secured a good 
schooling in matters of business. In 1881 he left 
this firm and went to Wittsburg, where he was in 
the emj)loy of Block Bros. & Co. for about three 
years. During this time he had started a grocery 
store at Wynne, and thinking it needed his atten- 
tion he gave up his employment at ^^'ittsburg and 
came to Wynne. He conducted his business until 
January 1, 1887, and during 1886 it had proved 
very profitable, Mr. Oliver being so fortunate as to 
make considerable money out of it. In the begin- 
ning of 1887 he entered the firm of DaltrofP & 
Sparks, general merchants, under the firm title of 
Daltroft', Sparks & Oliver, which title continues at 
the present time. This firm is doing a good busi- 
ness, having won the confidence of the public by 
honest, upright dealing. Mr. Oliver was married 
in 1884 to Miss Etta Block (daughter of David 
Block, who was for a long time one of the leading 
merchants and one of the wealthiest men of Cross 
County). To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver 
were born two sons: Charles Edward and John 
David. Mr. Oliver is a member of the K. of 
P., Lodge No. 52, and is a Knight of Honor. 
After the death of his parents he took charge of all 
the younger members of the family, educated his 
sisters and made a home for the youngest, who was 



an infant at the time of the parents' death. The 
family have always looked to him for advice and 
assistance and never failed to get both. The 
younger bmthers are in business for themselves 
and have good situations. The youngest, John P., 
is traveling salesman for Malone, Chapman & Eld- 
er at Memphis, and is a bright, capable business 
man. Charles D. Oliver owns the old homestead 
in St. Francis County, a good farm of 220 acres 
with 125 under cultivation, and has a fine residence 
on the same place. He also own 580 acres in vari- 
ous tracts in Cross County, and 175 acres of this are 
cultivated. He owns a block in the city of Wynne 
which is partially covered with buildings which 
yield about $400 annually for rent. Charles D. 
Oliver has always been successful in all his busi- 
ness enterprises and is pre eminently a self-made 
man. 

R. G. Oliver, merchant, Wynne, Ark. By his 
excellent business qualifications, and by his social 
and polite treatment of the public, Mr. Oliver, 
although a young man, has became one of the lead- 
ing business men in his particular line in Eastern 
Arkansas. He owes his nativity to St. Francis 
County, Ark., where his birth occurred in 1864, 
and is the fifth of eight children born to the union 
of R. G. and Luginia R. (Palmer) Oliver. The par- 
ents are natives of Georgia and South Carolina, re- 
spectively. The father came to Arkansas at an 
early day and followed farming and stock raising 
in St. Francis County, until his death in 1876. 
The mother's death occurred in 1879. R. G. Oli- 
ver was early taught the duties on the farm, and 
attended the public schools of Forrest City, until 
about fourteen years of age, when he went to 
Memphis, and engaged as a clerk for Zellner & 
Co. , shoe dealers. He remained with this firm 
for about seven years, and then went to Crawfords- 
ville, Crittenden County, where he engaged with 
Buck & Trexler, continuing with them for about 
two years. He then began business for himself in 
the same place, opening a store of general merchan- 
dise and plantation supplies, but continued in busi- 
ness but a short time, when he sold out to his 
partner, and in 1888 came to Wynne. He here 
established a store of clothing, boots and shoes and 



CROSS COUNTY. 



375 



gents' furnishing goods. He carries a stock of 
goods valued at about $10,000. Last January 
(1889) he moved into a line brick store, which he 
has fitted up, and this is now one of the largest 
stores in Eastern Arkansas. Mr. Oliver was mar- 
ried January 2, 1889, to Miss May Kelley, a 
native of Arkansas, and daughter of John Kelley, 
an old settler of Lee County. Mr. Oliver has re- 
cently purchased a lot in Wynne, on which he 
expects to erect a residence ere long. In his polit- 
ical views, he has always affiliated with the Demo- 
cratic party. Socially he is a member of the K. 
of P., Levesque Lodge No. 52, at Wynne, and is 
also a K. of H. at that place. 

E. W. Orr, Wynne, Ark. Prominent among 
the business men of Wynne stands the name of 
Mr. Orr, who has been established in business at 
this place for about four years, and has become 
one of the permanent and enterprising residents 
of the town. His birth occurred in Middletown, 
Butler County, Ohio, in 1850, and he was left 
fatherless at a very early period of his existence. 
On this account his educational advantages were 
limited, and he was compelled to apply himself to 
his books when grown in order to fit himself for 
business. When about seven years of age he be- 
gan to work for himself on the Miami Canal of 
Ohio, and followed this for about eight years, after 
which he was engaged in various occupations, 
dealing in lumber, etc., for some time. In 1882 
he came to Arkansas, worked on the Cotton Belt 
Railroad for two years, and then in 1884 settled 
in Jonesboro, where he opened a restaurant. This 
he conducted for one year, and then moved to 
Wynne, where he started another restaurant, in- 
vesting all he had in his small stock. From that 
time he rapidly built up a large business, and by 
his honesty and attention to his patrons, became 
highly esteemed in the community. January 1, 
1889, Mr. Orr opened a saloon. Since living here 
he has purchased three business lots on the main 
streets of Wynne, on which he is now erecting a 
new brick building, 2-1x96 feet and one story. He 
will occupy all this large store-room for his busi- 
ness, which he proposes to fit up and run as a 
first-class sample room. He also owns a neat cot- 



tage which he bought in 1889. He was married 
July 6, 1864, to Miss Catherine Brown, a native 
of Indiana, and three children have been the re- 
siilt of this union: Lulie May, Charles and Miles. 
Mr. Orr is the youngest in a family of eleven chil- 
dren born to William and Lucinda (Macy) Orr, 
natives of Ohio. 

Anderson Phillips, one of the most prominent 
colored farmers in Searcy township, was born a 
slave of David H. Walker, of Carroll County, Mo. , 
in 1843. His father. Carter Phillips, died in 1889. 
His mother at last accounts was in Nebraska. Mr. 
Walker had crossed the plains with his slaves, and 
left the mother of our subject in the West, and she 
never returned. After the Emancipation Procla- 
mation, Anderson Phillips came north and joined 
the Federal army, and served until October, 1865, 
when he received his discharge, then coming to 
Phillips County, Ark., where he remained seven 
years. In 1874 he bought his present property, 
consisting of 240 acres in Cross County. He fir.st 
purchased 660 acres, but has given a portion to his 
children, and now has 130 acres under cultivation. 
Mr. Phillips was married first in 1866 to Charlotte 
Smith, who died in 1874, leaving three children: 
G. A. , James H. and Glenn A. (wife of Jeff Ham, 
a resident of this county). His second marriage 
was to Alice Ham (who was killed in a railroad 
accident in 1879). They became the parents of 
four children, all of whom are deceased. Mr. 
Phillips' present wife was formerly Martha E. Davis, 
whom he married in 1880. They have one boy, An- 
derson. Mr. and Mrs. PhUlips are members of the 
Independent Order of the Immaculate, and are 
connected with the Baptist Church. The former 
is a strong Republican, and takes an active part in 
politics, having held the oflSce of coroner of the 
coimty two terms. 

William M. Pierce is a son of James Pierce, 
who was born in Indiana, where he was reared, 
but coming to Arkansas when a young man, he lo- 
cated in Pope County, and there married Susan 
Davidson. She first saw the light in St. Charles 
County, Mo., and died in Pope County in 1868. 
Her father was a soldier in the War of 1812. Will- 
iam Pierce, the second son in a family of three 



376 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



children, and the only one now living, was born in : 
Pope County, December 24, 1855, and came to 
Cross County when fourteen years of age, the year | 
after his mother died, his father having died when 
he was a small boy. He was married in 1875, to 
Miss Fannie Staner, a native of Illinois (born 
about 1858), who departed this life in June, 1888, 
leaving four children: Willie and Anna (twin 
daughters), Edgar and Samuel. Mr. Pierce moved 
to his present farm on' the St. Francis River in 
1875, and now has a fine place of 120 acres, with 
forty acres under cultivation. He is a decided 
Democrat, and a good citizen. 

Maj. Riddick Pope, a prosperous agriculturist 
and citizen, was reared on a farm in Southamp- 
ton County, Va., gaining his mental knowledge in 
the common schools of that county, remaining in I 
these until nineteen years of age, after which he 
accepted the position of clerk in a dry goods store 
at Drewryville, Va. Two years later he went to 
Memphis, Tenn., and again engaged as clerk in his 
former trade, where he remained two years. In 
1854 he formed a partnership with his brothers, 
Oswald and Madison, and started in the dry goods 
business, and about this time they bought 700 
acres of land, in what is now Cold Water Town- 
ship, Cross County, but was then Poinsett County, 
and after putting 100 under improvement, they 
closed out the business in 1859,removed to this farm. 
In 1861 Mr. Pope enlisted in the Confederate serv- 
ice, in Company A, of the Fifth Arkansas In- 
fantry, in which he was appointed third lieutenant, 
and served throughout the war. He was later 
made major, which position he held until after the 
battle of Shiloh. when he was then transferred to 
Price's command, and took part in that never to-be 
forgotten raid through Missouri: In this he offici- 
ated as brigade-quartermaster, being in McCray's 
Brigade. After the war Mr. Pope came home and 
engaged in farming for the next nine years. Then 
followed a period of nine years in which he held a 
position in the largest dry goods house in Witts- 
burg. In 1885, after his return home, he was elect- 
ed to the State senate, which office he still fills. 
Maj. Pope was born in Virginia, in 1830, and was a 
son of Nathan and Annie (Stephenson) Pope, na- 



tives of Virginia. Nathan Pope was a planter, and 
one of the largest slave-owners in Virginia, and 
was a soldier in the War of 1812. His father was 
a participant in the Revolutionary War, and was 
present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. 
Nathan Pope was in the battle of Parkerstield at the 
time of the insurrection of the negroes in 1881, dur- 
ing which he was unhorsed and slightly wounded, 
but was rescued bj' sis of his companions from 
some sixty or seventy infuriated negroes. He was 
twice married, fii'st to a Miss Joyner, by which 
marriage he was the father of two children. After 
his first wife's death, Mr. Pope married Mrs. 
Annie (Stephenson) Barrett (the mother of our sub- 
ject), who became the mother of eight children. 
Riddick, being the oulj' child living. Mr. Pope 
was a member of the English Church, and Mrs. 
Pope a member of the Methodist Church. He 
died in 1841. Maj. Riddick Pope was married in 
December, 1865, to Miss Virginia Mosby, a daugh- 
ter of J. H. and Maria (McClain) Mosby, natives of 
Virginia and Tennessee, respectively, and the 
parents of eight children. Mr. and Mrs. Pope 
are the parents of five children, all of whom (with 
Mrs. Pope) are deceased. Himself and wife were 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He 
affiliates with the K. of H. , the K. & L. of H. 
the A. F. & A. M., being a Knight Templar, a 
member of the I. H. , and is connected with the 
County Wheel. He is one of the leading jioliticians 
of his county, and very popular, as is shown by the 
overwhelming majority given him at the polls when 
elected to the senate, and which confidence has 
been more than justified by the way in which he has 
discharged his duties. 

Albert M. Pope, a prominent citizen of Cross 
County, was born near where the village of Vann- 
dale is now situated, and in what was then (1861) 
Poinsett Count}', and is the only child of Madison 
and Julia F. (McClaran) Pope. Madison Pope 
was a native of Southampton County, Va., where 
he spent his youth and where he received his edu- 
cation. In 1852 Mr. Pope immigrated to Arkansas, 
and with his two brothers, Oswald and Riddick, 
bought and entered lands to the amount of 2,000 
acres, after which they formed a partnership in the 



*?; 



.^ 9 



CROSS COUNTY. 



377 



mercantile business in Memphis, which they con- 
tinued until 1800, doing a large business. At that 
time the war coming on, and attendant circum- 
stances, freed their slaves and left them with noth- 
ing but land. Mr. Pope was married in 1 858, to 
Julia F. McClaran, of Macon, Fayette County, 
Tenn., a lady of education, who has taught school 
in the immediate neighborhood of Vanndale, for 
over the space of twenty years. Mr. Pope died 
in 1862, leaving to his widow and infant son a 
large tract of land, and the much better legacy — a 
good name. He was one of those men whose 
deeds live, after they have departed this life. His 
brother Oswald, senior partner of the firm, died in 
1879, while Riddick survives, and is an honorable 
member of the State senate. Mrs. Julia F. Pope, 
after remaining a widow for twelve years, was 
married in 187-1, to J. C. Brookiield, her present 
husband, with whom she now resides in the town 
of Jonesboro, Craighead County. A. M. Pope re- 
mained on the farm with his mother, till about 
eighteen years of age. He then clerked, respect- 
ively, in the towns of Witt.sburg and Harrisburg, 
for about three years, after which he returned 
home and engaged in farming and stock-raising, 
till the removal of his mother to Jonesboro, when 
he built a neat and substantial residence in Vann- 
dale, where he now resides, engaged in the drug 
business with Dr. T. D. Hare. 

Napoleon B. Raulston, postmaster at Tyronza, 
is a native of Georgia, and a son of William Evan- 
der Raulston, also of Georgia birth, who is now 
living in Crittenden County. The latter was mar- 
ried in Georgia, before coming to this State, to 
Mary Tate, who died in 1855 in Prairie County, to 
which he first moved, leaving two children, of 
whom Napoleon was the eldest. The subject of 
this sketch was born July 24, 1853, and was reared 
in this State from the age of two to thirteen years. 
At the latter period he went to Tennessee and re- 
mained a number of years, being married in No- 
vember, 1878, to Miss Alice Robins, who was born 
in Shelby County, Tenn., in 1801. They then 
moved to Arkansas, and have been residents of 
Cross County since 1884, having moved here from 
St. Francis County at that time. They are the 

24 



parents of three children: Willie G., Howard E. 
and Thomas B. Mr. Raulston has held the office 
of justice of the peace, and is now postmaster of 
this place. He has no land of his own but has 
control of the farm on which he lives. He always 
voted the Democratic ticket, and cast his first pres- 
idential vote for Samuel J. Tilden in 1870. 

M. A. Riley, well known among the business 
circles as proprietor of one of the largest cotton- 
gins and grist-mills in Cross County, was reared 
on a farm in Shelby County, Tenn., and subse- 
quently farmed for himself in his native county, 
until 1809, when he removed with his family to 
this county, and purchased his present farm of 
100 acres, then in a wild state. He now has fifty 
acres under cultivation, with a good house, barn 
and buildings. M. A. was the son of L. C. and 
Eliza C. (Wiley) Riley, of North Carolina origin. 
His parents were married in North Carolina, and 
came to Tennessee in 1830, where his father pur- 
chased 320 acres of land. Mr. Riley, Sr., was a 
member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 
and died in 1840, his wife dying in 1881 at the age 
of sixty-two years. To these parents were given 
five children, three of whom are still living: Will- 
iam, John and M. A., all residents of this county. 
In 1885 M. A. Riley moved to Cherry Valley, 
where he pui-chased four acres of land, and erected 
one of the finest residences to be found in the vil- 
lage, and also erected a large steam cotton-gin and 
grist-mill, and has a large custom throughout the 
surrounding territory. Mr. Riley was married in 
1868 to Miss Rebecca A. Wiley, a native of Ten- 
nessee, and a daughter of Macaney and Nannie 
(Lovel) Wiley, also of Tennessee. They are the 
parents of five children, two of whom are de- 
ceased: Luella (deceased), Etta, Laura. Robert 
(deceased) and Walter. Politically Mr. Riley is a 
Democrat. He and his wife are connected with 
the Baptist Church. 

William Henry Roberts is, not without merit, 
conceded to be one of the substantial farmers of 
Smith Township. His father, Zachariah Roberts, 
was a native of Virginia, and leaving that State 
in 1827 moved to Tennessee, where he married 
Sarah Fly. She still lives, and resides with Will- 



■v h » > 



378 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



iam Henry, our subject, who is the only child of 
the family living. In 1850 Mr. Roberts settled 
in Cross County, Ark., and resided here about 
three years, then returning to Virginia, where his 
death occurred a short time after. William Henry 
Roberts was born in Gibson County, Tenn., Au- 
gust 6, 1835. He was reared on a farm, being 
denied the privileges of an education, and was mar- 
ried in 1861, to Eliza J. Thomas, who has borne 
seven children: William S., Georgia, Robert L. , 
Mary L. , James H. , Nannie L. and Fannie D. Mr. 
Roberts enlisted in 1802 in the Fifth Arkansas In- 
fantry and served about two years, when he was 
wounded at the battle of Helena, by a minie-ball, 
in the left shoulder. This disabled him, and he 
returned home. In 1865 he purchased the farm 
on which he now resides, then containing eighty 
acres, and has at this time 120 acres, with forty - 
five acres under cultivation. Mr. Roberts is a 
Democrat in his political preferences, and an 
esteemed resident of the community. 

Judge W. F. Robinson, an esteemed member 
of the bench, was reared on a farm in North Caro- 
lina and at the age of nineteen, commenced farm- 
ing for himself, but four years later he entered the 
Peabody School of Pigeon Gap, N. C. , but remained 
in this institution for a short time only, when 
in the fall of 1878 he came to Arkansas, locating in 
Cross County and renting a farm in Searcy Town- 
ship until 1888, when he purchased his present 
farm, which consists of eighty acres of timbered 
land. The Judge was born in Haywood County, 
N. C. , on November 22, 1849, and was a son of John 
P. and Jane M. (Clark) Robinson, of North Caro- 
lina nativity. Mr. John P. Robinson (the father) 
was a farmer by occupation. Hearing his country 
call for volunteers during the Civil War, he en- 
listed in the Sixteenth North Carolina Infantry. 
He is still a resident of Haywood County. Mr. 
and Mrs. Robinson were blessed with ten children, 
five of whom are still living: W. F. (our subject), 
I. M., Dovie L. (wife of James Rinehart), John B. 
and Lorah J. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a 
worthy member of the A. F. & A. M. Judge 
Robinson has been twice married. First to Miss 



Mary E. Shaver, on August 5, 1880, and who died 
the following IMarch. She was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. He was married 
the second time on March 28, 1889, to Miss Mary 
Baker, of this county. In 1876 the Judge was 
elected justice of the peace of Searcy Township, 
which office he held eight years, resigning it to 
accept that of county and probate judge, to which 
he had been elected, and is now serving his second 
term, with satisfaction to the people who honored 
him with their votes and confidence, and with 
great credit to himself. 

Reuben R. Rogers, is also numbered among 
the representative agriculturists of Cross County. 
A native of Louisiana, he was born November 24, 
1852, being the son of James and Hnldah (Arm- 
strong) Rogers, both originally from Mississippi. 
James Rogers moved to Louisiana when a young 
man and engaged in farming and stock raising, in 
which occupation he was interested until his death 
in 1860. His wife died in this county, in 1879 
at the age of forty-nine, leaving three children. 
Reuben Rogers was reared on the home farm in 
Louisiana, until about five years after his father's 
death, when the widow removed with her family to 
Cross County, the subject of this sketch being at 
that time thirteen years of age. He lived with 
his mother up to twenty-two years of age, when 
he was married December 27, 1874, to Miss Alice 
Stanley, a native of Crittenden County, Ark. , and a 
daughter of John Stanley. Though of Mississippi 
origin, he became one of the early pioneers of 
Crittenden County. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers are the 
parents of eight children, four now living: Leslie 
T., Irwin E., Lewin C, and Fannie G. Mr. 
Rogers has a fine farm of 255 acres, with about 
100 acres under cultivation, situated some three 
Tuiles from the mouth of the Tyronza River, at the 
place formerly knovni as Robinson Ferry. He 
also owns a farm of 160 acres, three-fourths of a 
mile east of home place, and located on the same 
river, of which upward of sixty acres are under 
cultivation. Mr. Rogers is an energetic and en- 
terprising young farmer and is making a success 
of his business, being well known and highly 
respected by all. 



^; 






CROSS COUNTY. 



379 



J. T. Kol£f>, propriotor of the Vanmlale Hotel, 
if for no other reason, deserves especial mention as 
a direct descendant of the famous John Rolfe and 
Pocahontas; this is undispntod and reliable, as the 
traditions for many generations point directly to 
those illustrious characters as the founders of the 
family. Mr. Eolfe was born in Mecklenburgh 
County, Va., in 1834, being a son of Samuel D. 
and Susan (Stone) Rolfe. He attained his major- 
ity in the " Old Dominion," and became engaged 
in mercantile pursuits at the age of sixteen. Com- 
ing, in 1857, to Arkansas and settling in Poinsett 
(now Cross) County, where he resumed his inter- 
ests of merchandising at a town called Pineville. 
This place has now disappeared. Here Mr. Rolfe 
remained until 1802, when he enlisted in the Con- 
federate army, in McGee's company. After the 
war he took up farming and gave his attention to 
it until 1882, also serving as constal)le and deputy 
sheriff for two years during that time. In 1882 
he moved to Vanndale and built a hotel and has 
been engaged in the hotel business since that time, 
with very successful results. The hotel building is 
a large, two-story structure 28x60 feet, and erected 
at a cost of $1,200. Mr. Rolfe was married, 
in 18(50, to Miss Lizzie Rose, who died in 1864, 
leaving one child, Mary Susan (now Mrs. Rodg- 
ers). He was subsequently manied to Mrs. Mary 
V. Rolfe, the widow of his brother Alexander. Mr. 
and Mrs. Rolfe are the parents of one son, Samuel 
A. The family are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal and Baptist Churches, and also of the 
K. & L. of H. In addition to his hotel, Mr. 
Rolfe owns a store in Vanndale, in which a large 
and steadily increasing business is being carried on. 

Eli E. Sigman (deceased). Among the many 
estimable citizens of Cross County, who have 
passed to their long home, but who, fi-om an early 
day were intimately and prominently associated 
with the county's development, the name of Eli E. 
Sigman can not be omitted. He was born in Ca- 
tawba County, N. C. , in 1835, and was the son of 
Barnet Sigman, who was a farmer in his native 
State. Eli E. Sigman remained at home and at- 
tended the common .schools, supplementing the same 
by a course at Newton, N. C. , after which he began 



the carpenter's trade and followed this in his na- 
tive State until 1858, when he came to Arkansas 
and settled in what is now Cross County. Here 
he followed his trade and erected moat of the frame 
houses from that time up to the beginning of the 
war. He then volunteered in Company A, Fifth 
Arkansas Regiment, was elected second lieutenant 
and later promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, 
serving with distinguished bravei-y in the battles 
of Shiloh, Perryville, Chickamauga, Nashville, 
Murfreesboro, Franklin and many other minor en- 
gagements. He surrendered in North Carolina 
soon after the battle of Raleigh. On his return in 
1865 he soon married Miss Marie J. Lewellen, a 
native of Tennessee, who came to this State with 
her parents in 1850. Previous to the war Mr. 
Sigman bought a farm of 320 acres, about one and 
a fourth miles west of the present village of Vann- 
dale, and when peace was declared he moved to 
this farm, on which there was but slight improve- 
ment, and at once began to clear up. He soon 
erected a neat residence, cleared about fifty acres 
of land and made a pleasant home. Mr. Sigman 
raised a variety of crops and was also engaged in 
the rearing of stock. To his marriage were born 
these children: Henry J., Willie E., M. Luther 
and N. Jervel. One infant died unnamed. Mr. 
Sigman joined the Lutheran Church in his youth 
but on his arrival in Cross County he connected 
himself with the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, and was class leader, steward and Sunday- 
school superintendent for a long time. Mr. Sig- 
man departed this life on December 8, 1879, from 
pneumonia, and his death was lamented by a large 
circle of relatives and friends. The community, 
the church, the Sabbath school, all felt the loss of 
a good and wise man. Mrs. Sigman is a daughter 
of James Lewellen, who came to this county in 
1850 and who was one of the pioneers and most 
highly respected citizens of the community. He 
reared a large family of children and up to 1881 
they with their parents were all living within the 
vicinity of Vanndale. Since then the parents have 
died, also two of the children, but still a number 
are yet living in the community and are among 
Cross County's most respected citizens. Mrs. Sig- 



f 



380 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



man has a very pleasant home which she makes 
more attractive by the cultivation of innumerable 
flowers. With the assistance of her sons she man- 
ages and cultivates her valuable farm. 

W. H. Slocum. One of the leading farmers 
and old settlers of Cross County is "\V. H. Slocum, 
who is a native of North Carolina, and the eldest 
son of G. C. and Sarah (Griphith) Slocum, also of 
North Carolina birth. Mr. G. C. Slocum was a 
blacksmith by trade, and moved to Tennessee in 
1844, where he died in 1849, and his wife in 1879, 
leaving nine children, three of whom are now liv- 
ing: Mary (the wife of E. Robins, of this county), 
Joseph D. and W. H. , all residing in this township. 
The subject of this sketch dates his existence from 
.January 6, 1828. He received only five months' 
education in youth, his father needing his help in 
the blacksmith shop, in which he worked from the 
time he was able to swing a sledge until twenty 
three years of age. In 1844 he accompanied his 
father to Tennessee, and in 1851 was married to 
Elizabeth Roberts, after which he moved to Arkan- 
sas and settled in this county (then Poinsett), 
where he rented a farm for two years. In 1853 he 
made entry of a quarter section, on which he now 
resides, and afterward bought 960 acres, about 500 
of which he has given to his children. When Mr. 
Slocum first moved to Brushy Lake Township, in 
February, 1861, there were but three families for a 
distance of ten miles north or south. When he 
entered his land there were no clearings on it, and 
he erected a shanty in which he lived by himself 
until a log house was built. In 1874 he con- 
structed the first steam mill and gin in the town- 
ship, at that time the woods abounding in game, 
including bear, deer, and wild turkey. Mr. and 
Mrs. Slocum are the parents of nine children, eight 
living: Benjamin, Preston, Rebecca (now Mrs. Ott), 
Lovenia (wife of B. Bums), Samuel, Charles and 
Virg. Mr. Slocvim joined the Confederate army 
in 1863, and served until the close of the war. He 
was taken prisoner south of Little Rock on July 4, 
1863, and removed to Little Rock, from which he 
was paroled, and afterward rejoined the army, 
serving throughout the war. Upon the close of 
hostilities he returned home and engaged in farm- 



ing and stock raising, in which he has been very 
successful. Mr. and Mrs. Slocum are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and take an 
active part in its affairs. 

R. M. Smith, senior member of the firm of 
Smith, Graham & Jones, merchants at Wynne, 
owes his nativity to Batesville, Independence 
County, Ark., where his birth occurred in 1849. 
His parents, William and Mary (Miller) Smith, 
were also natives of Arkansas, and the father died 
when his son, R. M. , was quite young. The pa- 
ternal grandfather, Robert Smith, was a native of 
Maryland and came to Arkansas in about 1835, set- 
tling at Batesville where he followed farming for 
many years. He owned a fine tract of land on the 
opposite side of the river fi'om the town. He 
moved to Springfield, Mo., in 1878, and there he 
died a few years later at the age of seventy-eight 
years. The maternal grandfather, John Miller, 
moved to Independence County, Ark., in 1817, 
bought a large tract of land near the site of the 
present city of Batesville and was a very success- 
ful farmer, accumulating a very large fortune. He 
died in 1886 at the advanced age of ninety-seven 
years. R. M. Smith passed his youth in Bates- 
ville and in 1866 went to Little Rock, where he en- 
tered St. John's College, and there remained for 
four years. After this he engaged in the retail 
grocery business in Little Rock, remaining there 
until 1871, when he sold his business and went 
back to Batesville. Going to Wittsburg in 1875 
he started a drug store, which he carried on until 
1881 when the firm title was changed to Hamilton, 
Smith & Co., continuing thus until January, 1888. 
That partnership was then dissolved and the firm 
of Smith, Graham & Jones was formed, which in 
February, 1888, opened business in the brick block 
known as the Commercial Hotel, at Wynne. Here 
they carry an average stock of $20,000 and are 
doing a good business. Mr. Smith was married in 
1881 to Miss Mary Mebane (a native of Cross 
County and daughter of W. T. Mebane). To the 
union of Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born two 
children: Bertie and Willie. Mrs. Smith is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Smith 
owns two farms comprising 475 acres, with fifty 






A_ 



CROSS COUNTY. 



381 



under cultivation and another tract three miles 
southeast of Wynne with 125 acres under cultiva- 
tion. He is at jjresent building an elegant new 
cottage with the hall and ceilings finished in natu- 
ral wood and the rooms planned and designed by 
Mrs. Smith. 

T. B. Smith, of the firm of Smith, Cole & Davis, 
of Cross County, is a native of Northern Alabama, 
a son of W. H. and Minerva (Levesquo) Smith, 
who also came originally from that State. The 
father moved to Arkansas in 1854 and located in 
Poinsett (now Cross) County, where he bought and 
entered a farm of 640 acres. He served in the 
Indian War of 1836 for a short time, and was mar- 
ried in 1842-43, being the father of ten children, 
five of whom are still living: W. A., T. B. (our 
subject), Ophelia (wife of J. W. Perkins, of Jones- 
boro), Ala (wife of E. P. Fulenwider, of Jack; 
son. Mo.), and Laura (wife of J. M. Puryear, of 
Jonesboro). Mrs. Smith was a member of the 
Methodist Church, and died in 1879, her husband 
surviving until 1884. He was a very popular man 
and served in several local offices. T. B. Smith 
was reared on a farm and educated in the subscrip- 
tion schools of this county, also attending the 
school of Covington, Tenn. He afterward en- 
gaged in farming on his father's land and also on 
a rented farm until 1876, when he bought a place 
containing 240 acres. This original amount has 
been increased until he now owns some 2,000 acres, 
having about 400 acres imder cultivation. Mr. 
Smith was married in 1874 to Miss Bettie Levesque, 
daughter of Capt. J. M. Levesque [whose sketch 
appears elsewhere in this work]. They are the 
parents of three children (two living): Nannie B. , 
Rufus (deceased) and Morris. Mr. Smith is the 
largest farmer in the county, cultivating over 1,000 
acres, and is also extensively engaged in the saw- 
mill business, having an interest in two mills with 
Messrs. Cole and Davis. Their output will be 
some 2,000,000 feet yearly from each of the two 
mills. He is also interested in a steam-gin, in 
connection with one of his saw- mills. His brother- 
in law, Mr. W. T. Levesque, is associated with 
him in the gin. Mr. Smith has served as a mem- 
ber of the county court, and is at present county 



commissioner, and it was under his management 
that the present court house was built. For 
this attractive and useful public structure he de- 
serves great praise. Mr. Smith is a member of 
the A. F. & A. M. His connection with the affairs 
of Cross County has caused him to become widely 
known, and the faithful manner in which he has 
deported himself in the discharge of public duties 
has redounded greatly to his own credit and the 
benefit of the community. 

R. M. Spain enjoys extensive acquaintance as 
one of the oldest settlers of the county. He is 
also a farmer of Wynne Township. A native of 
Virginia he is the son of N. G. and Martha (Hall) 
Spain, originally from Virginia and South Carolina, 
respectively, the former of whom, in 1840, moved 
to Maury County, Tenn., where he engaged in 
farming, and where his wife died in 1847. After 
that event Mr. Spain married Mrs. L. D. Bender- 
man (nee Matthews). By his first marriage he 
was the father of eight children, two of whom are 
living: Addison H. and R. M. By his second 
union there were three daughters: Lenora (wife 
of John Thomas), Samuella and Lieusha (twins, 
the latter the wife of Thomas English). E. M. 
Spain was born in 1834, and was reared to agri- 
cultural pursuits in Maury County, Tenn., from 
the ages of eighteen to twenty-three being em- 
ployed as a farm laborer. In 1856 he was married 
to Miss Margaret E. Benderman, and for two 
years after lived with his father-in-law. He then 
rented for a short time, and in 1859 came to ttis 
county, buying his present farm, consisting of 297 
acres, to which he has added some eighty-six acres, 
and has now 125 acres under cultivation. Mr. and 
Mrs. Spain are the parents of ton children, four 
of whom survive: EmmaE. (wife of J. W. Moore), 
Ozni, Lenora E. and John A. In 1862 Mr. Spain 
joined the Confederate army in McNeil's regiment 
and served until July 4, 1863, when he was 
wounded at the battle of Helena, and was taken 
prisoner, being removed to the Memphis hospital, 
where he was kept until October of that year; 
then he was confined at Alton, 111., and in Au- 
gust, 1864, he was removed to Camp Douglas, 
from which he was paroled in 1865. When 



it> 



382 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



he returned home his family were in much better 
circumstances than he expected to find them. His 
negroes were still on the farm, and had it in good 
order and crops growing. In 1874 Mr. Spain was 
elected assessor, acceptably discharging the duties 
of that position for two years. Mrs. Spain is a 
member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 
He belongs to the A. F. & A. M. , and is a public- 
spirited and enterprising man, enjoying the respect 
of all who know him. 

G. N. Sparks, of the firm of Daltroff, Sparks 
& Oliver, merchants at Wynne, is one of the most 
enterprising business men of the place. He owes 
his nativity to McMinnville, Tenn. , where his birth 
occurred in 1853, and is the youngest of ten chil- 
dren born to the union of Thomas and Mary L. 
(Boothe) Sparks, both natives of the Old Dominion. 
The father was a tiller of the soil and followed this 
occupation in Tennessee until 1859, when he 
moved to Arkansas, and settled at Jonesboro, 
Craighead County, where he purchased 320 acres 
of land, only slightly improved. Mr. Sparks im- 
mediately began erecting good buildings, clear- 
ing land, and soon bought other tracts in the 
vicinity. He gave all of his children homes at the 
time of their majority and was a man whose 
shrewd business tact is remembered by old settlers. 
He became one of the best-known men in several 
counties, and died in 1878. The mother's death 
occurred two years later, and both were seventy- 
four years of age. G. N. Sparks early in life 
became familiar with the duties of the farm and 
attended the schools of Craighead County until 
fifteen years of age. Later he took a commercial 
course at Leddin's College at Memphis, and when 
seventeen years of age he left the parental roof, 
went to Forrest City, where he engaged as clerk in 
the dry goods store of N. O. Rhodes & Co., and 
remained with this firm for two years. Subse- 
quently he began work for his brother, who was a 
member of the firm of Sparks & Rolloage, and 
continued with this firm until 1874, when he was 
i;uited in marriage to Miss Jennie Cobbs, a native 
of Arkansas, and the daughter of C. H. Cobbs, a 
pioneer of St. Francis County. After his marriage 
Mr. Sparks removed to the old homestead, where 



his father had settled on his arrival in Arkansas, 
and which was given to G. N. Sparks at that time. 
Here he was engaged in farming and teaching 
school for four years, and in 18S0 he engaged as 
book-keeper for Killough & Erwin at Wittsburg. 
After five years he changed to a similar position 
with Block & Co., who had opened a branch store 
at Wynne. In January, 1886, that firm was 
bought out by Daltroff, Sparks & Oliver, who 
opened a fine large store in Wynne. Mr. Sparks 
owns a fine residence in that city, is also the owner 
of real estate in Forrest City and 160 acres of good 
land in Craighead County. He is a member of 
the K. of P. , Levesque Lodge No. 52, at Wynne, 
and is also a member of the K. & L. of H. , Pearl 
Lodge. Mrs. Sparks is a member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church. To the union of Mr. and 
Mrs. Sparks were born two children: Lena May 
and Annie Blanche. Mr. Sparks is a young man 
of cordial and generous disposition, is a member of 
a large firm and is well thought of by all. He re- 
members distinctly that at their first settlement in 
Craighead County, there was but one shanty where 
the city of Jonesboro now stands, and this was 
used as a saloon and kejit by a man by the name 
of Pollard. 

G. W^. Stacy, known throughout the county 
as an upright and thoroughgoing citizen, was 
thrown upon his own resources when very young. 
At the age of sixteen he took charge of his mother's 
farm and bought out the other heirs interested in 
this farm. The old homestead consisted of 200 
acres, located in this county, with forty-five culti- 
vated. He sold this place a few years since, and 
bought the eighty acres of land on which he now 
lives, this lying near to the corporation of what is 
now Cherry Valley, yet was not surveyed at the 
time he purchased this tract. He has since sold 
thirty acres of this land for building purposes. 
Mr. Stacy engaged in the mei'cantile business in 
1877, at this place, carrying a stock of general mer- 
chandise worth between 14,000 and $5,000 and 
built ujj a large trade, doing a business which aver- 
ages about §20,000 i^er j'ear. Mr. Stacy was born in 
this county in 1853, and was the son of Miles and 
Rebecca (Duke) Stacy, natives of Arkansas and 



:.t^ 



CROSS COUNTY. 



383 



Tennessee, respectively. The senior Stacy was a 
farmer and machinist by trade, living in this State 
until his thirteenth year, when he went to New 
Orleans, remaining there until twenty-seven years 
of age, when he returned to this State. He was 
married in Mississippi in 1834. In 1844 he 
came to Cross County, where he purchased some 
400 acres of land. He hold the office of county 
judge for five years, holding this up to the time of j 
his death, which occurred April 18, 1853. He was 
the father of fourteen children, five of whom are 
living: Amelia, Louisa, C. M., R. M. and G. W. 
(ou.r subject). Mrs. Stacy is still living in her 
seventj'-third year, and resides with G. W. The 
latter was married in June, 1875, to Miss Eva 
(McCall) Beadle, a daughter of B. G. and Evaline 
(Wilson) Beadle, originally of Indiana and North 
Carolina, respectively. Mr. Beadle was a first- 
cousin of Abraham Lincoln, and served during the 
late conflict in the United States fi'igate, "'Annie." 
Mr. Beadle was engaged in the manufacture of 
cotton-gins, and died in 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Stacy 
are the parents of six children : C. M. , Lena and 
Ester (who are away at school) and Miles, Henry 
and Glenn (at home). Mr. Stacy is a Democrat in 
politics, and has officiated as the postmaster of 
Cherry Valley for a number of years. 

John Stoner, M. D., a retired physician of 
Tyronza, has been closely identified with profes- 
sional affairs during an active and busy life. He 
graduated from the JefPerson Medical College, of 
Philadelphia, m 1851, after which he commenced 
the practice of his adopted calling in Pennsylvania, 
remaining there for three years. "While in that 
State he was maiTied, in 1842, to Louisa Bixler, who 
died in 1866, leaving five children, two still living: 
Robley D. and Mary (the wife of Mr. Simcox). 
Dr. Stoner married, in 1867, his second wife, 
formerly Miss Kate Huxtable, of New York State. 
They are the parents of two children: Frank and 
Ida. Dr. Stoner was born in York County, Penn., 
October 17, 1822, and was a son of Samuel S. 
Stoner, originally from Germany, and Mary Bru 
baker, of Pennsylvania nativity. About 1871 Dr. 
Stoner moved to Arkansas, and settled in Cross 
Countj', where he now lives, having been engaged 



in farming and stock raising since that time. He 
has a fine place of 320 acres on the St. Francis 
River. Dr. Stoner served in the Union army for 
three years, as assistant surgeon in the Seventy- 
seventh Illinois Infantry. Himself and wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. South. 
He also belongs to the I. O. O. F., and is recog- 
nized as a citizen of influence and worth. 

Joseph Taylor is one of the oldest settlers in 
Cross County, and was bom in Kentucky in Janu- 
ary, 1809, being the son of Peter and Elizabeth 
(Dawson) Taylor, natives of Kentucky and Georgia, 
respectively. Peter Taylor, whose parents were 
Chapman Taylor and Rachel Taylor, was mar- 
ried in 1806, and became the father of twelve 
children, five still living: Joseph (the second one 
of the family), Daniel (in Colorado), Peter (in 
Texas) Elizabeth (now Mrs. Hodges, of Illinois), 
and Rachel (now Mrs. Williams, of Texas). Mr. 
Taylor died in 1825. Joseph Taylor has been 
twice married: first, to Susan Levesque, in 1830, 
who died in 1866, leaving seven children, five of 
whom survive: William, James (who resides in 
Augusta, Ark.), Ellen (the widow of J. J. Fields, 
an old settler of this county), Elizabeth (now 
Mrs. McKey, of Texas) and Mary. Mr. Taylor 
was married to his second wife in February, 
1872, she being Miss Louisa Stafford. They are 
the parents of one child, now deceased. Joseph 
Taylor came to what was then a part of Poinsett 
(now Cross) County, in 1857, where he purchased 
200 acres of land, with about sixty acres under 
cultivation, to this he has since added some forty 
acres; in 1886 moved to Cherry Valley, where he 
bought a house and lot, and now has one of the 
finest homes in the village. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
as was also his first wife. He belongs to the A. F. 
& A. M. Mr. Taylor is a Democrat, politically, 
but never took an active part in politics, and never 
favored slavery. 

William Taylor, in his association with the 
affairs of this county, has come to be recognized as 
one of the prominent farmers. Born in Alabama, 
in 1830, he is a son of Joseph and Susan (Levesque) 
Taylor, and growing up was reared principally in 



f 



^. 



384 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Alabama, receiving a good education, for the times, 
in the common schools. At the age of twenty he 
commenced farming for himself on rented land, 
and in 1852, removed with his father to Western 
Tennessee, where he remained only one year, then 
going to Panola County, Miss. He worked at the 
carpenter trade for a few years in that county, and 
in 1859, came to Cross County (then Poinsett 
County), Ark., locating in what is now Mitchell 
Townshij). At first renting land until 1866, he 
then bought eighty acres on Crowley's Ridge, but 
in 1871, he sold this place, and bought his present 
estate, consisting of 160 acres, with twenty-five 
acres under cultivation. He has also cleared up 
some seventy-five acres of fine bottom land, and 
has a splendid frame house close to the village of 
Cherry Valley. Besides his farming interests he is 
in the carpentering trade. In 1861 Mr. Taylor 
enlisted on the side of the Confederacy, in the 
Thirteenth Arkansas Infantry, serving in the Ten- 
nessee Division. He acted as wagon-master for 
some time, and took part in the battles of Mur- 
freesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and 
Dalton, Ga. After this last battle he came west 
and joined Gen. Price's command as first lieu- 
tenant in a cavalry regiment, remaining with him 
on his raid through Missouri, in 1864 and 1865. 
Mr. Taylor has been married twice; first, in 1851, 
to Mary C. Murphy, a native of Alabama, who 
died in 1871, leaving five children (three now liv- 
ing): Julia O. (wife of P. C. Crumpton), Freder- 
ick P. (deceased), "W. C. (deceased), John M. (clerk 
in the Commercial Hotel of St. Louis) and James 
P. (deceased, who was killed in a storm while rid- 
ing through the woods, by a tree falling on and 
killing him). Mr. Taylor was married the second 
time in 1872, to Mrs. Emma C. Briukley {nee 
Stevens), daughter of James and Rachel (Stovall) 
Stevens, of Tennessee nativity. By this union 
there are five children, (four living): Robert 
N., Charles (deceased), Rachel, Maud and Lillie 
(twins). Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, as was also the first 
wife. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and belongs to 
Arcada Lodge No. 183, in which he holds the office 
of Senior Warden. Mr. Taylor is also connected 



with the I. O. O. F., and the K. of H. A strong 
Democrat, he is a liberal donator to all church, 
educational and charitable objects. 

J. H. Taylor commenced life as a farmer at 
the age of twenty, on a farm in this county, which 
he rented for about five years, when he purchased 
forty acres some three miles east of Wynne. In 
1878 he traded this for the land on which he now 
lives, consisting of 160 acres with ten acres under 
cultivation. At this time he has forty acres under 
cultivation, with a good residence and orchard 
containing about fifty or sixty fine apple trees, all 
in good order. In 1862, Mr. Taylor embraced 
the principles which he believed right, enlisting 
in the Twenty-third Arkansas Infantrj' in which he 
served only eighteen months, being captured at Port 
Hudson, then he was paroled and never exchanged. 
He has been married twice: first in October, 1864, 
to Miss L. C. Pulley, who died in May, 1887, 
having been the mother of nine children, four of 
whom are still living: Mary I. (wife of A. May, 
a resident of St. Francis County), A.S., A. M. and 
! George (who are at home. ) Mr. Taylor was married 
the second time in 1888, to Mrs. Ellen Ramsey 
(nee Griffin). She is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, as was also Mr. Taylor's first 
wife. Mr. Taylor belongs to the A. F. & A. M. 
and is a popular citizen of Wynne Township. His 
parents, Adolford and Martha A. (Brown) Taylor, 
were natives of Tennessee, the former of whom 
moved to this State in 1842 and first settled in 
Jackson County, where he remained two years, then 
finding a home in St. Francis County. After two 
or three years there he came to Cross Coiinty and 
settled at the foot of Crowley's Ridge, where he 
rented a farm. In 1847 Mr. Taylor entered a 
quarter section of land, one mile from where the 
town of Wynne is now located. Afterward selling 
out, in 1854 he bought the farm on which he 
resided until his death, in March, 1881, having 
survived his wife twenty-two years. They were 
members of the Methodist Church, and were the 
parents of nine children, two of whom are living. 

John Toole, roadmaster of the Helena branch of 
the Iron Mountain Railroad, from Knott to Helena, 
was born in Brooklyn, N. Y. , in 1847, and is the 



► V^ 



:L^ 



CBOSS COUNTY. 



385 



son of John and Mary Toole. The parents moved 
to St. Louis in 1856, and here John Toole, Jr., re- 
ceived his education. He remained in school until 
about fifteen years of ago, and then commenced 
railroading on the Iron Mountain road, beginning 
as brakesman, and after a time being promoted to 
conductor. He ran on the road in the latter ca- 
pacity for about eight years, and was then ap- 
pointed roadmaster on the main line between St. 
Louis and Little Rock. In May, 1888, he was put 
in charge of the Helena branch, and has since made 
his headquarters at Wynne. Mr. Toole selected 
his companion for life in the person of Miss Con- 
ley, a native of St. Louis, Mo. , and the wedding 
took place in 1869. To this union were born three 
children, a son and two daughters : John, Kate and 
Alice. Mr. Toole is a member of Lodge No. 52 of 
the K. of P., and is one of the much respected citi- 
zens of the county. He has discharged every duty 
incumbent upon him in his positions of trust with 
accuracy and dispatch, and has the confidence of 
the public. 

Samuel Tyer, Wynne, Ark. This venerable man 
has been a resident of Arkansas since IS 17 and this 
of itself is sufficient to give him an extensive ac- 
quaintance, even if his personal characteristics were 
not such as to draw around him many friends. He 
was born in Tennessee in 1812, and in 1815 the 
family moved to Cape Girardeau County, Mo., 
where his father, Wright Tver, made one crop and 
then, not liking the country very well, he went 
down to the present State of Arkansas and made 
one crop in what is now Smith Township, Cross 
County. The next year (1817) he brought his fam- 
ily to this section and there lived for two years on 
vacant land. In 1820 he bought eighty acres of 
land from William Russell, of St. Louis, who had 
been buying up most of the valuable land in this 
section. The father died in 1831. On this farm 
Samuel Tyer spent his youth, helping to cultivate 
the farm. In those early days they experienced 
many hardships and endured many privations. 
At the time of their settlement, in 1817, there were 
but six families between Ben Crowley's, in Green 
County, and the Jones place, then called Cherokee 
Village, on the southern border of the county. 



Here they lived, and as an occasional settler joined 
them the population increased. In 1838 Mr. Tyer 
married Miss Nancy Newton, a native of Wayne 
County, Tenn., whose father came to Arkansas in 
1836 and started a blacksmith shop, but subse- 
quently moved to Independence County, where he 
died at Sulphur Rock. After marriage Mr. Tyer 
bought a farm three miles north of the present vil- 
lage of "V\'ynne, cleared about twenty-five acres and 
then sold out and moved to the Lone Star State, 
making the trip of 1,000 miles overland in six 
months. Not liking the country or the people he 
soon returned to Arkansas, satisfied that this coun- 
try was good enough for him. On his return in 
1862 he bouglit the place on which he still resides, 
a farm of 160 acres, which was almost wild land. 
This he immediately began to improve and at 
the present time has about forty acres under cul- 
tivation. He and wife are living all alone in a lit- 
tle house which has been their home for many 
years, and during that time they have witnessed the 
gradual development of the country. Their family 
consisted of eleven children, all now deceased but 
three: Josephus arid Monroe (who are living on the 
old place) and Melinda Jane (who resides in Poin- 
sett County). Mrs. Tyer spun and wove the goods 
from which their clothes were made and she had 
not bought any domestic until a few years ago. 
Mr. Tyer has lived in what is now Cross County, 
Ark., longer than any one now living, and in the 
vicinity of Copper's Creek, where his father first 
settled, there were over thirty panthers killed in 
two years. This old and much-respected couple 
have lived for fifty-one years a happy married life 
and have had their share of the hardships incident 
to the early pioneers. They raised all their pro- 
visions and made their own clothing. Mr. Tyer 
still farms and has a good crop of corn this year. 
This worthy couple have a set of knives and forks, 
still in a good state of preservation, which they 
have used through all their married life. 

D. A. Tyer was born in St. Francis County, 
Ark. , shortly after his parents came to this State. 
Curtis Tyer, the father, was a blacksmith by trade 
and a native of Tennessee, who removed here in 
1840, settling in St. Francis County, where he was 



-^ 



386 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



^^ 



married to Elizabeth Sparks, who was also of Ten- 
nessee origin. Mr. and Mrs. Tyer were the jsarents 
of eight children, four of whom are living: D. A., 
Mattie (wife of R. Harrell, of this township), T. C. 
(also of this township) and Sallie (wife of W. H. 
Newsom, a resident of Wynne). Mr. Tyer died in 
1866, and his wife, who was a member of the 
Baptist Church, in 1873. D. A., the subject of 
this sketch, was born in 1846, and was reared on 
a farm, being educated in the subscription schools 
of the county. At the age of twenty-one he com- 
menced farming for himself, and also ran a black- 
smith shop, having learned that trade in his father's 
shop. In 186-1 he joined the army, in defense of 
the Southern cause, and was in Price's raid through 
Missouri, in which he served until the close of the 
war. Mr. Tyer was married in 1866 to Miss Mary 
F. Lindley. Their union has been blessed by eight 
children: Ida (wife of T. N. Holt), Cora, "Willie, 
Robert, Allen, Sallie, Stephen and Grove M. In 
1868 Mr. Tyer bought forty acres of land, to which 
he has since added another eighty, now having 
about sixty acres under cultivation, with a good 
dwelling; he also raises some stock. A public- 
spirited man he is a liberal donator to all enter- 
prises for the good of the community in which he 
lives. 

John M. Vann, merchant and postmaster, Vann- 
dale, Ark. Ever since his connection with the 
affairs of Cross County, Mr. Vann has displayed 
those sterling qualities, industry, i^erseverance and 
integrity, that have resulted in awarding him a 
representative place in matters pertaining to this 
community. He owes his nativity to Fayette 
County, Tenn., where his birth occurred in 1845, 
and is the eldest in a family of seven childi-en born 
to Renselear and Emily M. (Maget) Vann, natives 
of North Carolina. The father was a farmer and 
came to Arkansas, in 1850, settling in St. Francis 
(now Cross) County, about three miles south of the 
present town of Vanndale. In the same year he 
erected a cotton-gin and grist-mill, which was the 
first mill and gin in this section. He bought 640 
acres of land on which he made many improve- 
ments, clearing about 200 acres, erecting buildings, 
etc., and made a good home for his family. He 



was well known as a thrifty and enterprising citi- 
zen, and was for a long time postmaster at Mill 
Ridge, the only postoffice in that section for a long 
time. He was also justice of the peace for a 
number of years. His death occm-red on April 30, 
1887, at the age of sixty-nine years. His estimable 
wife had died two years previoiis. John M. Vann 
remained at home until his twentieth year and at- 
tended the common schools of the section. He 
was preparing to go away to school when the 
breaking out of the war caused him to throw aside 
all thoughts of books. In 1867 he engaged as 
clerk for J. Q. Thomas & Co. , at Wittsburg. with 
whom he continued for one year, and after which he 
began business for himself at Cleburne, at that time 
the county seat. He continiied in this business 
until 1879, when he moved to his farm and there 
erected a store, where he continued business until 
1882. In October of that year he came to a place 
on the Iron Mountain Railroad that had just been 
named in his honor, Vanndale, and here he erected 
a store and dwelling. He has since been increas- 
ing his business and now carries a full line of gen- 
eral merchandise, and has a stock of goods valued 
at .So, 000. In 1870 he was appointed postmaster 
at Cleburne and has continued as such at that 
place and Vanndale ever since, being the only one 
ever at the latter place. Mr. Vann owns 440 acres 
of good tillable land, 100 acres of which is under 
cultivation and the balance mostly covered with 
good timber. He was married in 1870 to Miss 
Ida Hare a native of Tennessee and the daughter 
of Rev. Thomas P. Hare, a pioneer preacher of 
this section. Three children were the result of 
this union: Claude (at present publishing the Reg- 
ister at Forrest City), Thomas and Bessie. The 
family are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South. Mr. Vann is a member of the 
Knights and Ladies of Honor. He has served as 
school director for ten years and takes a deep in- 
terest in educational matters. 

Mrs. Ella Warren. Among the early and most 
prominent farmers of this county some twenty-five 
years ago, was James W. Warren, who came to 
this State in 1852. He was the son of Jesse and 
Rebecca (Boon) Warren, who were the parents of 



^. 



r^ 



Ml 



-4 s 



CROSS COUNTY. 



387 



seven childreo, all of whom are now dead. James 
Warren was married to Ella Futrell in Tennessee, 
in 1847, both natives of North Carolina. After 
his marriage Mr. Warren moved to this State, set- 
tling in what is now Cross Count)^ but at the time 
of his settlement Poinsett County, where he pur- 
chased a section of land, part of which is now the 
village of Yanndale. He also owned a number of 
negroes, and carried on a large plantation previous 
to the war. At the time of the rebellious outbreak 
Mr. Warren was in poor health, and so did not 
take any part in the Confederate service, and died 
soon after the war closed, in 1868. He was very 
active in politics, and was one of the leading men 
of his community, besides being one of the largest 
land owners in the county. He left his widow in 
good circumstances at the time of his death, and 
she has proven herself thoroughly capable of taking 
care of the property left her. Mr. and Mrs. War- 
ren were the j)arents of seven children, two of 
whom are now living: Jefferson (who is married 
and carries on the farm for his mother) and James 
(also at home). Mrs. Warren's parents were very 
wealthy. They moved from North Carolina to Ten- 
nessee when she was but a child. To these par- 
ents were born eight children, five of whom still 
live: Ella (our subject), Sarah, Martha A. (now 
Mrs. Outland), Mary L. and James G. Mr. Fut- 
rell (our subject's father! died in 1883, and his 
wife in 1868. Mrs. Futrell was a member of the 
Baptist Church. Mrs. Warren is an enterprising 
and accomplished lady, and highly respected. 

John N. White, proprietor of the cotton-gin at 
Levesque, Smith Township, Cross County, Ark., 
first saw the light of day in Michigan, in 1848, and 
was the second of six children born to the marriage 
of James and Jane (Williams) White, natives of 
England and New York, respectively. The father 
went to California in 1849, and after returning fol- 
lowed agricultm-al pm-suits in Michigan at an 
early day. Both parents are living at the present 
time. John N. White attended the public schools 
and the college at Hillsdale, until twenty-one years 
of age, when he engaged in the hardware Imsinoss 
for himself in that town, and this continued for 
some time. In 1873 he moved to Missouri, located 



in Cole County, and engaged in the timber busi- 
ness, which he continued for three years. He then 
came to Arkansas and engaged in the same busi- 
ness on White River. In 1884 he came to Cross 
Count}', settled at Cherry Valley, erected a saw- 
mill and there remained about a year in partner- 
ship with D. J. Burks. They moved the mill in 
1885, continuing at this new location until the 
fall of 18S6, and then bought a mill on the bay, 
where they were engaged in cutting timber for the 
railroad during 1880 and 1887. They then built 
a gin and saw mill on the railroad, at a point now 
named Levesque, and soon after erected and opened 
the first store at that place. This store was soon 
sold to O. A. Hamilton, and in 1887 the gin was 
burned down. Mr. White then bought his part- 
ner out and, in 1888, put up a new steam-gin with 
a capacity of twelve bales daily. In 1889 he sold 
the saw-mill to Smith, Cole & Davis. At present 
Mr. White is engaged in the logging business in 
the St. Francis bottom and in his gin at Levesque. 
He is a prominent saw-mill and timber man, is act- 
ive and energetic, and although of Northern birth, 
finds Arkansas good enough for him. He was 
married, in 1884, to Miss Alice Cartright, of Pine 
Bluff, and to this union has been born one child, 
a son named Elmer. 

W. P. Wilkins was partly reared to farm life 
in Tennessee, where he was born, and also in Ken- 
tucky, his parents having removed to the Blue 
Grass State when he was twelve years of age. In 
1847 he came to Arkansas and located in what was 
then St. Francis (now Cross) County, within two 
miles of his present place of residence, and was en- 
gaged for the next five years as a farm laborer. In 
1852 he purchased a quarter section of land, since 
which time he has added forty acres more, now 
having over 100 acres under cultivation, with a 
good house, buildings and orchard, etc. In 1861 
Mr. AVilkins joined the Confederate service in Mc- 
Gee's regiment, in which he served until the close 
of the war, participating in the battles of Big 
Creek, Ironton (Mo.), Wittsburg, and a number of 
skirmishes. Mr. Wilkins was born in Tennessee, 
in 1827, as a son of William and Nancy J. (Sutfin) 
Wilkins. The father was a prominent Tennessee 



^^ 



<S k^ 



itv 



388 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



farmer, and in 1839 moved to Kentucky and settled 
in Jackson County, remaining there until the year 
1845, when his wife died. Returning thence to | 
Marshall County, Tenn., he also died, at the age 
of ninety-six years. Mr. Wilkins served in the ' 
Revolutionary War, and was present at the sur- 
render of Cornwallis. He was always blessed with 
good health, and was never known to call a doctor 
in his life. He had been twice married; first, to 
a Miss Ellison, who was the mother of fonr chil- 
dren, all now deceased, and after her death to the 
mother of our subject, who bore eleven children, 
three living: Isabella (the widow of William Trout), 
B. F. (a resident of Yell County, Ark.) aud W. P. 
The latter was married in 1841) to Miss Mollie El- 
dridge. They have a family of ten children, seven 
of whom survive : P. P. (a resident of Wynne), Isa- 
bella (wife of P. Anderson), N. J., John, Mollie L. 
(the wife of James Halk), Rnfns C. and R. G. Mr. 
and Mrs. Wilkins are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South. He is connected with 
the A. F. & A. M. , and is a member of the school 
board. Mr. Wilkins is a prominent man here- 
abouts, and takes an active part in politics, having 
served as constable of the township. 

H. C. Winters is widely remembered as an old 
settler of Bedford Township. A native of Alabama, 
he is the eldest son of Henry and Sarah (Rinfrow) 
Winters, who came originally from North Carolina 
and Tennessee, respectively. Henry Winters went 
to Alabama in 1828 and settled in Morgan County, 
where he remained five years, going thence to 
Tij)pah County, Miss. He was twice married, 
and by his first wife had two boys, one of whom 
is living: Aaron, a resident of Pope County, Ark. 
Mr. Winters was married to the mother of our 
subject in 1828. They were the parents of six 
children, all of whom are still living: H. C, J. J. 
Thomas, William C, Mary E. (now Mrs. Harbin- 
ger) and Sarah J. (Mrs. Vandover), all living in 
Texas excepting the first named. Mr. W^iuters 
was a soldier in the War of 1812, and died in 
1852. Mrs. W'inters was a member of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, and died in 1880. H. C. 
Winters was born in Morgan County, Ala., in 
1829, and was reared on a farm in Tippah County, 



Miss., remaining at home until twenty-six years of 
age, when he came to St. Francis County, Ark., 
and was an overseer for some five years on a plan- 
tation. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate 
service. Fourth Arkansas Infantry, and served in 
the Trans-Mississippi Department, being wounded 
at the battle of Jenkins' Ferry, and having the 
thumb shot from his left hand. After the war 
Mr. Winters returned home and engaged in farm- 
ing on his own land, which he had bought in 1859, 
consisting of 160 acres. In 1880 he purchased 
the interests of the heirs of his father-in-law to his 
farm on which he now lives. It is a fine place, 
consisting of 240 acres of land, of which some 
sixty acres are under cultivation, and he also owns 
600 acres besides, with forty acres improved. Mr. 
Winters has been married twice; first, to Miss 
Mary E. Meek in 1866, who died in 1886, after 
having reared eight children; five of these are still 
living: H. L., R. M., W. T., J. E. and G. M. In 
December, 1886, Mr. W'inters was married to Mrs. 
Ada Edwards [nee DeKey). She is a member of 
the Baptist Church, his first wife being a member 
of the Christian Church as he himself is. Mr. 
Winters belongs to the A. F. & A. M. , aud is a 
charter member of Levesque Lodge No. 227; he is 
also a member of the I. O. O. F. 

J. G. Wright, M. D., one of the prominent 
physicians and surgeons of Cross County, is a 
native of Illinois and was born in 1830, as the 
son of T. J. and Mary (Griffin) Wright, originally 
from Virginia, and of English descent. The father 
moved to Illinois in 1829, and settled in Edgar 
County, where he farmed until 1855, then going 
to Worth County, Mo. Buying a farm he resided 
until his death which occurred in 1866, at the age 
of fifty-four years. Mr. Wright served as justice 
of the peace four years in Missouri. Mrs. Wright 
still survives him and lives in Worth County, and 
though eighty years of age, she enjoys the best of 
health. They had in their family five children (two 
of whom are living): J. G., Martha (the widow of 
Samuel Adams, late of Missouri), C. C, Ester (de- 
ceased) and Elizabeth (deceased). Mrs. Wright is 
a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 
Dr. J. G. Wright joined the United States army at 



in^ 



^f^ 



_rf 9 



j£: 



CROSS COUNTY. 



389 



the age of sixteen, aud served in the war with Mex- 
ico, participating in the siege of Vera Cruz, and a 
number of other prominent battles. After the 
engagement at Vera Cruz he received his dis- 
charge and returned home. During his time of 
service in that war he marched 500 miles on foot, 
and was disabled and laid up for eight weeks at 
the hospital at Matamoras. After coming home 
he entered upon the study of medicine at the age 
of eighteen in the office of Dr. Lenbrook, of 
Paris, 111. , a graduate of the Jeffer.son College 
of Medicine at Philadelphia. In 1849-50 Mr. 
Wright attended the Rush Medical College at 
Chicago, and in 1850 began his career as prac- 
titioner under his former instructor, where he 
remained for six years, then going to Worth 
County, Mo. Locating at Oxford, he continued 



the practice of his profession until 1880 and also 
served as county justice for two years, and was 
postmaster of Oxford for eight years. He then 
moved to Ottawa, Kan., but after six months 
came to this county. Dr. Wright was married 
in 1851 to Miss Julia Daugherty, of Ohio. They 
are the parents of five children: Florence E. (wife 
of W. D. Sharp, of Ottawa, Kas.), Alice D. (wife 
of J. W. Cubine, of Coffeeville, Kas.), C. J. C. 
and T. J. (both at home) and Mary M. (now Mrs. 
J. M. Tinson, of Kansas City, Mo.). Mrs. Wright 
is a member of the Baptist Church. Dr. Wright 
is a very decided Democrat, but does not take an 
active part in politics. He has a large and exten- 
sive practice as the constant demands made upon 
his time amply indicate, and his kindly manner 
makes him welcome in the sick room. 




^ 9 



ki 



390 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



;ii»f it xf III. 



> * < ♦ 



CuiTTENDEN County— Act of Organization— The Name— Early Settlements and Land Entries- 
Tribunal Centers— Public Edifices— Material Advancement and Progress— The Crit- 
tenden OF To-Day— Its Desirability as a Place of Residence— Resources, 
Location and Topography— Military Affairs- Official Direc- 
tory-Military Road — Railroads— School Matters- 
Religious Condition— Newspaper Press— Towns 
AND Villages— Biography. 

— «^*>4^*— 

On the overwork' d soil 
Of this planet enjoj'ment is sharpen'd by toil; 
And one seems, by the pain of ascending the height, 
To have conquered a claim of that wonderful sight. — Meredith. 




j^ROPEELY speaking, the 
bistory of any definite local- 
ity commences with its for- 
mation. The county of Crit- 
tenden was formed by an 
act of the Territorial leg- 
^ -•<.- islature of the territory of 

■^^^^^i^ Arkansas, in 1825. It em- 

^^^^ braced a large j)art of what is now 
Cross, St. Francis and Lee Counties 
and portions have been cut off from 
time to time as those various counties 
were formed. It now comprises less 
than half of its original area. This 
county was named in honor of Robert 
Crittenden, who was appointed first 
secretary of Arkansas Territory, and 
served in that office from 1819 to 1829. 

The earliest record of land entries in Critten- 
den County are forty Spanish claim grants. Some 
of these grants are now located in other counties, 
as they were formed from parts of this. The first 
entry is dated 1828, and is by John J. Bowie, the 



patentee of the Bowie knife. In 1829 land was 
entered by Charles Kelley, Francis Duvall, W. D. 
Ferguson, Antoine Bearvis and Richard Searcy. 
The first entries of United States lands were in 1829: 
eighty acres by Joseph Hudson; eighty acres by 
Weldon Vanwinkle in 1831; eighty acres by Rob- 
ert Larkin in 1832. In 1833 land was entered by 
Michael Elsberry, William Hagins and Preston 
Yeatman; in 1834 by James Erwin, James Shel- 
by and Isaac Bledsoe; in 1835 by James Erwin, 
Isaac Bledsoe, Jonathan Hand, Robert Larkin, 
Daniel Harkelwood, Preston Yeatman, Robert Lar- 
kins, Jonathan Hann and John J. Walton. In 
1836, the year in which Arkansas was admitted as 
a State, there are too many to enumerate. In 1826 
John Grace deeded a tract of 220 arpents to Nancy 
Procter. On the record book of this county there 
is on record a fi-eedman's certificate given by AVill- 
iam Williams, a notary public of New York, to 
John Brown, a negro, dated May 13, 1812. 

Benjamin FJooy was perhaps the earliest settler 
in Crittenden County. He was military comman- 
dant at the Spanish post or fort of Camp of Hope, 



~"« e 



V 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



391 



f 



on the Mississippi River, opposite Mempliis, now 
known as Hopetield. When this country was sold 
to France, by Spain, and his office was abolished, 
he remained at the old post and began farming. 
Here was made the first clearing, and here he lived 
and died and left children who lived here for many 
years after him. The old house which he built 
was standing till ISoS, when the land on which it 
stood caved into the river, and this old landmark 
was destroyed. 

Augustine Grandee came to what is now Crit- 
tenden County, as a Spanish officer, about 1801. 
Upon the sale of this country to France, he, like 
Commandant Flooy, concluded to remain and make 
this fertile land his home. He settled about four 
miles west of the Mississippi River, on a lake that 
has since borne his name, and near where the town 
of Marion is now built. He died on his plantation 
and left six children, of whom many descendants 
are still living in Eastern Arkansas. 

Gen. Bradley settled on the Mississippi River, 
eighteen miles above Memphis, at an early day. 
He opened up a large plantation and became one 
of the prosperous planters in the pioneer period of 
Crittenden County. 

A member of the State Confederate Conven- 
tion, which met at Little Rock in 1861, he opposed 
the secession of the State with all power, and when 
he died it was with the same sentiment, though he 
was highly esteemed by all who knew him; he was 
the soul of honor, and while his course aroused 
the animosity of most Confederates, they soon 
promoted him to a command of a regiment, but on 
account of old age and feeble health he afterward 
resigned. 

Some of the oldest settlers in this county were 
the Harklerodes, Burgetts, Foglemans, P. G. 
Pollock, E. Garrett, B. F. Allen and Maj. J. B. 
Lyies, who settled at Marion in 1841 ; at that time 
he bought and ran the old hot(>l which still stands 
in the village. 

The Territorial legislature placed the seat of jus- 
tice of Crittenden County, temporarily, at Green- 
ock. This place was soon selected as the permanent 
county seat, and the first court was held here, in 
the house of William Lloyd in June, 1826. 



The old record of deeds of this county shows that 
on June 13, 1827, H. N. Ferguson transferred to the 
county of Crittenden, a tract of land for county 
purposes. This place remained as the seat of jus- 
tice for ton years, when it was permanently re- 
moved to Marion. The site of old Greenock has 
long since been washed away by the Mississippi 
River. 

In 1837 the county court appointed J. R. James 
and John Owens commissioners to select a site 
for the county seat, as the people of the county 
had petitioned for a change. They chose a point 
fourteen miles northeast of Memphis, and four 
miles west of Oldham. On the records is found that 
on June 25, 1837, a deed was given to these com- 
missioners in trust for the county of Crittenden for 
county purposes, by Marion Tolbert and wife. 
Temperance, for one-half of the lots in twenty 
acres. A town was here laid out, and, in honor of 
Mr. Tolbert, was named Marion. 

The first court of Crittenden County was held 
in the house of William Lloyd, and it is not 
positively known whether a court house was ever 
erected at Greenock or not. Mr. A. H. Ferguson 
remembers seeing the old jail at that place, but 
the site of this old town disappeared beneath the 
waves of the Mississippi River so long ago, that 
no one now remembers whether there was a court 
house there or not; it is probable, however, that 
one was erected there. 

Soon after the seat of justice was removed to 
Marion, the county erected a frame court hoBBe; 
this was destroyed by a cyclone, and thus for 
many years court was hold in various buildings, 
in old churches or vacant storehouses, till 1873, 
when the new brick building was constructed. 
The contract for this building and the jail was let 
at $00,000, and county bonds were issued for that 
sum to pay the bill. For two years no work of 
any kind was done, but the county was required 
to pay the interest on the bonds. The building 
was completed in 1873-74, but before the indebt- 
edness was canceled it cost the county over $100, - 
000. It is, however, a neat, two-story brick build- 
ing, commodious and thoroughly satisfactory for 
all purposes. 



392 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



From the first settlement of Crittenden, early 
in the nineteenth century, the productiveness of 
its lands have been phenomenal. With a climate 
mild and genial, admitting of outdoor labor almost 
every day of the year, and a soil that will yield 
abundantly every variety of plant or vine, and 
in addition that king of vegetable products — 
cotton, Crittenden soon began to secure a class of 
active, enterprising and wealth-acquiring citizens. 
During the latter part of the decade of 1840, and 
all through 1850, this county enjoyed unparalleled 
prosperity. By this time immense areas had been 
reduced to cultivation, and wild land was selling 
at from $10 to $35 per acre. The change in the 
current of affairs at the outbreak of the Civil War 
in 1861, settled like a blight upon the fair fields 
of Crittenden, compelling a cessation of all farm- 
ing operations, and this in an agricultural district, 
meant poverty and ruin. Most of the able-bodied 
men also enlisting in their country's service, left 
the land without protection or support. As a great 
part of the planters' wealth consisted in slaves, 
the close of the war foimd many ruined, while 
the homes of nearly all were despoiled, fences 
destroyed, and the land run to brush and bramble. 
Notwithstanding all these drawbacks the people 
began life after the war, under the changed condi- 
tion of things, with hope and promise. Then fol- 
lowed the days of reconstruction, which proved for 
Crittenden County a far worse evil than the war. 
The people look back upon those times with hor- 
ror, and speak about them with indignation. 
Nearly all the county offices were held by negroes, 
who, in the main, were both ignorant and incom- 
petent. The State militia, mostly negroes, were 
quartered in the county for the better part of two 
years, during which time constant strife, many 
murders, and other crimes were constantly being 
committed. Taxation rose till it reached the limit 
of legal interest, while the county scrip depreciated 
to a value of 5 per cent on the dollar. 

In 187-4, under the adoption of the new State 
constitution, the county passed out of this crucify- 
ing period, and the prosperity of the people since 
has only been interrupted by the general overflows 
fi-om the Mississippi in 1882-83. 



Land is being rapidly cleared and improved in 
every township in the county, and the general con- 
dition of the people now is better than at any 
period of its past historj-. Under the wise admin- 
istration of county and local affairs, taxation has 
been reduced to thirteen mills on the dollar, while 
the annual assessments are being constantly re- 
duced. 

The lands, both cultivated and in the timber, 
are rapidly rising in value, and, with the construc- 
tion of a levee to protect the country from over- 
flow, will in all cases advance at least 100 per cent 
more. The completion of this levee, which will 
unquestionably be an accomplished fact in a few 
years, will make hundreds and thousands of acres 
accessible to the farmer, and increase the county's 
wealth almost beyond belief; for these overflowed 
lands are the richest and most productive in the 
Mississippi basin, and will annually yield from one 
to one and a half bales of cotton per acre; practi- 
cally inexhaustible, it may safely be said that for 
a hundred years their fertility would scarcely be 
impaired. 

The erection of the Memphis bridge will bring 
new lines of railroads through Crittenden County, 
adding to her already favorable market facilities, 
while at its western terminus in this county. West 
Memphis, a large town will be apt some day to 
rise. 

The county is well supplied with schools and 
churches and a condition of peace and tranquility, 
indicating continued prosperity for all, is appar- 
ent. Some of the grandest plantations to be found 
in the South, are situated in Wappanocea, Jasper, 
Jackson and Proctor Townships of this county, 
whose individual excellencies it would require too 
much space to record. Suffice it to say, that the 
owners of many of these places came here poor, 
and are actually self-made men, the wonderful 
fertility of the soil making it possible to accumu- 
late a fortune here by farming 023erations in a few 
years. It is safe to assert that few localities in 
the United States can offer to the husbandman ad- 
vantages like this. 

Wild lands in Crittenden County are still to 
be bought at from $1 to $10 per acre, on which 



^ a 



;tz 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



393 



in many cases, the timber can be sold for an ample 
sum to pay the cost of clearing and preparing for 
the plow. This land may now be valued at fi'om 
$40 to $100 per acre, and, with the most ordi- 
nary improvements in the way of bi;iklings, will 
rent for cash at a price per acre which will yield 
a profitable investment for the latter sum, or 
even at $6 per acre, yielding an annual return 
of 6 per cent on 1100. This is no exceptional in- 
stance, but is the general rule throughout the 
entire county. That this state of things should 
exist so near the thickly populated districts of the 
North and East, without more people from those 
sections taking advantage of the wonderful oppor- 
tunities, can only be accounted for by the fact that 
Eastern Arkansas has long rested under the odium 
of prejudicial and falsifying reports. 

It is true that for ten years following the war 
the condition of the State was most critical. Dur- 
ing that period the eyes of the rest of the Union 
were intently gazing upon its various phases of life 
and action while passing through a most trying 
social and political ordeal. Hearsay evidence was 
often employed and political capital manufactured 
by the press out of the most ordinary occurrences 
of civil life. Anarchists in Pennsylvania and Illi- 
nois might murder citizens by the dozen in defiance 
of State authorities; railroad employes in Ohio 
might band together and obstruct general travel, 
to the danger of the lives of thousands of people; 
mobs might gather in New York and Massachu- 
setts, demanding bread or work in menacing terms; 
anything else of a like nature and worse character 
might transpire in any Northern city without at- 
tracting special attention from the news agents, 
but the moment any trivial offense of law happened 
in Arkansas the whole country must be aroused to 
gaze upon the evil times in this unlucky State. 
But whatever hopes or fears may have been the se- 
cret of this unfortunate condition of affairs, they 
no longer exist, and no community in the land en- 
joys more absolute obedience and respect for the 
civil law, than the people of Crittenden County. 
There also exists abroad a veiy wrong opinion as 
to the healthfulness of Eastern Arkansas. Reports 
were circulated in the pioneer period of the county's 



history, based, perhaps, on reports from hunters, 
trappers, wood-choppers, etc., people whose ex- 
posed occupations would tell upon the strongest 
constitutions. At the present time, however, one 
may find, by six months' constant travel through 
Eastern Arkansas, as favorable a condition of health 
among its people, as could be expected in any new 
country; many of the citizens here report cases of 
continual good health among all the members of 
their families for many years. The leading phy- 
sicians state that, as the land is being cleared, cul- 
tivated and drained, the proportion of sickness is 
materially decreasing. To all who contemplate 
removing to Crittenden County, or to Eastern Ar- 
kansas, it is not improper to state that no fear need 
be anticipated of serious ill health; the only requi- 
site being to conduct one's self and live as people 
in a somewhat colder climate are compelled to do, 
and this will be found as healthy a locality as any 
section of the Mississippi Valley. 

^Vith all these advantages to attract immigra- 
tion the citizens of Crittenden cordially invite and 
warmly welcome all worthy and enterprising set- 
tlers. This county is capable of supjjorting ten 
times its present population. Farm hands here, 
at the present time, are scarce, and a thousand la- 
borers might secure employment the year round, 
such help being earnestly sought for and gladly 
employed. 

To the actual settler who comes here with his 
family and buys his farm, need only be shown the 
many cases of the county's self-made men as con- 
vincing proof that success is sure and fortune cer- 
tain. 

Crittenden is purely an agricultural county, and 
as such ranks among the very first in Eastern Ar- 
kansas. While the staple product is cotton, almost 
any plant, vegetable or grain that thrives in a sim- 
ilar latitude can be produced here. Until recent 
years it was scarcely thought to be possible to raise 
domestic grasses, but it has now l)een demonstrated 
that no soil can raise bettor clover, timothy, orchard 
grass and red top. Vegetables of nearly every 
known kind grow here, planted as early as Febru- 
ary. Fertilization is practically unknown, yet 
Irish potatoes yield on an average seventy-five 



-< 9 



i^ 



394 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



bushels to the acre, sweet potatoes from 150 to 200 
bushels, turnips 250 bushels. Watermelons, musk- 
melons and pumpkins are of famous growth. Cab- 
bage, peas, beans, lettuce and spinach do well. 

A good variety of domestic and wild fruits is 
found: Apples, peaches, pears, cherries, plums 
and the several berries. Of apples, early varieties 
do best; of peaches, the medium and late; of 
plums, wild goose and other native plums; of the 
berries, strawberries and blackberries are the best, 
and requiring but little cultivation grow abun- 
dantly. At the New Orleans International Expo- 
sition, held in 1885, and at the California Exposi- 
tion held in 1887, at San Francisco, Arkansas 
apples and other fruits took the first prizes. It 
must be remembered that though Crittenden 
County possesses great natural adaptability to pro- 
duce all the above they are in almost every case 
made subsidiary to the one great crop — cotton; the 
majority of the people scarcely raising enough for 
their own use, and none producing any for market. 
It will thus be seen that as the field is wholly un- 
occupied in the production of these articles their 
cultivation would be attended with profitable re- 
sults from the beginning; even corn, a great and 
never-failing crop, is seldom raised in sufficient 
abundance to supply the home demand. 

Of cotton, that grand agricultural product, 
immense quantities are annually procured. It is 
the only money-making crop which the people of 
this county handle at the present time, while the 
peculiar adaptability of the soil (a rich alluvial 
deposit of sand and sandy loam) makes it highly 
profitable. As scarcely one twentieth of the avail- 
able land is under cultivation the capacity of the 
county is susceptible of a vast increase. 

The luxuriant vegetation of natural grasses 
affords excellent grazing for horses, cattle and 
sheep. Corn, which thrives throughout the county, 
affords a nutritious food for stock. So far there 
are not many regularly established stock farms, 
but the biisiness is beginning to develop. The 
mildness of the climate saves the great expense of 
costly stables, which falls so heavily on farmers 
of the North and East. At the same time stables 
sufficient to protect against the rain and spells of 



comparatively cold weather are not to be dispensed 
with by wise farmers. Raising hogs is also profit- 
able, but there are not nearly enough raised to 
supply the home demands. 

The value of the lumber-producing trees of 
Crittenden County is extensive and almost incalcu- 
lable. This source of wealth remains to-day almost 
untouched, and only awaits the introduction of 
saw-mills and means of transportation to place 
hundreds of millions of feet of valuable lumber on 
the markets of the world. There are, throughout 
all sections of this locality, large areas of forests 
of cypress, oak of many kinds, ash, pecan, hick- 
ory, Cottonwood, sycamore and many others that 
may be profitably employed in various articles of 
manufacture and commerce. There are yet but 
few saw-mills in this county, and still fewer stave 
and bucket factories, while there is an abundance 
of the best timber in the world for use for those 
purposes. 

The rich and fertile county of Crittenden is 
situated in the eastern part of the State of Arkan- 
sas, and is bounded on the north by Poinsett and 
Mississippi Counties, on the east by the Mississippi 
River, which separates it from Tennessee and Mis- 
sissippi, on the south by the Mississif)pi River and 
on the west by Lee, St. Francis and Cross Coun- 
ties. It extends for seventy miles north and south 
along the river, and has an area of t'>(jO square 
miles. The country is of an alluvial deposit and 
stretches a solid expanse of rich bottom land. There 
are many ridges that are above overflow, but by far 
the greater part of the county is subject to inun- 
dation from the annual river floods. Tyronza 
Bayou, in the northwestern part, is a navigable 
stream, and Lake Grandee, which communicates 
with the Mississippi at Mound City, is plied by 
small steamboats during periods of high water. 

Reference has already been made, in a general 
way, to the county's share in the results following 
the war of 1801-65. During that conflict, in jiro- 
portion to its population, Crittenden sent more 
men to the field, perhaps, than any other county 
in Arkansas, while among these soldiers were many 
who won distinction for their valor on the battle- 
field, and shed glory on their name at home; also 



^|V 



J^l 



(5 k. 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



395 



1^ 



giving an envial)le distinction to thoir county in 
tht> annals of the Confederate cause. 

Maj. J. F. Earle, early in 1801, raised a cav- 
alry company of State troops. After a short time 
this company was turned over to the Confederate 
Government and attached to the army of Gen. 
Hardee, at Pocahontas. This company was in the 
Hardee division all through the war, and was in 
many severe battles. 

O. P. Lyles enlisted in this company, but was 
detached after three months; he then returned to 
Crittenden County, and raised a company, known 
as Lyles company. This company joined the 
Twenty-third Arkansas Regiment, Infantry. This 
company was in the battles of Corinth, luka, 
Davis' Bridge, Plaines Store (La.), siege of Port 
Hudson, and many minor engagements and im- 
portant campaigns. 

At Tupelo, the company was reorganized, and 
attached to Maury's division. Here its captain, 
O. P. Lyles, was made colonel, serving as such 
for two months, and was then put in command of 
a brigade, and sent to Louisiana to aid Gen. Vil- 
lipig. The General died soon after Lyle's arrival, 
and Gen. Bealle was put in command of all the 
troops. The boys were then called the Fourth 
Arkansas Brigade. Bealle was succeeded by Gen. 
Gordon, and soon after that began the siege of 
Port Hudson, which continued fifty-one days and 
nights. 

Capt. John B. Baxter, who commanded a com- 
pany from Monroe County, was also in this fort 
during the siege. On one occasion he was directed 
by Col. O. P. Lyles to hold a point called the cita- 
del, and informed by the Colonel that the enemy 
had already tunneled under him for eighty feet, 
and might at any time explode the mine beneath 
him. Having warned him of the danger, he elected 
to go himself, saying ho "might as well brook 
danger as any of his men." He held the position 
that night, and the next night the surrender oc- 
curred. Col. Lyles was informed by the Federals 
that they were to have exploded the mine at 12 
o'clock the next night, but he (Lyles) had jilanted 
a barrel of powder to have blown them up at 10 
o' clock. 



After the surrender the officers were sent to 
New Orleans and Johnson's Island, in Lake Erie, 
while the privates wore allowed to return home on 
parole. 

Capt. Crump, of Crittenden County, did good 
work at Belmont, whore he was wounded, and de- 
serves special mention. [A fuller account will be 
found in his biography.] Various other companies 
secured troops fi'om this county, operating mostly 
on police duty and home defense. Of the men 
who so nobly and promptly responded to the call 
for troops from Crittenden County, about one-half 
fell in battle, or died in the hospital, or upon the 
march. The county olHcers of Crittenden County, at 
the present time,(1880), are: Judge, S. A. Martin; 
county clerk, Samuel Keel; sheriff, W. F. Werner; 
treasurer, A. H. Ferguson ; coroner, C. E. Rasberry; 
surveyor, Ed. Cheatham; assessor, W. J. Harden; 
representative in the State legislature, Asa Hodges. 
Some of the former county officers are also here 
appended. 

County judges: D. H. Harrig, Charles Black- 
more, A. B. Hubbins, H. O. Odors, W. C. Trice, 
T. M. Collins (4), W. B. Hay, A. Mensinger, John 
Thorn, B. C. Cramp, J. A. Alexander, W. P. 
Farnum, William Rives, G. W. Duke, J. F. Bar- 
ton, Asa Hodges, A. B. Gatlin, T. L. Daugherty, 
R. B. Barton, J. H. Williams, Daniel W. Lewis 
and S. A. Martin. 

Clerks: J. Livingston, S. R. Cherry, J. H. 
Wathen, J. Broadenax, W. Armistead, W. P, 
Chen-y (5), S. T. Gilbert, J. J. Lyles, O. P. Lyles, 
J. F. Earl, J. Swepston, D. W. Lewis, T. W. 
Gibbs, A. H. Ferguson, David Ferguson and Sam 
Keel. 

Sheriffs: W. D. Ferguson (served for twelve 
years). J. S. Neely, F. B. Read, C. Stubble, G. 
W. Underbill, C. J. Bernard, B. C. Crump (served 
for ten years), J. G. Berry, J. S. Halloway, J. T. 
Grooms, W. D. Hardin, E. B. Lewis, W. F. Beat- 
tie, J. Swepston (14) and W. F. Werner. 

Treasurers: A. B. Hubbard (1), F. B. Read, G. 
S. Fogleman (served for twenty years), R. C. Wal- 
lace, B. M'estmoreland, W. D. Hardin, Samuel 
Floyd, W. F. Werner and A. H. Ferguson. 

Surveyors: S. A. CheiTy, F. B. Read, R. 



A 



>^ 



396 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Wallace, R. R. "Williams, J. Bayless, J. Earle, A. 
Jones, J. C. Duncan, W. Fullwood, Q. M. Bel- 
lows, E. T. Wimpey, L. B. Hardin, R. Mosely, 
J. Brown, R. Henderson (12), A. Martin, S. A. 
Martin, Russ Davis and Edward Cheatham. 

Coroners: W. Goshen, William Cherry, O. Wal- 
lace, John Tory, J. Withworth, H. Bacon, G. 
McMullen, J. B. Lewis (2), Joshua Hicks. T. M. 
Peak, John Peak, J. Markham, Wm. Maggerson, 
P. H. Berry, R. Hood, J. A. Lyles, J. W. Jones, 
P. Houston, M. L. Johnson, Jeff Rives, S. N. W. 
Whitting (6), B. Westmoreland, John Terry, S. R. 
Rushing (11), Shipp Cobb, J. Smith, D. Sumrell 
(15), C. E. Rasberry and Eli Jackson. 

Assessors: B. C. Crump, A. J. Haynes (7), 
W. L. Copeland, Jubilee Adams, G. W. Oglesby, 
L. P. Berry, J. "Wotford, H. Waterford, R. Y. 
Logan, J. R. Rooks and W. J. Harden. 

In the Territorial legislature Crittenden Coun- 
ty was represented by the following named: In 
1827, John Johnson; 1829, W. D. Ferguson; 1831, 
James Livingston. In the council during these 
years, G. C. Barfield, E. H. Bridges and W. W. 
Elliot served. 

In 1836 the Territory of Arkansas was admitted 
to the Union of States, and Crittenden, since that 
time has sent the following members to the Gen- 
eral Assembly: 

Senate: In 1836-40, W. D. Ferguson; 1842-44, 
A. G. Greer; 1844-45, P. G. Rives; 1846-53, G. 
W. Underbill; 1854-61, Thomas B. Craighead; 
1865, T. Lamberson; 1866-67, O. P. Lyles; 1873, 
Asa Hodges; 1874-75, J. M. Pollard andC. L.Sulli- 
van; 1879-81, R. G. Williams; 1883-85, R. F. Crit- 
tenden; 1887-89, Riddick Pope. 

House: In 1887-38, C. N. Blackmore and J. N. 
Calvert; 1838, W. C. Trice and L. H. Bedford; 
1840, T. M. Collins and A. J. Greer; 1842-43, 
Thomas M. Collins and P. G. Rives; 1844-49, 
Thomas M. Collins; 1852-53, J. A. Lovejoy; 1854- 
55, James F. Barton; 1856-57, Henry B. Edmon- 
son; 1858-59, O. P. Lyles; 1860-61, B. L. Arm- 
strong; 1864-65, F. Thrusby; 1866-67, R. C. 
Jones; 1868-69, Asa Hodges; 1871-73, Adam John- 
son; 1874, S. P. Swepston and J. F. Smith; 1875, 
W. L. Copeland; 1877, James Wofford; 1879, A. 



C. Brewer; 1881, R. F. Crittenden; 1883, Daniel 
Lewis; 1885, Asa Hodges; 1887, S. S. Odom; 1889. 
Asa Hodges. 

Many of the men who have served Crittenden 
County in these various official capacities, whether 
in State or in county positions, have been men of 
rare personal attainments and ability, highly edu- 
cated and intelligent, some absolutely self-made, as 
Asa Hodges, who, from youth has been the archi- 
tect of his own fortune. He served in the house 
of the General Assembly in 1868-69, was elected 
to the State senate in 1873 and while still a member 
of that body, was elected to the National Congress. 
Few men with brighter minds than Mr. Hodges 
are found in any land, none with a more patriotic 
devotion to his country. Conservative in his views, 
he is never blinded by trifles which float in the 
atmosphere of party strife, but always seeks with 
the mildest measures harmonious adjustment for 
the good of all. In his declining years his power- 
ful mind still retains the activity of younger days, 
and Crittenden County had no better man than he 
to return to the General Assembly in 1888, at 
which election he received a large majority of 
votes, and the earnest supjaort of the county's best 
citizens. 

In 1832 the United States Government con- 
structed a road west from Memphis to Little Rock, 
over which they moved the Indians from the States 
east of the Mississippi River. It passes west 
through Crittenden County a length of twenty six 
miles, and immediately after its construction be- 
came the grand highway for emigration to all west- 
ern points. This was the only jjassage through 
the Wilderness, as the Mississippi bottoms were 
called at that time, and Texas received its flood of 
pioneers from over this highway, as did Kansas, 
Nebraska and Western Missouri; so from the time 
of its completion till 1860 there was hardly a day 
of any month in all those years, but what, from any 
point along its path, long trains of wagons could 
be seen slowly wending their way beneath the 
overhanging trees, and through the swamps that 
often lay for many miles along their track. 

Crittenden County is well supplied with rail- 
roads, having in the aggregate about seventy-one 






-^|v 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



■dd'i 



miles of track belonging to three different lines of 
roads, all passing tbrougb its territory and termin- 
ating at the river opposite Memphis. 

The first road constructed through the county 
was the Memphis & Little Eock. It is nineteen 
miles long, passing southwest from Hopetield 
through Mound City and Proctor Township. 

The Kansas City, Fort Scott & Memphis 
Railroad, completed in 1883, passes from West 
Memphis northwest through Mound City, Jasper, 
Wappanoeca and Fogleman Townships, and has a 
length in this county of twenty- six miles. 

The Memphis or Bald Knob branch of the Iron 
Mountain Railroad was completed through Critten- 
den County in 1888; it also has a length here of 
twenty-six miles, and traverses west from West 
Memphis, through Mound City, Jasper and Jack- 
son Townships. 

These various lines of railroads represent in 
value about one half of the taxable property of the 
county. 

In Crittenden County there are twenty-one 
school districts, in all of which school is held dur- 
ing several months of the year. 

The county examiner's report of 1888 shows a 
total enrollment of 3,570 children of school age. 

To employ teachers for the education of this 
large school population the county has abundant 
funds, for while the amount expended for teach- 
ers' salaries in 1888 was $9,874 the income from 
various sources was 116,934, leaving a balance in 
the hands of the county treasurer of over §7,000. 
With this large sum, and with the interest that 
the people of the county are taking in educational 
matters, it will be ]ilainly seen that Crittenden 
County will soon have as good schools as any 
county in the State. 

The Methodist Church of Marion was organ- 
ized many years ago by some of the old pioneers 
of this section. In 1879 a fire in the town de- 
stroyed this church, soon after which the ladies 
of Marion, taking the matter in hand, were instru- 
mental in raising funds for the erection of another 
edifice. The new building was compli'ted a year 
or so later; it is a tasty and ornamental structure, 
costing about $800. Mr. Smith and Dr. Whitsitt, 



superintended the work, and lent such assistance as 
was needed from time to time. 

In May, 1889, Col. J. F. Smith, and others 
started the Marion Reform, a weekly newspaper, 
whose purpose was to improve and elevate the 
morals of the citizens, and improve the intellect- 
ual condition of the people generally. A paper 
published by the colored people at Marion, called 
the Marion Headlight, had been in circulation for 
about two years, and was outspoken, and strenu- 
ous in inciting the colored people to discontent and 
discord. The promoters of the reform advocated 
a practice of fair and just dealing, showing the 
colored people, that as peace was their everlasting 
hope, its preservation was equallj' essential to all, 
both white and black. Mr. W. M. Holmes, the 
present publisher, has had it in charge l)ut a short 
time, yet he is building his publication into a cred- 
itable county newspaper, and one that is destined 
to wield decided influence. 

There are no towns in Crittenden County that 
can be properly so called except Marion, the county 
seat. This village is situated fourteen miles north- 
east of Memphis, and five miles directly west from 
the Mississippi River. The settlement near here 
was made early in the nineteenth century l)y 
Augustine Grandee, who settled on a lake that 
still bears his name. Around this old Spaniard's 
settlement soon clustered others, seeking favorable 
situations for a home, till, in 182(5, when the com- 
missioners appointed by the county court to selept 
a site for the seat of justice for the county, chose 
this point; so on the banks of Lake Grandee, which 
is navigable in high water, the town of the future 
seat of justice was laid out. The alternate lots of 
twenty acres were deeded to Crittenden Countj' by 
Marion Tolbert and wife. Temperance, and the 
name Marion given to the town was likely bestowed 
in honor of Mr. Tolbert. A postoffice was soon 
established, and the fii'st postmaster was (upon the 
authority of ^Ir. William Vance) Sam Gilbert. 
Among the early merchants was Capt. McAlister. 

The principal industries now in the place are 
represented by the following: General stores, James 
Bassett, William M. Bingham, Lewis & Newman, 
Raymond Henderson, A. F. Ferguson, Samuel D. 



398 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Bassett, J. R. Chase, T. Ankrun and J. F. Smith; 
lawyers, L. P. Berry, R. F. Crittenden; physi- 
cians, W. M. Bingham, T. O. Bridgforth, W. R. 
Barton; blacksmith, G. W. Hunter; cotton-gins, 
Asa Hodges, J. F. Smith, S. C. Cox, R. H. 
Weaver, Sam Keel and John Burns. There is 
one white and one colored Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and three Baptist colored Churches in 
the place. C. L. Lewis is postmaster. The city 
officers elected in April, 1889, were: L. D. Blann, 
mayor; C. L. Lewis, recorder; L. P. Berry, James 
Bassett, James Brooks, A. W. Mathews, J. S. 
Smith, aldermen; John Painter, marshal, Frank 
Forrest, deputy marshal. 

Marion is surrounded by a magnificent stretch 
of cultivated land, thousands of acres surrounding 
it on every side, while along the military road the 
plantations extend unbroken to the river, or for 
more than five miles. In the immediate vicinity 
are some of the largest and finest cotton planta- 
tions to be found in the South. 

Marion Lodge No. 3114, K. of H. . was organ- 
ized by the Rev. Mr. Futrell, about 1SN5. Some of 
the original members were; C. L. Lewis, A. S. 
Grigsby, Sam Bassett, James Bassett, A. H. Fer- 
guson, J. R. Chase and J. H. Smith. 

In 1883 the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gal- 
veston Railroad was completed to the bank of the 
Mississippi River opposite Memphis. The com- 
pany at once built a station and made railroad 
yards, to which Gen. Nettleton gave the name of 
West Memphis. 

In 1870 Robert and Hope Vance settled on 
about 000 acres that had been bought by their 
father, William Vance, for his children. This was 
all wild land, and the Vance boys built a log-cabin 
in which they "bached." 

In 1875 Robert built a neat frame residence, 
which now stands opposite the railroad station. 
Up to the completion of the railroad these were the 
only houses at this point. 

In 1884 Robert, Frank and Arthur Vance con- 
ceived the idea of laying out a town here. All the 
buildings erected there have been built on this 
site or on the land of Hope Vance, which has been 
laid out as an addition to the town. 



In 1888 the Memphis branch of the Iron Mount- 
ain Railroad was completed to West Memjihis, 
and the trains cross on the Kansas City transfer 
boats. 

There are three stores there now, conducted by 
Winchester Bros., Richard Bros, and C. B. Gwin. 

The St. Louis Wood & Willow Factory have 
just completed their large manufacturing estab- 
lishment here, and in the near future will give em- 
ployment to a large force of hands. 

In 1885 a postoffice was established and Robert 
Vance was appointed first postmaster; he has since 
held the commission and had charge of the office. 

The present population is about 200, but on 
the completion of the Memphis bridge, now in the 
course of erection, it will offer great opportunities 
for business investment. 

In the early history of this county Mound 
City was one of its important points. It was locat- 
ed on the Mississijjpi, a few miles above Memphis, 
and was made the terminus of the military road. 
Early in 1850 and 1800 there were several stores 
here, and immediately after the war they did an 
extensive trade, it being the distributing point for 
all the interior country. There were several large 
hotels, only one of which is standing now, and that 
is a ruin. In 1865 the steamboat Sultana, crowded 
with discharged Federal soldiers returning home, 
blew up in the channel in front of Mound City. It 
was a horrible accident, in which it is estimated 
that 2, 000 people lost their lives. The boat sank in 
the channel, and around the old hull a bar soon 
began to form. It enlarged from year to year, and 
soon changed the channel of the river. The bar 
thus formed about the sunken hull is now an island 
of considerable size, and completely shuts ofP 
Mound City from the river. So, as it has no river 
trade, and the railroads taking the freight to the in- 
terior, it is now nothing more than the barest re- 
membrance of what it used to be. There is one 
store here, kept by John Malone, who is also post- 
master. Several large and fertile plantations are 
around this old place. 

The village of Crawfordsville is situated in the 
eastern part of Jackson Township, in the western 
part of Crittenden County. It is in the center of 



^F\^ 



IS 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



399 



a farming district that was settled many years ago, 
and surrounded by some of tlife choicest and most 
productive lands in the State. It is a great cotton- 
producing section, and since the completion of the 
Memphis branch of the Iron Mountain Railway it 
is rapidly growing into an active business center. 

There is a larger area of arable land about 
Crawfordsville than in any other part of the 
county. 

The business interests consist of four general 
stores, conducted by A. K. Strong, J. H. Williams 
& Bro. , Arthur Blann and R, G, Logan; one 
saloon by A. M. Gibson; two steam cotton-gins 
by Mrs. Jenkins and Mr. Swepston. 

A white Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
and several churches for the colored people are 
found, besides two schools for the colored chOdren 
and one for the white. B. M. Williams is the 
postmaster, and the village has a population of 
about 200 souls. 



Edmond M. Apperson, Jr., an enterprising 
citizen of Proctor Township, owes his nativity to 
the State of Kentucky, where he was born, in 
Shelby County, August 25, 1858, being the son of 
J. \\'. and Margaret A. (Thomas) Apperson, na- 
tives of Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively. J, 
W. Apperson was connected with the business 
house of E. M. Apperson, Sr. , at Memphis, Tenn., 
prominent wholesale grocers, cotton factors and 
commission merchants, and met his death at the 
battle of Shiloh. Mrs. Apperson continued to re- 
side in Memphis after her husband's demise, and 
gave her children liberal advantages for obtaining 
an education. By her union with Mr. Apperson 
she became the mother of three children : Edmond 
M. , Jr., Bertha (wife of C. H. Bond, of Cuero, 
Tex.) and John W. (traveling salesman). Ed- 
mond M. , Jr., passed his boyhood days in the 
schools of Memphis, and at the age of fifteen en- 
tered the college at Lexington, Va. , a well-known 
and popular military institution. At the expiration 
of three years he accepted a position as shipping 
clerk in the firm of E. M. Apperson & Co. In 
1880 he was united in matrimony with Miss E. D. 



Jeffies, and to their union two children have been 
born: William J. and Edmond M. (who died in 
1888). Mr. Apperson and Mr. Jeffies are the own- 
ers of 240 acres of valuable land, as mentioned in 
the sketch of Mr. Jeffies. Politically the former is 
a Democrat and exerts considerable influence in the 
county during election. He comes from one of the 
oldest families to settle in Memjihis, and is a man 
whom it is a pleasure to meet. Popular in business 
and social circles, he is well worthy the confidence 
and esteem reposed in him by the entire com- 
munity. 

Maj. James F. Barton (deceased), whose portrait 
appears in this volume, was one of the most prom- 
inent citizens of this county as well as of the State. 
The Barton family is one that is well known in con- 
nection with the history of Arkansas, and is of 
English-Irish lineage. The first history that we 
have of them is a Barton, whose given name is un- 
known, that came to this country and settled in 
Charlotte County, Va., long before the Revolution- 
ary War, where his sou, James Barton, is supposed 
to have been born, and he is known to have 
immigrated to Abbeville District, S. C. He also 
had a son, James, who was born February 22, 
1772, in Charlotte County, Va. He left his native 
State in 1784, going to South Carolina with his 
father, where he remained for ten years, when he 
married and went to Mercer County in 1794; in 
1796 to Barren County, where he died September 
24, 1846. He was a self-made man, having started 
with little but his hands, and a determined mind to 
make his fortune, which he did, for he was verj' 
wealthy when he died. Ho was an earnest worker 
in the Christian Baptist Church, very charitable, 
of a pushing and energetic turn of mind. James 
Barton, son of the above, was born July 5, 1794, 
in Mercer County, Ky., and in 1823 he moved to 
Henry County, Tenn., whore he remained till 1835, 
when he moved to Tipton County, Tenn., where 
he died March 5, 1852. James Forbes Barton, son 
of the above and subject of our sketch, was born in 
Henry County Tenn., December 7, 1824. He went 
to Barren County, Ky., where he reached his ma- 
jority, and received the last years of his educational 
training. While in this county he was married 



>?• 



400 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



December 7, 1847, to Frances B. Edmunds, who 
was born December 7, 1831. In 1S50 they moved 
to Texas, but at the request of his father returned 
in 1852, and settled in Crittenden County, where 
he purchased large tracts of land, on which he 
made many valuable improvements. He also en- 
gaged in steamboating, and having become very 
prominent in politics was elected to the legislature 
and was afterward county and probate judge. At 
the outbreak of the Civil War he was a sympathizer 
of the Union, but when the South seceded, he took 
sides with his State and joined the Confederate 
army, and after casting his lot with the South, he 
took active part and served with great credit. Ho 
organized a company in Crittenden County, of 
which he was made captain of the rank of major. 
He was assistant quartermaster under the then 
chief quartermaster of the Trans-Mississippi De- 
partment, Maj. John D. Adams, of Little Rock, 
Ark. He held the position of collector of cotton- 
tax till 1803, when he was recommissioned to or- 
ganize a battalion in the Confederate States. Going 
into the service as a captain in Col. Dobbin's reg- 
iment, he was commissioned by the department to 
go into Georgia to secure arms for the soldiers. 
After making torn- trips, he secured enough arms 
to equip nearly all of Gen. Price's army, previous 
to the last raid through Missouri, Kansas and In- 
dian Territory. Near the close of the war he was 
made major, which office he filled till the close, 
when he surrendered at Mound City, this county, in 
1865. During the war the Federal troops burned 
his home, leaving his family in very destitute cir- 
cumstances, having neither food nor clothing. The 
war ended, he returned to his family and took act- 
ive part in righting the wrongs brought on by the 
long contest. He held the oflSce of county judge 
till the reconstruction, when he was disqualified. 
He then moved to Memphis, Tenn. , where he owned 
considerable property, and lived there till his 
death, which occurred October 11, 1873, of yellow 
fever. While in Memphis he became very promi- 
nently engaged in the manufacture of cotton -seed 
oil, and was the cause of the establishing of 
the second cotton-seed-oil mill in the city of 
Memphis, and at the time of his death was super- 



intendent of the Memphis Cotton Seed Oil Com- 
pany. He never raised a bale of cotton in his life, 
but was mostly engaged in buying and selling real 
estate, and before the war owned quite a number 
of slaves; he also owned the ferry- boats that ran 
between Memphis and Arkansas from 1857 to I860 
and after the war for several years. He was al- 
ways foremost in any movement to develop the 
county, was liberal and charitable to a fault, and 
was an active member of the church, having joined 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at Louis- 
ville, and upon his arrival at Memphis united with 
the First Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at 
that place, and was later made steward of the 
same. Maj. Barton had a family of eight chil- 
dren, seven of whom lived to be grown, and five 
are still living, as follows: William Edmunds, 
James T., Charles F., Richard (deceased), H. F. 
(deceased in his twenty-fourth year), Dr. Robert 
W. , John F. (who died at the age of twenty-two 
years) and Lee. After the death of the Major, his 
wife was married to Col. A. M. Hardin, of Marshall 
County, Miss. She visited, in 1888, her child- 
hood' 8 home in Barren County, Ky. , hoping to be 
restored to health. While there surrounded by 
relatives, including three of her sons, she died 
expressing complete faith in Christ. She was for 
forty-four years a devout Christian and a member 
of the Methodist Episcoj^al Church, South. She 
was an estimable lady and loving wife, and co- 
operated with Maj. Barton during the adverse as 
well as the favorable circumstances of his life. 

Frank H. Barton (deceased), remembered as 
among the leading influential residents of this 
community, was born in Henry County, Tenn., 
February 22. 1832, and died August 30, 1884. He 
was reared in Tipton County, Tenn., and came to 
; Crittenden County from Memphis in 1852, locating 
on an island near Marion, where he had only four- 
teen acres of land under cultivation. In the fall 
of 1859 he built the handsome residence in which 
his family still lives. From the small place of 
fourteen acres, under his energetic and careful 
management, grew the large farm that consisted 
of over 1,000 acres, with 500 acres in an excellent 
state of cultivation at the time of his death. He 



V 



tiL 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



403 



was elected treasurer of Crittenden County before 
the war, when he took an active ])art in ]iolitica], 
school and church matters, and joined the Chris- 
tian Church of Memphis in 1872. He joined the 
Confederate army near the close of the late war, 
and did active service till the close of the war. 
Mr. Barton was first married to Alice E. Fogle- 
man, who was born November 22, 1842, in this 
county, where she was reared and where she died 
December 26, 1865. She was the daughter of 
John and Elizabeth A. (Trice) Fogleman, and was 
the mother of one child, Frank G., who is unmar- 
ried and living on the home place. Mr. Barton 
was a second time married January 8, 1867, his 
wife being Lizzie Edmunds, a native of Barren 
County, Ky. , and the daughter of Charles P. and 
Elizabeth (Eubank) Edmunds, who came from Vir- 
ginia to Barren County. The father was born in 
1811, and died in his seventy-second year; his 
wife was also born in 1811, and died November 24, 
1881. They were both members of the Christian 
Church, of which he was also an elder. They 
reared a family of ten children to be grown, of 
whom Mrs. Barton is the sixth. She attained 
womanhood in Kentucky, where she was married 
to the subject of this sketch. This couple were 
the parents of eight cliildren, of whom live are 
still living, viz. : Mamie B. (now the wife of G. A. 
Fogleman), Louis W., Charles G., Perry A. and 
Richard B. ; those deceased are Charles E. , James 
C. and Robert E. Most people are familiar with 
the history of the great disaster that occurred op- 
posite Mound City, March 27, 1885, by the explo- 
sion of a boiler on the steamer Mark Twain. 
There were five white ladies on the boat, among 
whom was Mrs. Barton ; there were two white men 
killed, both of whom were from Kentucky; seven 
colored men were also killed in the wreck. The 
names of the oflicers were as follows; Captain, G. 
A. Fogleman; pilot, J. E. Pennell; engineer, Henry 
Gayham, and the bar-keeper was Frank Hnxtable. 
Capt. McLone, who had charge of the boat only a 
short time before, had his leg broken, and Capt. 
Fogleman had his leg broken in two places, and 
the pilot escaped without injury. Mrs. Barton's 
daughter and niece were also on board, but none 



i of the ladies were injured. When the Sultana 
sank just below this place, in 1805, Mrs. Barton's 
people were the instruments in saving many of the 
doomed soldiers. The Barton family stands among 
the most prominent and best-liked people of Crit- 
tenden County. Thej^ are noted for their public- 
spirited and liberal-minded disposition, and have 
done much to advance the development of their 
county. 

R. B. Barton, a prominent citizen of Critten- 
den County, was born in Tipton C!ounty, Teiui., in 
1839, and is the youngest of eleven children, born 

I to James and Elizalieth W. (Hardin) Bai'ton, who 
were natives of Kentucky'. The father was a farm- 
er bj' occupation, and died in Tennessee in 1S51. 

I The maternal grandfather was a major in the llev- 
olutionary War, and fought in the battle of Cow- 
pens. After the father's death, the family moved 
to Crittenden County, Ark., and settled on Rose- 
brough Island, in 1852. R. B. Barton lived with 
his brothers, J. F. and F. H., till 1865, when they 

I moved to Mound City, where they bought 200 acres 
of unimproved land, of which R. B. cleared sixty 
acres up to the outbreak of the war. In 1861 he 
enlisted in a cavalry company, known as the Critten- 
den Rangers, which went to Kentucky, and was in 
Hardin's division, which took part in the battle of 

i Shiloh. Then the regiment was reorganized, and 
Mr. Barton returned to Crittenden County, where, 
in company with Col. McGee, he raised a company 
of which he was elected first lieutenant. This 
company was engaged in scouting and police duty, 
and during the war captured three steamboats. 
Lieut. Barton was captured in 1803, and was placed 
in prison at Memphis for two months, when he was 
removed to Johnson's Island for eleven months. 

I He retui"ned home in 1864, and commenced the 
planting and timber business. In 1808 he went 
on a farm of thirty-five acres, at Mound City, and 
in 1885, when he had improved it till it was worth 
i? 14, 000, he sold it. In 1888 he bought eight 
acres on the Bald Knob Railroad, where he built 
a station, and has put about $10,000 worth of 
improvements, consisting of a cotton-gin, with 
all modern improvements, at a cost of $3,0(K), a 

! store, liverv stable, hotel, and, in fact, he owns 



>> 



404 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



everything at the station. Mr. Barton was mar- 
ried in 1865, to Miss Fannie K. Fogleman, a 
daughter of John Fogleman, one of the pioneers of 
this county. Mr. and Mrs. Barton are the parents 
of three children, of whom two are dead, Lizzie 
(died at the age of fifteen years, while attending 
school at Fayetteville), Mary Alice (who is now at- 
tending school at MempAiis) and Gussie (who died 
at the age of twelve years). Mr. Barton moved to 
Memphis in 1885, and has since resided there. He 
is a progressive and energetic business man, and 
has done very much toward the improvement of 
Crittenden County. 

James T. Barton is justly numbered in the list 
of Crittenden County's most prominent farmers. 
A native of Tipton County, Tenn. , he is the second 
child in order of birth born to the union of James 
F. and Frances (Edmonds) Barton, natives of Ken- 
tucky. [See sketch of J. F. Barton.] James T. 
received his education in Memphis, Tenn., and at 
Louisville, Ky. , where he attended the graded 
schools, obtaining thorough and practical instruc- 
tion. At the age of eighteen he went in company 
with his father to Memphis, and engaged with him 
in the Cotton Seed Oil Company., in which he 
held the position of foreman for some time. When 
twenty-six years old he came to this county, and 
embarked in farming and merchandising. During 
the war Mr. Barton was three times a prisoner 
before he had reached his thirteenth year, once in 
the Union Block, at Memphis. He has been twice 
married: first, in 1877, to Miss Lizzie B. Hardin, 
a daughter of Col. A. M. Hardin, of Mississippi, 
and by her became the father of four children, 
one now living, James A. (at home). Mrs. Barton 
died in 1882, and in 1888 he was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Vara M. Hoblitzell, of Baltimore, 
Md. , whose parents, William and Henrietta (Gep- 
hardt) Hoblitzell, were natives of Maryland. They 
had a family of ten children, five of whom survive: 
Oliver, Fetter S., Lottie V. (wife of G. M. Wolf), 
Sue G. (now Mrs. J. C. Zimmerman) and Vara M. 
(Mrs. Barton). In 1877 Mr. Barton settled on 
lands j)urchased by himself, but at the present 
time is leasing some 2,000 acres, 1,300 of which 
he controls individually, and in addition 900, in 



which he has a partner. He raises about 1,000 
bales of cotton on the two places, and is one of, 
if not the largest, land leasers in the county. It 
would be difficult to find a man more popular, or 
one who enjoys the undivided esteem and respect 
of all to a greater extent than Mr. Barton; always 
courteous, a perfect gentleman, jolly, quick at 
repartee, he never wounds a friend, and his mirth 
harbors no sting nor bitterness. He was appointed 
sheriff of this county, pending an election, to fill 
the unexpired term of Henry Ward, in 1873, and 
in the same year was elected to the office, which 
he filled with entire satisfaction. He also acted 
as county collector, and during that time the act- 
ing sheriff died, and Mr. Barton was again ap- 
pointed to fill the latter position. He has served 
as justice of the peace of his township, and has 
been one of the associate justices of this county. 
He is a Knight of Honor, belonging to Crawford- 
ville Lodge No. 3110, and is a member of the 
A. F. & A. M. Politically he is a Democrat. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Barton are members of high stand- 
ing, in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and 
are very popular in society. 

Robert W. Barton. M. D. , considered among the 
profession as one of the leading physicans, and an 
upright and honest citizen of Crittenden County, 
was born in this county, March 17, 1860, to the 
union of James F. and Frances (Edmonds) Barton. 
[See sketch.] Robert W. Barton spent most of his 
youth in Memphis, Tenn., and was educated in 
the common schools of Louisville, K}'., and the 
Lincoln public school of St. Louis, Mo. In 1876, 
during the big strike in St. Louis, he volunteered as 
a soldier and served throughout that affray in that 
city, the youngest of 3,000 volunteers, and did active 
and honorable service for eleven days while quelling 
the riot. He was requested and urged by his 
officers to become a West Point cadet at large from 
Missouri, but owing to the fact that he was a son 
of a Confederate soldier he could not be appoint- 
ed, although endorsed by Capt. Elerby, Lieut. 
Barlow and other officers, and quite a number of 
pi'ominent men of both Nashville and Memphis, 
Tenn. In 1879 he entered the State University of 
Tennessee, and owing to his ill health remained for 



^' 



^fv 



M 



e w_ 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



405 



only two years, and commenced the study of medi- 
cine in Memphis with Dr. Rogers as his preceptor, 
in 1882, and later he assisted R. D. Murray, United 
States army surgeon for four months. In 1883, 
he was appointed interne in the city hospital of 
Physicians and Surgeons of Baltimore, Md., from 
which school he graduated in 1884, and returned 
to Memphis, Tenn., where he commenced the 
practice of his profession. In July of that year he 
came to this county, where he has since practiced. 
While in Memphis he was a member of the State 
Medical Association of Tennessee, and is now of 
the Tri-State Medical Society of Mississippi, Ar- 
kansas and Tennessee, and president of the board 
of medical examiners of this county. Dr. Barton 
was married to Miss Mamie G. Grasty, who was 
born in Danville, Va. , and was reared in Baltimore, 
Md. , where she graduated from the Western Fe- 
male High School, taking the Peabody medal. 
She then graduated from the Maryland Musical 
Institute, under Prof. May. Mrs. Barton is a 
very highly educated lady and is in every way an 
estimable woman. She is the mother of two chil- 
dren : Phebe Housen and Francis Edmunds. She is 
an active and prominent member of the Second 
Presbyterian Church of Memphis, Tenn. 

James Bassett, merchant and farmer of Marion, 
was born in Vicksburg, Miss., in 1845, and is the 
son of Samuel and Lydia (French) Bassett, who 
are natives of England. They came to the United 
States before their marriage and were united at 
Vicksburg, making their home there, whence he 
went into the Mexican War. Soon after his return 
from the war he died of yellow fever, and after 
his death the mother and family remained at 
Vicksburg where Mrs. Bassett was married to 
David McClure, a native of Mississippi. In 1856 
^Ir. and Mrs. McClure moved to Memphis, and in 
the following year to Crittenden County, Ark., 
where the aged mother still lives, her husband 
having died in 1871. To her first marriage were 
born two sons, James and Samuel D., and In' the 
second marriage was born one child (now de- 
ceased). Before the war James Bassett made his 
home in Memphis most of the time and at the com- 
mencement of the war joined the Confederate 



army as a private in the Twenty-first Tennessee 
Regiment, under Col. Pickett. He served three 
years and was not in any battles of note; was in 
Memphis when that city was besieged. After the 
war he returned to Crittenden County, where ho has 
since lived and has been engaged in farming, and 
in 1883 embarked in the merchandising business 
at Marion, and to-day is one of the most prominent 
citizens of that place. He was married to Mary 
A. Fox. who was horn in Memphis and reared in 
Arkansas, and a daughter of John H. and Eva 
(Echeiuer) Fox, natives of Germany. The mother 
died in 1889 at a very old age. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Bassett have been born four children: Lydia E., 
Mary E. (who is the wife of Dr. T. D. Bridge- 
forth), Samuel C. and Virginia M. Politically, 
Mr. Bassett is a Democrat and is a member of the 
Knights of Honor,Lodge No. 3114 of Marion. This 
family is composed of fine-looking people and has 
been noted for some time for its remarkable health. 
Mr. Bassett in many ways is a typical western 
man, imiiued with that vim, enterprise and push 
so characteristic of the free sons of the West, and 
has done much for the advancement of his county. 
Samuel D. Bassett, a merchant and farmer of 
Marion, was born in Vicksburg, Miss., in 184(5, 
and is the son of Samuel and Lydia (French) 
Bassett. [See sketch preceding. ] When a small boy 
Samuel Bassett moved to Memphis with his mother, 
and from here they soon came to Crittenden 
County, Ark. During the war the mother and her 
two children went to Cincinnati, and after staying 
there a few months, Samuel returned to this county, 
and in 1864 attended the Christian Brothers' Col- 
lege, at St. Louis. After leaving college in 1865, 
he returned to this county, where he has lived ever 
since, except two years (1870 and 1871) that 
he spent in Texas and Kansas. He commenced 
business for himself at the age of twenty-one 
years, and has since been engaged in farming and 
merchandising. Ho first put in a stock of general 
merchandise, which he .sold in 1878, and has since 
been doing a general business. He now has a stock 
of goods at Marion, and one at Gavin Station, 
where he had an establishment several years before 
the station was founded. This station is on the old 



® li>_ 



l^ 



406 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



place that was first settled by his people, and 
on which his mother still lives. Mr. Bassett was 
married in 1875 to Miss Love Swepston, who was 
born in Ohio, and is a daughter of John Swepston. 
This union was blessed by one child (Musetta) in 
1876. Mr. Bassett has always taken an active 
part in educational matters, and his prominence in 
these afPairs has given him a position as director 
on the school board; he is also postmaster at 
Gavin Station. He is a Democrat in politics, and 
a member of Lodge No. 3114, K. of H. , of 
Marion. He and his wife are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and are good Chris- 
tian people, well liked by all. 

William Matthews Bigham, M. D., a merchant 
and druggist, of Marion, Ark. , is one of its most 
prominent business men. He is of Irish descent 
and was born in Shelby County, Tenn. , in 1859, 
being the only survivor of a family of three chil- 
dren born to William M. and Mary F. (Winston) 
Bigham. The paternal grandparents were born in 
Ireland and came to America about the time of their 
son's (William M. ) birth, which occurred in 1816. 
William M. Bigham was reared in North Carolina 
and moved to Mississippi and from there to Ten- 
nessee in 1850. In Mississippi he was engaged in 
farming and milling, and while here he met and 
married a Mrs. Matthews in Tennessee. The wife 
accompanied her parents to that State in 1832, 
when she was nine years of age. Here she at- 
tained her womanhood and was married to M. S. 
Matthews, a native of North Carolina, who died in 
Shelby County, Tenn. , nine years after his mar- 
riage, leaving a wife and four children, two of whom 
are still living: Adolphus and Virginia. After Mr. 
Bigham was married to this lady he sold out his 
business in Mississippi and moved to Shelby 
County, Tenn., where he remained for one year, 
and in January of 1860 moved across the river 
into Crittenden County, Ark., living here until his 
death which occurred two years later. Mr. Big- 
ham was a member of the Presbyterian Church 
and his wife of the Baptist Church. Mrs. Big-' 
ham is now sixty-six years of age and resides with 
her son William M. In 1865 the family returned 
to Tennessee, where William M. Bigham reached 



his majority. He had but poor advantage for an 
early education, and with the desire for a complete 
literary knowledge he commenced the study of 
medicine with his half brother, B. A. Matthews, 
who was a physician and graduate of the Old Uni- 
versity of Nashville. Dr. Bigham remained here 
till he was nineteen years old, when he entered the 
Vanderbilt University of Nashville, and one year 
later went to St. Louis, where he graduated in 
March, 1881. After his graduation he returned to 
Shelby County, Tenn., where he practiced his pro- 
fession for two years, then moving to Arkansas; he 
has since lived here and practiced medicine, being 
engaged also in merchandising and the drug busi- 
ness. The Doctor married Mary E. Brown, who was 
born in this county, a daughter of James and Katie 
Brown, also among the Dative residents of Critten- 
den. Mrs. Bigham is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, and is an estimable lady 
in every respect. Dr. Bigham is a Democrat po- 
litically and a member of the Baptist Church. He 
is an honest, upright and worthy citizen, having 
by his short time in business placed himself in a 
worthy position in the hearts of his fellow-citizens. 
L. D. Blann is a young farmer and broker at 
Marion, Crittenden County. Born in De Soto 
County, Miss., in 1860, he is the oldest of a fam- 
ily of tive boys of J. C. and Mary Jane Blann. 
The father was a farmer by occupation and came 
to this county in 1876, living here till his death, 
which occurred in 1885. His wife died while L. 
D. was a child. The latter spent his youth on his 
father's farm in Mississippi where he attended the 
free schools, and after his father came to Arkan- 
sas he was a student at the college at La Grange, 
Tenn., until 1881. Upon leaving college, Mr. 
Blann returned to Crawfordsville and engaged in 
buying cotton seed until 1884, when he moved to 
Marion, since giving his attention to buying cotton, 
cotton seed, cattle, etc. He has also been exten- 
sively interested in farming, and the pa.st year, 
1889, had in a crop of 100 acres of cotton. Mr. 
Blann was married to Miss Julia B. Johnson, Jan- 
uary 9, 1885. He is a member of the Ma.sonic 
fraternity, belonging to Lodge No. 375, at Craw- 
fordsville, and is an industrious, energetic citizen. 



^ 



4 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



407 



A. D. Blann is recognized as an energetic and 
enterprising young merchant at Crawfordsvillo. 
He was born in 1865, being the son of J. C. Blann, 
a native of Tennessee. [See sketch. ] Mr. Blann 
reached his majority in Arkansas, liaving come to 
this county in 1875, and has since lived here. He 
was educated in the high schools of Memphis, 
Tenn., and commenced for himself in 1883 as a 
stock dealer, soon afterward entering into general 
merchandising at the above place. In a short 
time he closed out this business and entered the 
emplo}' of E. Buck & Co., remaining from 1883 to 
1887, when he resumed his former business at a 
place called Needmore. One year later he opened 
up the business at Crawfordsville. Mr. Blann is 
one of the most promising young men of this 
county, and is now enjoying a trade of about 
$60,000 per year. He conducts a general suf)ply 
business, dealing also in cotton and cotton seed. 
He was married March 1, 1889, to Winnie Spicer, 
a native of Shelby County, Tenn., and the daugh- 
ter of R. S. Spicer, one of the leading farmers of 
that county. Mr. and Mrs. Blann have an elegant 
home built in 1889. They are both social young 
people and are much respected by their host of ac- 
quaintances. 

Levi Barton Boon, the present efficient and 
popular postmaster and a dealer in general mer- 
chandise at Gilmore, was born in Yates County, 
N. 1''., June 24, 1841, and is the son of Eli Alonzo 
Hogaboom, a native of Germany, who came to 
New York when a young man, and lived there till 
his death. He was married to Miss Margaret 
Wells, who was born in New York, and is now 
living in Tioga County, Penn. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Hogaboom were born eight children, of whom the 
subject of our sketch is the fourth child. The 
mother was afterward married to a Mr. Boon, from 
whom L. B. Boon takes his name. L. B. was 
reared in New York, and never received a day's 
schooling in his life. In 1861 he enlisted in the 
Fourth Regiment of Ohio Cavalry, and did active 
service throughout the war, being discharged at 
Nashville, Tenn., July 20, 1865. During the civil 
strife he fought in the severe battles of Chicka- 
mauga, Murfi-eesboro, Lookout Mountain. Stone 



River, Atlanta, Ringgold, and was in Wilson's raid 
from Eastjwrt, Miss., to Macon, Ga. He was 
wounded four different times, once by a spent-ball 
hitting him between the eyes, a scar of which he 
will carry to his grave; and once by being shot 
below the knee, besides two other slight wounds. 
After his discharge he remained in Nashville until 
1868, when he went to Burning Springs, Va. , in the 
oil regions, and went from there to Kentucky the fol- 
lowing year. He went from Kentucky to Jackson, 
Tenn., where he was married January 12, 1873, 
to Miss Charlotte Emaline Stock, who was born in 
Union County, N. C, in June, 1861. She is the 
mother of seven children; Amos Alonzo, Emma 
(deceased), Levi Barton (deceased), Margaret (de- 
ceased), John T., Nellie G. and Edwin. Mr. Boon 
commenced railroading at Jackson, Tenn., and fol- 
lowed this occupation till 1883, when he came to Gil- 
more in the fall of the same year. He opened the 
first street in the village of Gilmore, where he carries 
a stock of goods worth Si 1,500. He also has a livery 
stable and a farm of about 200 acres in cultivation. 
In 1883 he built the first cotton-gin in this part of 
the county at a cost of about 11,500. He has 
been a Democrat since casting his first vote, which 
was for McClellan. He is a Master Mason, and 
a member of Frenchman Bayou Lodge No. 251, 
in which he is Steward. He also belongs to the 
K. of H. Lodge at Marion. Mr. Boon is one of 
the most energetic business men in the county, 
and it is from his efforts that the village of Gil- 
more now exists. He was justice of the peace in 
the township for two years, and is at present serv- 
ing his second terra as notary public, having also 
been the same four years in Tennessee, appointed 
by the Governor. 

William D. Brooks, a leading farmer and stock 
raiser of Crittenden Coxinty, was born in Shelby 
County, Tenn., October 5, 1856, and is the first of 
four children born to Hugh M. and Mattie J. (Scott) 
Brooks. The father was born in Nashville, Tenn., 
September 20, 1835. He was the son of Isaac 
W^inston Brooks, who was born in Virginia and 
died in Tennessee. Mrs. Brooks was a daughter of 
Eli Scott, and was born in Shelby County, Tenn., 
October 17, 1840. She was the mother of four 



^^P7 



JJ£- 



408 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



children now living and four deceased; those living 
are William D., Hugh L., John M. and Frank S. 
Hugh M. Brooks, the father, was a prominent man 
who immigrated to this county from Shelby Coun- 
ty, Tenn., January 7, 1801, and located on 320 
acres of land, which he purchased near where 
William D. now lives. He served three years in 
the Confederate army, and was appointed judge of 
this county by the Governor at one time. He was 
filling the ofiioe of justice of the peace at the time 
of his death, which occurred March 9, 1889. Will- 
ia^m D. Brooks was reared in Shelby County, Tenn. , 
and received his education at the La Grange Col- 
lege of Tennessee, and was married October 20, 
1880, to Birdie E. Shepard, who was born in Yazoo 
City, Miss., March 8, 1804, and is the daughter of 
C. D. and Bettie (Hottiman) Shepard. Mr. and 
Mrs. Brooks are the parents of two children, both 
living. Mr. Brooks now resides on the old home- 
stead that his father purchased when'he came to 
this county. He is a member of the Masonic order 
and is Master of the lodge to which he belongw; is 
also a member of the K. of H. He is a Democrat 
in politics, and cast hia first presidential vote for 
Tilden. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, as his parents were, 
are prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South. They are prominent in their 
county, and enjoy the respect of their acquaint- 
ances. 

William H. Brown, an enterprising farmer of 
Wappanocca Township, was born in Hardeman 
County, Tenn., May 10, 1834, and is the son of 
John Brown, whose birth occurred in Williamson 
County, Tenn., in 1806. He always resided in 
that State, following the calling of a farmer and 
merchant. He was married to Rachel Hamor, also 
of Tennessee nativity, and to them were born nine 
children, of whom William H. was the sixth. The 
father was a son of William Brown, of Irish de- 
scent; he died in 1875, and his wife followed four 
years later. William H. was reared in his native 
State, where he received a limited education, and 
was married to Mary N. Craig in 1859. She was 
also born there in 1840 and is the daughter of Da- 
vid and Nancy Craig, of Tennessee. Mr. and 
Brown are the parents of twelve children, of whom 



the following eight are now living: James W., 
Robert H., Charles F., Samuel F., M. Ellen, Alice, 
Minnie P. and Lester, all at home. In 1874 Mr. 
Brown emigrated from Lauderdale County, Tenn., 
to where he now lives, and in the following year 
purchased a farm of 160 acres, with sixty acres 
under cultivation. He now has one of the finest 
places in Crittenden County, there being about 
125 acres under cultivation. In 1881 he erected a 
cotton-gin, which he has run very successfully 
ever since, and in 1889 attached a shingle-machine. 
The entire plant runs by steam, and cost about 
12,000. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are active members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and 
are good, honest citizens, being held in the highest 
esteem by all that know them. The former is a 
Democrat in politics, and cast his first vote for Bu- 
chanan. 

Albert H. Campbell, one of the oldest settlers 
of Tyronza Township, was born on the farm on 
which he lives, in 1852, being the only child re- 
sulting from the union of Hiram and Julia Mar- 
riman {nee Richards) Campbell. Mr. Campbell 
had been previously married, and was the father of 
four children by his first wife, of whom Steve and 
John are the survivors. He came to this State in 
1834, and was one of the earliest settlers in this 
county, having come here before there was any 
thing in the way of a farm in this section. He 
only took up 220 acres of land, where he farmed 
and run a store and also had a ferry on the Tyron- 
za. He raised a great deal of stock and was one 
of the leading merchants of this county at the 
time of his death, which occurred in 1852. Hiram 
Campbell was born and reared in New York, going 
from there to Illinois in 1821, and thence to Ar- 
kansas by way of the Mississippi River to Wap- 
panocca Lake. Proceeding down that body of 
water to Big Creek, he floated down the Tyronza 
River and settled on the bank of the stream in the 
present Crittenden County. Mrs. Campbell died 
June 18, 1883, at the age of sixty-three years. Al- 
though coming to this State when there was much 
game, such as bear, oik, deer, turkey, etc., he did 
not spend much time hunting, but devoted most of 
his attention to his farms and in rafting logs. A. 



<S Ji_ 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



409 



H. Campbell was rearod to farm life and educated 
in this county, and at the age of sixteen years took 
charge of his mother's affairs, which he continued 
until 1885, when the farm was divided. Young 
Albert got 110 acres of land with seventy-live acres 
in cultivation, on the home place, and since that 
time he has added forty acres of wild and twenty 
acres of cultivated laud. Like most farmers in 
this county he raises considerable cotton, though 
plenty of corn, hay, etc., is also grown, and 
he devotes a great portion of his time to cattle 
and horses in the bottoms, making a specialty of 
the former. In 1887 Mr. Campbell was united 
in wedlock to Miss Bettie, daughter of R. C. 
and Mary E. (May) Hampton, natives of Vir- 
ginia and Arkansas. Mr. and Mrs. Hampton are 
the parents of five children, with four still living: 
Richard, Bettie, Thomas D. , J. F. and L. L. (de- 
ceased). Mr. Hampton died in 1867 and his wife 
survived him eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell 
are the parents of two children: Nancy S. and 
Charles A. Being quite an enterprising young 
man and a native of this State, Mr. Cami)bell ap- 
preciates the advantages derived from education 
and emigration, therefore he favors these as an op- 
portunity to develop the excellent qualities of his 
life-long home. 

Thomas Cashion (deceased) was born in Bullitt 
County, Ky., in May, 1858, and died December 3, 
1888, in Crittenden County, Ark. When a boy he 
went from his birthplace to the State of Texas, 
where he was married to Miss Nannie E. Rives, 
January 11, 1880. She was born April 27, 1800, 
in this county, and is the daughter of Samuel D. 
Rives, who was born in Kentucky and dit^l here on 
April 16, 1865. He came from the Blue Grass 
State, with his parents, when he was a boy. Mrs. 
Cashion's father was a well-to-do farmer; her 
mother was born and raised in this county, where 
she died December 31, 1879, having had four chil- 
dren of whom two are still living: Nannie E. and 
Edna (who resides in Galveston, Tex.). Mrs. 
Cashion, the second child, moved from Crittenden 
County to Texas with her mother, and received her 
education in the district schools of Collin County, 
afterward attending the high school in McKinney. 



She has borne three children: John P. (born Oc- 
tober 12, 1880), Mary J. (born April 3, 1882), and 
Thomas E. (born October 4, 1884). Thomas Cash- 
ion, Sr., was an employe of the Houston & Texas 
Railroad, while in Texas, and remained in that 
position for nine years. Discontinuing railroading 
in 1884 he farmed in Texas one year, when he 
came to this county and located on the farm now 
owned by his widow, formerly the property of Mr. 
Rives. This contains 800 acres, with 375 acres 
in cultivation, and is located on the Mississippi 
River bottoms. The farm now belongs to Nannie 
and her sister and never has been divided. Mr. 
Cashion was a member of the Masonic and Knights 
of Honor fraternities, and was a good citizen and 
highly respected. His widow rents all her land, 
but lives on her farm. Her grandfather, Peter G. 
Rives, was one of the first settlers of this county, 
having come here before Pierce was president. He 
was a largo land owner, and cleared most of the 
land south of West Memphis, and was a prominent 
and useful citizen. 

Anthony M. Clement (deceased) was a son of 
William and Mary E. (Brassfield) Clement, natives 
of North Carolina. He was born January 9, 1826, 
and was the twelfth child and seventh son of sev- 
enteen children, of whom Mary (widow of James 
Leach, residing near Beebe, Ark.) is the only sur- 
viving child. A. M. Clement was born in Tennes- 
see, reared and educated in Gibson County, and 
at the age of twenty-one engaged in business for 
himself, principally merchandising, near Hum- 
boldt. In 1852 he was married to Mary Cather- 
ine, daughter of R. N. and Margaret (Froonaba- 
ger) Patrick, natives of South Carolina and North 
Carolina, respectively, but at that time living in 
Gibson County. They were the parents of eleven 
children, of whom Mary Catherine was the eldest. 
During the war of the Rebellion Mr. Clement re- 
sided near Humboldt, but took no part in the con- 
test. In the spring of 1807 he moved with his 
family to Crittenden County, Ark., locating on the 
Mississippi River, near Bradley's Landing, and in 
1869 purchased the tract of land on which his 
widow now resides. He was of English descent, 
his grandfather (father of William Clement) having 



^. 



410 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



come from England many years before the revolt 
of the colonies, settling in North Carolina. From 
the beginning of the Revolution he and his sons 
took an active part, he being surgeon and his sons 
soldiers in the American army. They were in the 
battle of King's Mountain, one son being killed. 
At the age of ninety he married a second wife, who 
was quite young (mother of William Clement) and 
lived to see a young family growing up around 
him. Mr. Clement and wife (parents of the sub- 
ject of our sketch), were active members in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Clement died 
in 18G7, aged eighty-nine, leaving a second wife, 
his first wife having died many years before. An- 
thony M. Clement and wife became the parents of 
eight children, five of whom are now living. They 
are: Matilda (who is the second time a widow), 
Josie M., Robert E. Lee and Benjamin C. (the 
youngest), all at home with their mother. Lillian, 
the sixth child and fourth daughter, was married 
September 13, 18S8, to S. S. James, of Jericho, 
this county. Mr. Clement was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, in Gibson County, 
Tenn. , and a member of the A. F. & A. M. , and 
at the time of his death was justice of the peace 
in his township. He was kind-hearted, genial, 
generous to a fault; though quick to resent an in- 
sult, ready to forgive an injury — a typical South- 
ern gentleman. He died November 24, 1888, 
being sixty-two years of age. Mrs. Clement is a 
good, Christain lady, and a member of the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church. 

Seth C. Cocks has attained a prominence and 
merited reputation as one of the leading farmers 
of this county. Born at the Gayosa Hotel of 
Memphis, in 1860, while his parents were on their 
way from Mississippi to Crittenden County, Ark., 
he was a son of Philip A. Cocks, of Kentucky 
nativity, who moved from there to Mississippi, 
where he was married (in Washington County) to 
Miss Anna C. Egg, a native of that State. Mr. 
Cocks moved to Arkansas in 1860 and located on 
the farm he had purchased the previous year. He 
was an energetic and prosperous farmer and died 
February 5, 1869, on the place he settled, and on 
which his family still lives. Mrs. Cocks, his 



widow, survived him till 1878. They were the 
parents of three children, of whom Minnie was 
burned to death at the age of three years, in Crit- 
tenden County, Ark. ; Seth C. , our subject, and 
Blanche D., an artist of talent, is the widow of 
Charles L. Lyles, son of Col. Lylea, now of Mem- 
phis. [See sketch.] Mr. and Mrs. Lyles gave birth 
to one son, Philip Lyles. Seth C. Cocks attained 
his majority in this State, having continued to live 
on the place settled by his parents in 1860. He is 
a man of great energy and business ability and 
one of the successes of his career is seen in the po- 
sition he now occupies, as the owner of a large 
farm. His parents having died while he was very 
young, he has, bj' his own vim and push, kept up 
the old place. He attended school in Memphis for 
two years, and then after spending four years at 
the Frankfort Military Academy of Kentucky, re- 
turned to the home farm and was married to a 
very estimable lady. Miss Mary Belle Lyles, daugh- 
ter of Col. Lyles, one of the old and prominent 
settlers, and for many years clerk of this county, 
now numbered among the leading lawyers of Mem- 
phis. Mrs. Cocks is a very highly educated lady 
and an excellent conversationalist, and is in every 
way a woman to be admired. She and her hus- 
band are the parents of three children: Amy, 
Blanche and an infant girl. Mrs. Cocks is a prom- 
inent member of the Episcopal Church. Politic- 
ally, Mr. Cocks is a Democrat. He owns a large 
farm under cultivation bearing all the latest im- 
provements. 

Robert F. Collins, a prosperous planter of 
Proctor Township, is a native of this county, 
born December 16, 1843, and the son of Thomas 
M. Collins, who was born in Virginia, in 1813, and 
died in Memphis, in 1853. His parents moved 
from Virginia to Tennessee in an early day, and 
Thomas came to this State while yet single, marry- 
ing, in this county. Miss Virginia W. Hulbert, a 
native of Pennsylvania. After Mr. Collins' death 
she was married, in 1857, to W. E. Scanlan, and 
died in 1878. She was a sister of Henry T. Hul- 
bert, who was a great literary man and a prominent 
lawyer of Memphis. Thomas M. Collins was one 
of the early settlers of this county, and a promi- 



T 



ii£: 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



411 



aent. man, being popular as a politician ; be was a 
member of the State legislature from an early day 
until nearly the time of his death, and conld have 
been Governor had he been a Democrat instead of 
a Whig. He was a large owner of real estate, and 
was a prominent Mason; was very charitable, and 
educated many children with his own means. 
Noted for his integrity, he was mail contractor 
from Memphis to Little Rock for a number of 
years. Mr. and Mrs. Collins were the parents of 
eight children, of whom three sons are the only 
survivors. Robert F. Collins was reared in this 
county, and was educated in St. Joseph's College, 
of Kentucky, bis brothers attending St. Mary's 
College of Kentucky. He lived with his mother 
and step-father till twenty-one years of age. when 
he commenced life for himself as a farmer, which be 
has followed up to the present time. He and bis 
two brothers jointly own 205 acres of land, with 
150 acres under cultivation. Mr. Collins was 
married January 5, 1870, to Miss Julia Wood, 
who was born in Brownsville, Tenn., September 4, 
1847, and is a daughter of William P. and Ara A. 
(Leanard) Wood, natives of North Carolina and 
Tennessee, respectively; both died in Brownsville. 
To Mr. .and Mrs. Collins have been given two 
children: Robert A. and Sadie W. Mr. Collins is 
a Democrat in politics, and cast his tirst vote for 
Hancock. He is a member of the K. of H., and he 
and bis wife are members of the Catholic Church, 
and are good citizens, and highly respected. 

Richard Stephen Combs (deceased), who was an 
enterprising farmer of Tyronza Township, was 
born in Carroll County, Va., October 25, 1853, 
and died October 15, 1889. His parents were 
both Virginians by birth and came to this county 
in 187*1, locating where the widow of the subject 
of this sketch now lives. R. S. Combs was mar- 
ried October 23. 1883, to Mrs. Julia F. Cloar, who 
was born in this county October 11, 1850, the 
widow of Y. Y. Cloar and daughter of Joseph A. 
and Julia (Richards) Lyles. Mr. Lyles was born in 
Obion County, Tenn., and immigrated to Critten- 
den Coimty, Ark., at an early day. He and bis 
wife both died in this county, the former in 1862 
and Mrs. Lyles in 1883. Mrs. Combs lives on the 
2e 



farm that she inherited from her father. It con- 
sists of 225 acres, with 125 in cultivation, upon 
which is a fine young orchard and good buildings. 
A part of her land is located on the Tryonza 
River. Mrs. Comlis is the mother of one child, 
Mary Lyles Combs. She is an estimable lady, and 
is respected by all who know her. She is a sister 
of Albert H. Campliell. a sketch of whom appears 
on a previous page. 

Baxter C. Crump (deceased), one of the old and 
much-esteemed citizens of this conntj' and who for 
many years was sheriff before and after the late 
war, was a native of Virginia, born in 1822, and 
died in 1874. He came to Arkansas some time 
previous to 1840, and when a young man held 
the office of county judge, also representing this 
county in the legislature, being a very prominent 
politician. He was a Union man at the outbreak 
of the Civil War, but deeming it his duty to stand 
by his people he raised three companies, of the 
second of which he was captain. He was slightly 
wounded in the ankle at the battle of Belmont, 
where all of his company l)ut three men deserted 
him, whereupon he returned home and organized 
another company being made its captain. He 
was again wounded at the battle of Helena, Ark. , 
and was afterward quartermaster, doing active 
service till the close of the war, when he sur- 
rendered with his regiment in Arkansas. At the 
cessation of hostilities he returned home to his 
family of small children, his wife, formerly Miss 
Lucy McPeak, having died in ISGl, leaving five 
small children, two of whom are still living, 
namely: Mrs. Alice Geauraiit, at Barton, Ark., 
and Mrs. Dellan Swepston, in Nashville, Tenn. 
Mr. Crump was subsequently married to Mrs. 
Mary E. (Butler) Higgs, a native of North 
Carolina and daughter of William C. and Court- 
ney R. (Green) Butler, who were also of North 
Carolina origin, moving to Georgia in 1844. In 
Floyd County, Ga. , Mrs. Crump attained her 
womanhood and was married to Marcus A. Higgs, 
formerly fi'om North Carolina. Mr. and IMi's. 
Higgs moved to Memphis, Tenn., in 1850, where he 
practiced law, having studied and been admitted 
to the bar in Georgia. He remained in Memphis 



until the fall of 1859, -when he came to Crittenden 
County, Ark., and followed his profession, until 
the war broke out, when he joined the Confederate 
army and was killed in September, 1863. He and 
his wife were active members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. Of five children given them 
three lived to be grown, and of these Mrs. M. 
Aui'elia Morgan, of Tennessee, is the only sui-- 
vivor. Paul C. and Randolph E. who attained 
their manhood and were promising young men 
are now deceased. Mrs. Crump's mother, Mrs. 
Butler, is still living and is making her home with 
her daughter; she is seventy-three years of age 
and is active and healthy. Her husband was a 
Master Mason, and was buried by that order with 
the highest honors. They were members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church and reared a family 
of six children to be grown, of whom the follow- 
ing three still survive: Mrs. Kate Ritche (who lives 
in Florida), Mr. L. W. Butler and Mrs. Crump. 

Carlile Daniels is a substantial farmer of Wap- 
panocca Township, and the son of Bevley and 
Charlotta (Measles) Daniels, having been born in 
this county, January 4, 1846. Bevley Daniels 
was a Virginian by birth, and came fi'om North 
Carolina to this county, where he remained till his 
death, which occurred when our subject was a 
child. He and his wife were the parents of seven 
children, one daughter and six sons, three of whom 
are living, two in this county and one in Baxter 
County. After the death of Bevley Daniels, his 
wife was married twice; she died August 20, 
1887. Carlile Daniels received his limited edu- 
cation in this county, and October 8, 1877, mar- 
ried Mrs. Alice A. Daniels, of Greenville, Miss., 
a daughter of Samuel Truley. Four- children 
blessed this union, two of whom are now living, 
viz. : "Walter C. and Horace W. Mrs. Daniels died 
May 28, 1887. Mr. Daniels and his brother, Will- 
iam B. , own 300 acres of valuable land on the 
Mississippi River, about twenty miles above Mem- 
phis. About 100 acres of this are in cultivation, 
and under the skillful management of these gen- 
tlemen it produces a bountiful crop each year. 
Carlile Daniels served six months in the Confeder- 
ate army near the close of the war. He is and 



has been a perfect Democrat since he cast his first 
vote, which was for Seymour. He is a member of 
the County Wheel, and has served very efficient- 
ly as school director for six successive years in 
School Districts No. 9 and 10. He, along with his 
mother and wife, has for a long time been a work- 
ing member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. 

Peter G. Daugherty, a weil-to-do and enter- 
prising farmer of Jackson Township, was born in 
Northern Alabama, in 1849, to the union of Noble 
and Judith (Gassett) Daugherty, natives of Vir- 
ginia and Kentucky. The father moved to the 
Blue Grass State when a young man and remained 
there several years, then moving back to Alabama, 
where he was married. When Peter G. was hut a 
child, both he and his wife died, leaving a family 
of seven children, of whom our subject is the fourth 
child; of that number three are still living. Peter 
G. Daugherty grew to maturity in Alabama, where, 
having been left upon his own resources, he com- 
menced to earn his livelihood at the age of fifteen 
years, as an overseer on his uncle's plantation. 
There he remained for three years and then came 
to Arkansas, settling in Crittenden County, where 
he rented land for several years. Later purchas- 
ing a tract of wild land four miles from Crawfords- 
ville, he settled upon and commenced to clear it. 
In 1876 he moved on another place and remained 
there till 1884, when he moved to the estate on 
which he now lives, where he has over 200 acres 
of land under cultivation, all the result of his own 
labor. He started in the world with nothing, and 
when he came to this State had only about 1800 
with him, which he took as a foundation; and to- 
day it has grown to be 320 acres of this county's 
best land. Mr. Daugherty served in Johnson's 
regiment from Alabama, during the latter part of 
the war, and was captured at Selma, Ala., being 
held prisoner for eleven days, when he made his 
escape and returned to his regiment; soon after- 
ward he surrendered, with his regiment, at Mount 
Hope, Ala., in May, 1865. He takes but little 
part in political matters, but at all times votes the 
Democratic ticket. He has held some of the minor 
offices of the township, and is a hearty advocate of 



T.j?r" 



<a k_ 



^ 9 



k. 



CEITTENDEN COUNTY. 



413 



schools and a liberal contributor to any move- 
ment that he deems worthy of support. 

Samuel K. Davis has for some time been occu- 
pied as a planter and merchant of Bartonville. A 
native of Maryland, he was born in Hartford 
County in 184'2, being the son of Philip and 
Louisa B. (King) Davis, both also of Maryland 
nativity. They moved to Vermilion County, 111., 
in 1854, and remained till 1867, when they went to 
Missouri, locating in Barrj' County. Four years 
later Kingman, Kas. , became their home, where the 
mother still lives. The father was born in 1811 
and died in 1888; the mother was born in 1821. 
She is a good Christian lady and takes an active 
part in church and Sunday-school matters; she is 
a member of the Baptist Church and is superintend- 
ent of a Sunday-school. Mr. Davis was a mem- 
ber of the I. O. O. F. for many years before his 
death; was a Democrat in politics, and manifested 
a great interest in school matters and anything that 
would promote the welfare of the public. Himself 
and wife were the parents of ten children, of whom 
two died before leaving Maryland; one from a fall 
and one by drowning. The others lived to be 
grown and six are still living. Samuel K. Davis, 
the second born, attained his majority in Illinois, 
and moved to Memphis in 1862, entering the serv- 
ice of the Adams Express Company and remaining 
with them four years. He then commenced farm- 
ing in Phillips Coi;nty, Ark., (now Lee County), 
and in comj)any with his brother Reece he tilled 
about 1.000 acres till 1874, and in 1875 he com- 
menced merchandising. He was married in Feb- 
ruary, 1874, to Miss Augusta Holt, a native of Ten- 
nessee. Mr. Davis was engaged in merchandising 
at Phillips Bayou for several years, when he moved 
to Hot Springs, Ai-k., the year of the big tire at 
that place, and bought out Mr. King's interest in 
the firm of Gordon & King. The trade was made 
on Thursday and on Monday the establishment 
was in ashes. The morning after the lire his pos- 
sessions consisted of but $6.. 15 upon which to again 
commence. His wife owned a house and lot, how- 
ever, so he worked and sold goods for about six 
years, when he came to Crittenden County and 
started a store at Needmore, where he remained in 



business till he moved to Bartonville. He is now 
running a store with good success and a farm of 
400 acres. Upon moving to this county from Hot 
Springs he had $800 and now owns a fine farm 
well equipped. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are the par- 
ents of two daughters and three sons: Fannie K., 
Florence Lee, Samuel K., and Claudie W. and 
Clarence W. (twins); one child is deceased, Effie 
May. Mrs. Davis is an active member of the Bap- 
tist Church, and her husband is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, of which he has held several 
offices. He is a Democrat in politics, but takes lit- 
tle part in any party movement, giving his whole 
attention to his store and farm. Mr. Davis has 
been very successful in business and is a man of 
enterprise and decided business ability. 

Alexander H. Ferguson, the ])resent efficient 
and popular treasurer of Crittenden County and 
also a merchant at Marion, was born at Greenock, 
on the Mississippi River, in this county, March 17, 
1839, and is the son of Horatio N. and Jane G. 
(Proctor) Ferguson, natives of Tennessee and Ar- 
kansas. The Grandfather Ferguson went from 
Greenock, Scotland, to Virginia, while a young man, 
moving ftrom there to Tennessee, where he lived 
until his death. He was the father of three chil- 
dren: William D. , Allen McL. and Horatio N. 
(all now deceased). The boys came to Arkansas 
in 1820 and settled at Greenock, a Scottish town 
named after the town in which their father was 
born. William D. was the first sheriff of Critten- 
den County, holding the office from 1825 to 1835, 
and died at Memphis, Tenn. , in 1866. He fought 
in the battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815; 
was a member of the I. O. O. F. fraternity and 
belonged to the Presbyterian Church. He took 
active part in the development of this county 
and filled the office of deputy surveyor for sev- 
eral years. Allen McL. served as postmaster of 
Oldman, now Greenock, and was justice of the 
peace for several years. He died in Sharp 
County, Ark., in 1872. Horatio N. the father of 

I our subject, came to this State when a young 
man, married upon attaining his maturity, and 
settled at what was afterward called Greenock, 

I remaining here until 1835. Then he moved to a 



d^ 



414 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



place lower down the river. He was an extensive 
farmer and owned large tracts of land which he 
acquired after coming to Arkansas. He died in 
1841 at Frankfort, Ky., where he had gone for his 
health. JaneG. Proctor, his wife, was also an Ar- 
kansan by birth, her parents having emigrated here 
about the beginning of the nineteenth century, set- 
tling below Memphis on the river. Mrs. Ferguson 
was a member of the Presbyterian Church and re- 
mained a widow till her death, which occurred in 
1871. She was the mother of six children, two 
sons and four daughters, of whom three are now 
living: Mrs. Kate A. Brown (who lives at Marion), 
Mrs. Nancy E. Lyon (in this county) and Alexan- 
der H. (the youngest). The latter was reared in 
this county where he has always lived. As school 
advantages were not very good hereabouts in his 
youth he attended school at Memphis until the 
death of his brother, when he had to return home 
and assume charge of affairs. In that position he 
remained up to the death of his mother, when he 
was married to Miss Kate Ritche, of Memphis. In 
1884 he located at Marion and has since been en- 
gaged in merchandising. In 1880 Mr. Ferguson 
was elected county clerk, and discharged the duties 
of that office until elected treasurer in 1884, in 
which position he is now serving his third term. 
He has always taken a great interest in the ad- 
vancement of education and is also a hard worker 
in the Democratic party. He was married January 
19, 1882, and after the brief space of eight months 
was left a widower. His wife was a true Christian 
lady and devoted wife, and was a member of the 
Baptist (Jhurch. Alexander Ferguson entered the 
Confederate army in August, 1S(3"2, and had served 
but a short time when he was wounded at the bat- 
tle of Corinth, being several times hit in the body 
by grape-shot from a cannon. He was taken from 
the battlefield to a hospital at luka, where he had 
his leg amputated between the knee and ankle. 
He started home as soon as able to travel, coming 
to Memphis in a buggy, his sister, Sarah J., and 
Thomas Baldwin, having gone after him to the field 
of action. Mr. Ferguson is a competent officer for 
the place which he tills and is in every way worthy 
of the trust reposed in him. 



Capt. LeRoy Fogleman, deceased, is remem- 
bered as a prosperous planter of Crittenden County, 
whose association with its material affairs proves 
of decided benefit to the communit}'. He was born 
in this county October 7, 1847, and lived here till 
his death, December 24, 1879. John Fogleman, 
his father, was also a native of Arkansas, having 
been born April 29, 1813, and he lived to be over 
seventy years of age. [See sketch of G. A. Fogle- 
man. ] LeRoy was reared and received his educa- 
tion in the common schools of Crittenden County, 
where he tilled a farm, and was for a number of 
years captain of the steamer John Overton. After 
arriving at maturity he was married to Miss Sallie 
F. Barton, who was born and reared near Russell- 
ville, Logan County, Ky. She came to Arkansas 
with her husband in February, 1808. They are 
the parents of three children living and two dead. 
Those living are: Alice E., Carrie Lee, and John 
LeRoy. Fannie B. , one of the sweetest of little 
girls, was killed by a cotton-gin when she was 
twelve years old and Sallie Hall died at the age 
of two years. Mrs. Fogleman is the third daugh- 
ter of eleven children, of whom seven survive, 
born to John and Carrie (Edmonds) Barton, num- 
bered among the oldest and most respected fam- 
ilies of Kentucky, and who are still living at Union 
City, Tenn. Mrs. Fogleman was reared and edu- 
cated in the State of Kentucky, and is not only a 
woman well esteemed, but one who commands the 
respect of all her acquaintances. She had never 
known what hardship and misfortune meant till the 
death of her beautiful little daughter, and the sub- 
sequent loss of her husband left her with a family 
of small children to care for. She has done most 
nobly, however, having kept up a large farm and 
educated those of her children that are old enough, 
and one daughter is a teacher in the Memphis high 
school, she having graduated at the Clara Conway 
School with the highest honors. Mrs. Fogleman 
has an excellent family of whom she is justly 
jiroud, and to whom she is a devoted mother. 
They are all active members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church of Memphis. 

Capt. G. A. Fogleman has become thoroughly 
identified with Crittenden County's interests, and 



^ 



>I^ 



liL 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



415 



is now conceded to be a well-to-do planter. Bom 
October 21, 1852, in this county, he is the son of 
John Fogleman, whose birth also occurred here, 
April 13, 1813. His father, George Fogleman, 
was a native of Europe, where he lived till about 
middle age, then coming to the United States and 
locating in Arkansas, where the village of Hope- 
Hold now stands. Here he remained but a short 
time, when he moved to the place where the sub- 
ject of this sketch lives. He improved a small 
farm, and, on account of the newness of the coun- 
try, there being more red men than white in those 
days, built a huge log-house to protect himself and 
family from danger. He was a very brave man 
and knew no such thing as fear. A family of five 
children blessed his anion, of whom George, the 
second child, was born at what is now Hopefield, 
being reared on the place where his son. G. A., 
now lives. His father having died when he was 
thirteen years of age, he had to work for the small 
sum of 25 cents per day to support his mother and 
two sisters, but by diligent perseverance and 
economy he laid the foundation upon which he 
afterward erected his fortune, consisting of 2,500 
acres of land and many negro slaves. He dealt 
largely in timber, selling logs at the mills and 
rafting them to New Orleans. In 1805, when the 
steamer Sultana, loaded with about 1,700 Union 
soldiers, sunk opposite his place, he, with his 
family and friends, rescued and saved the lives of 
some seventy-five men. Although a stanch Con- 
federate, he did all in his power to assist the per- 
ishing soldiers of the opposite faction. He did 
not himself serve in the late war, but took active 
part in contributing of his means and supplies to 
the Confederate forces. Ho delighted in telling 
the tale of having walked to Memphis on dry land 
fi-om his place, which is five miles distant, and on 
the other side of the river. By the change in the 
channel of the river he did actually accomplish 
this feat, though it took him over twenty years to 
do it. Mr. Fogleman married Miss Elisabeth 
Trice, who was born of a most excellent family, 
February 28, 1821, in Kentucky, in which State 
she was reared. Her parents came to this State in 
1842. When the late war broke out be moved to 



Mound City, where he died. Elisabeth was an 
earnest and true Christian lady, and was devoted 
to her family, which consisted of eight children, 
and of whom two are still living, viz. : Gustavus 
A. and Fannie K. (now wife of R. B. Barton, liv- 
ing in Memphis). The mother died February 26, 
1858. Capt. G. A. Fogleman. the only son now 
surviving, has always lived in this county. About 
seventeen years of his life were spent on the river 
as captain of the John Overton and the Mark 
Twain, which, after it was rebuilt, was called the 
Alace; he was pilot on the same boats for a num- 
ber of years, commencing when he was but a boy 
and continuing till February 1, 1889. He has a 
large farm, with 500 acres in a good state of culti- 
vation, and this now receives his personal attention. 
Cajst. Fogleman was first married to Anna Dickey, 
January 23, 1878; she died August 2, 1881, when 
twenty-one years of age, leaving one child, LoKoy, 
who was born December 1, 1878, and died Sep- 
tember 25, 1887. Cajat. Fogleman was married 
January 15, 1889, to Mamie T. Barton, an estima- 
ble lady. [See sketch of F. G. Barton.] 

John Gilmore (deceased) was, during life, the 
largest stock raiser in Crittenden County, having 
lived near Gilmore, which was named in his honor. 
He was born in Virginia, in 1831, and died while 
visiting in Texas, in 1883. His parents moved 
from Virginia to Missoui'i when he was a small 
boy, and he was mostly reared in the latter State, 
coming to this county when yet single. In 1860 
he was married to Miss Sarah A. Mooring, who 
was born in Lexington, Tenn., in 1839, the daugh- j 
ter of Dr. John E. and Matilda (Johns) Mooring. 
They also immigrated to Crittenden County in pio- 
neer days. Dr. Mooring was born in North Caro- 
lina, and his wife. Miss Matilda Johns, in Ten- 
nessee. The former died in Texas, the latter in 
Tennessee. John Gilmore was a pioneer settler 
in this county in early days. A successful rafts- 
man, a famous bear hunter, a prosperous and 
prominent man, whom every body liked, he was 1 
the largest stock raiser in this county, a man of 
sterling integrity, who did all that he could to pro- 
mote the interest of his country and the commu- 
nity in which he lived. He was a loving husband, , 



3<i; 



^ 



•1^ 



416 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



an indulgent father, and a kind and considerate 
neighbor. His father, James Gilmore, spent the 
latter part of his life with his son at his Arkansas 
home. At the time of Mr. Gilmore' s death he 
owned about 2,500 acres of land and 800 head of 
cattle. Mrs. Gilmore has now about the same 
amount of land and stock. She resides on the old 
homestead, at Gilmore, a station on the Kansas 
City, Fort Scott & Missouri Kailway, with her 
two children: John Q. (a young man of sterling 
worth and Kimmie (a beautiful and accomplished 
daughter). Mrs. Gilmore is a true Christian woman, 
and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. 

John P. Hackler. In giving the biographies of 
the prominent men of Crittenden County, that of 
J. P. Hackler should not be omitted. A native of 
Arkansas he was born in Phillips County, July 
17, 1859, being the oldest child which blessed 
the union of John G. and Vertiu'ia (Harkelroad) 
Hackler, also of Arkansas origin. John G. Hack- 
ler' s father came to Arkansas in 1836 and settled 
in Phillips County. He (John G. ) served in the 
late war on the Confederate side, under Gen. 
Hindman, and while home on furlough was capt- 
ured and taken to Memphis, then to Alton, 111., 
and from there to Richmond, Va. , where he was 
paroled in 1865. Returning home he resumed 
farming in Phillips County, but in 1874 moved to 
Crittenden County and was renting land until 
1878. At that time John P. bought the farm 
where he now resides, and for one year Mr. Hack- 
ler made his home with his son, but at the date of 
his death, November 6, 1885, was living with 
his daughter, Mrs. Conlan. John P. and his 
sister, Mrs. Conlan, are the surviving members of 
their father's family. Mrs. Hackler had been 
married previous to her union with Mr. Hackler, 
her first husband being Mr. Thrailkill, and by him 
became the mother of five children, only one 
living: Emma (Mrs. Langston, residing in Tate 
County, Miss). Mrs. Hackler died in 1863, a 
member of many years' standing in the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church. John P. Hackler 
attended the schools of Phillips County in youth 
and received a practical education, being a care- 



ful student, and applied himself diligently to his 
studies. In February, 1881, he was united in 
marriage to Miss Annie Walker.' Mr. Hackler 
owns 800 acres of fine bottom land with 175 under 
cultivation, and raises about eighty bales of 
cotton per annum. He also has engaged quite 
extensively in stock raising, in which he has met 
with fair success. He was elected justice of the 
peace, of Lucas Township in 1886; was re-elected 
in 1888, and is also postmaster, having held the 
latter office with creditable distinction for the past 
four years. In his political views he is a stanch 
Democrat, and a supporter of all worthy enter- 
prises, that indicate the growth of the county, and 
especially favors immigration. 

AVilliani J. Hardin is favorably known as the 
present assessor of Crittenden County, as well as 
one of its most energetic young men. Born in 
what is now Lonoke County, near Carlisle, Ark. , in 
1855, he is the son of John and Nascissa (Perce- 
full) Hardin, natives of Mississippi and Arkansas, 
respectively. The Percefi;ll family were among 
the first settlers in the section of country near Car- 
lisle, and Uncle Johnie PercefuU is now one of the 
oldest citizens living in Lonoke County. John 
Hardin died while his son, William J., was an in- 
fant in Lonoke (then Prairie) County. The mother 
died in the same county, in 1882. at the age of 
forty two years. William J. Hardin lived with 
his mother until grown and came to Crittenden 
County in 1878, where he followed farming and 
clerking, until being appointed deputy sheriff in 
1884, which office he held to the satisfaction of all 
for a term of four years. In 1S88 he was put 
forward by the Democratic party for assessor and 
was elected, and now occupies that responsible 
position. He is a man of rare abilities, and has 
a bright future before him, being recognized as 
a leader in the Democratic party in Crittenden 
County. 

HoQ. Asa Hodges. The great men of our 
time are self-made. Born in the ordinary walks of 
life, with no especial advantage above their fel- 
lows, and forced in early youth to labor for their 
daily bread, they have risen above the common level 
by dint of personal efPort, working their way xip 



^-^ 



r>- 




tbe hill "difficulty," the true road to fame. 
The secret of their success is industry, persever- 
ance and integrity. Firmness of purpose, rectitude 
of intention, and persistence in effort are their 
stock in trade, to which is very seldom added the 
jewel genius, the uncertain brilliancy of which too 
often dazzles, but to mislead. Its place is, how- 
ever, supplied by a stock of that very uncommon 
article — common sense. A clear head, a ipiick eye, 
an accurate judgment, willing hands and self-reli- 
ance, are the true essentials to success. The great 
man is noted for his deeds of endurance; the man 
of power is known by his influence. While but a 
small proportion of the human family attain to po- 
sitions of prominence, fewer still exhibit the ability 
to lead the masses. To achieve the greatness of 
power, one needs the aliility to grasp, group and 
generalize the facts and ideas of the times in 
advance of the mass, to reason out the solution of 
the ever recurrent social joroljlem, and make it pat- 
ent to the popular mind, pointing out the path of 
improvement, mental, social, or physical, and in- 
ducing the people to travel therein, not by the force 
of fire and steel, but through the high and loftier 
process of enlightenment. He who at once informs 
and impels is the true hero, the king among his fel- 
low-men. Such a man is the subject of this 
sketch, such his sphere of action, such his influence, 
and it is indeed a pleasure to the historian of the 
present day to refer to a life so tilled with useful- 
ness, so encouraging to struggling youth, and 
so worthy of emulation by them. Asa Hodges 
was born in Lawrence County, Ala. , January 22, 
1822. His father was Hon. William Hodges, a 
brave son of North Carolina, who. smarting under 
the would-be tyranny of the mother country, bore 
with his father an active share in the colonies' 
struggle for independence. Great-grandfather 
Hodges was of stiirdy Scottish birth, possessed of 
those sterling characteristics of honesty, upright- 
ness and energy, tliat stamped him a man among 
men; and these noble traits have come down in 
a marked degree to his descendants. William 
Hodges, it almost goes without saying, was endowed 
with unusiud vigor of character, and decided 
natural ability. A blacksmith in early life, he was 



held in universal esteem as a citizen, and in 1828 
and 1829 was called upon to represent his native 
county in the General Assembly of the State, serv- 
ing with a faithfulness and distinction that won for 
him permanent rei^utation. He was united in 
marriage with Miss Jeaiinette Dangherty, of Ten- 
nessee nativity, though her parents came originally 
from Nova Scotia. She attained to womanhood in 
the State of her birth, b(>ing married in Smith 
County, after which she accompanied her husband 
to Alabama, and there died in 1832. Firm in 
character and gentle in disposition, she was greatly 
beloved, the influence of her thorough training 
producing lasting impression upon the minds of 
her children. Of the original family of five sons 
and four daughters, two sons and two daughters 
survive. Of these Col. Fleming Hodges mak(^s his 
home in Mississippi; Mrs. Townsend is a resident 
of Shelby County, Tenn., and Mrs. Phillips lives 
in Memphis. By the death of his father, in 1837, 
Asa Hodges was thrown upon his own personal 
resources at the age of seventeen. The fam- 
ily estate having been left in an embarrassed con- 
dition, he found himself face to face with the stern 
realities of life, never knowing much about the 
real pleasures of boyhood, but the very obstacles 
and struggles, which his self-dependent circum- 
stances obliged him to undergo, served to develop 
those intellectual and moral characteristics which 
in after life made him a man of influence and mark 
among his associates. With praiseworthy ambition 
he set about to acquire an e<lucation. To a young 
man possessing no means this was not an easy thing 
to do, but great determination and a " keeping- 
everlastingly-at-it " spirit overcame the serious 
difficulties which earlier surrounded him, and he 
passed the later years of his student life in attend- 
ance at La Grange College, an institution of wide 
repute at that day, conducted under the auspices of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was, perhaps, 
not strange that young Hodges should have turned 
almost intuitively to the legal profession as a field 
offering the greatest inducements for his talents; at 
anv rate he became a student of law in the office of 
Hon. L. P. Walker, of Florence, one of the most 
able and successful practitioners in Northern Ala- 



.k 



418 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



bama, under whose instruction he pursued a thor- 
ough course of study until qualified for admission 
to the bar. Upon receiving his diploma in 1848, 
as a regularly licensed attorney, he entered into 
partnership with the eminent Thomas M. Peters, 
afterward chief justice of the supreme court of 
Alabama, which relation proved mutually beneficial, 
and more than ordinarily lucrative until dissolved 
by the loud muttering.s of civil war. Some years 
before Mr. Hodges had met and formed a pleasant 
acquaintance with Mrs. Caroline Chick, an estima- 
ble lady, whom he married April 17, 1853, Mrs. 
Hodges bringing to this union the culture, influence 
and wealth of a prominent family of South Caro- 
lina. Subseqixently, and previous to the breaking 
out of the Rebellion, he purchased and settled 
upon a large and valuable plantation in Crittenden 
County, Ark., which he still owns. After locating 
here he was made judge of probate, the duties of 
which position he discharged with peculiar care 
and fidelity, winning unbounded commendation 
fi'om his fellow-citizens, who soon transferred him 
to a seat in the State constitutional convention as 
a delegate under the reconstruction act of 1867. 
Following the adoption of the constitution he was 
elected to the General Assembly in 1868, and in 
1870 was the choice of the people of his district as 
State senator, in which body he served as a member 
for a term of four years. While holding the lat- 
ter position, Mr. Hodges was sent as a Repub- 
lican to represent Arkansas in the XLIII Con- 
gress. Here, also, a loyal, consistent adherence to 
the best interests of those whom he represented at- 
tended his career. While there may have been no 
occasion for especial brilliancy of oratorical pow- 
ers, or momentary manifestation of personal ag- 
grandizement, there was always about him that 
quiet, thoughtful, dignified demeanor which is 
never without its influence. Indeed, it is well 
known that Congiessman Hodges was a man able 
to do his own thinking and act upon a judgment 
rarely, if ever, at fault. Public service, honorably 
discharged, stands as a lasting monument to any 
man, and no words that might here be added could 
carry with them more power, or a greater ajiprecia- 
tion of Mr. Hodges' public efforts than the verdict 



accorded him, "Well done, good and faithful ser- 
vant." In his private life he is all that his 
national reputation would indicate him to be. 
Considerate, thoughtful, and always courteous, is 
it any wonder that he is so generally beloved? 
The large means given him have not been misused, 
as the many recipients of his open-handed charity 
stand ready to testify. His pecuniary success 
is well known. His immense plantation in this 
county, 3,000 acres in extent, laid out into highly 
cultivated fields, is a present reminder of his 
industry and labor, for when he moved upon it only 
seventy acres were cleared. Several other tracts 
in various parts of Crittenden are included in his 
possessions, some 2,000 acres of which are also 
worked. A 350-acre plantation in Bolivar County, 
Miss, (yielding a bale of cotton to the acre annu- 
ally), another 1,000 tract in Monroe County, Miss., 
and city property in Memphis also comprise a part 
of his wealth, a single block in the latter city being 
valued at $40,000. The opinion gathered by nine- 
ty-nine out of every 100 individuals, from a survey 
of his appearance, would be that he is a man of 
good, sound, sterling, practical common sense; 
not afraid of work, persistent in effort, quick 
in perception and temper, straightforward, sincere, 
a fast friend, a man with a large heart, clear bead, 
quick eye, and honest intentions. His character is 
this and more. There is nothing of the hypocrite 
about him, and he detests hypocrisy in others. As 
a friend to progress he is especially liberal, and it 
is his great desire to see this favored section 
become rapidly appreciated by the outside world. 
The accompanying excellent portrait of Mr. Hodges 
is reproduced fi'om a photograph taken while he 
was a Congressman, and though twenty years have 
spread the mantle of declining years and left their 
silvery imprint on his hair, they have not dimmed 
the honest candor of his eye, obliterated the intel- 
lectual cast of his facial features, dulled the 
activity of his mind, nor quenched the milk of hu- 
man kindness that has forever flowed from his 
generous heart. Here, in the meridian of life, 
happy in his domestic relations, he resides, enjoy- 
ing the sincere respect of all who are favored with 
his acquaintance. 



J \ 




^ta- »v.lHffter*SirNg I'l'ti" 



^.^. 



iP^~/rt^ 




^1 



l^ 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



421 



Ralph Hathaway, a prosperous planter and 
sawmill man of Crittenden County, is a native of 
North Carolina, born in 1836, and is the fifth of 
six children born to John and Lucy (May) Hatha- 
way, natives of North Carolina, who moved to 
Shelby County, Teun., about 1845, where they 
lived till their death. They were both earnest 
Christian workers, and members of the Baptist 
Church. Ralph Hathaway reached his majority in 
Shelby County, Tenn., and in 1856 commenced 
business for himself on a farm in that county, 
where he remained for four years, coming to Crit- 
tenden County in the spring of 1860. Here he pur- 
chased a lot of wood land and made improvements 
on it for two years, when he sold it, and for four 
years tilled a rented farm on the river in the same 
county. In 1867 he purchased land and com- 
menced to open it up, and in 1872 commenced 
merchandising at Mound City. He sold his farm 
in 1876, and when he went out of the merchandis- 
ing bvisiness two years later, he purchased the 
farm upon which he how lives, consisting of a good 
body of land in an excellent state of cultivation; 
also a gin and saw-mill attachments. He makes 
his home on his farm, but his family lives near 
Barton, Tenn. He served in the Confederate army 
during 1863 and 1864, and when the war ended 
he returned to his farm work. He was married to 
Eveline Carlton, a native of Tennessee, in 1856, 
and by this union were born seven childi'en, four 
of whom are still living: Viola, Laura, Lelia and 
Wellington. Viola is the wife of W. O. Christie, 
of Dyersburg, Tenn. Mrs. Hathaway is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Hathaway 
is a member of the A. F. & A. M. , and is a Demo- 
crat in politics. 

John D. Hodges was l)orn in Lawrence County, 
Ala., in 1842, as the son of Milton and Emiline 
E. (McCamey) Hodges, who were natives of South 
Carolina and Alabama, respectively. When John 
D. was six years of age, his parents moved to 
Pontotoc County, Miss., and settled on a large 
plantation. Here he was reared, enjoying the ad- 
vantages of good pul)lic school facilities, and when 
the Civil War broke out, he was attending the 
Union University of Murfreesboro, Tenn. In Au- 



gust, 1861, he joined the Confederate army, in 
Company A, Forty-first Mississippi, and served 
four years and two months, under Col. W. F. Tuck- 
er, who was soon promoted to brigadier-general, 
LaFayette Hodges being captain. Mr. Hodges was 
wounded at the battle of Perry ville, Ky., by a shot 
in the left ear. He was taken prisoner at Selma, 
; Ala., in the Wilson raid, and was paroled at Mont- 
gomery, in 1865. Going thence to his home, he 
remained for two years, when he moved to Ar- 
kansas and purchased the farm upon which he now 
I lives. In the following year, 1868, his parents 
I came to Arkansas, and remained for two years, 
moving later to Memphis, where they lived till 
their death, which occurred in 1878, of yellow 
fever. Mr. Hodges' wife was formerly Miss Ella 
Kennedy, who was born in Cadiz, Ky. , in 1845; 
she is the mother of seven children, of whom the 
following five still survive: Grace E., Dudley T., 
Jesse T. , Nellie A. and Annie E. ; those deceased 
are: Mary Ellen (who died an infant) and John M. 
(who died at the age of three years and nine 
months). Mr. Hodges is a member of the Baptist 
Church, and his wife of the Christian Church. 
He is a Democrat in politics, and a, member of 
Lodge No. 3114, K. of H. He owns a farm of 
160 acres, most of which is under cultivation, and 
by his judicious management it yields an abun- 
dant crop anually. 

James F. Hodges in his association with the 
plantation interests of Lucas Township, has come 
to be very favorably known. He was born in North 
Carolina, September 29, 1846, being a son of Davis 
W. Hodges, a native of South Carolina, born April 
10, 1825, whose father was John Hodges, a soldier 
in the \\'ar of 1812. Davis W. Hodges was mar- 
ried in South Carolina to Miss Susan J Davis, 
she having first seen tlie light of day in North 
Carolina in 1838. They are still living in South 
Carolina, where they follow farming for an oc- 
cupation, and are the j)arents of six sons and 
one daughter, all living. James F. Hodges is 
the oldest son and he and his brother Milton are 
the only members of the family in Arkansas. He 
was reared and educated in the common schools of 
South Carolina and lived at home till he reached 



n' 



> "V 



9 k^ 



-14- 



422 



HISTOKY OF AEKANSAS. 



his majority. In 1863, enlisting in Company I, of 
the Hampton Legion of the Confederate army, he 
served up to near the close of the war when he re- 
turned to his native State, remaining there till 

1875, the time of his removal to this county. In 
1879 he returned to his native State and was there 
married October 15, 1879, to Miss Lulu Archer, of 
South Carolina, born October 30, 1852. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hodges have a family of four children: Walter 
D., Eva S., Harry G. and Freddie. Mr. Hodges 
now controls 2,000 acres of land, acquired since 

1876, and upon which he has lived since 1883. A 
Democrat in politics, himself and wife are earnest 
workers in the cause of Christianity, belonging to 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. 
Hodges raises from 750 to 1,000 bales of cotton 
per year. He is an honest, upright and hard-work- 
ing man whom everybody respects. 

J. L. HoUoway is a prominent and wealthy 
planter of Lucas Township, who was born in Mon- 
roe County, Miss., September 14, 1S43, being one 
of ten children that blessed the union of Samuel 
and Sophia (Mitchiel) Holloway, natives of Edge- 
field District, S. C. Samuel Holloway was reared 
and educated in South Carolina, and at the age of 
seventeen accepted the position of manager of his 
uncle's business, which he successfully conducted 
until his twentieth year. He then moved to Tusca- 
loosa, Ala., and there married, and immediately 
took the management of his mother-in-law's estate. 
He afterward bought a farm in Tuscaloosa Coun- 
ty, and though quite a young man, received the 
election of sheriff of that county, which office he 
tilled with entire satisfaction to all concerned, for 
many years. In 1843 he moved to Monroe County, 
Miss., from there to Aberdeen, Miss., and in 1854 
took his family to the latter place, where he had pur- 
chased a large plantation, and there remained until 
the close of the war. In 1848 Mr. Holloway bought 
a farm in Monroe County, Ark. , which consisted of 
400 acres in cultivation; this was owned by the 
family until 1862; and in 1858 he purchased a 
large piece of land in De Soto County, Miss., on 
the Mississippi River, consisting of 1,212 acres, 400 
acres imjiroved and highly cultivated. This is the 
family homestead, and now contains some 1,100 



acres of the best of improved land, with good resi- 
dences, barns, etc. Mr. Holloway died at age of 
fifty-seven, his excellent wife surviving him thirty- 
one years; her death occurred in 1889. He was a 
leading member of the Baptist Church, in which he 
was a deacon many years. His wife was connected 
for sixty-five years with the same church. J. L. 
Holloway passed his youth in Monroe County, 
Miss., receiving his education in the schools in the 
village of Aberdeen, and at the breaking out of the 
war was about to enter college. Notwithstanding 
that he had made every preparation and studied 
diligently, and passed critical examinations, he 
gave up the idea, and in 1861 joined Company B, 
Twentieth Mississippi Infantry as a private. He 
was soon after promoted to the office of assistant 
of commissary of Stewart's corps, and held that 
position until the close of the war. He participa 
ted in seventeen pitched battles, the first being on 
Gauly River, W. Va. , at Fort Donelson, where 
he was taken prisoner and sent to Camp Douglas, 
Chicago, there being retained for nine months; he 
was exchanged at Vicksburg in 1862. His regi- 
ment was reorganized at Clinton, Miss., and en- 
gaged in various skirmishes from Jackson to Vicks- 
burg, the hardest fight being at Champion's Hill, 
and it captured over 300 prisoners from Rajmond 
back to Vicksburg, and held them until the surren- 
der of that place. The regiment was not engaged 
in the city, but on the outskirts, and after the sur- 
render of that place was dismounted and sent to 
Jackson, and afterward to Canton, INIiss., for win- 
ter quarters, where it remained until the following 
spring. Being ordered to Resaca it participated 
in that famous battle, and in all the engagements 
around Atlanta, Ga. , up to the time Gen. Hood 
took command. After his (Hood's) defeat, Mr. 
Holloway returned to Tupelo, Miss. , and there the 
troops were furloughed for ten days. At the ex- 
piration Joseph E. Johnston was reinstated to 
the command, and Mr. Holloway rejoined the reg- 
iment at Raleigh, N. C, remaining with Gen. 
Johnston until the final surrender in 1865, after 
which he received his parole and arrived home in 
May of the same year. Upon the close of the war 
he found to his dismay that his worldly possessions 






J^l 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



423 



were almost nothing, l)ut not discouraged he set 
out resolutely, determined to succeed, and he has, 
for the word "fail" was unknown to him. He 
commenced farming, and as he had never done any 
manual labor, of course he encountered many ob- 
stacles, and a man of less determined purpose might 
have failed utterly. After faraiing rented land for 
some time, he returned to the homestead which now 
belongs to himself and the other heirs, only three 
of whom are living out of the large familv of ten 
children: Ira G. (residing in Oxford, Miss., and a 
member of the State senate), Samuella (wife of Dr. 
George A. Cairns, of Oxford, Miss.), and J. L. (the 
subject of this sketch). Mr. Holloway was married at 
Clinton, Miss., in 1863, to Miss Jerusha E. Mosby, 
daughter of John and Nancy (Smith) Mosby, na- 
tives of Tennessee. Mr. Mosby was a colonel in 
the War of 1812, and retained the title so gallantly 
won, during his entire life. Himself and wife were 
the parents of nine children, five surviving: Mrs. 
William Priestly (of Canton, Miss.), Matthew A., 
Jerusha E. (Mrs. Holloway), Mrs. Augusta Cole- 
man and William J. (druggist of Canton, Miss.). 
Mr. Mosby died in 1841, and his wife in 1861. To 
the union of Mr. and Mrs. Holloway three children 
have been given: Willie (Mrs. Young of this coun- 
ty). Miss Elise and Corinne (Mrs. Richards of 
Crawford, Miss). Mr. Holloway has control of 
6,800 acres of land on the Arkansas side of the 
Mississippi River, 725 of which are under cidti- 
vatiou, the rest being leased. He raises from his 
individual labor 100 bales of cotton, and corn suffi- 
cient to supply the Arkansas side of the farm. He 
receives for his rented land on the Arkansas side 
$1,325, and on the Mississippi side $800. Mr. 
Holloway is public spirited and progressive, and is 
a liberal supporter of all laudable enterprises, well 
deserving the confidence reposed in him by his 
fellow- citizens. He is a Democrat in his political 
views, a member of Indian Creek Lodge No. 2383, 
K. of H. , and with his eldest daughter, a member 
of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mrs. 
Holloway and youngest daughter belong to the 
Presbyterian Church. 

William M. Holmes, editor and publisher of 
the Marion Reform, was born in Memphis, Tenn. , 



May 29, 18(55, and is the son of George C. Holmes 
whose birth occurred in Georgia in 1834. The 
latter is a son of George L. Holmes, born in Mas- 
sachusetts, of English descent. George C. Holmes 
was reared in Memphis from the time he was one 
year old, and was married in that city to Miss Ann 
Frances James, daughter of James C. and Sarah 
(Winkford) James, originally from Tennessee and 
Kentucky, respectively, the former of whom was at 
one time Governor and United States senator of his 
native State. Gov. James was a self made man 
and an old line Whig and died in Tennessee in 
1859. Mr. Holmes died in Memphis February 21, 
1884, and his widow still resides in that city. 
William M. Holmes, the fifth in a family of eight 
children, of whom five are still living, was brought 
up and educated in Memphis, where he learned 
the printer's trade, mostly in the Avalanche office. 
He worked at his adopted calling for about nine 
years before commencing for himself and during 
that time rose from the lowest position to the high- 
est in the Avalanche office, first being office boy, 
and then, respectively, apprentice, compositor, 
proof-reader, assistant foreman, local reporter and 
lastly, commercial editor. In August, 1889, he 
came to Marion fi'om Memphis and started the Re- 
form, which is a splendid success as a local news- 
paper, published in a manner to win the commend- 
ation of all. In 1885 Mr. Holmes was married in 
Memphis to Miss Ruby Burrow, born in Humboldt, 
Tenn., July 20, 1868. She is a daughter of John 
Burrow. Mr. and Mrs. Holmes are the happy par- 
ents of two children: Frank E. and Eunice. 
Mrs. Holmes is an earnest worker in the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church, to which she belongs. 
Her husband is connected with the Typographical 
Union of Memphis, and has been a stanch Demo- 
crat since casting his first vote, which was for 
Cleveland. He is a man of intellect and deep 
thought, and the Reform promises to become a re- 
forming power under the l)rilliant management of 
its present editor. 

Sterling Hood deserves special mention as one 
of the oldest citizens of Tyronza Township. He 
was bom in Limestone County, Ala. in 1818, being 
the second child of a family of three children 



-f; 



^ 



« k^ 




k^ 



given to the union of Frederick and Elizabeth 
(Moseley) Hood, natives of Virginia, as were the 
grandparents. The paternal grandfather, Ster- 
ling Hood, was a soldier in the War for Independ- 
ence and the maternal grandfather was Captain 
William Moseley of Revolutionary fame, who went 
to the war from near Halifax, Virginia; he died 
in Alabama about 1S30. Frederick Hood went to 
Alabama when quite a small boy and was with 
General Jackson in the War of 1812. He was 
sick at the time of the battle of New Orleans, and 
died in Alabama in 1836 at the age of forty years; 
he had been twice married, first to the mother of 
our subject from which union resulted three 
children, Sterling, William (deceased) and Robert 
(deceased). After the death of Mrs. Hood, in 
1822, Mr. Hood was married to Betsie Bowlin, 
and by her was the father of five children, two of 
whom are still living. Sterling Hood, reared to 
farm life, was ediicated in Alabama, and at the age 
of eighteen years he commenced life for himself 
as an apprentice to a brick mason, for whom he 
worked three years in Decatur, Ala. He helped 
do the brick work on the freight house of the 
Memphis and Charleston railroad and was present 
in 1836, when the first boat landed at Decatur. 
After learning his trade he left Decatur and went 
to Yalobvisha County, Miss., where he manu- 
factured and laid brick, but only stayed there a 
short time, going thence to Coahoma County, 
Miss., where he followed overseeing for Dr. Hob- 
son and his son and son-in-law for two years. 
Later he went to Carroll County for a short time, 
bu.t in the fall of 1839 settled in Brazoria County, 
Texas on the Brazos River, where he engaged in 
keel boating cotton from the upper Brazos to 
Brazoria. He then was occupied as captain of a 
sailing vessel from the mouth of the Brazos River 
to Galveston, and after remaining on the vessel for 
some time returned to his former occupation, over- 
seeing, on the plantation of the Widow Whorton, 
close to the Brazos River. After staying here for 
eighteen months he left Texas in 1 843 and started 
back to Mississippi by way of New Orleans. From 
that State he went to Memphis, resumed his trade 
and helped to build the navy yard (which was never 



completed), assisting also in erecting the first house 
in that city, built under the hill, by Enoch Davis 
for a tavern; the building has since been washed 
away by the river. He could have purchased one 
acre of land near where the Gayosa Hotel now 
stands, for $75, but thought it a poor investment. 
In 1840 Mr. Hood came to this county and two or 
three years later bought the land upon which he 
now lives, consisting of 120 acres of unimproved 
land, now having seventy-five acres improved. 
Since coming here he has devoted his whole atten- 
tion to his land and the raising of stock. He was 
nearly ruined by the high inundations of the rivers 
in 1882 and 1883, losing over 100 head of cat- 
tle. When Mr. Hood first settled here there were 
but five or six families living on the Tyronza for 
a distance of fifty miles and no road to Mem- 
phis except a trail. What few people lived here 
were prosperous and happy and most of them de- 
pended on trapping for support. Many Indians 
still roamed the woods and the chiefs, Moonshine 
and Cornmeal, came with their tribes and hunted 
during the winter, but went west in summer. Also 
when first coming to this State Mr. Hood saw a 
number of the men that belonged to the Merrill 
clan. He was married in 1849 to Rhoda Richards 
of this State and a native of North Carolina, who 
came to Arkansas in 1839, settling where she and 
her husband now live. Mr. and Mrs. Hood are 
the parents of seven children, of whom five are 
living, viz. : J. W. (who resides in this county), 
Nancy (wife of B. F. Bush), Robert, Laura (wife 
of Thomas Wilkins, in Phillip's County) and Eddie 
at home. Mr. Hood was constable and deputy 
sheriff for twenty years and until he was too old to 
serve any longer. He is a member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church and takes great interest in 
public schools, churches, etc., favoring all public 
improvement and extending a welcome to all white 
emigration, from whatever country they may come 
to this, the land of prosperity and plenty. The 
early settlers of this county were compelled to go 
to a horse mill at Crawfordsville, and Mr. Hood 
erected a band mill, two rawhide bands being at- 
tached to levers and pulleys and run by horse 
power. He, Hood, is still able to ride through the 



l^Z 



CKITTENDEN COUNTY. 



425 



bottoms to look after his land and stock, and is 
active as most men of forty-five or fifty years. He 
has taken very few doses of modicine and scarcely 
knows what sickness means either in himself or 
family. 

W. P. Jeffries is one of the leading young 
farmers of Proctor Township, and owes his na- 
tivity to Mississippi, his birth occurring in Mar- 
shall County, in 1S5S. W. A. and Sallie M. 
(Moore) Jeffries, his parents, came originally 
from Alabama and Pennsylvania, respectively. 
The former was reared to farm life, and when a 
young man purchased land in Marshall County, 
Miss., where he resided for many years. In 
1880 he came to Crittenden County, Ark., and 
settled in this immediate vicinity, purchasing the 
property where Mr. AV. P. Jeffries now resides. It 
consisted of 160 acres, with very little improve- 
ment, though 125 acres were cleared ready for the 
plow. It is nearly all cleared at the present time, 
and under a high state of cultivation; a good 
frame residence and numerous outbuildings are 
among the recent improvements. Mr. and Mrs. 
Jeffries became the parents of seven children, only 
two now living: W. P. and E. D. (the wife of E. 
M. Apperson, Jr.). Mr. Jeffries died in 1887, and 
Mrs. Jeffries is residing with her son, W. P. The 
latter was reared and educated in Marshall County, 
Miss., and always resided with his parents. Since 
his father's death he has managed his mother's 
estate, and has proven himself a man of unusual 
business aptitude and qualifications. He raises 
some eighty-five bales of cotton annually on his 
farm, and in company with E. M. Apperson, Jr. , 
has bought a farm of 240 acres, adjoining his own 
homestead. About 180 acres of this farm are im- 
proved, in a moderate manner. On this planta- 
tion the yearly products are estimated at 125 bales 
per annum. Mr. Jeffries is a member of the A. F. 
& A. M. Mrs. Jeffries belongs to the ladies' depart- 
ment of the same order, and is a devout member 
of the Episcopal Church. He is always in favor 
of public improvements, being a liberal supporter 
of every laudable enterprise, and is " a man es- 
teemed among men." 

M. J. Johnson has long been considered one of 



the most prominent and respected citizens of this 
county. Born in North Carolina in 1827 he is the 
son of Devrick Johnson, a native of Wake County, 
N. C, who was married to Mary, daughter of 
Henry Boone, a lirother of the noted Daniel Boone. 
In about 1830 Mr. Johnson, in company with his 
wife and son, M. J. , his brother, Dudley Johnson 
and his family, with all of their slaves came to 
Memphis and settled. The father of our subject 
was a carriage manufacturer, and purchased a large 
gin-house and mill in Memphis, where he placed 
his factorj'. He had a family of four children, 
all sons, who lived to be grown; those surviving 
are M. J. and Thomas B. (who is living in Memphis). 
Thaddeus B. died in 1871, from disease contracted 
in the Confederate service, and Charles H. died 
in 1873 of yellow fever. While a boy M. J. John- 
son served a six j-ears' apprenticeship with Mera- 
man & Clark, jewelers, going after he left them 
to Holly Springs, Miss. , where he engaged in the 
jewelry business and four years later added a stock 
of merchandise. He remained here for ten years, 
and was married to Miss Fannie Cole, a native of 
Mississippi, and daughter of Lemuel H. Cole, of 
North Carolina. Mrs, Johnson died at her father's 
home in 1850, leaving two children: Julia B. (wife 
of L. D. Blann) and William M. (now living at 
Wynne), Coming to Arkansas with his wife and 
father-in-law, Mr. Johnson purchased over 2,500 
acres of land, on a part of which he now lives, 
and continued on this plantation till 1884, when 
he moved his famil}' to Randolph Count j'; one 
year later, however, he returned to the plantation. 
He was a second time married, this wife's maiden 
name l)eing Jliss Sally A. Torian. She was a 
Kentuckian by birth, but raised in Nashville by an 
uncle. By this marriage there are eight sons, four 
now living: Trice, Jacob, Mat and Boyd; those 
deceased are: Charles W., Thomas, Aca and Dan- 
iel B. Mr. Johnson is very active and a strong 
advocate of a better school system, and is one of 
the countj'' s best citizens. He was wealthy before 
the war, and owned large and valuable tracts of 
land and over 100 negi-oes; now he has about 200 
acres of land in cultivation on which are a good 
residence, cotton-gin, good outbuildings and all 



ft- 



426 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



other modern improvements. He is a Democrat in 
politics, and be and his wife are active members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a very 
reliable man, and is admired by all who know him. 
Minos C. Jordan, as a leading physician of 
Proctor Township, deserves especial mention. He 
is a native of Rutherford County, Tenn., born 
March 27, 1S43, and is the son of William Jordan, 
who came upon the stage of action in Williamson 
County, Tenn., March i, 1801, and died October 
17, 1867, in Rutherford County. The Jordan 
family is of English lineage, and their advent into 
this eonntry was made by two brothers, one of 
whom settled in New York, and the other in Vir- 
ginia. The father of William Jordan, Johnson 
Jordan by name, was born in Virginia. William 
Jordan married Miss Sarah J. Wood, also a native 
of Williamson County, Tenn., born in 1819, who 
is now living in Rutherford County. She is the 
mother of ten children, of whom only live are liv- 
ing, three having died in infancy, and one son was 
killed in the late war. Minos C. Jordan, the sec- 
ond child in this family, was reared and educated 
in Williamson and Rutherford' Counties, Tenn., 
and after attending the common schools for a num- 
ber of years, entered the College Grove School of 
Williamson County. When within ten months of 
his graduation the Civil War broke out, and on 
May 27, 1861, he enlisted in Company D of the 
Twentieth Regiment, Tennessee Infantry, Confed- 
erate States Army, being relieved from duty May 
30, 1864, on account of disability, having been 
wounded by a ball in the right leg at that time; 
the bone was fractured, and be is now a cripple 
from the effects of that injury. He was acting as 
sharpshooter near Dallas, Ga. , at the time he was 
wounded. During bis service he was engaged in 
the following important battles: Shilob, Fishing 
Creek, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Hoover's Gap, 
Mission Ridge, and various skirmishes of less 
note from Chattanooga to Dallas, Ga. After being 
wounded be was sent to a hospital and remained 
there till Lee's surrender, when he returned to 
Tennessee, and in 1866 taught a term of school. 
In 1868 he kept books for Miles & McKinley, of 
Mui'freesforo, Tenn., and in 1869 commenced farm- 



ing, which he continued for one year. Going to 
Texas, he was engaged in the cattle business for 
a few years. In 1874 he went to Alabama and 
commenced the study of medicine under Dr. A. C. 
Ashford, where he remained for one year, taking a 
course of lectures at the Medical University of 
Louisville, Ky. He then practiced for one year, 
and returned to the university, from which be 
graduated in 1878. From April, 1876, to Janu- 
ary, 1879, he practiced in Lauderdale County, 
Tenn., whence he moved to Cottonwood Point, in 
Southeast Missouri, and followed his profession 
until December 11, 1881. Then he fovmd a location 
in Crittenden County, Ark. , and has since resided 
here, enjoying a practice that brings him an an- 
nual return of $1,500 or $2,000. On January 20, 
1880, the Doctor was married to Miss A. D. Mar- 
tin, of Holly Springs, Miss. She was born in Pem- 
iscot County, Mo., December 5, 1853, and is now 
the mother of two children: Goston M. and Will- 
iam A. Dr. Jordan owns a house and lot at James' 
Landing, on the Mississippi. He is a thorough 
Democrat, and has been since casting his first vote, 
which was for the separation and representation of 
the State of Tennessee in the Southern Confeder- 
acy. His second vote was for Jefferson Davis, for 
President of the Confederate States of America. 
He is a jovial, good-natured man, and is liked by 
all of bis neighbors. 

Samuel Keel, though occupied with his present 
duties as clerk of the Circuit Court of Crittenden 
Comity but for a short time, has ably demonstrated 
his fitness for the position. He was born in Mem- 
phis, Tenn. , in 1847, and is the third of a family 
of eight children born to E. T. and Louisa C. 
(Grace) Keel. The father was a native of North 
Carolina who moved to Tennessee in 1830, settling 
in Memphis, where he worked in a saw-mill for a 
time. In 1840 he formed a partnership with I. T. 
Gibson and embarked in the saw-mill business 
which he continued for several years. About 1850 
he started a soap factory, and in 1852 opened a 
grocery store, this receiving his attention till he 
died at the age of sixty-one years, of yellow fever, 
in 1879. The Graces, of whom Samuel Keel's 
mother is a descendant, settled in this county when 



If^ 



..<( 9 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



427 



it was first opened, and are of Spanish oritrin. A 
Mr. Grandee who was living here at the beginning 
of the nineteenth century, and who was a Spanish 
officer, is one of her ancestors. Lake Grandee, 
which lies beside Marion, is named after this old 
settler. Samuel Keel was brought u]) and edu- 
cated in Memphis, and at the age of eighteen years 
commenced to clerk in his father's store, and later 
he was engaged with Arbuckle, Eichardson & Co. 
In 1880 he came to Crittenden County and began 
planting on a farm inherited from his father, and 
which is situated one mile north of another very 
line place of 375 acres, 200 being under cultiva- 
tion. Since he took charge of this farm he has 
made many valuable improvements, among others 
a fine house that cost him about $1,700, a large and 
modern barn, and has cleared over 100 acres. Mr. 
Keel has been married three times; first, to Miss 
Mary Avery, a native of Tennessee, who died in 
1873 of yellow fever, having borne one child, also 
deceased. He was married to his present wife. 
Miss Mary MofFett, a native of New York, in 1882. 
Mr. Keel has taken considerable interest in poli- 
tics, and was elected clerk in 1888. He is a gen- 
tleman of winning manners and pleasant address, 
and all who know him are profited by the acquaint- 
ance of a worthy and honorable gentleman. He 
owns one of the finest and most productive farms 
in this county, which has become such by his skill- 
ful management. He is therefore prominent as a 
farmer, a citizen and a county official. 

Predi'ick Koser, an extensive planter of Wap- 
panocca Township, first saw the light of day in 
Germany, September 3, 1835, and is the son of 
Gotlep Koser, who was born and died in Germany. 
Our subject was left motherless when an infant, 
and he was reared and educated under his father's 
care. At the age of seventeen, having decided to 
try his fortune in the West, he sailed for the 
United States, and located at Sandusky, Ohio. In 
1857 Sir. Koser was married in Tennessee to Per- 
melia J. Nokes. a native of Mississippi. They are 
the parents of four children, of whom Thomas F., 
who resides in Memphis, Tenn. , is the only sur- 
vivor. Mr. Koser is now living with his third wife, 
who is the mother of one child, Charles C. On 



Christmas day, 1867, Mr. Koser landed in this 
county from Shelby County, Tenn. , and purchased 
forty acres of land, where he now lives, of which 
there were thirty acres in cultivation. Having 
every characteristic of a (^erman ho commenced to 
increase his possessions till he now owns 530 
acres of unimproved land, and 350 acres of land 
under cultivation in Crittenden County; also a 
farm' and a house and lot in Randolph County, 
Ark. Politically Mr. Koser is a Democrat, and 
cast his first presidential vote for Buchanan. He 
is a member of the Knights of Honor, and his wife 
and some of his children belong to the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South. He is the framer of his 
own fortune, and by his strict attention to business 
has made himself a comfortable income for life. 
He is a public-spirited man and an honest and hon- 
ored citizen. 

J. T. Lambeth is a respected resident of Fogle- 
man Township, and a man whose superior educa- 
tion and display of public enterprise have linked 
his name to the affairs of Crittenden County in 
such a way that he is admired and honored by all 
who know him. His birth occurred in Wilson 
County, Tenn., in 1847, and he is the son of J. T. 
and Susan (Wall) Lambeth, also natives of Ten- 
nessee. J. T. Lambeth, Sr. , was a school-teacher 
by profession and was principal and one-half owner 
of the Clinton College. He sold his interest in the 
college before the war and moved to his plantation, 
on which he lived till his death, which occurred in 
Smith County, Tenn., November 0, 1857, when he 
was thirty-nine years of age. He was a man of con- 
siderable literary talent and wrote a book on bibli- 
cal subjects, entitled "Number Seven;"' also a 
work on temperance, called ' ' Happiness and 
Wealth," beside a number of ])oems which were 
published in the different periodicals of the day. 
Mr. Lambeth was the father of three sons: J. T. 
and Warner (twins), being the first born. W. E. 
resides in Golddust, Tenn. Warner died on the 
23d of August, 1889, at Golddust, Tenn., where he 
was engaged extensively in the mercantile business, 
now owned and operated by his brothers. Mrs. 
Lambeth has lived with her son, J. T., most of 
the time since her husband's death. J. T. Ijam- 



^ 



A>^ 



428 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



beth was educated principally in Illinois, where his 
mother moved in 1858 and lived for twelve years. 
During his stay in Illinois he and his brothers pur- 
chased some town property in Weston. Crittenden 
County, Ky., also buying a saw-mill and carrj'ing 
on the mercantile and saw-mill business under 
the firm name of Lambeth Brothers. In 1875 
these enterprising men built a saw-mill and tow- 
boat which they called the Tidal Wave, and placed 
on the trade between Evansville and Memphis. 
In 1880 they bought the tract of land where J. 
T. now lives, consisting of 400 acres of timbered 
land for their saw-mills and seventy-five acres 
of improved land on which they have a cotton-gin 
and all other modern improvements. At this 
writing they have moved their saw- mills to replace 
them with a larger and more improved concern. 
In 1885 the Lambeth Brothers embarked in the 
mercantile and saw-mill business on a large scale 
at Golddust, Tenn. , and in 1887 bought a farm of 
1,200 acres, of which about 450 are improved, 
raising annually upon this tract about 400 bales of 
cotton. In addition to the amount ginned for 
themselves, they gin for others some 600 bales, 
making their capacity 1,000 bales of cotton. W. 
E. Lambeth was married, in 1883, to Miss Mattie 
Graham, of Illinois. Like his brother, he is 
noted for his business ability. J. T. Lambeth 
takes considerable interest in the political issues of 
the day, although he has no desire for public 
office. He is still unmarried and lives with and 
cares for his mother. Our subject and brother 
have spent considerable time on board of steam- 
boats, and have filled the positions of captain and 
pilot of the same. J. T. Lambeth is practically a 
self-made man and can point with pardonable 
pride to the property he has amassed by his care- 
ful and intelligent business management. 

Capt. John G. Lewis, a planter, merchant and 
deputy postmaster of Marion, was born in Hardin 
County, Ky., in 1827, and is the son of Coleman 
and Winneford (Nail) Lewis, of Virginia and Ken- 
tucky origin, respectively. William Lewis, the 
grandfather of our subject, was a native Virginian, 
being an extensive and prosperous planter in Cul- 
peper County. He was a soldier in the Revolu- 



tionary War, enlisting when he was seventeen or 
eighteen years of age, and for his faithful service 
he was promoted to the rank of major, retaining 
and carrying this title with him to the close of 
the great struggle for liberty. He raised a fam- 
ily of fourteen sons, and one or two daughters, all 
of whom lived to be grown. Some of the sons of 
this family went to Kentncky, settling close to- 
gether, and others went to Indiana, and the rest to 
Alabama. Coleman Lewis attained his majority 
m Virginia, then moved to Kentucky, where he 
was married and lived for several years; coming to 
a place called West Point, he opened a hotel and 
in connection with this did a commission business. 
He and several of his brothers fought in the War 
of 1812. He died in this county in 1845. at the 
age of fifty years. After the death of her husband, 
Mrs. Lewis moved to Mississippi where she died. 
Six children were born to these parents, of whom 
three are still living, two older sisters and Capt. 
Lewis. After the death of his father, in 1850, 
Capt. John commenced life for himself by taking 
an overland route to CaliforDia, his means of con- 
veyance being a mule which he rode. He remained 
in this State four years, and by pluck made clear 
of expense $3,000, then returning to his Ken- 
tucky home by way of the Isthmus of Panama 
and New Orleans. After spending about three 
years in Kentucky he went to Arkansas in 1857, 
locating in Crittenden County, on the little river 
Tyronza, where he has since lived and reared his 
family. He joined the Confederate army just be- 
fore the fall of Vicksburg, enlisting in Company E, 
First Arkansas Cavalry, Dobbins' regiment. In the 
fall of the year of his enlistment he was promoted 
fi'om the rank of sergeant to that of captain. He 
was in the battles of Helena, Ark., Big Creek, 
Phillips County, Nealy's Ferry on St. Francis River, 
Cross County, one in Prairie County, also at Little 
Rock, and was with Price on his last raid through 
Missouri, Kansas and Indian Territory. After his 
eventful career in the army he returned home and 
resumed his former occupation. He was first mar- 
ried to Camilla Lansdale, she being born in Ken- 
tucky in 1831, and died in Arkansas in 1874. She 
was the mother of six children, three sons and three 



\ 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



429 



daughters, of whom three are still living: Charles 
L. (who is a merchant and postmaster at Marion), 
Louisiana (now the widow of C. J. Powell and lives 
with her father), Lena C. (who is unmarried and at 
home. Mr. Lewis was a second time married, his 
second wife being Mrs. Jennie (Young) Gatlin; she 
dying in 1887. Mr. Lewis and family are living in 
Marion, and his business is that of general mer- 
chandising. In religion Mr. Lewis is a firm Meth- 
odist, he belonging to the Methodist Episcopal 
Church of his town. His son Charles is a worthy 
constituent of the K. of H. , and is also secretary 
of that society. As a family they are held in high 
esteem b)' all who know them, and they are all im- 
bued with that spirit of enterprise that makes them 
popular. 

Mrs. Mary Lloyd, who lives three miles north 
of Marion, on a farm of 160 acres, of which she 
cultivates over 100, was bom in Mississippi to the 
union of Mr. and Mrs. John Coble, natives of that 
State. When she was an infant her father died, 
and the mother was married, after five years of 
widowhood, to Henry Butler, who was also a na- 
tive of Mississippi. Soon after his marriage he 
moved to Marion, Ark., and followed blacksmith- 
ing for a livelihood, and afterward moved to Poin- 
sett County, where he resided till his death. The 
subject of this sketch was married August 9, 1807, 
to James Lloyd, who came originally from Missis- 
sippi County, Ark. He served as a soldier in the 
Confederate army, and after the war returned to 
Marion, Ark., where he engaged in farming, trad- 
ing and. trapping. He was an excellent farmer 
and business man. Mr. Lloyd died on April 3, 
1881, leaving a wife and five children: Sophia, 
Willie, Belle, Le Roy and Robert Loe (deceased). 
Sophia is the wife of P. A. Bobbitt, who lives in 
this county. The other three are at home. Mrs. 
Lloyd owns two tracts of land besides the one on 
which she resides. She is industrious and enter- 
prising, and keeps her pro])erty in good condition. 
She is a good true Christian lady and a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

D. C. Louder is the son of Louis and Mary 
(Lawrence) Louder, and was born in 1854. Louis 
Louder, a farmer by occupation, was in moderate 



circumstances. He served in the War of 1812, 
and participated in the battle of New Orleans. He 
was twice married, by his first union becoming 
the father of seven children, only one now living, 
Minerva, wife of E. J. Lawrence, of Gibson 
County, Tenn. His last wife was the mother of 
D. C. Louder (the subject of this memoir), and the 
following family resulted from this marriage: Mrs. 
S. A. Harris (wife of Rev. Mr. Harris), Corretta 
(wife of Jones Evans, residing in Gibson County, 
Tenn.), Willie (now Mrs. James Evans, also of 
Gibson County), and E. J. (a well-known resident 
of the same locality). Mr. Louder died in 1865, 
his wife having been called to her final home just 
previous to the war. D. C. Louder was reared in 
Gibson County, Tenn. , and at the age of eighteen 
began for himself as a farmer in that county, con- 
tinuing until 1809, at which time he came to Ar- 
kansas, locating in Crittenden County and in this 
township. He has since followed the occupation of 
an agriculturist, mostly on rented laud, and usu- 
ally rents from 200 to 400 acres, proving beyond a 
doubt that he is the right man in the right place, 
for the number of small details of farming which 
many are wont to overlook, are to him as import- 
ant in their way as the larger ones. Mr. Louder 
was married in 1875 to Miss Allicia Lowrance, of 
Memphis, Tenn., and by her is the father of four 
children, two of them now living: Fannie A. and 
Mamie B. , both at Memphis, attending school. 
The home, which was so happy, was robbed of the 
devoted wife and mother in 1SS4, after a shoi^t ill- 
ness. Mr. Louder is a successful farmer, and is 
rapidly accumulating a competence. He is exten- 
sively engaged in raising cotton, and is recognized 
as one of the principal cotton growers of the 
county. He is a member of Fountain Lodge No. 
290, K. of H. , at Memphis, Tenn., and is held in 
high esteem by all. 

Col. O. P. Lyles, the extent of whose reputa- 
tion is by no means confined to the immediate 
limits of Memphis, his present place of residence, 
has been so closely and worthily identified with the 
affairs of Crittenden County, both in an official 
capacity and as a private citizen, in the more hum- 
ble but not less important walks of life, that an 



<S J^ 



,[^ 



430 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



omission of a brief sketcli of his life from the pres- 
ent volume would be greatly to be regretted. A 
Tennesseean by birth and bringing up, he first saw 
the light of day in the month of November, 1829. 
From an early age he found it very necessary to 
exercise a firm determination to lit himself for the 
responsibilities of after-life. His first remunera- 
tive efforts were as clerk on a river trading-boat, 
an occupation to which he devoted himself until 
about 1844, when he located at Marion, Ark. Self- 
educated and taught by hard exj)erience the value 
of self-reliance, he rapidly demonstrated his worth 
and ability in his new home, and in 1850 was 
elected clerk of the circuit court, a position that he 
ably filled some eight years. During this time he 
began the study of law, and applied himself closely 
to an insight into the legal profession, being ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1857. In 1858-59 he was 
representative from this county in the State legis- 
lature, and in 1861, when the threatening war 
cloud burst in all its fury, he became identified 
with that section to which his interests were so 
closely allied. Enlisting as a private, upon the 
reorganization of the army, he was unanimously 
elected colonel of the Twenty-third Arkansas In- 
fantry Regiment, and participated in the hard- 
fought battles of Corinth, Davis' Bridge, siege of 
Port Hudson, and various skirmishes, his career as 
a soldier being more severe and fraught with harder 
service than characterized the experiences of many 
noble ' ' boys in gray. ' ' On July 9, 1 863, he was 
taken prisoner after the siege of fifty-one days, 
and suffered the tortures of prison life for some 
time. During his military service he was in com- 
mand of one or another of the wings of the army, 
and it is a matter of record that a recommendation 
was made to Jeff. Davis to bestow upon Col. Lyles 
a commission as major-general; a brigadier's com- 
mission was offered him, but this well-deserved 
honor he declined. At the expiration of the war 
the Colonel was sent to the senate, and while a 
member of that body was elected to the United 
States Congress, but was not allowed to take his 
seat. During the troublous period of reconstruc- 
tion his life was often threatened; his personal 
bravery and firmness of position seeming to aggra- 



vate, especially, the bitter hostility of unscrupulous 
citizens. In 1868 he received a positive warning 
that the members of the Loyal League intended 
taking his life upon a certain night. Immediately 
removing to Memphis with his family, he awaited 
on the night of the intended attack the assault to 
be made, when at a certain hour a knock was heard, 
to which Mrs. Lyles responded by opening the 
door; immediately two ruffians brushed roughly 
by her, but being confi-onted by a gun in the hands 
of Col. Lyles quickly withdrew. From the time 
of residence in Memphis he has followed closely 
the practice of his profession, the result of which 
has placed him in a most desirable pecuniary posi- 
tion. He still claims Crittenden Coimty as his 
home, where he has considerable property inter- 
ests. His record as a public servant redounds 
greatly to his credit, and for the assistance which 
he has rendered this community, all refer to him 
in terms of the highest praise. Col. Lyles was 
married, August 13, 1848, to his present wife. Miss 
Jane McClung, daughter of James and Margaret 
McClung. Five children have blessed this union, 
three sons and two daughters: William L. (mar- 
ried and a resident of Texas). Charles L. (died 
in 1884), George W., Mary Bell (wife of Seth 
Cox) and Olive Blanche. The family are num- 
bered among the active, influential members of 
the Methodist Church. As a man, Col. Lyles is 
possessed of sterling and irreproachable traits of 
character, enjoying in a high degree, the esteem and 
resj)ect which those qualities create. Generous to 
a fault, kind and affectionate as a husband and 
father, he is alike admired in social and profes- 
sional circles. 

Benjamin Franklin McConnell (deceased) was 
born in Lexington, Ky., October 10, 1841, and 
died in this county December 16, 1887. He was 
a son of Francis McConnell, of Irish descent, who 
was the father of three sons and one daughter. 
The latter died in infancy and the two sons now re- 
side in Lexington, Ky. The father departed this 
life in 1880, in his sixty-fourth year, at the home 
of his son James, in Arkansas. Benjamin F. was 
first married after reaching manhood to Mrs. Mary 
A. (Montgomery) Jones, who died in 1875, leaving 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



431 



one son, Lewis F., now living with his step-mother. 
After her death Mr. McConnell was united in mat- 
rimony to Ella G. (Goff) Eives, who was born in 
Memphis in September, 1850, a daughter of James 
D. and Phoraty W. (McCoy) Goff. Mr. Goff was 
a Virginian by birth, and was killed in this county 
in 1866 by a man named Lake. Along in the fif- 
ties he was the largest merchant in the city of 
Memphis and at one time was worth about if 500, - 
000, besides having made and lost several other 
fortunes. He was an extensive planter in this 
county at the time of his death. Mrs. Goff died in 
Memphis in 1852. She was the mother of three 
sons and two daughters, of whom there are still liv- 
ing: George B. and Ella G. EllaG. , the young- 
est child, was brought up and attended school in 
Memphis up to her sixteenth year, when she went 
to an educational institution at Nazareth, Ky., and 
remained for two years. She was first married 
May 18, 1870, to -John G. Rives, whose birth oc- 
curred in Nashville, Tenn. ; he died July 31, 1875. 
They •were the parents of two children both now 
dead He had two children by his first wife, and 
of these, one is still living, Florence H. (wife of 
James C. Hubert). Mrs. McConnell has four chil- 
dren by her second husband, viz. : Brodnas F. , 
Ella G., John G. and Bennie. Mrs. McConnell 
resides on the farm left her by her husband which 
he purchased in 1882, containing 820 acres with 
about 200 under cultivation; this is located twelve 
miles south of Memphis on the Mississippi River. 
She rents her land for cash and it usually yields 
from 125 to 150 bales of cotton. 

John C. Mann is practically a self-made man, 
having risen from a position without means to be 
a prosperous planter of Jasper Township. Born 
in North Carolina, in 1821, he is the son of John 
and Elizabeth (Cleves) Mann, who were also na- 
tives of North Carolina, and were planters in that 
State. John C. Mann attained his majority in 
North Carolina, and in 1844, in company with a 
body of immigrants, made his way into Mississippi^ 
stopping in Marshall County, while en route, where 
he worked as a laborer and overseer for some time. 
In 1845, going to De Soto County, Miss., ho re- 
mained for two years, and thence to Yazoo County, 



where he spent four years. Settling in Bolivar 
County, at a town called Lake Bolivar, ho contin- 
ued there and in adjoining neighborhood till he 
■went to Arkansas, in 1879. Upon arriving in this 
State ho located on a farm, about three and one- 
half miles northwest of Marion, where he still lives, 
having a place of 360 acres, most of which is under 
cultivation. Besides this farm he has tracts of land 
in other parts of the county, most of it also being 
under cultivation, from the effects of his own super- 
vision. ]VIr. Mann was first married January 24, 
1850, to Indiana Hamberlin, a native of Missis- 
sippi; she died September 6, 1851, leaving one 
child, who also died, at the age of one year, five 
months and four days. On July 22, 1852, Mr. 
Mann was married to Miss Mary M. Yarborough, 
of Mississippi origin, having been born in Bolivar 
County, October 14, 1833. Mr. and Mrs. Mann 
are the parents of two children : Amelia Ann (mar- 
ried William F. Loring, and became the mother 
of two children; after his death she was married 
to Robert A. Rolland, and by him had four chil- 
dren) and Mary Emma (married to James H. Mann, 
and lives on the home place with her parents, and 
is the mother of two children; one died in infancy; 
Eddie still lives). John C. Mann and family are 
prominent members in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, and he has acted as steward in 
that church for a number of years. Politically a 
Democrat, he is one of the most prominent men in 
his township. He came here without a dollar, 
and by his own hard work, amassed a fortune of 
115,000, which he lost during the late war; but 
by good management, so characteristic of him, he 
has made what he now has — one of the finest farms 
in Crittenden County, containing all the latest im- 
provements, among which is a large gin, placed 
there in 1881. He and his family are good Chris- 
tian people, and are ornaments to the society in 
which they move. 

Archibald C. IVIay deserves mention as a lead- 
ing farmer and stock raiser of Tyronza Township, 
Crittenden Count}'. He was born in St. Francis 
County, Ark., March 1. 1843, as the son of Archi- 
bald May, whose liirth occurred in North Carolina 
in 1808, he dying in St. Francis County in 1854. 



jy 



k 



k. 



432 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



His parents immigratod from North Carolina to 
Arkansas when he was a boy, and were among the 
first settlers of St. Francis County. They came 
to this State on sleds when Memphis had but one 
store. The father of the subject of this sketch 
was married to Miss May Casbeer, of Tennessee, 
the daughter of Thomas Casbeer, who moved 
from Tennessee to St. Francis County, Ark., with 
all his worldly possessions on horseback; he was 
one of the earliest pioneers of that county. Archi- 
bald C. May, the sixth child of a family of nine 
children, of whom four are still living, was reared 
in St. Francis County, there receiving his educa- 
tion in the common schools. Moving to Cross 
County he was married in 1803, his wife being 
formerly Miss Mollie Pigram, who was bom in 
Tennessee, January 2, 1844. She died December 
1, 1884, being the mother of five children, of whom 
the following three are still living: Archibald B.. 
Joseph M. and Berry P. Mr. May was married 
to Ida Pickett, July 10, 1886. By this union two 
children have been born, Jimanna and an infant 
unnamed. Mr. May has lived in Crittenden 
County since 1877, and has a farm of 200 acres, 
with twenty acres in cultivation, located in the 
Tyronza River bottoms. He enlisted in the Con- 
federate army June Ifi, 1862, in McGee's com- 
pany, and served very efSciently till December 19, 
1862, when he was accidentally shot in the shoulder 
and discharged on account of his disability. He 
was constable in his township in St. Francis 
County for four years. Politically, he has been a 
Democrat since easting his first vote, which was 
for Seymour. 

G. F. Morris, a descendant of the well-known 
pioneer settlers of this county, whose name he 
bears, was born in 1857, and is the oldest of a 
family of three children born to the union of C. F. 
and Mississippi H. (Fogleman) Morris. His ma- 
ternal grandfather, G. S. Fogleman, came to this 
county in a keel-boat from Ohio, about 1824, wb,en 
land that is now worth from $6 to $8 per acre could 
have been purchased for ten cents. After locating 
here he followed the occupation of a wood chopper, 
and, not being able to buy a team, he and his wife 
carried the wood on their backs to the boat landing. 



After laboring in this manner for some time he 
bought a team, and from such an humble start was 
enabled before long to hire hands and contract on 
a larger scale, and he finally commenced buying 
negroes, at the time of his death owning sixty-five 
negro men besides a number of women and chil- 
dren. He was also the owner of twenty-one miles 
front on the Mississippi River, consisting of over 
20,000 acres. He died in 1865 and his wife in 
1857 or 1858. C. F. Morris and wife were mar- 
ried in 1856, at Fogleman' s Landing, on board the 
steamer Kate Frisbey. Mr. Morris, at that time, 
was a steamboat man at Memphis, Tenn. His 
; father, W. B. Morris, and grandfather were among 
i the early settlers of Sumner County, Tenn., and 
were manufacturers of paper. W. B. Morris moved 
to Memphis when it was a village of only a few 
hundred inhabitants, and engaged in the mercan- 
tile business, remaining there till his death. His 
son, C. F. Morris, was the first steamboat agent 
! at Memphis, and was clerk on the first boat built 
at that place, which was run in the Memphis and 
White River trade. Mr. Morris followed steam- 
boating for twenty years, discontinuing it just be- 
fore the commencement of the late civil strife. 
After the war he engaged in farming, his wife 
having inherited about 17,000 acres of land. He 
also followed the wood business till the boats began 
to burn coal. Mr. and Mrs. Morris were the par- 
ents of four children of whom two are still living; 
they are: G. F., Calvin M. (deceased), Cynthia 
(deceased), Lazinka E. (wife of A. M. Morrow). 
G. F. Morris was reared in this county and re- 
ceived his education in Memphis, being married, 
in 1880, to Miss Mary Speck, daughter of Law- 
rence Speck. Mr. and Mrs. Morris have a family 
of two children: Oliver W. and Frank K. When 
the former reached the age of fourteen years he 
embarked in life for himself in the wood business, 
which he followed till 1880, then starting as a 
farmer. This he continued for only a short time 
and soon secured a position on the Phil. Allen, 
serving many years as pilot on this boat and the 
G. W. Cheek. Since leaving the river he has been 
occupied in the mercantile and saloon business. 
\V. P. Phillips (deceased), whose name occu- 






-T.|v 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



433 



pies a substantial place in the memory of his many 
former acquaintances, was born in Tennessee, 
though reared in Alabama, having gone there when 
a child. He was a grandson of Col. John Phillips 
who fought in the War of 1812, and a son of John 
Phillips, a Kentuckian by birth. The siibject of 
this sketch reached his manhood in Alabama, and 
there followed merchandising and farming, being 
very .successful before the war. He was married 
to Miss Ann H. Stewart, also of Alabama nativity, 
and the daughter of "William and Mary (Hogins) 
Stewart, originally from North Carolina. They 
were reared in Tennessee, where they were mar- 
ried, and later moved back to Alabama, where 
they were well-to-do farmers. The father died 
when Mrs. Phillips was but a little girl. She was 
the only daughter and remained with her parents 
till her marriage, which occurred in 1846. Mr. 
Phillips was a prominent and influential farmer 
and merchant, and during the war served in the 
commissary department till the close of the strug- 
gle, spending most of his time in Georgia. He 
lost very heavily in that conflict, but at its close 
resumed his farming and merchandising pursuits. 
In 1869 he moved with his family to Hale County, 
Ala. , where he manufactured the Avei")' cotton-gin. 
He went to Memphis, Tenn. , in 1873, having jjur- 
chased large tracts of land in Crittenden County, 
Ark., in 1871, with the intention of opening a 
farm there, but he died before his plans were con- 
summated. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips were the par- 
ents of four children, of whom three are yet 
living, namely: Mrs. Virginia Avery, Mrs. Alice 
Quinu and Mrs. "Willie Cheatham. Minnie died of 
yellow fever in 1878. Mr. Phillips died Decem- 
ber 31, 1874. He was an excellent man, a Mas- 
ter Mason, a tirm believer in Christianity and the 
Bible, and was admired by all who knew him. 
Mrs. Phillips lived in Memphis till 1884, when 
she mov(>d to Crittenden County on the land that 
her husl)and had intended to open, and where she 
has a irood farm of 100 acres. She is an estimable 

o 

Christian lady, and enjoys the universal respect of 
her neighbors and acquaintances. 

La Fayette Pickett, by occupation a farmer and 
blacksmith, was born in Jefferson County, 111., 



July 28, 1851, being the son of Benjamin Pickett, 
a native of Wayne County, Tenn., who was mur- 
dered in Ballard County, Ky., May 10, 1861. His 
father, James Pickett, was a Virginian by birth, 
and moved to Tennessee with his parents, being 
among the early settlers of that State. La Fayette 
Pickett came to Crittenden County with his mother 
and step-father in 1868. There were four chil- 
dren in the family, of whom only Mary E., be- 
sides the subject of our sketch, is living, and she 
is the wife of Dr. Martine. La Fayette Pickett 
lived in Kentucky till he was fifteen years of age, 
then coming to this county, where he received 
most of his limited education in the common 
schools. He was married in 1872, to Miss Sarah 
E. Goad, daughter of William and Amanda M. 
Goad, early settlers here, having located in the 
neighborhood in 1856. This was their home until 
called away by death. Mr. and Mrs. Pickett are 
the parents of five children: John H. , Le Roy, 
Delia, Cora and Alice. They have lived in their 
present place of residence, since 1881, and have 
170 acres of land, with sixty acres in cultivation; 
upon it is an orchard of 120 trees and a blacksmith 
shop for his own work, in which he also does the 
custom work for his vicinity. Mr. Pickett is a 
member of the County Wheel, and is a Democrat 
in politics, having cast his first vote for Tilden. 
His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and is a good Christian lady. Mr. Pick- 
ett is a hard-working, industrious and enterprising 
citizen. 

John F. Rhodes, merchant of Earle and among 
the substantial citizens of Tyronza Township, was 
born in Tipton County, Tenn., in 1862, being the 
first child to bless the uniou of J. C. and Margaret 
E. (Fleming) Rhodes, natives of Tennessee. J. 
C. Rhodes is a trader and now lives in Mississippi. 
He has been twice married: first to Miss Tow Qsend, 
of Tennessee, by whom he was the father of seven 
children, only two now living. Belle (wife of J. W. 
Clove, of Australia, Miss. ), and W. H. (who re- 
sides at Frazier, Tenn.). In 1860 Mr. Rhodes 
married the mother of John F. , and by her has 
had four children, all deceased except John F. 
He has again been left a widower, his wife having 



?]i 



434 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



died in 1875. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M. 
and R. A. John F. Rhodes was reai-ed and edu- 
cated in Tipton County, Tenn., and since 1875 has 
supported himself, having been cast upon the cold 
charity of the world at the age of twelve years. 
He has given himself a good business education, 
spending his thirteenth and fourteenth years in 
Texas as a farm hand, his fifteenth and sixteenth 
years in Tennessee at the same occupation, and his 
seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth years in 
Mississippi. In 1883 Mr. Rhodes came to Lee 
County, Art., and entered a dry goods and grocery 
store at Bledsoe, where he remained for twenty 
months, when he commenced the grocery business 
at Memphis, Tenn. After one year there he re- 
turned to Bledsoe and associated himself with \V. 
M. Taylor, buying one-third interest in the busi- 
ness of general merchandising. He continued with 
Mr. Taylor till January, 1889, when the firm dis- 
solved, and he established his present business in 
April of that year, transacting $20,000 or $25,000 
worth of business the past year. He runs a gen- 
eral country store, and has a large trade, employ- 
ing two clerks besides himself. Mr. Rhodes is a 
pushing young man and his present business is due 
solely to his own efforts; he has the prospect for a 
bright and prosperous life. 

James E. Richards, one of the oldest native 
citizens of Crittenden County, was born in 1856, 
and is the eldest child of a family of three chil- 
dren born to the union of W. A. and Sophroney 
(Gilmore) Richards, originally of South Carolina 
and Kentucky, respectively. When Mr. Richards 
came to this State there were Imt few roads in this 
part of the county, and only a few claims staked 
out, with from two to five acres in cultivation. 
People that lived here then spent most of their 
time hunting and rafting logs down the Tyronza 
River, and in raising stock. It cost nothing to 
raise cattle, and the timljer which was rafted was 
close to the streams and could be had without ex- 
pense, save the labor of cutting and rafting, which 
was mostly to New Orleans. Mr. Richards bought 
land and opened one of the first farms of any size 
in this section of the country, and devoted his time 
to farming and stock raising, which he continued 



until his death, January 10, 1875. To himself and 
wife three children were born, of whom two are 
still living: James E. and W. A. Mrs, Richards 
died in 1864, and in 1866 Mr. Richards was mar- 
ried to Mrs. Sarah (Rose) Vernon, becoming by her 
the father of four children; three of these survive: 
Addie, Meda and Katie. After the death of Mr. 
Richards, Mrs. Richards was married to Thomas 
Eskridge, who died in 1879; she subsequently mar- 
ried Mr. Davis, of Mississippi County, Ark. , 
where she still resides. Mr. Richards held the 
ofiice of justice of the peace in this county for a 
number of years, and during the Civil War, in 
which he took no part, James E. Richards was 
reared to farm life, and at the age of eighteen 
years commenced life for himself (or at the time 
of his father's death). He engaged in the timber 
business for some years and was later employed in 
the dry goods and grocery store of C. J. Powell, 
at Crawfordsville. At the age of twenty-two he 
was married to Miss Fannie Brown, of this county, 
the daughter of E. D. and Delia (McGee) Brown, 
natives of Kentucky and Arkansas, respectively, who 
were the parents of two children: Richard and 
Fannie. Mr. Brown came to this State in an early 
day, and died in 1874; his wife died in 1864. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Richards have been born six children 
(of whom four are still living): the following are 
their names in order of birth: Delia (deceased), 
Willie (deceased), Carrie, James C. and R. E. and 
Arthur (twins). Mr. Richards is principally occu- 
pied with his brother in rafting logs and the farm- 
ing of 100 acres on the old home place. He has 
the large.st interest in a 198-acre tract of land, 
with 100 acres in cultivation, and his wife owns a 
farm near Crawfordsville, consisting of 109 acres, 
with fifty acres in cultivation. Mr. Richards is a 
member of Lone Star Lodge No. 375, A. F. & A. M. 
of Crawfordsville, and takes great interest in edu- 
cational and church matters; bis desire to promote 
educational facilities has placed him on the board 
of school directors for his district for a number of 
years. 

Capt. J. G. Sands, a farmer by occupation, and 
a man admired by all for his untiring efforts to 
promote the best interests of the county in which 



nis- 



^^ 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



435 



he lives, was liorn in Tennessee in 1829, and was 
the fourth and youngest child of John and Jane 
(Raid) Sands, natives of Illinois. John Sands had 
been previously married, and had reared two chil- 
dren, Susan and Martha, who are now dead. When 
our subject was only six days old his mother died. 
The father then married Mrs. Betsie Pounds, 
who died in 1841, and after her death he again 
married, Miss Sarah Summers becoming his wife. 
This union was blessed by three children, all now 
deceased. Mr. Sands moved to this county in 
1843, and settled here while it was almost a wil- 
derness. He followed overseeing, and rented land 
for his children to cultivate; was a brave soldier 
in the bloody Black Hawk War, and died in 1849. 
When Capt. Sands was three years old his father 
moved to Illinois, where he lived till coming to 
this county. At the age of sixteen he commenced 
business for himself in rafting logs, together with 
running a store and steamboats on the Mississippi 
River till 1861. His store-boats were floating gen- 
eral stores, and three steamboats ran from Mound 
City to Memphis, Hatcbie River to Memphis, Os- 
ceola to Memphis, and on the St. Francis River to 
Memphis. At one time he owned an interest in 
seven flat-boats and store-boats. In 1861 he en- 
listed in Company F, of the First Regiment, Ar- 
kansas Cavalry, which was stationed west of the 
Mississippi River throughout the war. Capt. 
Sands fought in the battle of Helena, besides a 
number of smaller battles and skirmishes, and was 
captured in 1863. His captors started with him 
to Alton, but at the head of Island No. 40 he 
jumped from the boat and escaped to his home, 
although he broke his thigh in the fall, after which 
he never did any regular service. He, with twen- 
ty-seven of his company, out of eighty-six original 
members, surrendered at Memphis, Tenn. At, the 
close of the war Capt. Sands returned home, and 
commenced farming and laud trading, and in 1867 
he moved to Mound City, where he engaged in the 
mercantile business, which he continues to the 
present day. He also has about 500 acres of good 
land in cultivation, 300 acres of which he rents; 
besides this he owns 2, 100 acres in all of wild and 
improved land, of which about 500 acres could be 



cultivated without draining. At the close of the 
war Capt. Sands' possessions were valued at $100, 
and in 1868, when he was again getting a start, 
he was robbed of his mules and cattle, and his 
store was rummaged, leaving him in tlie same con- 
dition that he was at the close of the war. By his 
untiring efforts, however, he has made a fortune 
for himself, and has gained a prominence among 
his fellows in Crittenden County worthy of emula- 
tion. Mr. Sands was first married to Miss Casan- 
dra James, who was the mother of four children, 
all of whom died while young. Mrs. Sands was 
an ardent member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. She died in November of 1860. Mr. 
Sands was the third time married to Mrs. Mattie 
(Wallace) Osborn, and they were the parents of 
only one child, who is now dead; the mother died 
in 1864. In 1865 he was married to Miss Mary 
C. West, and by her was the father of three chil- 
di'en, of whom one is now living, Gertrude Lyon 
(wife of John Stevens), residing with her father. 
Mrs. Sands died in 1879, and in the same year the 
Captain was married to Mrs. Sue (Kirbie) Dennis, 
to whom has been born one child, deceased. Capt. 
Sands is a member of Lone Star Masonic Lodge of 
Crawfordsville, Ark. He is a Democrat in politics, 
and favors all public improvement and white emi- 
gration. He has ever been a leading citizen, and 
is foremost in every movement for the upbuilding 
of the locality in which he lives. 

George W. Scott justly deserves his present 
position as one of the well-to-do farmers and stock 
raisers of Tyronza Township. A native of Tennes- 
see, he was born in Madison County, January 17, 
1831, and is the son of Cyrus and Cyntha (Davis) 
Scott, natives of New York and Connecticut, re- 
spectively. The former immigrated from New Y'ork 
to Tennessee and from there to Missouri, where he 
resided about two years, moving thence to Illinois 
which was his homo till death. Mrs. Scott survived 
her husband for a few years. She was the mother 
of seven children, of whom George W. is the fifth. 
He grew to manhood in Illinois, being educated in 
the common schools of Madison County, and upon 
reaching his majority went to Goodhue County, 
Minn. , where he engaged in farming for four years. 



e k_ 



^ ^t 



b^ 



436 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Then moving across the Mississippi River, he 
bought an interest in a saw-mill and after a short 
time bought his partner out, and ran the mill alone 
till 1802, vrhen he enlisted in Company G of the 
Fifth Minnesota Infantry Regiment, serving till 
the close of the war. He was wounded in the bat- 
tle of Corinth, May 22, 1802, by being shot in the 
forehead with buckshot, after which he was sent to 
a hospital and was occupied on detached duty most 
of the time afterward. He was in the battle of 
Pleasant Hill in 1804. He was discharged at 
Memphis, Tenn. , and after spending about one 
month in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin he 
came to Crittenden County, Ark., where he has 
since resided. Mr. Scott has lived at his present 
home since 1875; here he has a farm of 240 acres 
with about 120 in an excellent state of cultivation. 
He has in another place 640 acres, of which 140 
are in cultivation. His home farm is on the Ty- 
ronza River and has upon it a good orchard and it 
is a fine stock farm. Mr. Scott was married in 
1874 to Mrs. M. C. Thorn, who was born in St. 
Francis County, September 21, 1833, and had two 
children, a girl and a boy, by her first husband. 
Mr. Scott was justice of the peace for sixteen years 
in this township; was notary public for four years 
and postmaster of Blackfish postolKce for seven 
years. He cast his first vote for Pierce and has 
since been an ardent Democrat. He is one of 
Crittenden County's best farmers and an industri- 
ous and wide-awake man. Mrs. Scott is a sister of 
Archibald C. May. [See sketch.] 

Capt. H. \V. Sebree. Prominent among the 
farmers of Crittenden County, is Capt. Sebree, 
who was born in Kentucky, in 1817, being the son 
of Reuben and Jane (Watts) Sebree, natives of 
Virginia. Their parents were also Virginians by 
birth, the father of Reuben Sobree, Richard Se- 
bree, being a very prominent and wealthy planter, 
who lived to be over ninety years of age, and died 
while our subject was a small boy. Reuben reached 
his majority in the Old Dominion, where he was 
married, and one child had been born to himself 
and wife, when he moved to Kentucky, and settled 
in Boone County. There he engaged in farming 
till his death. He was a well-to-do man and took 



an active part in the War of 1812. Some of his 
comrades were captains in the war, but owing to 
his age, he could not be admitted as a soldier. 
He was an old time Whig, and died in his seventy- 
third year, having been an upright, moral man, 
and well-liked, commanding the respect of all who 
knew him. His wife died several years afterward, 
being seventy-seven years of age. To this union 
were born six children, five sons and one daughter. 
All but one lived to be grown: Oner, one of the 
sons, fell in a well and was drowned at the age of 
four years. Only two of the children, Norman 
(an engineer living in Cincinnati) and Capt. H. "\V. 
(the fourth child) survive. At the age of twenty 
years, the latter went on the Hartford City, a tow- 
boat running between Pittsburg and New Orleans, 
of which he soon afterward became pilot, then cap- 
tain, and the principal owner. He owned the Star, 
Argus, Rockford and several other boats, and was 
on the river from 1859 to 1870, holding positions 
on various boats, and had three boats destroyed 
during the Civil War, the Queen of Memphis, Hart- 
ford and Star. Purchasing a fruit farm in Critten- 
den County, he lived at Mound City for a short time, 
when he moved to his farm on which he has since 
made his home. Here he has 350 acres of good 
land under cultivation, though only seventy-five 
were improved when he bought the place; he owns 
other lands that are u.nimproved. While living in 
Kentucky, he took an active part in political mat- 
ters, and represented Boone County in the legisla- 
ture, in 1850, also holding the office of sheriff, 
magistrate and several minor offices. He was a 
Whig till the war, and then a Democrat, but now 
gives his whole attention to his farms. Capt. 
Sebree was married to Elizabeth Wingate, a native 
of Kentucky, and a daughter of William Wingate, 
a wealthy planter of Boone County, who lived to 
be very old. Mrs. Sebree died November 4, 1888, 
in her sixty-ninth year. She was a good Christian 
lady, and one of the best women that the world has 
ever produced. She was the mother of eight chil- 
dren, the following two of whom are still living: 
Sarah J. (the wife of Moses Corey, living in Penn- 
sylvania) and Katy Cole (wife of J. W. Cole, who 
lives on the home place with her parents; they 






^^ 



CKITTENDEN COUNTY. 



437 



have one son, Howard W.). Mr. Sebroo has been 
a very active, and is yet one of the most energetic 
men in the county. He is wide awake and push- 
ing, and has done much toward the advancement 
of the locality in which ho lives. 

Otto Seyppel, a planter and merchant of Lucas 
Township, was born in Germany June 18, 1854, 
being the son of Achillea and Mina (Jacobs) Seyp- 
pel, also natives of Germany. The father was a 
magistrate by profession and died in his native 
land in March, I860. Mrs. Seyppel was born in 
Germany about 1838 and died in Memphis in 1878, 
of yellow fever. She and her husband were the 
parents of two children: Alexander (who died of 
yellow fever at Holly Springs, Miss., in 1878) and 
Otto. Our subject, the second child, was raised 
in his native land till he was eleven years of age, 
and there received most of his education. He 
came with his mother to this country, and after 
spending a few months in New York went to Mem- 
phis, Tenn. , in 1865, living with the mother's 
brother till sixteen years old, when he commenced 
life for himself in the wood yard business, which 
he continued for one year. He then entered a 
grocery store as a clerk, remained so occupied for 
two years, when he clerked for a coal tirm for three 
years, and after leaving this firm was manager of 
the McCormick Ice Company of Memphis for four 
years. He then invested in steamboat stock and 
run a tow-boat from Memphis to New Orleans for 
eisrht months. While he was with the McCormick 
Ice Company he was married, February 13, 1878, 
to Mrs. Minnie (McCue) Burgett, who was born in 
Memphis September 25, 1854, being the daughter 
of John and Mary (Mc"\Villiams) McCue. Her first 
husband was waylaid and killed after they had 
been married but three weeks. Mr. Seyppel is a 
member of Germania Lodge No. 369, K. of H. , of 
Memphis, and of the Knights of Pythias Lodge of 
the same city, as well as the Gorman Bruder Bund 
Lodge of Memphis. He is an extensive farmer 
and owns 350 acres of land with 200 in a good 
state of cultivation, on which he raises annually 
fiom eighty to 100 bales of cotton. This farm is 
located twenty-nine miles south of Memphis and 
sixty miles north of Helena, and is known as the 



Burgett farm. He is postmaster of Seyppel post- 
oflice, which was established in 1888. Mrs. Seyp- 
pel' s father, Mr. McCue, was born in Stark 
County, Ohio, and is now living in California. He 
was married to Miss Mary Mc Williams, who was 
born near Tuscumbia, Ala., in 1833, and died in 
Hernando, De Soto County, Miss., in 1871. Min- 
nie was the only child born to this union. She 
was reared in Memphis till fifteen years of age 
and received most of her education in that city. 
At the age of fifteen she went with her mother to 
Hernando, Miss., where she remained until her 
marriage, in 1873, to Peter M. Burgett, who was 
born on the farm on which Mr. Seyppel now lives. 
He was a large planter and left a farm of 2,800 
acres, situated on the Missitsippi River, to his wife. 
His father, Isaac Burgett, settled the farm where 
our subject now resides, and was one of the early 
settlers in this section. He was born in PeiTy 
County, Mo., November 20, 1801, and died in this 
county December 18, 1865, at time of his death 
being the county's oldest citizen. He was a man 
of sterling good sense, great enterprise and un- 
bending integrity, and at his death left a very 
large estate. He had six children, viz. : John C. , 
Peter M. , William L. , Isaac W., Henry E., Bettie 
B. and Nannie P. 

Albert Sinclair, a planter and carpenter of Jas- 
per Township, and one of its oldest and most re- 
spected citizens, was born in Rutherford County, 
Tenn., in 1833. His parents having died while he 
was but an infant, he was reared by James and 
Rachel Cunningham, farmers, who came to Ar- 
kansas in 1844, and settled near Marion, where 
they lived till their death. Mr. Cunningham was 
a soldier in the War of 1812. Mr. Sinclair re- 
mained with this family until 1851, when he com- 
menced life for himself as a laborer, and in 1859 
was married, and leased a farm, on which he lived 
till after the war. At the commencement of the 
Civil War he joined the Confederate army, and 
hired a substitute, who served in his stead for one 
year, after which he took his i)lace and served in 
Dobbins' regiment till the close of the war. Ho 
was taken prisoner below Marion, Ark., and kept 
at Hope Field for a time, when he made his escape 



438 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



and returued to bis company. After the close of 
hostilities he returned to his farm work, and in 
1866 purchased land near Marion, on which he 
lived till 1882, when he moved to a farm that he 
had bought in 1874. This consists of 160 acres of 
splendid land, with a part under cultivation, upon 
which he has a good residence, gin and all modern 
improvements. He has occasionally worked at his 
trade, since the war, and has built several horse- 
power gins, and some of the fine residences that 
adorn this portion of the country. His possessions 
are wholly the result of his own labors, and he 
can say without boasting that he is a self-made 
man, for he commenced with nothing, and to-day 
is in very comfortable circumstances. His first 
wife was Mrs. Catherine M. (Lloyd) Garrett, who 
was born and reared in this county ; they were the 
parents of three children, all girls, two of whom 
died, three hours apart, while small. The oldest 
daughter, Sarah C, is the widow of James R. 
Keel, and has two children, Floyd Atwilda and 
James A. L. Mrs. Sinclair was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and died in 1887, at 
the age of fifty years. After her death Mr. Sin- 
clair was married to Fannie E. Everton, who was 
born in Mississippi, and came to this State in 
1887. Mr. Sinclair and his daughter are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a Dem 
ocrat in politics, and takes great interest in schools, 
churches, and in fact anything that will increase 
the morality and the business interests and pros- 
perity of the county in which he lives. 

J. F. Smith. The lives of noble men who have 
built up and fostered the interests of Arkansas are 
always read with pleasure, not only by their 
friends, but by a grateful people, who have 
watched its industrial, agricultural and moral de- 
velopment from year to year under the skillful 
management of those men who had the ingenuity 
and enterprise to cultivate its resources. Mr. 
Smith was born in Tennessee in the year 1834, and 
was the only child of William and Catherine (Mc- 
Crimmon) Smith. His parents died when he was 
young, and at the age of seventeen he took his 
place in the world's great struggle and sought to 
carve for himself a name in the temple of fame. 



His first venture was to find employment, which he 
succeeded in obtaining in a store near his native 
place, remaining here until the outbreak of the 
Civil War. He responded promptly to the call of 
his country and began to make preparations to en- 
list, and at the option of. the company which was 
being formed in the town of his birth, was elected 
to the rank of first lieutenant, and at the organiza- 
tion of the regiment (Thirty- first Tennessee In- 
fantry) was appointed major. During his war ca- 
reer he took jiartin the battles of Columbus (Ky.), 
Fort Pillow, Corinth (Miss.), Harrisburg (Miss.), 
and several others. When the army was reorgan- 
ized he was detached, but immediately formed a 
company of cavalry and was elected colonel of the 
Second Mississippi Cavalry, to which the company 
had allied themselves. In this capacity Col. Smith 
remained until the end of the war, fighting for the 
cause he so gloriously undertook, with all his heart 
and soul, even up to the final bitter moment when 
defeat at last crushed his hopes and the stars and 
bars of the Confederacy lay trampled in the dust. 
In 1866 Col. Smith came to Ai-kansas and located 
at Marion. Here he purchased a small farm of 
thirty-four acres, from which he cleared the tim- 
ber and put it under cultivation, and now. what 
better evidence of his determined will and tireless 
energy can be found than to look over his broad 
acres, numbering over 2,000, and view with admir- 
ation the 800 that he has placed under cultivation. 
Col. Smith was married in 1857 to Miss Paralee 
Derryberry, but death entered his home in Feb- 
ruary, 1861, and took from it his estimable wife, 
leaving one son, Lee, who resides at Marion and is 
engaged in farming. His second marriage oc- 
curi'ed in 1863 to Miss Martha J. Gidden, by whom 
he has had five children: Emma (now the wife of 
Thomas Koser), Willie S., Frank G.,Mary G. and 
Charles Edgar. Col. Smith's plantation is with- 
out doubt one of the finest in Crittenden County, 
and the most of it he has placed under cultivation 
himself. In appearance he is a typical Southerner, 
of a tall and commanding figure, dark comjilexion, 
with jirominent features and an eye that is piercing 
in its glance, and withal a courteous gentleman. 
As an army officer. Col. Smith stands without a 



^1 



e> pV 



^1 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



439 



peer in his rank, as his splentlid record through 
the dark days of rebellion will show, when his 
courage and gallantry commanded the admiration 
of both friend and foe. Possessed in a strong de- 
gree with journalistic qualities, Col. Smith saw the 
need of a paper in Crittenden County, and was one 
of the leading promoters of the Marion Reform, 
which advocates those missions that will unques- 
tionably be beneiicial to both white and colored 
citizens. He held the office of mayor of Marion 
and during his administration made many improve- 
ments in the town, especially in laying the side- 
walks, and was also one of the leading spirits in 
building schools for both white and colored chil- 
dren and the Methodist Church in Marion. He 
was also one of the principal advocates of prohibi- 
tion in Marion, which was secured in 1885. Dur- 
ing 1889 Col. Smith was levee commissioner, 
and an earnest advocate of levee protection. In 
his dealings with tenants on his plantation he is 
scrupulously exact that they shall have to the last 
penny their share, and as an evidence of the esteem 
in which he is held, some of his tenants have been 
with him since the war. In politics Col. Smith is 
one of the prominent men of his county, and in 
1874 was sent to the State legislature. He is a 
director of the Memphis bridge now being built 
from a point in this county to Memphis, and in 
other affairs that tend to push forward the progress 
of Crittenden County he is always ready and gen- 
erous with his assistance in every way possible. 
His name is an authority on many matters of pub- 
lic interest and he holds a place in the hearts of 
his fellow-citizens that will never be banished. 

J. L. Smith could hardly be other than one of 
the leading and prosperous citizens of Crittenden 
County, because he is a son of Col. J. F. Smith, a 
worthy resident of this community. Born in Mc- 
Nairy County, Tenn., in 18G3, he lived in that 
State till twelve years of age, when he came to 
Arkansas with his parents and has since remained 
here. ' Most of his education was received in the 
common schools, and in 1881 he commenced 
business for himself as a merchant at Marion, 
and in 1884 began farming on the island where 
he now lives. He was married to Miss Lillian 



Brooks, who was bom in Tipton County, Tenn., in 
1 888, the daughter of James and Matilda Brooks, 
the father being deceased, but the mother is still 
living. To this young couple has been born one 
child, named Brooks Franklin. Mrs. Smith is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. 
Smith cultivates about 550 acres of land. Polit- 
ically he is a Democrat, and is a young man of rare 
abilities. At the rate in which he has so far pro- 
gressed he will have amassed a large fortune before 
he passes out of his j)rime. 

J. W. Stewart is a shining light in and a credit 
to the medical fraternity. A native of Tennessee, 
his birth occurred in 18G7, he being the fourth in a 
family of five children born to James R. and Ellen 
J. (Thomas) Stewart, natives of Tennessee and 
Mississippi, respectively. James R. Stewart was a 
merchant of Shelby Depot, now Brunswick, Tenn. , 
and for many years was identified with prominent 
business houses of that place. Previous to his 
mercantile career he engaged in farming in the 
same county, and was quite successful. His death, 
in 1878, was sincerely mourned by his numerous 
friends and acquaintances. Mrs. Stewart is now 
residing in Brunswick, Tenn., with her daughter, 
Addah, the wife of E. E. Beaty; E. N. also resides 
in Brunswick; and besides these childi'en there are 
Ana F. , James W. (subject) and Lnlla. Mr. and 
Mrs. Stewart are of English descent. Mrs. Stew- 
art traces her ancestry back to the Lords of Eng- 
land. Her maternal Grandfather McCullough was 
a lord of no slight prominence in England. James 
W. Stewart was reared and educated in Shelby 
County, Tenn. . until eighteen years of age, leaving 
home at that time to enter the Memphis Medical 
Hospital and College. He graduated from that 
institution in 1887, commencing his practice the 
same year in this county. His modest little sign 
would scarcely have attracted the passer-by, but his 
reputation as a physician and surgeon preceded 
him, as his brilliant college career and the com- 
mendation from the faculty were his passport to 
his present lucrative practice. His success is truly 
phenomenal, and would compare favorably with 
others who have practiced for years. Dr. Stewart 
purchased an interest in the firm of Williford & 



"^■i 



2 W_ 



440 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



"Whitaker, in 1889, that establishment now being 
known as Stewart & Co. The business amounts 
to 88,000 annually, and is rapidly increasing. 

Mrs. Margie Strong. Among the enterprising 
and extensive farmers and fruit growers of Crit- 
tenden County will appear the name of Mrs. Strong, 
who is the wife of J. L. Strong, and daughter of 
A\illiam and Elizabeth (Barton) Dickson, all of 
Alabama. Mr. Dickson was one of the prominent 
men of Alabama before the late war and deeply 
interested in the progress and prosperity of this 
State. He was connected with Brinkley, Green- 
law, Tate and others, the original projectors of the 
Memphis & Little Rock Railroad, and with these 
gentlemen he purchased large tracts of land in 
this and adjoining counties, doing as much or more 
to advance the interest of the county and State in 
which he lived than any other man; and he is 
remembered with the kindest esteem for the in- 
dustries that he put on foot, and which will live as 
monuments to his public -spirited efforts. Among 
the tinest and most productive of the many farms 
owned by Mr. Dickson is the one upon which his 
daughter now lives and does business. Mrs. Strong 
was married to J. L. Strong in 1863 and in 1867 
they moved to Tulare County, Cal. , where they re- 
mained for thirteen years. Mrs. Strong has one 
brother, Barton, residing at Dickson, Ala., on the 
old homestead and one sister, Loutie, now Mrs. T. 
H. Ward, of Memphis, Tenn. Mrs. Strong's farm 
consists of 1,200 acres of land, of which there are 
500 acres in cultivation. She is greatly interested 
in the culture of fruit, especially peaches and 
pears, of the former of which she has an orchard 
of fifty acres and an extensive orchard of the 
latter. From a statement by Mrs. Strong con- 
cerning the profits of fruit culture on Holly Grove 
farm, as her place is called, valuable information 
is gained. Besides the peaches and pears spoken 
of she has quite an extensive apple orchard, but 
does not find this branch of business as profit- 
able as peaches, which she says can be grown more 
successfully here than in any other country in 
which .she has been, with the exception, perhaps, 
of California. The profits of peach culture are 
certain and large. The orchards of Holly Grove 



farm have been bearing only three years. The 
net receipts for the first year were -SI 59. 34 per 
acre, the second year $103 per acre and the third 
year $136 per acre. Mrs. Strong gives valuable 
facts from her experience as to the relative ben- 
efits of budded and seedling trees. She finds 
the "Beatrice" the mo.st profitable early peach 
on account of its uniform size and freedom from 
rot; also that all budded fruit bears fitfully, some 
years bearing heavy crops and some light; that 
they are also subject to rot. Her experience demon- 
strates seedling fruit to produce the best returns, 
because they are healthier and bear vmiform crops, 
gradually increase and do not rot. The profits from 
seedling trees in 1889 was $232.86 per acre after 
deducting every conceivable expense. Mrs. Strong 
is the largest individual shijiper to the Memphis 
markets and when the people there want the choic- 
est fruit they seek out the package that bears the 
label "Holly Grove Farm." She is also a large 
shipper to the New Orleans market. The trees are 
grown and now ready to extend her peach orchard 
to 100 acres and the pear orchard to ten acres. 
She finds pear culture profitable also. She plants 
only the Leconte and KeifTer pear and they net 
$170 to $400 per acre. Mrs. Strong has origi- 
nated twenty- four varieties of peaches on her farms 
and she will plant the entire increase with these, 
with the exception of the "Early Crawfords." 
She deserves the greatest praise for the large busi- 
ness which has sprung up under her own super- 
vision. If one half the men were as enterprising 
and energetic the world would l)e enriched and 
improved many fold. 

A. R. Strong, one of Crittenden County's 
young men of note, and a merchant at Crawfords- 
ville, is a native of Louisiana, born in 1859, and 
the son of A. R. and Elizabeth (Shaw) Strong, 
originally from New Jersey and Louisiana, respect- 
ively. The father went South when a young man 
and commenced dealing in timber, having gone 
South for his health fi'om New York, where he 
had been keeping books. At the time of his death, 
which occurred in December, 1858, he had been a 
farmer for ten years. Three months after his 
death his wife gave birth to A. R. Strong, our 



& X* 



LA 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



441 



subject, who attained his majority in Louisiana, 
where he received his education in the common- 
schools. In 1870 he commenced business for him- 
self on a farm in Mississippi, and continued for 
two years, returning to Louisiana, and taking up 
the same occupation there. Since 1881 he has 
been occupied in merchandising, going into busi- 
ness for himself in 1886, at Kilbourne, La., and 
following it till he came to Arkansas in January, 
1889. He is enjoying a substantial trade at Craw- 
fordsville, aggregating upward of 115,000 the past 
year, besides having a large business at his old 
place in Louisiana. Mr. Strong was married to 
Miss Mary Hill, a native of Chicot County, Ark.; 
they are the parents of three children: Jlerrietta, 
Julia and Creola. Mr. and Mrs. Strong are mem- 
bers of the Baptist Church, and he belongs to the 
K. of H. of this j^lace. Mr. Strong's short ac- 
quaintance in this county has made him many warm 
friends, who will share with him in the success 
which is inevitable if he pursues his present coui'se. 
George T. Stull, M. D. Prominent among the 
citizens and the well-read and educated men of 
Crittenden Coiinty appears the name of Dr. Stull, 
who was born at Nashville, Tenu., in 1820. He 
is the son of Samuel and Rachel (Mathias) Stull. 
The grandfather, Zachariah Stull, was one of three 
brothers, of German descent, that came from Mary- 
land, being among the first settlers of Marengo 
when Nashville was but a stockade, in about 1780. 
Soon after this two of the brothers were killed by 
the Indians. Zachariah Stull was an industrious 
farmer, and died near the place of his settlement, 
leaving two children: Samuel and George; the 
former of whom died in 1820, the latter in 1851. 
These two sons followed farming for an occupa- 
tion, and Samuel was a surveyor and did consider- 
able work on the government surveys of Alabama 
and Tennessee. He was a great lover of home, 
and was devoted to his fireside. His motto was, 
' ' Pay as you go, ' ' to which he adhered very rigidly 
and never went in dol>t. He was strict, but honest 
in all his dealings, and it is said that if he owed a 
dime he was not easy till it was paid. The mother 
was connected with the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church, and was a devoted Christian. She died 



in 1844, leaving tour children, two sons and two 
daughters: Isaiah (the youngest of the children, 
was killed at the battle of Atlanta), Mrs. Charlotte 
Scott (died at Nashville, in the winter of 1888), 
Mrs. Elizabeth Lodbetter (died at Nashville, in 
1871), George T. Stull (the subject of this sketch) 
is the oldest of the family and is the only male 
member now livine. He grew to manhood in Ten- 
nessee, where he graduated from the Nashville 
University, in 1842, and later cultivated a farm 
from the time of his gradiiation till 1848, when ho 
went to the Philadelphia Medical College. After 
his graduation from this college he practiced in 
New Orleans for four years. Going from New Or- 
leans to Fayette County, Tenn. , ho gave his atten- 
tion to the profession till the close of the late war, 
when he moved to Memphis, where he engaged in 
buying notes, bonds, building, etc. ; he remained 
in that city till 1883, then came to Crittenden 
County, Ark., and settled on the place where he 
now lives, adjoining Crawfordsville. Dr. Stull was 
first married to Elizabeth Williams, of New Or- 
leans, who died in Fayette County, Tenn. , on New 
Year's day of 1850, leaving one child, a girl, now 
deceased. In 1801 the Doctor was married to 
Sally Goode. of Giles County, Tenn., who died in 
1870, leaving one daughter, Parmelia G., now the 
wife of W. S. Graham, of Forrest City, Ark., where 
he is engaged in general merchandising. Dr. Stull 
was married to his present wife, Mrs. Addie B. 
Pamphlin, of Memphis, Tenn., in 1880. He has 
entirely given up his profession since moving to 
Memphis, and devotes his time to his land, which 
he rents. He is a man of extensive travels, and is 
one of the best read men in the county. He spends 
his winters in the South and his summers in the 
North. He takes great interest in his gardens, 
orchards and vineyards. 

Wilsie W. Swepston, a leading planter and gin- 
ner of Crawfordsville, was born February 9, 1848, in 
Vinton, Ohio, and is the son of John and Asenath 
(Darb}") Swepston, originally of Virginia and North 
Carolina, respectfully. They came to Arkansas 
April 1, 1859, when our subject was eleven years 
old, and located at th<> Fifteen-mile Bayou in this 
county. Here the father ran a saw and grist-mill, 






l9 






!1£ 



442 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



and was engaged in that business at intervals till 
1808, when he was elected county clerk, and held 
this office for four years, and officiated in the same 
capacity several times afterward, and was holding 
the office of county sheriff at the time of his death. 
He took an active part in political matters in Ohio, 
as well as in Arkansas. He was not in favor of the 
secession of the States, so did not participate in 
the war. He filled some position of responsibility 
and trust most of the time after the reconstruction 
till his death; he was a conservative Republican in 
politics. His wife worshiped with, the Christian 
Church, to which she belonged, and died in 1868, 
being the motl^er of ten children, of whom seven 
lived to be grow^and six are still living. "Wilsie 
W. Swepston is tn^-second son, and attained his 
majority in this county, where he commenced life 
for himself by raising a crop on shares, on the Don- 
egan Island, and in 1877, opened a general store 
at Marion and remained in this business for two 
years, when he came to Crawfordsville and followed 
merchandising till 1882. He has since been occu- 
pied in cultivating his farms, of which he has sev- 
eral, all in a good state of cultivation. In 1888 he 
built a gin on the Bald Knob Railroad, with the 
caj)acity of twenty -five bales per day, which is the 
largest and best equiped custom gin in the county; 
he uses the Thomas press and the Sailor system of 
elevating. He also has plenty of storage- room 
for cotton and cotton seed in connection with his 
gin. He was elected justice of the peace in 1888, 
getting every vote in his township, and has held 
this office for two years, and has never paid any 
attention to politics, but has given his time ex- 
clusively to his farms and gin. Mr. Swepston was 
first married in 1880 to Miss Ida H. Haley, of Mem- 
phis, Tenn., who died the same year. In October, 
1882, he was again married to Mary W. Denton, a 
native of this county. The fruits of this marriage 
were four children: Edith, Pierre, Lee St. Clair 
and lo. Mr. Swepston is a very energetic worker 
in educational matters, and has been a live and 
active member of the school board for the past nine 
years, being elected on this board when the town 
had neither funds nor buildings, and by close and 
strict adherance to business they now have two nice 



school buildings, and a good corps of teachers. He 
is a member of the A. F. & A. M. , and the K. of 
H. He always votes the straight Democratic ticket 
and is opposed to the sale of intoxicating liquors. 
Lafayette Swoope, M. D., needs no formal in- 
troduction to the many readers of this volume, but 
in compiling the biographies of the principal citi- 
zens of Crittenden County, his name should not be 
omitted. Born in Augusta Count}', Va. , in 1835, 
he is the son of Washington and Eliza (Trent) 
Swoope, natives of Virginia. Washington Swoope 
was a prosperous farmer, and came from one of 
the F. F. Vs. He and his wife reared a family of 
nine children, seven of whom are now living: Dr. 
W. M. (living at Buckingham Court House, Va.), 
Mary M. (wife of Col. Forbes, of Virginia), Eliza 
M. (Mrs. William Carr), Sarah A. (Mrs. Col. G. 
W. Hull, of Virginia), Mariah A. (wife of Gen. 
Edward C. Cornington, residing in Virginia), Fran- 
cis M., Bowling R. and Lafayette. Mr. Swoope 
died in 1870 and his wife in 1873. Lafayette was 
educated in the schools of Virginia, and at the age 
of eleven years entered the high school of Stanton, 
Va. , attending when fourteen years old the high 
school at Lexington, Va. When fifteen he took a 
course at the Baptist College, at Richmond, Va. , 
and about four years later became a student of the 
University of Virginia, at Charlottesville. He then 
took up the study of medicine, and subsequently 
entered the Richmond Medical College, fi-om which 
he was graduated with honors. He embarked upon 
the prosecution of his chosen profession at Rich- 
mond, and at the time of his removal to Courtland, 
Ala., in 1860, had built up a comfortable practice. 
After one year's residence in Courtland, he moved to 
De Soto County, Miss. , and located where Star Land- 
ing now is, then called Old De Soto Front. In 1861 
Dr. Swoope joined the Confederate service, as 
lieutenant in Company I, Sixteenth Alabama Regi- 
ment (Wood's Brigade). After the battle of Mills 
Sj)rings he was promoted to a captaincy, particif^a- 
ting in the battles of Shiloh, Perry ville, Murfreesboro 
and numerous engagements of minor importance. 
He received his discharge at the battle of Murfi'ees- 
boro, on account of inability to serve, caused by 
exposure and a woimd received at Shiloh. Re- 



3 



turning to Virginia, he remained out of the army 
twelve months, at the end of which time his health 
had sufficiently improved to admit of his serving 
again, so he entered the cavalry, and continued on 
the field until 1863. In August, 1803, he was cap- 
tured on the Weldon Railroad, near the Yellow 
Tavern, and remained in prison at Point Lookout, 
Md. , until the final surrender. After receiving his 
parole he returned to Virginia, but on Christmas 
day, 1865, started for Mississippi, and settled in De 
Soto County, resuming the practice which he had es- 
tablished previous to the war. In 1882 Dr. Swoope 
came to Crittenden County, Ark. , and purchased a 
quantity of wild land, and at this time has about 
150 acres improved, on which he produces annually 
about forty-five bales of cotton. He also devotes a 
large portion of his farm to the raising of corn and 
peas, owning besides this farm the southeast quar- 
ter of Section 5, which is wild land. Dr. Swoope 
in addition to being a prominent physician is very 
popular as a citizen. He is courteous, obliging, 
and one of the shining lights of society, and while 
not taking any active part in the politics of the day, 
is a strong supporter of the Democratic party and a 
liberal contributor and friend to all laudable enter- 
prises. 

Dr. James C. Throgmorton, a practicing physi- 
cian of Tyronza Township, living near Earle, was 
born in Wayne Coiinty, Tenn., August 30, 1841, 
and is the son of Edward B. Throgmorton, who 
first saw the light in Halifax County, Va. , in 1811, 
and died in this county, Jime 30, 1884. His par- 
ents were Robert and Mrs. (Crittendon) Throgmor- 
ton, they moving from Virginia to North Carolina 
when Edward B. was a child, and remaining there 
till he was twelve years old. Then thc^y went to 
Bedford County, Tenn., and died there at a very 
old age. The Throgmortons are of English de- 
scent, three brothers having first come to this 
country fi-om England, and two of them settled 
west and one east of Blue Ridge, Va. Edward B. 
Throgmorton was married in Bedford County, 
Tenn., to Patience West Jones, born in Tennessee 
in 1812, and is now living in Wayne County. Her 
parents were natives of North Carolina, and were of 
Irish origin. She is the mother of eight children. 



all of whom lived to be grown, and three daugh- 
ters and the subject of this sketch are still living. 
Dr. James C. Throgmorton was l)rought up in 
Wayne County, Tenn., and received his literary 
education at the Clifton Masonic Academy. He 
began reading medicine in 1806, under Dr. Cicero 
Buchanan, at Waynesboro, Wayne County, and 
was with him until 1869, when he commenced 
practicing the same year. In July, 1872, he came 
near where he now lives, and was married March 
6, 1873, to Miss Mary E. Pickett, originally of 
Jefferson County, 111. In 1874 the Doctor moved 
to Southern Illinois, practiced there for about two 
years, and then returned to Crawfordsville, this 
county. To himself and wife have been born sis 
children: Eudora, Ada, Clifford, Hay den, Jimmie 
C. and Walter E. In the fall of 1862 Dr. Throg- 
morton enlisted in Company G of the Seventh 
Tennessee Regiment, Confederate States Army, as 
a private; was captured at Fort Donelson and 
taken to Paducah, Ky. , and made his escape from 
the Campbell Hotel on the night of April 6, while 
the battle of Shiloh was in progress. He then 
went to Corinth and again joined the command. 
He was in the Farmington fight, also the engage- 
ments at Jackson Lane, Meridian Station, Corinth, 
Spring Hill and Franklin, and was on the ground 
when Gen. Vandorn was killed; also taking part in 
many skirmishes of less note. He has been a 
stanch Democrat since casting his first vote, which 
was for Horace Greeley. He is a Master Mason 
and belongs to Lodge No. 37?, at Crawfordsville, 
of which he has been Worshipful Master for four 
years. Dr. Throgmorton is a believer in Univers- 
alism, and is a good citizen. He is a well-to-do 
man and commands a practice that occupies his un- 
divided attention. 

Emmett B. Tolleson, a substantial planter and 
merchant of Lucas Township, whose jwstoffice is 
at Pinckney, is a native of this State, born at 
Helena, March 14, 1842, and is the son of William 
P. Tolleson, originally from Spartansburg, S. C, 
who died about 1845. He immigrated from South 
Carolina to Helena, Ark., near the year 1830, and 
was one of the early settlers of that portion of the 
State. A lawyer by profession and circuit judge 






„4^ 



-^ >?• 



444 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



of the Helena judicial district for several terms, he 
was an influential citizen, and as a Democrat in 
politics, was one of the electors of Polk and Dal- 
las. He was married in Helena in 1836 to Miss 
Nancy Elliot Williams (then the widow West) who 
was born in Lexington, Ky. , in 1809. She died 
in her native town in 1885, being the mother of 
one child by Mr. West and three by Mr. Tolleson: 
W. P. (deceased), Margaret W. McConnell (who re- 
sides at Lexington, Ky.) and Emmett B. The lat- 
ter, the youngest child, grew up in Phillips County, 
Ark. , receiving his education at the private schools 
of Helena. He lived with his mother till he was 
grown and then commenced for himself as a planter 
in the county where he now lives. He was mar- 
ried in Memphis, Tenn., to Miss Annie Elise Har- 
ris, September 29, 1874. Miss Harris was born in 
this county in 1853 and is a daughter of James 
Harris, of Columbia, Tenn. He was for a time 
book-keeper in Memphis and afterward became an 
extensive planter in Arkansas. His wife was Martha 
Arnold of Tennessee origin, where she died. Her 
father. Gen. William Arnold, was a graduate of 
West Point and a brigadier-general in the United 
States army, and died in Texas about 183(5, owning 
vast landed estates. To Mr. and Mrs. Tolleson have 
been born five children, all living except one, viz: 
Martha E., Annie Imogene, Emmett B. and Mar- 
guerite A. ' Mr. and Mrs. Tolleson own two plan- 
tations, 675 acres of good land, with 350 in a fine 
state of cultivation, upon which are usually raised 
200 bales of cotton. These are sviperior farms, 
located on the Mississippi River sixty miles north 
of Helena and thirty miles south of Memphis, and 
upon one Mr. Tolleson has resided since 1852. In 
1861 he joined the Confederate army, enlisting in 
Company E of the Third Arkansas Cavalry. He 
served till near the close of the war and partici- 
pated in the following noted battles: Jonesboro, 
Ga., Chickamauga and was with Longstreet at 
Knoxville. He was captured at Island No. 40, 
near Memphis, in January, 1865, and was immedi- 
ately paroled, returning to his home. He is a 
stanch Democrat and cast his first vote for Sey- 
mour. Mr. and Mrs. Tolleson are members of the 
Episcopal Chuich and are highly respected. 



William Vance, Jr. This much-esteemed and 
influential citizen is one of the most distinguished 
and prominent residents of West Memphis, and is 
of Irish birth. Born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1823, 
he is the son of William and Mary (Small) Vance, 
also of Ireland nativitj', who came to the United 
States in 1827 or 1828, locating in New Orleans. 
He was a linen draper and bleacher, and lived in 
New Orleans till 1840, then moving back to Belfast, 
where he died. William Vance, Jr., was left at 
Belfast to be educated, after which he emigrated 
to New Orleans in the latter part of 1838, and 
commenced clerking in a wholesale grocery house. 
He remained with this firm for several years, then 
left them, and for five years kept books for one of 
the largest commission cotton houses in New Or- 
leans. Locating at Memphis he was similarly oc- 
cupied for the Planters' Bank a little more than a 
year. He then crossed the river and settled on 
and commenced farming his father-in-law's farm 
until 1856, when, the latter having died, he was 
made executor of the estate, and still remains as 
such. Mr. Vance purchased over 600 acres of land 
in what is now known as West Memphis, in 1869, 
and laid out the town of that name in 1870. He 
married Frances Winchester, a native of Tennes- 
see, who died in 1867 at the age of forty years. 
To this union were born ten children, of whom the 
following seven are still living, viz. : Robert, 
Hopofield, Agnes (who is the wife of H. L. Bugg), 
Frank E. , May (who is the wife of John C. Dun- 
lap), Arthur and Stonewall J. The deceased are 
Lucy (wife of C. P. Williams, died in 1869, leav- 
ing two children, who died soon afterward); Will- 
iam (who died at the age of two years), and one in- 
fant unnamed. All the children are living in West 
Memphis except Agnes, who lives in Black Rock, 
Ark., and Arthur, in Memphis, Tenn. Robert and 
Hopefield were educated in Toronto, Canada; his 
three daughters were educated in Memphis, Tenn., 
and the other son, at home. The entire family are 
adherents to the Presbyterian Church , but at pres- 
ent are not members. Mr. Vance has received 
several prominent appointments from the Gov- 
ernor, among which are those of assessor, auditor, 
and circuit court clerk, all since the war. Politi- 



^= 



\ 



2^ « 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



445 



eally, he was an old line Whig before the civil 
strife, but since then he has voted for the best man. 
In 1871 he made a general division of his property 
among his children, and in 18S1 presented them 
with deeds for the same. Hopefield Vance is mar- 
ried to Bettie Sweeney, a native of Virginia, and 
is the father of three children: Leslie, Ralph and 
Hope. Robert Vance is married to Miss Lula 
Franklin, a native of Tennessee, and has four 
children: Walter, Robert, Nellie and Lottie. 

R. N. Wallace, prominently identified with the 
mercantile affairs of Bartonville, was born in Weak- 
ley County, Tenn., in 1840, being the son of James 
Wallace, originally from Barren County, Ky., who 
came to Tennessee about 1820 with his parents 
when eight years of age. He grew to manhood 
in Weakley County, and engaged in farming there, 
becoming married to Miss Mary E. Goldsby, a 
Kentuckian by birth, who went to Tennessee with 
her parents in 1852 when she was a child. After 
they were married Mr. and Mrs. Wallace moved 
back to their native State, and lived there till their 
death. They were both members of the Baptist 
Church, and the parents of three sons and three 
daughters, of whom three sons and one daughter 
lived to be grown. J. G. Wallace, the youngest 
of the children, was reared by his grandfather, 
and is now a practicing lawyer in Russellville, 
Ark. R. N. Wallace, the oldest son, was left on 
his own resources at the age of sixteen, his father 
having died at that time, and he came to Arkansas 
in 1850, and to Crittenden County in 1859, where 
he has since lived. During his stay here he has 
spent two years in Tennessee attending school, and 
after his return he was occupied in teaching. At 
the breaking out of the late war he enlisted with 
the Crittenden County Rangers, Joe Earl's com- 
pany, and later joined the Second and Third Ar- 
kansas as a private. He was captured near Dal- 
ton, Ga. . in 1864, and taken to Camp Chase, Ohio, 
from which he was paroled after being kept for 
five months. Returning to his command he was 
again taken prisoner the day before the surrender 
of Joseph E. Johnston, and was paroled from 
Chester Cooi't House, S. C. , and came back home 
on horseback. After his arrival he resumed farm- 



ing till 1869, when he entered the firm of R. C. 
Wallace & Co., and opened the first store at Craw- 
fordsville. A. F. Crawford, a member of the above 
firm, was the first postmaster at Crawfordsville, in 

1870, the first postoflico established west of Mar- 
ion. Mr. Wallace remained with this company 
for two years, when they sold to Anderson & Allen. 
He then carried on farming till the spring of 
1887, when he opened and conducted a store for 
one year at Needmore, and after going out of busi- 
ness at Needmore, embarked in merchandising at 
Bartonville, where he continued till October, 1889. 
Then he sold to H. F. Avery, and has since given 
his attention to his farm which consists of 300 
acres under cultivation, besides small tracts of 
wild land. Mr. Wallace was married to Mrs. Sarah 
A. Chambers, nee Graham, daughter of H. Graham, 
one of the old settlers in this county. Mrs. Gra- 
ham is still living, and is seventy-nine years of 
age. Mrs. Wallace died in January, 1888. She 
was an active and earnest member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, and was the mother of one 
child, John G. , who was bom August 26, 1874. 
Mr. Wallace is a Master Mason, and stands high 
among the prominent citizens of Crittenden County. 

Charles A. Walter, a farmer and stock raiser of 
Fogleman Township, is a native of Germany, Ijorn 
March 19, 1847, and is the fourth child of a fam- 
ily of seven children born to the union of Freder- 
ick and Caroline (Wittersburg) Walter, both born 
in Germany, who died there at a very old age. 
Charles A. received his education in his native 
country, and came to the United States in 1868, 
locating in Wisconsin, where he worked in a brew- 
ery till coming to this county the first time, in 

1871. He now has 240 acres of land, with 110 in 
a good state of cultivation, and has made this his 
home since 1880. He has cleared all his land 
himself, and the past year had seventy-five acres 
of cotton, which produced a heavy crop. His farm 
is located one and one half miles firom Gilmoro 
Station, west of the railroad, and is splendid for 
stock purposes, on which are raised a number of 
cattle, hogs, mules and horses. Mr. Walter is the 
only one of his family now in this country. He is 
a Democrat in politics, and cast his first presiden- 



^t 



■^ 



446 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



tial Yote for Tilden. A good honest citizen, he 
possesses the chief characteristics of a tme son of 
Germany, which make that people so prosperous 
as a nation. 

C. T. and I. O. West, brothers, and jointly as- 
sociated in farming and stock raising, stand among 
the most prominent in their line in Wappanocca 
Township. C. T. West was bom in Virginia in 
1856, and his brother in this county in 1861. 
They are sons of Levi and Lucy C. (Barnard) 
West, both Virginians by birth. The father was a 
farmer and moved to this county in 1858, renting 
a farm in this township till 1879, when he pur- 
chased an unimproved bottom farm of eighty acres, 
of which he cleared some fifteen acres and built a 
comfortable residence. The father and mother of 
our subjects were the parents of three children: 
C. T., I. O. and Ida, wife of W. J. Mann, who is 
now living with her brothers. The father had pre- 
viously been married to Mary Barnard, sister of 
his last wife, who was the mother of seven chil- 
dren, all now deceased. C. T. West was reared 
on a farm in this county and received a fair educa- 
tion at Miller and Caruther's graded school, in 
Shelby County, Tenn. At the age of twenty-two 
years he rented a farm and has since followed his 
chosen vocation with the greatest success. Like 
his brother, I. O. West was brought up to a 
knowledge of agricultural pursuits, and received 
his education in the public schools of Shelby 
County, Tenn. When he reached the age of nine- 
teen he commenced business for himself on his 
father's farm, on which he has since lived and 
tended to its cultivation. Ida also attended school 
in Shelby County, Tenn. , where her father had 
moved at the close of the war to educate his chil- 
dren. She was married to W. J. Mann, and to 
their union have been given five children. The 
three now living are: Willie, James T., and an in- 
fant unnamed. Mr. Mann, who came to this 
county in 1878, is the only son of William and 
Martha (Wilson, nee Bracy) Mann, the latter of 
whom died in 1859, after which he was married to 
Cherry Futrell, and Dallas M. (deceased) was the 
only child born to this union. Mr. Mann's first 
wife was a Miss Outland, and they were the parents 



of five children, two now living: James H. (in this 
county) and Martha T. (wife of James Fennett), 
residing in North Hamilton County, N. C. The 
three gentlemen mentioned in this sketch, are all 
public spirited and progressive, and extend a wel- 
come to all thrifty white emigrants, from whatever 
country they may come. They live together on the 
old farm cultivated by their father till his death in 
1880, and by their spirit of enterprise and their 
careful business attention have developed, from the 
Mississippi wilderness, one of the most beautiful 
and productive farms that adorn Crittenden 
County. 

John C. Williams, like many other prominent 
citizens of Lucas Township, is worthily occupied 
as a planter. He was born in Hardeman County 
Tenn., March 7, 1827, as the son of Nathan Will- 
iams, a native of Rockingham County, N. C, born 
in 1788. He was married in North Carolina, and 
immigrated to Alabama about 1822, and after re- 
siding there for about four years, moved to West- 
ern Tennessee, where he remained till 1834, the 
time of his location in Northern Mississippi: he 
was the first white man to take his family into that 
part of the State, and at the time the red man was 
frequently seen. He remained there till his death, 
in October, 1850, on the farm that he opened — the 
first in that section of the country. He was of 
Scotch-Irish descent, and the son of John Will- 
iams, who is supposed to have been born in Ire- 
land. His wife was Miss Nancy L. Carr, of North 
Carolina origin, born in 1800, who died while visit- 
ing her son, John C, in Austin, Miss., in 1876. 
Mr. and Mrs. Williams were the parents of nine 
chikli'en, only two of whom are alive: John C. and 
a brother. Dr. W. G. (living in Texas). The sub- 
ject of this sketch, the fifth child, was raised in 
Mississippi after he was seven years of age, receiv- 
ing his education in the common schools of Benton 
County. In 1849 he was married in Mississippi 
to Miss Nancy Terry, who was born in South Car- 
olina, in 1827, and died in Benton County, Miss., 
in 1856, being the mother of two children: Emma 
(deceased, the wife of Mr. Knight) and Louisa C. 
(wife of William Phillips, who lives on a farm in 
this county). Mr. Williams was married a second 






CRITTENDEN COUNTS. 



447 



time in 1859, his wife being Sarah C. Jarrett, then 
the widow of a Mr. Knight. She was born in 
Petersburg, Va. , in 1827, and had two sons by 
Mr. Knight; none were born of the hist uuiou. 
Mr. and Mrs. Williams have reared several chil- 
dren, among whom are her two children and his 
by his first wife, Sally and Lillie Redus (daughters 
of his deceased sister), Lycnrgns War (a relative 
of his present wife), two children, by the names 
of Jennie and Edward Rupe (children of his sister) 
and two grandchildren, Mary and Henry Knight, 
are now with him. All but three of the children 
that he has brought up are now married and doing 
well. Mr. AVilliams immigrated from De Soto 
County, Miss., in 1885, to where he now lives, 
having 1,600 acres of land, with 200 in cultivation, 
on which he raises from 100 to 150 bales of cotton 
annually. He enlisted in the Confederate army 
with the scout, Thomas Henderson, and served in 
this capacity from Mississippi to New Orleans, un- 
til he was paroled, June 19, 1865. Politically he 
has been a stanch Democrat, since casting his first 
vote, which was for James K. Polk. Mrs. Will- 
iams is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. South, and her husband is a believer in 
Universalism. Mr. Williams is a good, moral man, 
and is not addicted to playing cards or any other 
gambling devices, and has not taken any intoxi- 
cating drinks for twelve years. He first went to 
Memphis in 1838, when that city was a village, 
and it has been his home market ever since. 

Judge John H. Williams, a farmer and stock 
raiser of prominence, of Wappanocca Township, 
was born in Shelby County, Tenn., in 1841, and 
is the twelfth child of Robert and Elizabeth (Beas- 
ley) Williams. The parents of the Judge were of 
Middle Tennessee nativity, who moved to Shelby 
County, Tenn., in 1840. Here the father bought 
a farm, living on it till his death in 1885. He was 
elected sheriff of Shelby County, Tenn. , before the 
war. By his first wife, who died in 1858, he was 
the father of twelve children: Mary (wife of Ben 
Wilson), Martha (wife of John Mathews), Jones 
(deceased), Peter (of Jerico), Charles (of Shelby 
County, Tenn.), Benjamin (of Crawfordsville), J. 
H. (our subject) and Willie (deceased). In 1860 



Robert Williams was married to Octavious Will- 
iams, and to this union was born one child, Nettie 
(wife uf James Hall). Mr. Williams was clo.sely 
allied to the A. F. &A. M., and was respected by all 
who knew him, as an honest and honorable citizen. 
J. H. Williams was reared to farm life, receiving 
his education in Shelby County, Tenn., and when 
at the age of twenty, during the outbreak of the 
Rebellion he joined Company B, Thirteenth Ten- 
nessee Infantry, and fought in the battles of Mur- 
freesboro, Belmont and Shiloh, where he was 
struck twice by a spent ball. At Murfreesboro he 
was captiu'ed and sent to Camp Morton, Ind., 
being kept here for three months, when he was 
exchanged and went home. Abandoning the army 
for all time he commenced farming in Shelby 
Coimty, Term., remaining here till 1869, when he 
moved to this county in February of that year. 
He then rented land in this county till 1872, when 
he purchased land that he cultivated till 1880, 
when he exchanged it for another farm. He now 
has 150 acres in his homestead, and is the owner 
of 16(1 acres, with ninety acres improved, in another 
section of the county. When Mr. Williams came 
to the county in 1869 he was in very poor circum- 
stances, but by close economy and strict attention 
to business, backed by a superior business ability, 
he has in a few years accumulated considerable 
property. In 1869 he was married to Miss Fannie 
Wallace, and to them have been given six childi-en: 
lola (deceased), E. R. (at home), Vesta E., R. B. 
(deceased), Ethel H. (deceased) and Hubert A. 
Mrs. Williams is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, and Mr. Williams is an A. F. & A. 
M., belonging to the Lone Star Lodge No. 375, 
and to the K. of H., No. 3110. He served as 
justice of the peace from 1874 to 1880, and in 
1882 was elected county and probate judge, which 
office he filled, with satisfaction to all, for a term 
of two years. 

Edwin J. Williams, prominent as one of the 
younger farmers of Ja8i)er Township, was born in 
Shelby County, Tenn., in 1854, to the union of 
Jesse and Mary (Watson) Williams, natives, re- 
spectively, of Kentucky and Georgia. When an 
infant the father went to Tennessee with his par- 



^- 



« k. 






448 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ents aad located in Maury County. Here he at- 
tained his majority and was educated for the Method- 
ist ministry, which he followed for a profession. 
He preached in Tennessee, Georgia and Kentucky 
and was a faithful worker in the church till his 
death, in 1877, when he was seventy years of age. 
He located in Shelby County on a farm when 
about thirty-five years of age, and lived there till 
tealled to a home above. He was a member of the 
Masonic lodge. The mother is still living in the 
same neighborhood, and is above seventy years of 
age, active and hearty; she is a faithful member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a devoted 
and active Christian, doing much to advance the 
interests of her chosen denomination. Mr. and 
Mrs. Williams are the parents of eight children, 
seven now living. Eugene O., the youngest child, 
is deceased. Edwin J., who is the fifth of the 
family, was reared in Shelby County, Tenn. , and 
received his education in the common schools of 
that vicinity. Coming to Arkansas in 1879 he re- 
mained for three years, when he moved to Fayette 
County, Tenn., and after spending four years 
there returned to this county and located on Rose- 
brough Island, where he is still living, engaged in 
farming. In connection with James T. Barton, un- 
der the firm name of Barton & Williams, he is 
also occujjied in buying cotton seed at Gavin. 
Mr. Williams was married to Miss Lena Finch, who 
was born in Macon, Tenn., the daughter of Al- 
phonso and Sally Finch, natives of Tennessee. 
He is a Democrat in politics, and he and his wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. They have two children: Valcour F. and 
Annie V. Mr. Williams is of a philanthropic dis- 
position and is always eager to take hold of and 
push anything that will advance the interests of 
the public. 

J. F. Williamson, one of Crittenden County's j 
prosperous young planters, has reached a promi- 
nence and popularity that would do credit to many 
of more advanced years and wider experience. He 
owes his nativity to Mississippi, his birth occurring 
in De Soto County, in 1803, he being the third in 
order of birth in a family of nine childi-en born to 
F. H. and Mary E. (McGraw) Williamson, of whom 



only six are now living: Mary E. (wife of Dr. W. 
P. Conner, residing in Mississippi), J. F., Arti- 
natia T., Robert M., Ellen and Hal. F. H. Will- 
iamson went to Memphis, Tenn., fi'om Virginia, in 
1840, and engaged in merchandising, the firm name 
being Franseoli & Williamson, dealers in queens- 
ware. After successfully conducting that business 
for twenty years, he moved to De Soto County, and 
there carried on farming, but in 188(3 he returned 
to Memphis, and has retired from active business 
life. He served as captain of a company in the 
late war (on the Confederate side) from 1861 to 
1865, and participated in a number of important 
battles, among them being that of Shiloh. While 
in Mississippi he received a severe wound in the 
shoulder, and was taken prisoner at Memphis, but 
only retained a short time. Though Mr. William- 
son is in his seventy -first year he enjoys excellent 
health and takes an active interest in the progres- 
sive ideas of the day. Mrs. Williamson is fifty- 
two years of age, and a member of the Baptist 
Church. J. F. was reared and educated in De Soto 
County, Miss., and when twenty-five years old ac- 
cepted the position as manager in the mercantile 
house of Conner Bros., at Scanlan's Landing. At 
the expiration of one year he was made a member 
of that firm. In 1888 Mr. Williamson led to the 
hymeneal altar Miss Louisia Earle, daughter of J. 
F. and L. R. (Richards) Earle, natives of Arkan- 
sas. After his marriage he assumed the manage- 
ment of his mother-in-law's plantation, which con- 
sists of 600 acres. He raises about 400 bales of 
cotton, and does all his own ginning, having a steam- 
gin on his farm. He is one of the most successful 
farmers of this county, and takes great interest in 
and lends his support to all public improvements 
fur the good and benefit of the county and its resi- 
dents. Mrs. Williamson's father, J. F. Earle, 
came to this portion of the county with his parents 
when about fourteen years old. They were from 
England, and the paternal great-grandfather was 
lost at sea. The grandfather was a sea captain, 
and controlled an interest in a line of steamships. 
Mr. Earle suffered considerable loss through disas- 
ters at sea, having owned at one time a large estate 
in this county. He was a soldier in the War with 






to 



A 



9 W. 



CRITTENDEN COUNTY. 



4411 



Mexico, and a major in tbe Confederate States 
service, serving tb rough tlie entire war, and later, 
held with distinction the offices of circuit and coun- 
ty clerk. Subsequent to tbe war be served as 
county and circuit clerk of this coiinty, and was 
one of its progressive and influential citizens. 
When Mr. Earle came here be bad very little on 
which to build a fortune, but at the date of his de- 
mise, was the owner of 1,600 acres of valuable 
land, with 600 acres under cultivation, which, as 
before stated, is now under the efficient manage- 
ment of Mr. Williamson. Mrs. Earle' s father 
(Mr. Richards) was one of the first settlers of Crit- 
tenden County, and bis brother was city register 
for about thirty years of the city of Memphis, 
Tenn. , holding and discharging the duties of that 
office with entire satisfaction to all concerned. 

Solomon P. "Williford, of Crittenden County, 
was born December 31, 1848, in Shelby County, 
Tenn., and is the sixth in a family of nine children, 
which blessed the union of Solomon F. and Susan 
A. (Andrews) Williford, natives of North Carolina. 
Solomon Williford came to Tennessee, in 1S30, 
and settled in Shelby County, where he purchased 
a large tract of land, making farming bis special 
delectation. Here he reared and educated his 
children, and previous to the war owned a number 
of slaves. The children were as follows: B. F. 
(resides in Tennessee), Agnes T. (wife of A. C. 
Douglass, deceased, and with her family resides 
in Tennessee), Joseph H. (killed in the battle of 
Franklin), R. A. (passed through the war under 
Gen. Forrest), James M. (deceased, and left a 
family who reside in Tennessee), Piney (deceased), 
Annie L. (deceased, wife of A. M. Bledsoe, of 
Tennessee), Bernie (deceased, wife of R. W. 
Bledsoe, of Tennessee) and S. P. (subject of this 
sketch). Mr. Williford was killed in 1862, by 
United States troops, at Bartlett, Tenn. Mrs. 
Williford died in 1875 or 1876, a member of the 
Baptist Church, as was also her husband. Solo- 
mon P. Williford attended the common schools of 
Shelby County, and also took a course in a promi- 
nent college of Madison County, Tenn. At the 
age of twenty he started out to make his fortune, 
and began farming, having purchased a fine tract 



of land in Shelby County, and after a residence 
of several years on that farm, or until 1881, he 
disposed of his property and came to Arkansas, 
following his adopted occupation of farming, on 
what is now called the McConnoll Place. This 
place is situated at the head of Cat Island, and 
embraces 180 acres. Mr. Williford also cultivates 
500 acres, on which he raises a great deal of stock, 
such as cattle, hogs, etc., having discovered that 
they can be handled with comparatively little ex- 
pense, and yield excellent returns. In 1877 Mr. 
Williford was united in holy matrimony with 
Miss Bettie Massey, a daughter of Crawford and 
Sarah P. (Bledsoe) Massey. Mr. and Mrs. Mas- 
sey were the parents of six children, five of whom 
are now living: Bettie E. (Mrs. Williford), Mary 
(now Mrs. Oglesbey), Charles J., Sallie A. (the 
wife of Mr. Walker) and Katie (at home). Mrs. 
Massey died July 6, 1875. Mr. Massey is a pros- 
perous farmer, and a member of the Farmers' Al- 
liance. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Willi- 
ford served with great distinction in the War for 
Independence. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. 
Williford five childi'en have been born: Ethel G., 
Joseph C. (deceased), Lith P., Emmet P. and 
Daisy M. Mr. Williford is one of the most suc- 
cessful farmers in this portion of the county, and 
owes his prosperity to no one but himself, all being 
secured by hard labor and constant application. 
He takes an active part in political affairs, and is 
an ardent admirer of the principles of tbe Demo- 
cratic party. A member of the K. of P., K. of 
H. and I. O. O. F., he is a man of whom the citi- 
zens of Crittenden County have just cause to be 
proud. 

William H. Williford, an auspicious planter of 
Jasper Township, was born in Shelby County, 
Tenn., in 1856, and is the son of Henry and Celia 
(Taylor) Williford, who were reared and man-ied 
in North Carolina. The father located in Shelby 
County, Tenn., in 1851, and followed farming for 
an occupation. He furnished a substitute dviring 
the late war, who was killed at the battle of Frank- 
lin, Tenn. Mr. and Mrs. Williford were mem- 
bers of the Baptist Church. The former died in 
1880, and bis wife in 1868. They were the par- 



Tis 



.Jl 9 



450 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ents of eleven children, of whom four lived to be 
grown, and of these "William H. was the fifth child, 
and is now the only survivor. The father was 
married the second time in December, 1869, to 
Miss Pain. They have two boys, living in Mem- 
phis at present. William H. was reared and edu- 
cated in the common schools of Shelby County, 
where he assisted his father on the farm and at- 
tained his majority. He commenced life for him- 
self in 1878 by coming to Arkansas, and settled 
on a farm that was owned by his father and near 
the Lyon place, on which he lives at the present 
time. Mr. Williford was married to Miss Katie 
E. Lyons, who was born in this county in 1859, 
and is the daughter of Dr. T. B. and Elizabeth 
(Ferguson) Lyon. Dr. Lyon is a native of Ohio, 
having graduated there at a medical college, and 
upon coming to this State located inTMisgissippi 
County, but later moved to Crittenden County. 
Here he was married and followed his profession, 
which greatly injured his health, and from the 
effects of which he died in 1886, at the age of six- 
ty-three. He was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and was well liked by all who 
knew him. His widow lives on the old home 
place with Mr. and Mrs. Williford. She is a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Lyon were born three children, of whom one 
died when quite small; Katie E. and Hattie J. still 
survive. Mr. and Mrs. Williford are the parents 
of four children, as follows: Myrtle, Thomas H. 
and Willie Lee living, and one died in infancy. 
Mr. Williford is a member of the Baptist Church, 
and his wife of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
He is a Democrat in politics, and is a worthy and 



enterprising citizen. He has an elegant farm of 
130 acres in cultivation and 190 acres still unim- 
proved. 

William R. Young, like others mentioned in 
the present volume, an energetic planter of Lucas 
Township, was born in Crenshaw County, Ala., 
May 10, 1856, and is a son of Richard W. Young, 
who dates his existence fi-om 1842, in South Caro- 
lina. He now resides in Mississippi. Richard 
W. Young was married to Miss Susan Clyburn, 
who was reared in South Carolina, where she was 
also born about 1845; she is living at Huntsville, 
Ala. They are the parents of twelve children, of 
whom ten survive, and of these William R. is the 
second child. AVhen the latter was but eleven 
years old his parents moved from South Carolina 
to Huntsville, Ala., where he received his educa- 
tion. He commenced life for" himself at aboiit 
seventeen years of age, working for wages in a 
store and on a farm, and was married December 7, 
1886. to Miss Willie Holloway, born in Madison 
County, Miss., October 15, 1866, and brought up 
in De Soto County. She is a daughter of J. L. 
Holloway. [See sketch.] Mr. and Mrs. Young 
have one child. They moved from De Soto Coun- 
ty to where they now live in 1885. Mr. Young 
cultivates 450 acres of land, on which he usually 
raises from 200 to 250 bales of cotton annually, 
requiring eighteen miiles to do the work. His 
wife is an active member of the Presbyterian 
Church. Mr. Young has been a Democrat since 
casting his first vote for Tilden: be is an enterpris- 
ing and energetic business man, and deserves much 
praise for his untiring efforts to make things com- 
fortable for himself and his neighbors. 



-«>^4E_|. — >5^^=^f^ — 4-^ 



"71 



« r- 



--« © 



f- 



AN- 



ST. FKANCIS COUNTY. 



451 



■ > ♦ < 



.St. Francis County— Its Advantageous Location— Area and Boundary — Streams— Population- 
N A viGATiON— Period of Entry— First Settlers— Mound Builder.?- First Building and 
County Seat— William Strong— Soil— Climate and Production— Stock Kaising 
—Growth and Material Progress— Valuation— Organization- 
Court Affairs— Prominent Cases— War Record— Sketcu 
or Forrest City— Political Hi.story and Di- 
rectory OF Officers — Summary — 
Biographical. 



Neither locks had they to their doors, uor bar to their windows; 
But their dwellings were open as day, and the hearts of the owners; 
There the richest were poor, and the poorest lived in abundance. — Anon. 




'T. FRANCIS COUNTY, near 
the center of the eastern tier 
of counties in Arkansas, is 
bounded on the north by Crit- 
tenden and Cross, on the east 
by Crittenden, on the south 
by Lee, and on the west by 
the counties of Monroe and Wood- 
ruff. It contains an area of 615 
square miles, or 393,600 acres, and 
is divided into ten municipal town- 
ships, viz. : Griggs, Johnson, Telico, 
L'Anguille, Blackfish, Franks, Prai- 
rie, Goodwin. Madison and Wheat- 
ley. 

The St. Francis and L'Anguille 
llivers cross the county from north 
to south, dividing it into three nearly equal divis- 
ions, which topographically have each their dis- 
tinctive features; that lying east of the St. Francis 
River being generally level, sloping gradually to- 
ward the Mississippi River. The central division, 



between the St. Francis and L'Anguille, is divided 
by Crowley's Ridge, which is nearly equidistant 
between the two rivers, having an average altitude 
of 300 feet above sea level. The country west of 
the L'Anguille is slightly undulating. 

The seat of justice and principal town in St. 
Francis County is Forrest City, though numerous 
other smaller places exist in various convenient lo- 
calities, the most important of which are jMadison, 
Palestine, Goodwin and Wheatley, on the Little 
Rock & Memphis Railroad; Colt, Caldwell, Bonair 
and Bucklin on the Iron Mountain Railway. 

The county's population by the census of 1880 
was 8,389; white, 4,923. colored, 3,467. This has 
very materially increased, so that now it is safe to 
estimate the present population at from 12,000 to 
15,000. 

The principal rivers of the county are the St. 
Francis and the L' Anguille, which traverse the ter- 
ritory from north to south, with their numerous 
tributaries fed by perennial springs, furnishing a 
never-failing and abundant water supply. The St. 



Francis is navigable for small boats its entire 
length in the county, and in early days, before the 
advent of railroads, no inconsiderable trade was 
carried on by keel-boats. The first steamboat to 
ply on the St. Francis within these present limits 
was an old " stern- wheeler " called the Wheel- 
ing, owned by Col. J. C. Johnson. This made 
only a few trips, then being transferred to the Ar- 
kansas River, and, shortly after having run upon a 
snag, was sunk in that river near the present site 
of the city of Little Rock. 

The most familiar names connected with the 
early steamboat navigation of the St. Francis River, 
and names that will forever be favorably associated 
with events of the past, are those of ' ' Capt. ' ' 
Thomas R. Bowman and wife, Pauline (familiarly 
known as "Auntie" Bowman). Capt. Bowman is 
still living in Memphis, having been the pioneer of 
steamboating on the St. Francis. His first venture 
was with a small concern called the Plow Boy, 
which was soon replaced by a larger boat, and this 
in turn succeeded by one still larger, called respect- 
ively St. Francis Nos. 1 and 2. The latter he 
ran till the breaking out of the war when his boat 
was taken into the Confederate service and burned 
at the fall of Little Rock. After the war Capt. 
Bowman resumed his business in a boat called the 
Mollie Hambleton. Supposing that the demands 
of the trade would reqixire a larger and more com- 
modious craft, he built the St. Francis, which was 
a model for beauty and would compare favorably 
with any of the Mississippi boats in equipment and 
furnishings. The trade, however, failing to meet 
his expectations, he was forced to sell, not being 
able to meet all demands against him. The boat 
was run on the river by Capt. Samson Basket un- 
til 1875, when it was sunk in the St. Francis near 
Madison, thus ending any important navigation 
of the river. At certain seasons of the year the 
river is still navigable by a few small steamers. 

The first permanent settlement of this county 
began about the year 1819, immigrants entering 
fiom the States of Tennessee and Kentucky. At 
that time, as the,country was a comparative wilder- 
ness and occupied by the Indians, settlers located 
.principally on the eastern slope of Crowley's Ridge. 



Additions to these settlements fi'om time to time 
were made, but no general influx was apparent un- 
til the opening of the old military road, in ISSB. 
This road was located and cut through the county 
from the eastern to the western border, by the 
United States Government, to aid in the removal 
of the Indians from the States east of the Missis- 
sippi River to the Indian Territory, which latter 
had been given them as a permanent home. The 
highway was 300 feet in width, and was after its 
completion the generally traveled ihoroughfare 
of immigrants from the east, many of whom, 
attracted by the fertility of the soil and the genial 
climate, settled near the road. From these poinis 
as a center, the population radiated to difFerent 
portions of the county. Among the pioneers were the 
Strongs, Lewises, Moseleys, Pattersons, Hughes, 
Evans, Castiles, Prewetts, Roys, Joneses, Mays, 
Seaborns, Williams, McDaniels, Hargraves, Curls, 
Myrics, W'hitsits, Izards, Davises, Hodges, Mal- 
lorys, Coles, Fitzpatrics. The early history of these 
settlers is but the repetition of pioneer experiences 
anywhere. Log rollings, cotton pickings, corn 
huskings, bear hunts, etc., made up the yearly 
routine of their work and enjoyments, and occasion- 
ally a murder relieved the monotony, and added 
interest to general gossip. 

A noble, generoiis and adventurous band of 
pioneers, inured to the hardships, trials and pri- 
vations of a life far removed from the conveniences 
and amenities of the settled portion of the conti- 
nent, they were men, self-reliant and determined, 
well fitted by nature and training for the niche 
they filled in the development and reclamation of 
this western wilderness. Fearlessly they blazed 
the way for advancing civilization, with no concep- 
tion of the magnificent empire, whose foundations 
their toils and privations were laying. 

All over the county one found the evidences 
that indicate the presence at a remote period of the 
Mound builders. These are more numerous in the 
eastern portion, where may be seen innumerable 
mounds of different shapes and sizes, evidently 
built for different purposes. Some are from fifteen 
to 200 feet in diameter, and from twelve to twenty- 
five feet in height, and may be classified, according 



■^ 



^« 



ST. FRANCI8 COUNTY. 



453 



to their uses, into residence, burial, sacrificial, de- 
fensive and' observatory mounds. The implements 
found therein, though rude, would indicate that 
the builders were of an agricultural class. 

The pottery which has been unearthed consti- 
tutes the most interesting relics. This is found in 
abundance and embraces every size and form, mani- 
festing the exercise of wonderful skill in its manu- 
facture. The material used is, as a rule, an alu- 
minous clay mixed with pounded shells. Some 
of the vessels are plain, the majority, however, be- 
ing ornamented in devioiis ways. A few bear rep- 
resentations of animals, such as coons, bears, birds 
and fishes. 

Here is an extended field for the painstaking 
archpeologist; here, 'neath the shadow of these 
wonderful mounds, the monuments of a prehistoric 
race, may he muse and speculate and devolve 
theory as to their origin and disappearance, giving 
to the world for its profit and help the benefit of his 
deliberations. 

On the old military road, about twelve miles 
north of Forrest City, stands a building worthy of 
note, not alone for its antiquity (having been 
built, from the most reliable data obtainable, about 
the year 1827), but for its beauty of design and 
immense proportions. The building is four stories 
high and contains twenty rooms, with a veranda 
extending entirely aroimd it, supported by red ce- 
dar posts, eight inches in diameter, which, it is 
said, were brought here from East Tennessee, 
having been floated down the Tennessee River to 
the Ohio, down this river to the Mississippi Kiver, 
and thence to the mouth of the St. Francis, and 
finally to their destination. This structure is in a 
remarkable state of preservation, scarcely a square 
yard of the plastering being missed from the various 
rooms. It has only been roofed twice, the second 
roof having been replaced about thirty- nine years 
ago. Unquestionably this strong house is the most 
costly and best- preserved residence in the county. 
Its design and erection at the time and under the cir- 
cumstances have occasioned considerable comment. 
The building's site was once the site of an Indian 
village, a trail leading from this point to Arkansas 
Post, one of the early trading points hereabouts. 



William Strong, the builder, came to this county 
at a very early day. A shadow of mystery seemed 
to hang over most of his transactions from the first, 
frequently causing his neighbors to suspicion that 
his saintly guise covered many dark and hidden 
crimes. That he practically controlled the afFairs 
of his section was more than once verified; even 
the magistrates through fear or mercenary motives 
were wont to do his bidding. On one occasion a 
gentleman whose appearance indicated a person of 
wealth passing through the country stoj)ppd with 
Mr. Strong over night. While eating breakfast 
the visitor's saddlebags which he had left in his 
room were opened and part of the contents re- 
moved and replaced by a coverlid taken from the 
bed. After settling his Ijill the stranger mounted 
his horse and resiimed his journey but had not 
gone far when he was overtaken by Strong and a 
posse of men who accused him of stealing the 
coverlid. This, he of course denied and readily 
consented to allow his saddlebags searched. The 
evidence of his accused guilt was found; he was 
arrested, carried back to Strong's and given a 
mock trial, which resulted in his being robbed of 
all that he had, not excepting his horse. Large 
tracts of land came into the possession of Strong 
by purchase and otherwise, which he mortgaged 
to the old Real Estate Bank, and in later years 
considerable confusion and litigation resulted over 
titles to these lauds, embracing some of the finest 
tracts in tlie county. Among these was the Span- 
ish grant upon which the town of Wittsburg in 
Cross County stands. 

Strong was also one of the contractors for 
cutting and locating the old military road before 
referred to. The soil in that section of country 
lying between the St. Francis River and the east 
boundary of the county is an alluvial sandy loam, 
a portion of the great Mississippi bottom, being 
the richest land on the continent. Unfortunately, 
however, most of this is subject at times to over- 
flow. The soil of the central portion of the county 
between the St. Francis and the L'Anguille Rivers 
is somewhat alluvial, but the greater part includes 
Crowley's Ridge, which is rolling and is not sur- 
passed in fertility by any uplands in the State. 






A^ 



k. 



454 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



In the county's western territory is a loamy 
soil with clay subsoil mostly covered with a growth 
of black jack. A portion of Grand prairie extends 
into this county, having a width in the southwest 
corner of six miles and coming to a point near the 
northwest corner. Lands improved range from 
$18 to $40 per acre and unimproved from $5 to 
$12 per acre. The soil is of a warm nature and of 
easy cultivation. Here fruit grows in its greatest 
perfection. Apples, peaches, pears and plums have 
been successfully raised and small fruits and ber- 
ries yield to perfection. In addition to the excel- 
lent agricultural feature presented the locality is 
widely known as a grazing region, being well adapt- 
ed to this and dairying purposes. 

No finer timber is found anywhere and the quan- 
tity is f)ractically inexhaustible, consisting princi- 
cipally of poplar, and the different kinds of oak, 
walnut, hickory, etc. It is rather strange that no 
poplar timber is found west of the line of the 
L'Anguille River in this State. 

The principal crops are cotton and corn. At 
present only about one-third of the county is under 
cultivation, but the proportion of land not sus- 
ceptible of cultivation is comparatively insignifi- 
cant. The average yield of cotton on the low- 
lands is one bale to the acre and sixty -five bushels 
of corn, the uplands produce three-fourths of a 
bale per acre and thirty bushels of corn. 

The climate is temperate, and the winters short 
and mild, the mean annual temperature being 60°. 
The rainfall averages forty- dye inches. Snow rarely 
covers the ground for one continuous week, and 
the atmosphere is healthful for man and beast, and 
unusually favorable for the increase of the latter. 
Cattle uniformly graze until Christmas, and with 
the exception of those kept for dairying purposes 
remain out through the entire winter, subsisting on 
the cane. The putting up of hay on the prairie 
in the western part of the county is fast develop- 
ing as an industry, being baled and shipped by car- 
loads to distant markets. 

The yield of timothy and red top per acre is 
about 3,000 pounds, clover and millet 4,000 
pounds and hungarian some 3, 000 pounds. 

The raising of cattle is becoming one of the 



leading sources of income in this portion of the 
country. Large tracts of j)rairie are being inclosed 
by wire fences and turned into cattle ranches. 
Notably among these is ' ' Prairie Grove ' ' ranch 
owned by a prominent Northern man, which is 
well stocked with blooded cattle and horses. 

The growth of St. Francis County was materi- 
ally retarded by the war, but has since been rapid 
and steady, and the influx of newcomers has been 
of a desirable and svibstantial character. 

The great obstacle to the increase of population 
in the lowlands, heretofore, has been the immense 
amount of timber necessary to be cleared and put 
aside before a farm could be opened; but this timber 
once a hindrance to progress is now becoming 
most valuable, and saw-mills are found in every 
neighborhood. Large bodies of these forests have 
been opened by the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & 
Southern Railway, affording an outlet for the great 
varieties and vast quantities of timber of this region. 
The great rush of homeless humanity to the Oakla- 
homa country would seem to be evidence that most 
of the desirable Government land, the great wealth 
of the nation, has been taken up. The truth is, 
however, and the same has been a matter of com- 
ment with persons familiar with western emigra- 
tion, that the great body of emigrants in their 
eagerness pass over sections where they could pro- 
cure partially improved and more productive land, 
situated with every advantage for schools and 
churches and many other of the conveniences and 
luxuries of a thickly settled country, at a less sum 
than would have been demanded for the farming 
communities toward which they are hastening. 

The property value hereabouts has kept pace 
with the count}'' s increased population. The last 
assessed value of the real and personal property 
amounted to $2,51^,000 or a little over $300 per 
capita, and this assessment really represents only 
about forty per cent of the actual valuation. The 
county is practically out of debt, owing only a few 
thousand dollars of railroad bonds which have 
not yet matured. 

There is a mammoth saw, planing and shingle 
mill at Madison, with a capital of $50,000, in addi- 
tion to which there have been built six new mills 



i ^T 



Aj^ 



-rf © 



^. 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



455 



in the comity within the past eighteen months. 
The immense amount of hiraber shipped also adds 
materiall}' to the general wealth. 

St. Francis County was organized October 13, 
1827, at which time it contained a considerably 
larger area than its present limits. The site for 
the seat of justice was first located at William 
Strong's house on the military road in the north 
part of the present limits, remaining there until 
about the year 1841, when it was moved to the 
town of Madison, in Madison Township. Near 
1855 it was again removed, this time to Mt. Ver- 
non, whence shortly after it was returned to Madi- 
son, and in 1874 became permanently located at 
Forrest City. The county has not as yet erected 
a court house, and the sessions of the courts are 
held in a frame building purchased for that pur- 
pose. The jail is a frame structure with steel cells. 
The old public buildings at Madison, formerly 
owned by the county and used by the court while 
located at that place, were sold, and are now in the 
hands of private parties. 

It is very difficult to learn anything of the early 
courts of St. Francis, the records having been 
twice destroyed, the first time in 1862 diiring the 
war. They were moved to an old house surrounded 
by woods for safety, but the woods catching fire, 
and no one being apprised of the whereabouts 
of these valuable papers, save the parties who had 
removed them, and who were not on hand at the 
time, the house and contents were entirely de- 
stroyed. Again, in 1874, the same agency again 
wrought devastation. 

Among the early judges on this circuit was J. 
C. P. Tollison, W. K. Sebastian, J. T. Jones, T. 
B. Hanley, Chas. W. Adams, Geo. W. Beazley, 
M. W. Alexander and E. C. Bronaugh. Since the 
war, J. M. Hanks. William Storey, W. C. Hazel- 
tine, John W. Fox, H. N. Hutton, Jesse Cypert 
and N. T. Sanders have served in this capacity. 

Among the first important cases of a criminal 
character noted was the killing of William S. 
Moseley. William Allen was accused of the crime, 
but, the evidence being only circumstantial, he was 
acquitted. The name of Hi Dunn also occupies a 
conspicuous place in the early criminal records. 



He lived on an island in Rose Lake, was a very 
desperate man and a memljer of the famous out- 
law band of John A. Murrell. 

Another murder that attracted the attention of 
the people at the time was the killing of James 
Whitsit by Hugh Castile, both of whom had been 
living on the same land (and occupying the same 
house), working together. After a time Whitsit 
went to Little Rock, and upon his return informed 
Castile that he had entered the land. This so en- 
raged the latter that he seized a butcher- knife and 
dispatched Whitsit. The murderer then left the 
country and was lost sight of. 

Among the more recent crimes the killing of 
Fox by Aldridge, which happened in Forrest City 
about 1874, deserves mention. The circumstances 
of this affair briefly stated are these: Aldridge 
on one occasion was sent to jail for contempt by 
Fox, who was presiding judge of the circuit court. 
Aldridge keenly felt the disgrace, and, after the 
adjournment of court, and when both had returned 
to their home in Forrest City, on the first appear- 
ance of Fox on the streets Aldridge met him, and, 
without warning, shot him down with a double- 
barreled shotgun which he had concealed in a 
convenient drug store. Aldridge was arrested and 
placed under §10,000 bond, but died before the 
convening of court. 

At the breaking out of the war, though this 
county was very sparsely settled, the sentiment 
and sympathies of the people were almost without 
exception, in behalf of the Southern cause. There 
were raised here five companies, the first by Poin- 
dexter Dun, who afterward represented this Con- 
gressional district in the United States Congress 
for five consecutive terms. The second company 
was raised by the well-known commander Frisk. 
These companies were attached to Cross' regiment, 
known as the Fifth Confederate regiment. The 
third company was recruited by Capt. J. McGee, 
and the fourth by Capt. F. M. Prewett, now a 
leading merchant of Forrest City, and the oldest 
business man in the place. The fifth company was 
raised by Paul M. Cobbs, now State land commis- 
sioner. The last three mentioned were attached 
to Col. McNeil's regiment in the Fifth Arkansas 



2i 



<a w. 



456 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



k. 



Cavalry. The gallantry of these compaaies is at- 
tested by the few members who survived at the 
close of the war, the number returning not exceed- 
ing 100, out of an aggregate of 600 who enlisted. 
It is worthy of note that Jack Cheney, of Paul M. 
Cobbs' company of the Fifth Arkansas, was the 
first man to mount the breastworks in the charge 
made by the Confederate troops at the battle of 
Helena. 

There were no battles of importance fought 
within the limits of this county during the war, 
though a couple of cavalry engagements gave thrill- 
ing evidence of war, one near the present town 
of Forrest City, at what is known as Stewart's 
Springs, and one at the crossing L'Anguille River, 
within fourteen miles of Forrest City. 

Forrest City, the county seat and principal 
commercial center of St. Francis County, is located 
on the western slope of Crowley's Ridge, near the 
county's geographical center, and at the crossing 
of the Memphis & Little Rock and the Iron Mount- 
ain Railroads. The town was first laid off March 

I, 1869, by J. C. Hill, at that time county sur- 
veyor; the land on which it stands having belonged 
at that time to the Izards and Prewetts. The first 
store was opened under the firm name of Izard 
Bros. & Prewett. Capt. F. M. Prewett was the 
first person to settle and build upon the present 
town site, which then was covered by a heavy 
growth of poplar timber. The name was bestowed 
upon the village after the celebrated Confederate 
general, N. B. Forrest, who was the contractor for 
grading the Memphis & Little Rock Railroad 
through this portion of country. 

The first mayor of Forrest City was J. W. 
Grogan, chosen at the first municipal election held 
shortly after the incorporation of the town. May 

II, 1871. At present the population numbers 
1,500, of which about 150 are colored. 

The Avery Hotel, a large three-story brick 
building, is the finest structure in the city, and a 
magnificent monument to the enterprise and thrift 
of the citizens, having been built by a stock com- 
pany composed of representative men. It contains 
forty commodious and well furnished rooms. The 
cuisine of this house is all that can be desired. 



Mr. J. H. Avery, the proprietor, is a genial and 
courteous gentleman, thoroughly versed in matters 
pertaining to the conduct of a first-class hotel, and 
is a general favorite with the traveling public. 

There are in addition to the Avery several 
smaller well-kept hotels and boarding houses. 

Society here is cultured and refined, and re- 
ligion is fostered in a becoming manner, the Meth- 
odists, Baptists, Presbyterians, all having large 
and substantial houses of worship. The Catholics 
also have a good church edifice. The colored peo- 
ple are principally connected with the Baptist and 
Methodist denominations, and have four comforta- 
ble church buildings, two belonging to each or- 
ganization. 

Educational facilities are ample and complete. 
The school buildings, both for white and colored 
pupils, are attractive, large, light and airy, and 
supplied with all the modern conveniences and 
helps. The white graded school has an efficient 
principal and three assistants, with an enrollment 
of nearly 200 puj^ils. The colored school, con- 
ducted separately, has a good eni-ollment, and able 
and competent instructors. 

The professions are well represented, and among 
the members of both the legal and medical branches 
are found individuals whose fame and well-deserved 
reputation extends beyond the limits of the State. 

There are two principal newspapers published 
here, the Forrest City Times and the Forrest 
City Register, each of which has an encouraging 
circulation, and enjoys a liberal advertising pat- 
ronage. Faithful to the interests of their adopted 
locality, they exercise commendable influence in 
the moral elevation of their readers. 

The Enterprise, published by the colored people 
and devoted entirely to the iipbuilding and wants 
of this class, is a bright, new.sy little sheet, con- 
servative and neatly printed. 

All branches of trade are embodied in the in- 
dustries of Forrest City, and the business houses 
are generally large two-story bricks, which will 
compare favorably with those of any other town of 
like size. Some ten stores carry stocks of general 
merchandise, ranging from $10,000 to 130,000, 
six large grocery stores are found, three drug 



_ ^ 



l>^ 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



457 



stores and two jewelry stores, besides numerous 
small provision, meat and confectionery establish- 
ments. The Bank of Eastern Arkansas, with a 
capital of $50,000, is in a flourishing condition, 
and does a general banking business. The trade 
of the town amounts annually to about $600,000. 
There was shipped from this point in ISSS, 12,000 
bales of cotton and several thousand tons of cotton 
seed. The transportation facilities are unsur- 
passed, direct communications being furnished 
with St. Louis and Texas, by way of the Iron 
Mountain Railroad, and the same with Memphis 
and the east, over the Little Rock & Memphis 
Railroad. 

Forrest City is favorably situated to become one 
of the leading commercial cities of the State, 
being fortunate in its location, with such a large 
and fertile region, tributary to it. This is fast 
becoming settled and will in a few years pour into 
its lap the wealth of all productions. Successful 
in the past the city has still before her a more 
prosperous future. 

Secret societies of the Masons, Odd Fellows, 
Knights of Pythias, Knights of Honor and the 
Agricultural Wheel, sustain a devoted membership, 
and thrive in a satisfactory manner. 

The residence portion of the town is beautifully 
adorned with numerous shade trees and flower 
gardens, and many of the homes in their construc- 
tion and beauty evidence the taste and refinement 
of the citizens. Most of the buildings are planned 
on the modern style of architecture, but not a few 
represent the typical Southern home. Everything 
indicates quiet and true domesticity, and if home 
comforts can exist anywhere it is here. 

That the people of this county are pre-eminently 
a Christian people is shown by the fact that three- 
fourths of the adult population, both white and 
colored, are members of one or another of the lead- 
ing religious denominations, the principal of which 
are the Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians. 
In every section of the county, churches of more 
or less pretentions obtain always of a substantial 
character, and the court records indicate a very 
small proportion of crime, mostly misdemeanors. 

The political parties are nearly equally divided 



in the county. At the last presidential election, 
Cleveland received 838 votes, Harrison, 923; 
Streeter, 248, and Fisk, 10. The county is in the 
First Congressional district, commonly known as 
the "Shoe String" district, taking as it does the 
whole eastern tier of counties from the north to the 
south boundary of the State. It is also included 
in the First judicial district. 

The circuit court meets the eighth Monday after 
the third Monday in August and February, the 
term in each case being two weeks. The county 
courts convene quarterly the first Monday in Jan- 
uary, April, July and October, the sessions being 
regulated in the length of their continuance by the 
business to be disposed of, generally, however, 
lasting only a few days. 

Since the organization of the county the follow- 
ing county officers have served: 

Judges: John Johnson, William Strong, Will- 
iam Enos, R. H. Hargrave, E. Franks, W. M. Ful- 
kerson, J. C. Johnson, P. Littell, J. M. Griggs, Sr., 
J. M. Griggs, Jr., W. J. Jones, E. Mallory, T. 
Pearce, G. W. Laughinghouse, L. Finley, R. T. 
Scott, W. H. Coffey. 

County Clerks: Andrew Roane, S. Crouch, 
Isaac Mitchell, R. H. Hargrave, J. M. Parrott, 
G. B. Michie, H. Halbert. W. Becker, W. H. 
Wills, H. C. Davis, J. M. Stewart, T. O. Fitzpat- 
rick. 

Sheriffs: William Strong, T. J. Curl, J. M. 
Halbert, William Dunn. G. V. C. Johnson, G. B. 
Michie, G. W. Seaborn, J. R. Gurley, John Pftr- 
ham, W. J. Matthews and D. M. Wilson. 

The school system here is on a firm basis and 
the means for acquiring good common-school in- 
struction are within reach of all, white and colored. 
There are in the county thirty-one organized 
school districts, two schools being conducted in 
each district, one for the white and one for the col- 
ored children. The value of school propei-ty ex- 
clusive of real estate is $15,000, and the amount 
expended for the employment of teachers for the 
past year reaches to about SI 6, 035. 00. The total 
school population last j'ear was 4,871. Each dis- 
trict votes the full amount allowed by law for 
school purposes and there is an increasing interest 



- J " -'T v*' 



458 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



manifested by all in the cause of education. There 
are now twenty- eight good commodious school - 
houses in the count}'. 

In concluding this reference to St. Francis it is 
well to add that in the destruction of the records 
containing the official history serious disadvantages 
have been met with in the compilation of this sketch, 
rendering it necessary to depend almost wholly on 
personal recollections and reminiscences. These, of 
course, are more or less faulty and conflicting, hu- 
man memory varying with the lapse of years. In- 
tercourse with the people has been of the most 
agreeable and satisfactory nature and all have 
been ready and willing to impart such information 
as they possessed. The undeveloped wealth of 
this county, with its many other natural advan- 
tages, combine to offer a most favorable field for 
individuals contemplating a change of residence. 



John J. Abies, proprietor of one of the lead- 
ing groceries of Colt, is a native of this county, 
and when a boy worked on his father's farm, at- 
tending school at intervals; although not regular 
in attendance, he being a bright scholar and will- 
ing to learn, received a fair common-school educa- 
tion. In May, ISfil, at the age of seventeen, he 
entered the Confederate service, enlisting in Com- 
pany B, Fifth Arkansas Regiment, Govan's brig- 
ade, Pat Cleburne's division, Hardee's and Cheat- 
ham's corps of the Army of the Tennessee, com- 
manded by Beauregard, Albert Sidney Johnston, 
Braxton Bragg, Joseph E. Johnston and J. B. 
Hood, of Texas. Mr. Abie's career as a soldier 
led him through many different battles — Chicka- 
mauga, Murfreesboro, Franklin, from Bowling 
Green, Ky. , to Bentonville, N. C, via Nashville, 
Chattanooga and Dalton down the railroad and 
State line to Atlanta, thence to Jonesboro via Au- 
gusta, Ga., back to Bentonville. He fought the 
last battle under Johnston at that place, that fa- 
mous general then falling back to Greensboro, N. 
C, where he surrendered. Mr. Abies took his 
chances for his home in Arkansas, and was in all 
the engagements of that march, soldiering through 
East Tennessee, around Knoxville, on Clinch 



River, at Clinton, with Bragg through Cumberland 
Gap to Kentucky. He was wounded in the right 
hand, losing his little finger, which, though a 
small and seemingly unimportant member, necessi- 
tated his absence from active duty for three 
months. He served throughout the war, and took 
an active part in every battle of his division in the 
Mississippi Valley, with the exception of those dur- 
ing the three months of his disabilit}'. Returning 
home in May, 1865, Mr. Abies was married the fol- 
lowing August to Miss Mary A. Stutts. They are 
the parents of eight children, all of whom are liv- 
ing: Cora Belle, John AV., Willis R., Anna C, 
Micager C, Samuel, James D. and Emma Lou. 
Following his matrimonial venture Mr. Abies en- 
gaged in farming, and now has a nicely improved 
farm of 160 acres. He was born in 1844, being 
the son of M. C. and Jane C. (Moore) Abies, na- 
tives of Tennessee and Alabama, respectively. 
M. C. Abies came to Arkansas in 1828, and settled 
in this county at a time when there were but few 
families in the locality. Here he bought a farm 
of 320 acres, on which he lived until the time of 
his death, with the exception of a year or two dur- 
ing his residence in Wittsburg, and also while in 
the Mexican War. In 1887 our subject sold out 
his farming interests and came to Colt Station, em- 
barking in the grocery business, in which he is still 
engaged. In this he has been very successful. 
He held the office of constable of his township be- 
fore moving to Colt, and was also justice of the 
peace for ten years, and has now a commission as 
notary public. Mr. Abies is a stanch Democrat 
and a member of the I. O. O. F. and Knights of 
Honor. 

J. L. Adare, a native of Northern Alabama, is 
a son of Samuel W. and Mary J. (Freeze) Adare, 
who also came originally fi-om that State, the 
father being of French descent, and the mother of 
Irish ancestry. J. L. Adare assisted his father on 
the farm until twenty years of age, when he was 
engaged in clerking for about four years. In 1879 
he came to Arkansas and located in St. Francis 
County, gave his attention to farming the first 
year, and the following year entered the employ of 
Mr. Vital Lesca, as clerk, and is now at the head 



^ 



V 



'k. 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



459 



of the business. Mr. Aclare was born in Madison 
County, Ala., on December 27, 1850, and was 
married on September 8, 1889, to Mrs. Delia Lesca, 
widow of his former employer, and a daughter of 
Stephen Snowden, a native of Tennessee. Mr. 
Adare is a member of the K. of H., and is a well- 
known citizen and highly respected. 

William E. Allen, active in the agricultural 
affairs of this county, was born in St. Francis 
County, Ark. , being the son of William and Eliza 
L. (Oliver) Allen, natives of Louisiana, and Ar- 
kansas, respectively. The former began life for 
himself at the age of twenty-one years, and now 
owns 261 acres of valuable land, with 100 acres 
carefully improved and cultivated. Aside from 
his many farming interests, he is engaged in stock 
raising, making a success of that branch as with 
everything else. In 1877 Mr. Allen was married 
to Miss Flora L. Beazley, who died in 1884, leav- 
ing one child, Mary A. In 1888 Miss Ella E. 
Gray, a daughter of William F. and Sarah E. 
Gray, became his present wife. To their union 
one child has been born, Willie L. Mr. and Mrs. 
Allen are members in high standing of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, South, and the former is a 
Democrat in his political views. He contributes 
liberally to all public enterjarises, and is held in 
high esteem by the entire community. 

W. H. Alley, M. D. , in his connection with the 
professional affairs of this community has attained 
a well-deserved prominence. Born in Mississippi, 
in 1861, he passed his boyhood days in the com- 
mon schools of that State, obtaining a practical ed- 
ucation, and manifesting at an early age an unus- 
ually bright mind. At the age of fourteen he was 
at the head of classes in which the majority were 
many years his senior. When seventeen years old 
he commenced the study of medicine under a tutor, 
and in 1879, entering the Vanderbilt University, 
was graduated from the Medical Department of 
that institution in March, 1881. He first located in 
his home, in Mississippi, where he practiced with 
success for two years, but later became located at 
Lewisburg, Miss., for one year, and then in Belle- 
vue. Miss., where he remained until 1888. Dr. 
Alley then came to Arkansas and settled in Forrest 



City, and though only a few years have elapsed 
since his entrance, he has built up a practice of 
which others of more advanced years and expe- 
rience might well feel proud. Dr. Alley's wife was 
formerly Miss Emma L. Cobbs, daughter of Paul 
M. Cobbs, State and land commissioner of Arkan- 
sas. To their union one interesting little daughter 
has been born, Mary. The Doctor owns an attract- 
ive home, which is furnished in excellent taste, and 
three valuable farms. He is a Democrat in his po- 
litical views, a member of the K. of P. and prom- 
inently identified with the County Medical Society. 
J. H. and Ophelia (McCombs) Alley, his parents, 
were natives of Tennessee. The father followed 
merchandising in Byhalia, Miss., nearly all his 
life, but in 1884 came to Arkansas and is now en- 
gaged in operating a large plantation. Mrs. Alley 
is still living, and is of Scotch and Irish descent. 
The paternal grandfather was Ijorn in Virginia and 
the maternal grandfather, N. H. McCombs, came 
originally from North Carolina, spending the great- 
er portion of his life in Mississippi, where he died 
at the age of seventy-three years. The maternal 
gi'andmother's name was Reid; she was directly 
descended from the Scotch and Irish. 

Mrs. Margret E. Anderson. On the first day 
of January, 1839, was born in St. Francis County 
the subject of this sketch. Her father, Alfred K. 
Houston, first saw the light of this world in South 
Carolina, December 21, 1814, and came to Arkan- 
sas with his parents at the age of five years, who 
settled in St. Francis County, Ark., where he was 
reared, and followed the occupation of a farmer, 
dying in this county in March, 1879. He was 
married to Miss Sallie Evans, of North Carolina 
origin, who came to Arkansas when a girl, and 
who departed this life in 1860. The issue of this 
union was seven children, four of whom are living: 
Margret E. (the principal of this sketch), Wellman 
C. (a farmer of this county), Hiram (living in 
this county, whose sketch is given elsewhere), Fran- 
cis M. (also a resident of this county). Mrs. An- 
derson has been twice married, and is now a widow, 
her second husband dying some ten years ago. 
Her first marriage, on June 20, 1855, was to Aaron 
M. Hughes, of Georgian birth, and who died May 



7^ 



~f 



, 4*^ 



^ 



460 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



IS, 1862; by this marriage were two sons, only 
one of whom is living, Wellman T. , born Novem- 
ber 15, 1860. She married again on June 20, 
1867, to Robert Anderson, of South Carolina, and 
a son of Robert and Lucy (Beazley) Anderson, who 
died February 20, 1879. Four children were 
given to them, three of whom arestillliving: Sarah 
L., Robert K. and Nancy E. Of her husbands it 
can be said they were honest, industrious farmers, 
who succeeded in life and laid up some property for 
those who were dependent on them, and merited 
the great respect shown them. Mrs. Anderson is 
now living on her magniticent farm, situated on 
the banks of the St. Francis River, and in connec- 
tion with this, owns a half-interest in 500 acres of 
valuable land, also the homestead, 115 acres. Her 
son, William T. Hughes, a model and rising young 
farmer, has the affairs of the farm under his super- 
vision, and is making a decided success of it, and 
they have a happy home, wherein dwells ease, 
comfort and plenty. Mrs. Anderson is a member 
of and worships with the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. William T. Hughes is a member of the 
Knights of Honor. 

Samuel D. Apperson, the present poi^ular and 
capable assessor of St. Francis County, was born 
in Marshall County, Miss., near Holly Springs, 
February 22, 1853, being the son of W'. T. and 
Martha (Howes) Apperson, originally from Virginia 
and Tennessee, respectively. The parents had a 
family of six children, three now living, of whom 
Samuel D. is the third in order of birth. The lat- 
ter accompanied his parents to Arkansas when 
quite young, and having settled near Forrest City 
before the present site was located, can justly be 
deemed a pioneer of the community. He remained 
here until 1873, attending the schools of the 
county, and then drove stock over the States of 
Tennessee, Indiana and Mississippi. In 1875 he 
returned home and came to Forrest City, where he 
conducted a general freight and dray business until 
1880. His fitness for the position becoming recog- 
nized, he was elected marshal of Forrest City and 
served two terms of one year each. In 1886 he 
accepted the superintendency of trestle work on 
the Bald Knob Railroad from Bald Knob to Mem- 



phis, receiving a salary of $115 per month. Re- 
turning to Forrest City he found employment 
awaiting him as farm sujjerintendent, which posi- 
tion he held for one year. Mr. Apperson was then 
elected county assessor to fill a vacancy, and is 
now discharging the manifold duties of that office 
in a highlj- creditable manner. He is a member of 
the K. of H. and I. O. O. F. fraternities, and a 
Democrat in his political views. He is of French 
descent, his grandfather having been a native of 
France. Mr. Apperson is progressive in his ideas, 
and many improvements in the city owe their exist- 
ence to his liberal support and hearty cooperation. 
Edward Bonner was born in Spartanbui'g Dis- 
trict, S. C. , in 1841, being the son of Andrew and 
Louisa Bonner, also natives of that State. Young 
Edward remained in the vicinity of his birthplace 
until grown to manhood, receiving but limited ad- 
vantages for an education, and attending school 
only a portion of each year. When nineteen years 
of age he assumed charge of his father's farm, and 
after the latter' s death remained with his mother, 
conducting her business in a most satisfactory man- 
ner. When twenty years old he enlisted in the 
Confederate army in Company G, Fifth South Car- 
olina Regiment, under Capt. Carpenter, com- 
manded by Col. Jenkins, and participated in the 
first battle of Manassas, but being taken ill short- 
ly after, he was detailed to manage the Magnetic 
iron works, located at Cherokee Ford, S. C. This 
was one of the most important branches of indus- 
try in connection with the Southern cause. Mr. Bon- 
ner remained in this position until the close of the 
war, after which he commenced business as a mer- 
chant at Limestone Springs, S. C. After one year, 
at his mother's earnest solicitation, he returned to 
her home and resumed control of her extensive 
business. In 1869 he was married to Miss Julia 
G., daughter of Elijah and Julia (Ray) Harris, and 
their marriage has been blessed with three inter- 
esting children: Edward L., Carl Ray and Erma. 
The oldest child, Edward, is a promising young 
man, and bids fair to be a leader among men, 
standing intellectually far above the average, a 
young man whose example is worthy of imitation. 
Mr. Bonner moved to St. Francis County in 1874, 



V 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



461 



locating in Forrest City, and four years later was 
appointed postmaster at that place, serving in that 
capacity for five years, and also as agent for the 
Southern Express Company. The change of ad- 
ministration in 1883, or President Garfield's reign, 
caused his removal from the position of postmas- 
ter. Since leaving the office Mr. Bonner has been 
merchandising, and is at present managing the co- 
operative store at Forrest City inaugurated by the 
people for their benefit. The stock is valued at 
$45,000 and under his efficient control is rapidly 
increasing in value, and is one of the city's lead- 
ing enterprises. In politics our subject is a Dem- 
ocrat, and in religious faith a Baptist, as is also his 
wife. Mr. Bonner is a liberal contributor to all 
charitable movements, and, in fact, every act that 
betokens the good or growth of the county finds 
him a stanch supporter. Previous to the war his 
parents were quite wealthy, but the ravages inci- 
dent to that period robbed them of nearly every- 
thing, their land being about all they possessed. 
The paternal grandfather was a native of Virginia, 
born near Petersburg, but afterward moving to 
South Carolina, died there at the age of sixty- 
three. The maternal grandfather was Joseph 
Camp, of South Carolina nativity, who was called 
to his final home at a very advanced age. Mrs. 
Bonner's father was Rev. Elijah Ray, a Baptist 
minister of South Carolina. Her mother's father, 
Col. William Washington Harris, a native of North 
Carolina, was a soldier in the War of 1812, serving 
as colonel in the volunteer service, and died at the 
age of eighty-eight years. He was one of the first 
settlers of Spartanburg, S. C. 

Calvin N. Bynum, an extensive stock raiser 
and tiller of the soil. Bom in Hickman County, 
Tenn., in 1838, he is the son of James and Rebecca 
Bynum, natives of Virginia, who moved to St. Fran- 
cis County, Ark., in 1848; Mrs. Bynum only living 
a few months after their arrival. Mr. Bynum died 
the year following. Calvin N. began life on his 
own responsibility at the age of eleven, and in 1861 
settled his present farm, which consists of 326 acres, 
with 225 under cultivation. From this land he re- 
ceives excellent crops, and is also extensively en- 
gaged in stock raising. He enlisted during the war, 

20 



in 1863, in Company G, Hart's regiment, serving 
until the final surrender. Mr. Bynum has been 
married three times; first, in 1805 to Miss Emeline 
Price, who bore him three children: James H., 
Laura A. and Josephine. Mrs. Bynum died in 
1870, and Mr. Bynum was again married, his 
second choice being Miss Louise Price. By this 
union there were five children, two now living: Sinah 
E. and Martha E. In 1877 Mrs. Bynum was called 
to her final home, and his third and present wife 
was formerly Lucy J. Price. To them seven 
children have been given, five surviving: Sara I., 
Francis C, William H., Charlie and John C. In 
politics Mr. Bynum is a Democrat and in his relig- 
ious faith a Presljyterian. He contributes liberally 
to all public enterprises, and is regarded as one of 
the representative men of the county. 

James L. Caldwell is a native of Tennessee and 
a son of William and Amanda (Christan) Caldwell, 
who came originally from South Carolina and Ten- 
nessee, respectively. William Caldwell was bom 
in 1811 and was reared on a farm, removing to 
Bedford County, Tenn. , when a young man, where 
he was married in 1844 to the mother of our sub- 
ject. In 1861 they came to this county, and here 
the father engaged in farming and also in the 
milling business, in which he was occupied until 
his death, in 1865. He was a prominent citizen of 
his county, a member of the Masonic order and of 
the I. O. O. F., and belonged to the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church, and at one time, while a res- 
ident of Bedford County, Tenn., represented that 
county in the State legislature. Mrs. Caldwell was 
bom in Bedford County, Tenn., in Feliruary, 1816, 
and died in April, 1888. James L. Caldwell also 
first saw the light in Bedford County, his natal 
day being March 23, 1846, and when a young man 
he took charge of his father's mill, continuing it 
until 1864. Then he enlisted in a company raised 
by C. M. Biscoe, which formed a part of McGee's 
regiment (the Fifth Arkansas Cavalry), was elected 
second lieutenant, and a short time after promoted 
first lieutenant. After the war he returned home 
and engaged in merchandising for over a j'ear, 
subsequently entering into the saw-mill business, 
which he followed in this and Cross Counties until 



^ 



IS li-_ 



•^ 



462 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



selling out to liis brother in 1887. He erected a 
mill two miles west of Caldwell, and also took a 
contract for building ten miles of the Bald Knob 
Railroad which he completed in that year. Mr. 
Caldwell has built and owned fourteen different 
mills in St. Francis and Crittenden Counties, and 
now owns the mill near Caldwell and a half inter- 
est in a mill in the last-named count}'; besides this 
he has and operates .several farms in these two 
counties and Cross County, in all aboi;t 1,800 acres, 
with over 100 acres under cultivation, the rest be- 
ing fine timber land. He aided largely in putting in 
most of the bridges in St. Francis and Crittenden 
Counties, and now has taken the contract for the 
erection of the buildings for the Little Rock Oil 
Company. He was married November 20, 1874, 
to Miss Annie Halbert, a daughter of John Hal- 
bert, a native of Missouri. They are the parents 
of six children: "Willie J., Lillie A., Mary Ann, 
Henry H. , Tennie and James L. Mr. Caldwell was 
justice of the peace of Johnson Township for six 
years, and is one of the prominent men of his 
county. He is a member of the Masonic order, 
and belongs to the County Wheel, being made vice- 
president at its organization here. 

}Villiam Thomas Clifton, an active carpenter 
of Forrest City, was born in Elerton, Jefferson 
County, Ala., near Birmingham, March 23, 1823, 
being a son of Amza H. and Adelissa (Goode) 
Clifton, natives of Virginia and North Carolina, 
respectivelj'. The paternal grandfather of our 
subject, William Clifton, was a Scotchman by 
birth and came to America about the close of the 
Revolutionary war, settling in North Carolina, 
where he married a Miss Martha Rice, daughter of 
John Rice. Mr. Rice was in the employ of the 
United States Government as a surveyor under 
President Monroe, and assisted in moving the 
Indians west, receiving 5,000 acres of land for 
his services, part of which tract is the land on 
which Memphis is now situated, and to this day it 
is known as the Rice grant. The father of Adelissa 
Goode (Thomas Goode), was a soldier and served 
seven years in the Revolutionary War, and was 
commissioned colonel in Gen. Washington's body 
guard, and his grandson, Thomas Goode Clark, 



was a soldier in the late war, and fell at the battle 
of Gettysburg, together with his son; the pine 
boards which marked their resting place are now 
among the relics at the Libby Prison War Museum. 
Mr. Amza H. Clifton was born in Caswell County, 
N. C. , and was married in 1821 at Hopkinsville, 
Ky. He settled in Jefferson County, Ala., moved 
to Tennessee in 1828 and located in Covington, 
where he lived about ten years, and then moved 
to Mississippi in 1837. In 1840 going to Mem- 
phis, Tenn., he resided there and worked at his 
trade as carpenter, until his death in 1849. Will- 
iam T. Clifton gave his attention to the carpenter's 
trade under his father's instruction until of age, 
and in 1845 came to Arkansas, but remained only 
a short time, in 1847 making another trip. In 
1848 he was married to Miss Araminta Cathey, 
and settled in Mount Vernon near the present site 
of Forrest City, where he has since lived. He and 
wife are the parents of three children: Mattie C. 
(wife of Joseph M. Davis, of this city), William A. 
(a confectioner of Morrillton, Ark.), and Mollie, 
now Mrs. Ritter of the same place. Mr. and Mrs. 
Clifton are members of the Baptist Church. He 
is a strong Democrat and a prominent citizen. 

Judge W. H. Coffey, an eminent lawyer of St. 
Francis County, widely known and highly esteemed 
by his associates on the bench, is originally of 
Fayette County, Tenn., but was taken by his 
parents when an infant, to De Soto County, Miss. , 
in which State his father died two years later. 
His mother then returned to her father's home in 
Hardeman County, Tenn., and afterward married 
John Coates, of that coiinty. In 1861 Mr. Coffey 
enlisted in the Fourth Tennessee Infantry, taking an 
active part in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro, 
Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, and a number of 
others. He was captured and taken jsrisoner at 
the battle of Missionary Ridge, thence conveyed 
to Camp Morton, Ind. , held in captivity for nine 
months, when he was exchanged, and receiving a 
furlough turned his face toward his native land, 
walking over 225 miles, and reaching home a short 
time before the surrender. He then took up 
farming for his livelihood, and in 1869 was married 
to Miss Mary E. Harris, who died in 1870, leav- 






^ 



<S W. 



^ 9 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



40S 



ing one son, James W. In 1872 Mr. Coffey re- 
moved to Arkansas, and settled in St. Francis 
County, on a farm nine miles from Forrest City, 
purchasing first 160 acres of land, to which he has 
added from time to time, until he now owns 1,120 
acres, and besides these he has his home farm, 225 
acres, which are cleared and under cultivation. 
Two years after his removal to this county, he was 
elected justice of the peace, holding this office 
until 1886, when he was elected county judge, and 
was again elected to this office in 1888, and is now 
finishing his second term. In December, 1873, he 
was again married to Mary A. Houston, a daughter 
of James M. Houston. They are the parents of 
eight children, five of whom are still living: Mary 
E., Martha T., Noma, Nora Belle and Clarence 
Elbert. Mr. Coffey affiliates with the Masonic 
fraternity, in which order he has taken the degree 
of Royal Arch, and in the thirteen years of mem- 
bership, he has not missed but four regular meet- 
ings. He is also a member of the County Wheel, 
being one of the charter members of this lodge, 
and was its first president. 

J. H. Cole. In passing through Eastern Ark- 
ansas it would be impossible to meet a gentleman 
of more marked characteristics than J. H. Cole, 
the subject of this sketch. He is a typical Tennes- 
seean, and a man of more than ordinary physical 
sti'ength and activity, and the observer needs to be 
no expert to recognize in him a person of unyielding 
determination and will. He still stands erect and 
walks with the agility of a man of forty years, 
althoiTgh three score years and two have passed 
their mantle upon him, his birth occui'ring in 1827. 
He spent his boyhood days in Stewart and Humph- 
ries Counties, Teun., but the monotony of his quiet 
life ihade him restless and the opening of the 
Mexican War gave him an opportunity to see life 
in its most exciting phase. Eagerly embracing 
the opportunity, he enlisted in 1840, and followed 
the fortunes of the war until its close, participating 
in the famous battles of Monterey andBuoua Vista 
At the close of hostilities he went to New Orleans, 
and for two years engaged in the drug business. 
Returning thence to Tennessee, shortly after he 
was married in Carroll County to Miss May Math- 



ews, and moved to Hickman, Ky., where he ac- 
cepted a position as marshal and wharfmaster. 
He then came to Madison, the old county seat of 
Arkansas, landing there in September of 1857, 
having made the journey from Helena in a dugout 
or canoe. In Madison he opened a liver}' business, 
acting as agent for the line to Hot Springs, and 
contractor for the lines from Helena to Cherokee 
Bluff. At the breaking out of the war he joined 
the Fifth Arkansas State Troops, under Ristor, 
but when they joined the Confederate army he left 
and took charge of Hardee's wagon train for Mis- 
souri. He was suddenly taken ill, and obliged to 
come home, but afterward reported to Col. Walker, 
and was with him in the fight at Helena. He was 
taken prisoner by Powell Clayton, a short time 
after receiving his parole; and was once charged 
with the burning of a boat, and on trial for his life, 
but Clayton proved him in his hands as a prisoner 
at the time, which act saved his life. As soon as 
the war closed he opened at Madison the first store 
in St. Francis County, under the firm name of 
Cole & Prewett. He received all the soods with 
which to conduct it from New Orleans on credit, 
through the influence of friends, and from that 
departure made a fortune. The firm continued 
till the Governor of the State called for civil in- 
stead of marshal law. A committee was appointed 
to select some relialtle man to go and secure the 
commission from the Governor, but, although vari- 
ous parties were appointed, no one would under- 
take the venture; accordingly Mr. Cole— always 
fearless as he was shrewd — started without telling 
any one of his intention. He went on horseback to 
Memphis, and from there by boat to Little Rock, 
where he secured an interview with the Governor, 
and received the commission. He then returned 
home and immediately called together some of the 
most reliable men of the county, ai)pointiug them 
to the various offices. Then in a field close to an old 
court house, he organized the first county court 
after the war. The records had been buried there 
during the war. The commissioner of the post 
came and ordered him to jail. Irat he read him the 
commission from the Governor, showing him that 
his time of service bad expired the day before. 



^t 



C r- 



« w. 



:L^ 



464 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Mr. Cole was not in favor of secession, but went 
with his State when it seceded. A man by the 
name of Inge was sent from Mississippi before the 
war for the purpose of preaching secession. Mr. 
Cole made the remark to Judge Pierce of the coun- 
ty, that it would have been better if South Caro- 
lina had slipped into the sea than to have slipped 
out of the Union. The secessionist procured a 
pistol and cowhide, and began to whip Mr. Cole. 
A fight ensued, in which Mr. Inge was killed. Our 
subject was afterward wholly exonerated by the 
court. When Forrest City became the county seat 
of St. Francis County, Mr. Cole closed up his 
business and came here. At this place Hugh H. , 
the only child, died. He was a rising young at- 
torney of the place, and a graduate of Lebanon 
Law School. Since his death Mr. Cole and wife 
have been disconsolate, and have tried to forget 
their sorrow in traveling. They have gone as far 
North as possible, visiting every point of interest 
mentionable. They were for a period abroad, 
spending some time in Dublin, Ireland. Mr. Cole 
recently united with the church, a large audience 
congregating to hear his experience. He is be- 
loved by all who know him, and is well worthy the 
respect and deference paid him, for though he is per- 
haps a trifle eccentric, a mean act is something he 
has yet to do. He is a favorite in society and busi- 
ness circles, and though witty and quick at repartee, 
he never wounds a friend and there is no sting in 
his mirth. He, with his honored wife enjoys that 
which is so much to be desired — an unsullied name, 
and the sincere love of a host of friends. His 
grandfather was a native of Virginia and the third 
settler of Nashville, Tenn. 

William A. Council. The village of Council 
Bend was named after Redwick Council, who built 
the first house in that locality, and who was the 
grandfather of the subject of this biography. His 
son, Simeon, was born in North Carolina, in 1805, 
and removed to Arkansas in April, 1822, settling in 
Crittenden County for a short time and then re- 
moved to Walnut Bend, on the Mississippi River, 
being married in St. Francis County, in 1827, to 
Rebecca Lane, who was born in Alabama in April, 
1811. He died in April, 1848, and his wife in 



1879. They were the parents of eleven children, 
three of whom are still living: Allen (a farmer of 
St. Francis County), Mary J. (now Mrs. McKay, 
of Hood County, Tex.), and William A. The lat- 
ter was reared in this county and began life for 
I himself as a farmer at the age of nineteen. He 
was born here on December 28, 1847, and was 
married, February 22, 1874, to Miss Anna M. 
Smith, who died in July of that year. The fol- 
lowing April, Miss Elizabeth Filingim became his 
wife, who died April 22, 1881, leaving one child, 
now deceased. Mr. Council's third matrimonial 
venture was in Febniary, 1883, to Miss Margaret 
L. Hubbard, of Alabama nativity, who died two 
years later, having borne one child, that died 
in infancy. He joined the Union army at the age 
of sixteen, enlisting in the Twenty-fifth Wisconsin 
Infantry, in which he served until the close of the 
war, participating in the battles of Buzzard's Roost, 
Big Shanty, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, and a 
number of others. After the conflict Mr. Council 
went to Wisconsin, and remained two years, then 
returning to Arkansas and settling in St. Francis 
County. He is now engaged in the timber busi- 
ness in connection with farming, and owns 160 
acres on the St. Francis River, which is very fertile 
and well timbered. 

D. W. Davis, a brother of John M. Davis, whose 
sketch appears in this work, and a relative of Jeff. 
Davis, is a son of Cornelius Davis, the latter hav- 
ing come to Arkansas from Kentucky, his former 
home, in 1828. At that time the Territory was 
but thinly settled, the forests were tilled with bear, 
deer, wild turkey and other game, and the mode 
of traveling was in ox carts or on horseback. Our 
subject was reared to farm life, but had no advan- 
tages for acquiring an education when a boy, and 
it is a fact that, up to his eighteenth birthday, he 
could neither read nor write. He was born in this 
county December 9, 1833. In 1851 he ran away 
from home, and went to Fulton County, 111. , where 
he attended school for three years, working for his 
board and enough to keep him in clothes. Then 
returning home he commenced teaching school, 
and in that way earned means to take him through 
college, after which he took a course in civil en- 



■^f 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



405 



gineering at the McKendrie College. Subsequently 
lie went to Leavenworth, Kan. , and took part in 
the border warfare in Missouri and Kansas. Be- 
coming located at Omaha, he was engaged in his 
profession of surveying a short time, but later re 
turned to St. Francis County, and in 1857-58 held 
the position of deputy sheriff. At the breaking 
out of the war he enlisted in the Crittenden Rangers, 
the first company raised in Arkansas. A few 
months later he helped Marsh Walker raise his 
regiment, of which he was made captain and com- 
missary. After the war Mr. Davis came home 
and commenced farming, and also took up the 
study of law. afterward entering upon his practice, 
but soon again abandoned the legal profession and 
resumed farming. This he still follows, and is 
also engaged in surveying, in addition being timber 
inspector of the Third district, comprising St. 
Francis, Cross and Poinsett Counties. He has 
the credit of sending in more money than any 
other inspector in the State. He has a tine farm, 
with over 100 acres under cultivation, upon which 
are good buildings and a tine orchard. His principal 
crop is cotton, but does not confine himself to that 
one product as do some. He has also tried introduc- 
ing: thoroughbred short- horned cattle, but the coun- 
try is not yet educated up to seeing the value of 
fancy stock. Mr. Davis was married in 1863 to Mrs. 
McClintock. They are the parents of five children: 
Blanche (wife of James W. Steward, who was su- 
perintendent of the public schools for ten years), 
De Witt (nineteen years of age and who is study- 
ing surveying, of which he has a practical knowl- 
edge, having at the State Fair at Little Rock com- 
peted and taken the prize for the best plat of a 
thirty-two sided farm and architectural drawings), 
Annie, David and Mabel. Mr. Davis and wife are 
members of the Episcopal Church. He is also a 
member of the Knights of Honor, and is a strong 
Democrat. 

Anthony D. Davis, also actively engaged in agri- 
cultural pursuits, was born in 1836 near the pres- 
ent site of Corinth, Miss. , made historic during the 
war by one of the most famous battles of that pe- 
riod. His parents were Arthiu- and Elizabeth E. 
(Smith) Davis, natives of North Carolina. An- 



thony Davis did not receive many advantages for 
an education in youth, a few mouths passed in a 
neighboring school during the winter months, com- 
prising the whole amount of his literary instruc- 
tion. His first venture on his own account was at 
the age of nineteen, when he accepted a position as 
manager of a large plantation, discharging the 
manifold duties connected therewith in a most sat- 
isfactory manner. Soon becoming tired of this 
employment, and wishing to own land of his own, 
ho resigned his position, much to the regret of his 
employers, and went to De Soto County, Miss. 
Not long after his arrival at that point the war 
broke out, which, of course, destroyed all his 
plans, for the time, at least. He enlisted Sep- 
tember 15, 1801, in Company G, Thirty-first Ten- 
nessee Regiment, Capt. Baker's company and Col. 
Bradford's regiment, and participated in the bat- 
tles of Belmont, Chickamauga, Perryville, etc. 
At the close of the war Mr. Davis removed to St. 
Francis County, purchasing a farm of 240 acres, 
of which he has cleared and has in a good state of 
cultivation 140 acres. His improvements are such 
as would do credit to any country, and his beauti- 
ful residence, furnished in such excellent taste, 
gives evidence of culture and refinement. In addi- 
tion to his farming operations he is an extensive 
stock raiser. In 1865 Mr. Davis was married to 
Miss Maria Prewett, and to them a family of four 
children were born: Daisy and Arthur now living, 
and Cheatham and William (deceased). In poli- 
tics Mr. Davis is a Democrat, and in religious faith 
a Methodist. His wife is a Baptist, and a lady of 
many excellent traits and characteristics. Mr. 
Davis is a liberal contributor to all worthy enter- 
prises, but many of his generous acts never reach 
the ears of the outside world. 

John M. Davis is numl)ered among the well- 
known farmers and stock raisers of Franks Town- 
ship. He was born on the farm on which he still 
lives, in 1845. His parents Cornelius and Eliza 
(Holbert) Davis, were natives of Kentucky. The 
former came to Arkansas in 1828, and remained one 
year, then returning to Kentucky, where he was 
married in 1832, moving permanently to this 
county, and engaging in farming. At that time 



Al 



466 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



the country was very thinly settled, the nearest 
market being Helena. He first entered 160 acres 
of land, but at the time of his death, in 1868, at 
the age of sixty-three years, owned 600 or 700 
acres. John M. Davis grew to manhood on his 
father's farm, his early educational opportunities 
being limited, as the senior Davis was one of those 
men who believed in acquiring a competency before 
spending it. When eighteen years old John went 
to Kentucky, and attended school for about two 
years. After the war, in which he did not take 
part on account of poor health, he returned to Ar- 
kansas and resumed farming, and is now conduct- 
ing the old homestead which his father entered and 
imf)roved on coming to this State, and where he 
was born. Mr. Davis has been twice united in the 
bonds of matrimony. First, in 1868, to Mary 
C. Folbre, who died in 1871, leaving one son, 
Thomas C. , who was killed in a railroad wreck 
in 1887. Mr. Davis took for his second wife Miss 
Hester A. Davis, in January, 187-1, a daughter of 
Rev. Arthur Davis, of Western Tennessee. They 
are the parents of ten children: Benjamin, Arthur 
W., Mattie P., Drucilla, John, Susie, Eliza, Myr- 
tle, Claudia and Elizabeth. Mr. Davis is one of 
the most prominent Democrats of this locality, and 
is now the efficient sheriff of St. Francis County, 
and a man whose name is a terror to law breakers. 
He and wife are members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, South. Mr. Davis is also connected 
with the Masonic order. 

H. P. Dooley. Among those who have con- 
tributed liberally to the numerous enterprises of 
Forrest City, and are recognized as leading citi- 
zens, the name of H. P. Dooley, dentist, is a fa- 
miliar one. He is a native of Tennessee, his birth 
occurring in Maury County in 1847, being the son 
of W. A. and Sarah (Joyce) Dooley. W. A. Doo 
ley was born in 1820, participated in the Civil 
War and died in 1877. The grandfather came 
originally from North Carolina and raised the first 
company of soldiers in Tennessee for the Creek 
War. He entered the service as captain, but came 
out as colonel, dying a few years afterward. The 
great grandfather was of Ireland origin, and the 
great grandmother from Scotland. H. P. Dooley, 



the subject of this sketch, received his literary edu- 
cation in the schools of his native State, afterward 
entering a seminary near Memphis, where the 
breaking out of the war found him. Putting away 
his books, despite his ambition to obtain a good ed- 
ucation, he joined McDonald's Company of Ten- 
nessee Cavalry, serving in the Confederate army 
two and a half years. He was twice wounded, 
first receiving a severe wound in the leg, and the 
second time his arm was broken. Eighteen of his 
company were shot down, and a ball, which passed 
through his arm, knocked the mounting from his 
gun and injured him quite seriously. After recov- 
ering sufficiently to admit of his again entering the 
service, he returned and remained until the final 
surrender. The first year after the war Mr. Doo 
ley engaged in farming, but attended school the 
winter of 1866, subsequently commencing the 
study of his profession under the tutelage of R. G. 
Edwards and next with one W. F. Southern. After 
one year spent in traveling in Northern Misisissippi 
he came here, locating in Forrest City in 1870. 
When he began he had but very little, except un- 
daunted courage and a determination to succeed, 
which is doubtless the secret of his present pros- 
perity. He has amassed quite a fortune, and 
owns one of the most attractive residences in the 
city. He takes much interest in fine stock, paying 
careful attention to raising the same, and is trving 
to get the people interested generally in this indus- 
try. Mr. Dooley was married in Forrest City to 
Miss R. H. Johnson, a native of Arkansas and a 
daughter of G. V. C. Johnson. He was sheriff of 
this county at the time of his death. His father, 
John C. Johnson, was representative of St. Francis 
County for several years. Mr. Dooley has traveled 
quite extensively, and is a genial, courteous gentle- 
man, one who makes friends wherever he may go. 
His business takes him in various parts of the State, 
and his reputution as an efficient dentist is an en- 
viable one. He became a member of the Masonic 
lodge when it could boast of only seven members, 
and to him the lodge owes its present prosperous 
state. He was Worshipful Master four years, but 
recently refused to act any longer, though prevailed 
upon to accept the secretaryship; he hiis held an 



1' 



;r^ 



-v ® — »>^ 



ST. FKANCIS COUNTY. 



467 



office ever since becoming identified with the order 
in 1872, in which year he was made Master Mason. 
O. E. Dorriss, one of the oldest and most prom- 
inent of the early settlers of St. Francis County, 
was born in Jackson County, 111., in the year 1819, 
being the son of James S. and Catherine Dorriss, 
of English and Irish descent, respectively. James 
Dorriss was a soldier in the War of 1812, and his 
father was chaplain to Andrew Jackson during the 
Creek War, participating in the famous battle of 
Horseshoe. Hamlet F.. a brother of O. E. Dorriss, 
served in the war l)etween Mexico and Texas, tak- 
ing an active part in all the engagements of note, 
and was present at the capture of Gen. Santa Anna 
at Santa Jacinto. O. E. Dorriss' advantages for 
an education were extremely limited, but his con- 
stant reading and keen sense of observation have 
made him a well-informed man, conversant on all 
the important topics of the past and present. At 
the age of fourteen he left home, starting out to 
make his own fortune. In 183-t he came to Arkan- 
sas on a trading 'expedition, going southwest, and 
upon reaching the Saline River, in the southwest 
part of the State, he was suddenlj' taken ill, which 
put a quietus to his business prospects for some 
time. After recovering he discovered to his horror 
that his partner had absconded with all the finan- 
ces. This left him entirely destitute and among 
strangers, liut in time he made his way to Little 
Rock, suffering many privations during his long 
journey. At this point he was met by his father, 
who had come to him in response to an appeal, 
written in a trembling hand during his convales- 
cence. He returned to his home in Missouri, but 
soon after returned to St. Francis County, arriving 
here in 1835, and locating on a farm of 320 acres, 
which he improved and has since made his home. 
Mr. Dorriss ran among the first steamboats that 
ever plied up the St. Francis River, in the years 
184:4-45. In 1847 he was married to Miss Julia 
Han.son, of Morgan County, Ga.. and to their union 
nine children were born: Josephine, Georgia A., 
Lugene, Franklin, Jenette, Julia, Sallie Vick. Lou 
Kate and Lee, of whom four are now living. In 
March, 1865, Mrs. Dorriss died, and in 1806 Mr. 
Dorriss mamed Miss Ann T. Ellis, who bore him six 



children: James, Mary, Ada, AVillmorth, George 
and Thomas; of these three are deceased. Mr. 
Dorriss was a member of the Fifth Arkansas Regi- 
ment, Confederate army, during the war, and 
represented his county in the legislature of 1860. 
for ten years he was justice of the peace, discharg- 
ing the duties of that office in a highly commend- 
able manner, and during his entire term of office, 
from 1856 to 1860, only one of his decisions were 
taken to a higher court. He filled the office of 
sheriff by appointment for several years, and in 
this, as in everything else, gave entire satisfaction. 
In his political opinion he favors the Democratic 
party, but is not an enthusiast. Mr. Dorriss as- 
sisted in the removal of the Indians to their pres- 
ent home in the Indian Territory, and also gave 
his valuable support in laying out and opening up 
the old military road in this county in 1835-36. 
In addition to Esquire Dorriss' many enterprises 
he is running a fine steam-gin, with a capacity of 
eighteen bales per day, and a self-acting, or auto- 
matic, press of the latest improvement. He is a 
liberal contributor to all movements that have for 
their object the advancement of educational and 
religious matters. Mrs. Dorriss is a consistent 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 
John E. Douglas has attained to a position of 
credit as a farmer and surveyor of St. Francis 
County. A native of Tennessee, he is the son of 
John E. and Elizabeth (Sparks) Douglas, who 
came originally from Alabama and Tennessee, re- 
spectively. The principal of this sketch was born 
on January 18, 1837. His father died when he 
was less than two years old and his mother then 
came to Arkansas and settled in St. Francis County 
where she was shortly after married to Curtis G. 
Tyer. Young John lived with his mother after her 
second marriage, and had the advantages of a good 
education in the subscription schools of the pounty, 
iit the age of seventeen engaging in teaching ia 
order to raise money enough to enable him to con- 
tinue his studies, as he was very desirous of tak- 
ing a thorough course in civil engineering. Three 
years later he was offered the position of assistant 
teacher in St. Francis Academy, where he com- 
pleted his education, acquiring a superior knowl- 



^ 



a k_ 



-( s 



\^ 



468 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



edge of surveying, in both its theoretical and prac- 
tical phases. Following this he resumed teaching 
until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted 
in the Twenty -third Arkansas Infantry and served 
in Price's famous raid through Missouri. After 
the war Mr. Douglas again turned his attention 
to the instruction of the young, continuing it until 
1868, when be bought 120 acres of land and com- 
menced farming. He was married on March 7, 
1866, to Miss Mary A. Casbeer. They are the 
parents of six children : Charles M. , Thomas E. , 
Nathaniel E., Effie D., Lucy A. and Leta J. Mr. 
Douglas owns a fine farm with good buildings, his 
large orchard containing all kinds of choice fruit, 
and also owns forty acres of desirable land in Cross 
County. In 1880 he was elected census enumer- 
ator, and the same year was made county surveyor, 
which position he has held since that time with a 
faithfulness and ability which have redounded 
largely to his personal esteem and worth. Mr. 
Douglas is a member of the Knights of Honor and 
is an enterprising citizen, contributing liberally 
toward those enterprises which tend to the devel- 
opment or improvement of the community, physic- 
ally, morally or intellectually. 

William Elliott. Prominently identified with 
the prosperous and influential citizens of St. Fran- 
cis County is William Elliott, who is a native of 
Alabama, his birth occurring in Huntsville, in 
1826. He was the son of Allen and Jane Elliott, 
originally from the same State. When William 
was one year of age his parents moved to Arkan- 
sas, settling in St. Francis County, where his early 
boyhood days were passed in assisting his father 
on the farm. At the age of twenty-one years he 
homesteaded the place on which ho now resides. 
This farm consists of 200 acres, with 125 acres un- 
der cultivation. Mi-. Elliott is, aside from his 
many farming interests, quite extensively engaged 
in stock raising, and also has an interest in a good 
steam- gin, with a cajjacity of ten bales per day. 
He was united in marriage in 1851 to Miss Sarah 
Styres, and by her became the father of three chil- 
dren: John A., Sarah and Jane (all deceased). 
Mrs. Elliott died in 1854, and for his second wife 
Mr. Elliott chose Miss Adeline E. Adams, who 



bore him three children: James H. and Benjamin 
F. (both deceased) and William H. In 1801 Mr. 
Elliott enlisted in the Fifth Arkansas Regiment, 
Company A, and participated in several of the 
most important battles of the war, among them 
being Paducah, Tupelo, Prairie Grove and Union 
City. In 1863 he was married to Melissa J. 
Adams, and their union has been blessed by five 
children: Robert L., Elisha T. (deceased), Mary 
E. (deceased), Martha and Mary. Mr. Elliott is a 
Democrat, and with his wife is a member of the 
Baptist Church. He has held the office of magis- 
trate, coroner and deputy sheriff in his township, 
serving acceptably in these various positions. He 
is one of the public-spirited citizens of the com- 
munity. 

W^illiam T. Ellis, another enterprising farmer 
of St. Francis County, was born in North Carolina 
in 1853, as the son of James G. and Christiana 
Ellis, both also natives of the same State. The 
father enlisted in the Second North Carolina In- 
fantry during the late war, but being wounded in 
the battle of Petersburg, Va. , received his discharge 
and returned home. In 1871 W'illiam T. removed 
to Cross County, Ark. , with his parents, with whom 
he remained until twenty-six years of age. How- 
ever he had been married during this time to Miss 
Martha C. Hall, who lived only a short time after 
her marriage. In 1883 he was married to Melinda 
C. Hall, and by this union four children have been 
born: Mattie S., Mollie A., Thomas J. and James 
L. Mr. Ellis owns a farm of 1 23 acres, with thirty- 
two acres under cultivation, being engaged princi- 
pally in stock raising. He is a stanch Democrat 
and a member of the County Wheel, and he and 
his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. Mr. Ellis is justice of the peace of his 
township, which office he has held for the past 
twelve years. He is well known throughout this 
part of the county, and is generally liked and re- 
spected, lending bis aid and influence to all public 
movements for the good of the order. 

J. J. Evans, of the prominent and substantial 
firm of H. Evans & Co., druggists of Forrest City, 
was born in this county in 1864, being the son of 
H. and Eliza (Ragsdale) Evans, also natives of 



^ 



J^' 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



409 



Arkansas. Mr. Evans is now one the wealthiest 
planters of St. Francis County, and has tbo satis- 
faction of knowing that his fortune has all been 
acquired by his own personal industry and in- 
tegrity. He received limited advantages for ob- 
taining an education in youth, but determined that 
his children should receive a good, practical liter- 
ary instruction, and is giving them every chance 
to become scholars and students in whatever right 
direction their ambition may lie. To himself and 
wife a family of eleven children have been born, 
eight of whom are now living, our subject, the 
youngest. Mr. Evans is still living, and, though 
having reached an advanced age, is quite active 
in business, managing the affairs of his large plan- 
tation with a sagacity that would put to shame 
many men of younger years who take pride in 
their superior and advanced ideas. J. J. Evans 
finished his literary education in Louisville, Ky. , 
graduating from Bryant & Stratton' s College in the 
scholastic year of 1883 and 1884. He had been 
occupied in laboring on the farm before going to 
college, earning enough money to defray his ex- 
penses, and although his father was generosity 
itself, he prefen-ed to pay his own way, and at the 
end of his career, still had some $4,000 with which 
to commence business. Having a great admira- 
tion for, biit no experience in the drug business, 
Mr. Evans engaged the services of an expert phar- 
macist and established a store at this place, and 
has made his business house as good as can be 
found in an average city of 40,000 inhabitants. 
The store is 23x180, and the stock contained there- 
in is worth about $12,000, an annual business of 
between §10,000 and $12,000 being accorded this 
firm ; this necessitates the services of three clerks. 
Mr. Evans is not a benedict, but a sincere admirer 
of the fair sex. He is a member of the K. of P. 
and A. F. & A. M. , and is a Democrat in politics. 
Hon. L. B. Featherston deserves prominent 
mention in the present volume not only as the efiS- 
cient ex-president of the County Wheel at Forrest 
City, but on account of his worth as a citizen. A 
native of Mississippi, he was reared in Tennessee, 
and received a thorough, common-school education, 
and then attending the Law School at Lebanon, 



Tenn., which he was oliliged to leave and give up 
the study of law on account of his eyesight, having 
lost one eye by hard study. He was then engaged 
in farming in Tennessee until 1881, when he re- 
moved to Arkansas and settled in St. Francis 
County, buying a farm, and now he owns 10,000 
acres of land, with between 300 and 400 acres 
under cultivation. In 18S0 he was elected to the 
State legislature from this county and served for 
two years. He entered politics to defeat the in- 
fluence of the "American Oil Trust," and intro- 
duced into the legislature the first unti trust bill 
ever presented before any legislative body in the 
United States. The bill passed the house by a 
vote of seventy-two to five, but was defeated in the 
senate, and not allowed to come to a vote. Mr. 
Featherston was the recent nominee for the United 
States Congress, of a convention which met at 
Jonesboro, having for its platform, " Fair ballot 
and free count for every citizen of the United 
States." He is a man of influence and thought 
and willingly assists the promotion of what he 
considers the best interests of his adopted section. 
Mr. Featherston was born in 1851, being a son 
of Lewis and Elizabeth (Porter) Featherston, 
natives of Alabama and Virginia, respectively. 
The former is of Scotch descent, and removed to 
Georgia with his father and brother at an early 
day, then going to Alabama and later to IMissis- 
sippi; he is now a respected resident of Shelby 
County, Tenn. The subject of this sketch lyas 
married in 1874 to Miss White, a daughter of E. 
A. White, of Memphis. They are the parents of 
five sons: Elbert, Lewis, John D., Paul and 
Douglass. 

William C. Ferguson, the son of Joseph L. and 
Bettie E. Ferguson, was born in Shelby County, 
Tenn., in 1848, being denied in youth even such 
advantages for an education that were to be obtained 
at that period. AN'hen eighteen years of age he 
began life on his own responsibility, choosing for 
his vocation the most independent of all callings, 
farming. In 1874 he came to St. Francis County, 
Aj-k. , locating on his jiresent farm, which consists 
of 539 acres, with 340 cleared and carefully im- 
proved. He has also a gin (steam) with self- act- 



p (^ 



470 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ing press, and a capacity of twenty bales per day, 
ginning on an average 700 bales each year. He is 
also extensively engaged in stock raising, in which 
he has been quite successful. In 1887 Mr. Fer- 
guson opened a store on his 2)lace, carrying a stock 
valued at $3,500, fi-om which he is realizing very 
satisfactory returns. He was married in 1870 to 
Miss Bettie E. Ligon, a daughter of J. A. and 
Bettie A. Ligon, natives of Dixon County, Tenn. 
The result of this imion is nine children: Emma 
D., William R., Annie V., Joe, Elton T., Cleveland, 
Blanche, Lulu M. and Cora E. (deceased). Mr. 
Ferguson is a Democrat in his political views, and 
in religious belief, a Presbyterian. Mrs. Fergu- 
son is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. 
In secret societies he is identified with the Knights 
of Honor. His maternal grandfather was a soldier 
in the War of 1812, and died at the advanced age 
of eighty- six years. The paternal grandfather, a 
native of South Carolina, reached four-score years 
and six, 

Thomas O. Fitzpatrick, a successful resident 
of St. Francis County, is of Scotch-Irish descent, 
his great-grandfather having been obliged to come 
to this country from Ireland for political causes. 
He struck for the liberty of his countrymen. Up- 
on arriving in the United States in the forepart of 
the eighteenth century, he served in the Revolu- 
tionary War. His son, Edmund Fitzpatrick, 
(grandfather of our subject) took part in the War 
of 1812, in which he held the position of captain. 
He had a family of nine children. David Fitz- 
patrick, the father of Thomas O. , was born in Char- 
lotte County, Va., on February 19, 1813. He 
was twice married; first to Miss Clementine Walker, 
a native of Virginia, and next to Permelia Har- 
grove who was the mother of three children: Mari- 
etta (the wife of Rev. C. H. Ford), Isabella (wife 
of E. H. Sanders, of Little Rock) and Thomas O. 
David Fitzpatrick was engaged in speculating in 
real estate until the panic of 1837, when he was 
financially ruined, after which he followed farming 
in Arkansas. Thomas O. was born in Lauder- 
dale County, Tenn. , in April, 1849. He spent his 
younger days on the farm, and attended the com- 
mon and high schools of his county, and also had 



the advantages of a private tutor. On his return 
from school he was appointed county surveyor of 
Cross County, which position he held, also giving 
his attention to teaching, until 1871. He theu 
started the Wittsburg Gazette, the first paper 
published in that county, which he continued to 
operate until he was elected clerk of the circuit 
court, and in this capacity remained until the 
adoption of the new constitution in 1874, when he 
was again a candidate on the Republican ticket, 
but was beaten by seventy votes. Coming to St. 
Francis County he embarked in farming, and also 
erected a steam gin, which has proven a very prof- 
itable enterprise. In April, 1872, Mr. Fitzpatrick 
was united in marriage to Miss Sallie E. Eldridge, 
and they have five children: Eola, Garnett, Ernest 
D., Kate and Garfield. In 1883 Mr. Fitzpatrick 
was appointed postmaster of Forrest City, holding 
that office until Cleveland's administration. In 
September, 1880, he was elected county clerk, and 
still discharges the duties of that position with sat- 
isfaction to the community, and with credit to him- 
self. He has also been a candidate on the Repub- 
lican ticket for State senator. He is a member of 
the L O. O. F., K. of L., K. of H. and of the 
County Wheel. 

Andrew J. Fulkerson was born in 1855, St. 
Francis County, Ark., claiming the advent of his 
birth. He is the son of John J. and Frances E. 
Fulkerson, natives of Arkansas and Indiana, re- 
spectively. Mr. Fulkerson died in 1880 and his 
wife in 1858. Andrew J. received but limited ad- 
vantages for an education, and when only nineteen 
years of age commenced farming on his personal re- 
sponsibility. He was married in 1877 to Becky J., 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Casteel, and to 
their marriage five children have been given : Fran- 
ces E., John H., James Arthur, William A. and 
Charles. Mr. Fulkerson owns 563 acres of excel- 
lent land, with over ninety under cultivation, and 
everything on his plantation gives evidence of thrift 
and prosperity. He is a Democrat in his political 
views, and in his religious faith a Baptist. He is a 
member of the Wheel and the K. of L. Mrs. Fulk- 
erson belongs to the Methodist Church. 

John Gatling, an attorney of Forrest City, is of 



■?U 



At^ 



ST. FKANCIS COUNTY. 



471 



Scotch descent, his ancestors coming to this coun- 
try many years ago. He is a son of James and 
Mary E. Gatling, natives of North Carolina, and 
■was born August 2, 1851, in Perquimans County, 
N. C. His boyhood was sjient on a farm and he 
attended school at an academy at Hertford until 
1870, when he entered the University of Virginia, 
remaining there two years, and taking an academic 
course. After graduating he returned home, and 
in 1875 began the study of law in Ealeigh, in the 
office of Moore & Gatling, where he continued 
about six months, then entei-ing the Law School of 
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. In Janu- 
ary, 1877, he was examined by the supreme court 
of North Carolina, and admitted to the bar. He 
then returned to his native county and remained 
until 1881, when he came to St. Francis County 
and located at Forrest City, where he has since 
been engaged in the practice of his profession and 
enjoys a large practice. He was married in 1881 
in Hertford, N. C. , to Miss Elizabeth Gilliam. Mr. 
Gatling is a member of the K. of P. , and a Demo- 
crat and now holds the position of United States 
commissioner. He has one of the finest libraries 
in this city, valued at about $1,000. 

Orville J. Hall, enlisted during the Civil War, 
in the Confederate service, at the age of twenty- 
four, serving in the Sixth Kentucky Infantry, un- 
der Col. Lewis, who is now judge of the supreme 
bench of Kentucky. He entered as a private, but 
was appointed a corporal, later made third ser- 
geant, and at the close of the war was virtually 
captain of his company, although he had not re- 
ceived his commission papers. He participated in 
the battles of Shiloh, Vickslmrg, Baton Rouge (in 
which he was wounded), Murfreesboro, Chicka- 
mauga, Atlanta, Peach Tree Creek, Jonesboro and a 
number of minor engagements; was captured at the 
battle of Jonesboro and taken to Nashville, where 
he was held for twenty days. After his exchange 
he returned to his regiment, and during the latter 
part of the service was on detached duty, being at- 
tached to the pi'ovost-marshal's division. Follow- 
ing the war period, Mr. Hall returned to his homo 
in West Point, Ky. , and commenced farming on 
his father's old place, his mother living with him. 



He was born in Hardin County, Ky. , on September 
3, 1837, being a son of John W. Hall, also a Kcn- 
tuckian by birth, born in 1802, who removed to 
West Point, Ky. , a short time after his marriage, 
and engaged in the hotel business; he was the pro- 
prietor of the well-known West Point Hotel, and 
and also owned considerable property at the time 
of his death, which occtirr<>d in 1852. His wife 
came upon the stage of life's action at West Point, 
Ky. , in 1805, and is still living at that place. In 
their family were seven children, throe of whom 
are living. In 1867 Orville J. Hall removed to 
Crittenden County, and the following year came to 
St. Francis County, carrying on the timber liusiness 
for a year and the nest year rented a farm. He 
•was married in 1872 to Miss Margaret E. Davis, 
daughter of Jasper N. Davis, an old settler of this 
county. They are the parents of ten children, 
eight living: Margaret, John William, Orville 
Jessie. Robert Young, Samuel Davis, Henry Rus- 
sel, Edwin Winchester and Hugh. Following his 
marriage Mr. Hall bought a farm of 200 acres, 
with fifty acres under cultivation, lying in the fertile 
valley of the St. Francis River. He is a good Demo- 
crat. Mrs. Hall is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South. 

William H. Higgins was born in St. Francis 
County, Ark., in 1844, a son of Jeremiah and Mar- 
tha Higgins, natives of Indiana and Arkansas 
respectively. He passed his boyhood days in much 
the same manner as other farmer lads, receiving 
such advantages for an education as could be 
obtained from the meager facilities of the district. 
His father moved to Texas in 1853, but returned 
after a residence there of two years. Y'^oung Will- 
iam began fighting life's battle at the age of 
tv(renty-three, choosing the occupation of farming, 
which he has since continued. He was married in 
18<37, to Mary E. Saratt, who died in 187U, leaving 
seven children: Martha A., Mary J., Melissa E., 
Josephine. Melinda C, Auazablin and Rosie L. 
Mr. Higgins was married in 1883 to Martha A. 
Ellis, who was also called from earth three 3'ears 
later, having borne one child: Elsie J. For his 
third and ])resent wife, Mr. Higgins married Mar- 
tha J. Elliott, an estimable lady of culture and 



q^ 



® fc_ 



472 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



refinement. Mr. Higgins enlisted in the Confed- 
erate army in 1861, in Company H, Fortieth Ten- 
nessee Regiment, pai-ticipating in the battles of 
Island No. 10, Dalton (Ga. ), Allatoona and Resaca. 
At the first-named engagement he was captured 
and removed to Springfield (Camp Butler), 111., 
and at the battle of Allatoona, again taken prisoner 
and sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, remaining in prison 
seven and a half months. He was exchanged 
at Richmond (Va.) and released on parole, but 
before this term expired the final surrender took 
place. After the war Mr. Higgins returned home, 
where he resumed his occupation of farming, and 
now owns 42-4 acres, with 110 cleared and im- 
proved. He is also successfully engaged in stock 
raising. He is a member of the Wheel, and Alli- 
ance. His views politically are Democratic, and in 
religious faith he is a Methodist. He is a leader, 
not a follower, in all public enterprises, to which 
he contributes liberally, and under his able and 
efficient management the success of any movement 
largely is assured. Mrs. Higgins is a member 
of the Baptist Church. 

Cephas F. Hinton, a prominent druggist of 
Forrest City, has been a resident of this county 
all his life. His father, A. G. Hinton, a native of 
North Carolina, came to what was then considered 
the wilds of St. Francis County, in 1850, where 
he died in 1874, at the age of forty-seven years. 
He had a family of twelve children, six of whom 
are still living: M. D. (now Mrs. Gwynne, a resi- 
dent of this State), Frank M. (of this city), Lucre- 
tia M., Annie G., R. E. and C. F. The latter 
remained on the farm until his eighteenth year, 
when he came to Forrest City and embarked in 
general merchandising with T. E. Hastings, with 
whom he was connected as a partner until 1874. 
Then selling out to his associate he commenced in 
the drug business, but was unfortunate in having 
all of his stock destroyed by fire, on which there 
was no insurance, and later he entered the employ 
of Fussell, Pollack & Co. Three years afterward 
he went into the grocery business, and continued 
it about two years, when he was seized with a de- 
sire to alleviate the sufferings of humanity, and the 
study of medicine occupied his attention the fol- 



lowing two years, after which he again entered 
into the drug business. The high water at that 
time stopped traffic on the railroad, and the goods 
which he had ordered with which to commence 
business, were laid over at Mariana. Mr. Hinton 
obtained help and loaded his stock on a handcar, 
which was pushed by hand to Forrest City, and 
thus was made his second start in the drug trade. 
He has by strict attention to business and honest 
dealing, built up a large and lucrative patronage, 
and now carries a stock of goods valued at $4,000. 
He was married in 1874 to Miss Mary A. Brown, 
a daiighter of John Brown, and a native of Mis- 
sissippi. They are the parents of four childi'en: 
Robert Emmet, Arthur Gordon, William W. and 
Mary Bertha. Mr. Hinton also owns several hun- 
dred acres of land, and is one of the most promi- 
nent citizens of the county seat of St. Francis 
County, having held the position of mayor for 
seven years in succession. He is a decided Demo- 
crat, and a member of the K. of H. 

Jesse B. Hodges, one of the prominent tillers 
of the soil in this section, was born in Beaufort 
County, N. C. , in 1837, being the son of John L. 
and Cynthia (Rodgers) Hodges, natives of North 
Carolina. Jesse B. came to Arkansas with his 
parents in 1859, settling on a farm not far from 
his present residence. His educational advantages 
were limited, his help being needed on his father's 
farm, but notwithstanding this fact, he is a well- 
informed man, having given considerable attention 
to reading, which, added to keen observation, has 
enabled him to be conversant on all the important 
toijics of the past and present. When twenty-two 
years of age he accepted a position as manager of 
a farm, so continuing until the breaking out of 
the war, when he enlisted, in 1861, in the Con- 
federate service, in Company G, Thirteenth Ar- 
kansas Regiment, participating in the battles of 
Shiloh, Richmond, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Lib- 
erty Gap, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, New 
Hope, Resaca, also Peach Tree Creek, Decatur, 
Jonesboro, Spring Hill, Franklin and Benton- 
ville. Subsequently, or at the close of the war, 
his regiment surrendered to Sherman at Greens- 
boro, N. C, on April 26, 1865. As this sketch 



^ 



-< 9 



>?• 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



473 



will show, Mr. Hodges participated in all of the 
principal engagements of the late war, in which 
the Tennessee army took part. After peace was 
declared he returned home, resuming the occupa- 
tion of farming, and in 1808 was united in marriage 
to Miss Mary F. Matthews, a daughter of Lawrence 
and Lydia A. (Crawford) Matthews. No children 
have been given them. Mr. Hodges owns 400 acres 
of excellent land, with 275 xinder cultivation. He 
has a pleasant, comfortable place, and all the im- 
provements and conveniences that add so much to 
the happiness of home. He also is quite exten- 
sively occupied in stock raising, and has been very 
successful. His political views are Democratic. 
Himself and wife are members of the Baptist 
Church. 

Hiram Houston is a native of this county, and 
as he was reared in a locality but thinly settled, his 
advantages for a schooling were somewhat limited, 
but these were enough to lay the foundation for 
his success in life as a farmer, which occupation 
he engaged in for himself at the age of twenty-two, 
and now owns 223 acres of tine bottom land on the 
St. Francis River, seventy-five acres of which are 
under a fair state of cultivation. He also owns a 
steam grist-mill and cotton-gin. He was married 
November 2, 1884, to Miss Annie L. Clark, a 
daughter of Thomas A. and Susan A. Clark, origi 
nally of Kentucky and Ohio, respectively. They 
are the parents of three childi-en, only one of 
whom is living: Nannie E. (at home). Mr. and 
Mrs. Houston belong to the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South. Alfred K. Houston, the father of 
our subject, was born in North Carolina in 1814 
and died in St. Francis County in 1879, and was a 
most successful farmer. He married Sarah E. 
Evans, a South Carolinian by birth, and who was 
the mother of seven children, four of whom are 
still living: Margaret E. (widow of Robert An- 
derson, of this county), AVilliam C. (a farmer of 
this county), Francis M. (also a farmer of St. 
Francis County) and Hiram (the principal of this 
sketch). 

John J. Hughes is the son of John J. and 
Mary S. (Patrick) Hughes, natives of Georgia and 
Alabama, respectively, who were residing in the 



latter State when John J. was born, his birth oc- 
curring in the year 1828. Twelve years after they 
moved to Arkansas and located in St. Francis 
County, where Mr. Hughes died four years later, 
his wife surviving him only one year. The sub- 
ject of this sketch was married in 1855 to Miss 
Margaret Ross, daughter of James F. Ross, and 
their union has been blessed by seven children: 
William S., John J., James L. , Robert Lee, 
Leona, Bertha R. and Cora E. The boys are en- 
gaged in the mercantile business at Haynes Sta- 
tion, Lee County, Ark. Leona and Cora are de- 
ceased. Mrs. Hughes died in 1873, and two years 
later Mr. Hughes was married to Miss Fannie J. 
Bailout, by whom he became the father of three 
children: Thomas S., Walter E. and Samuel T. 
Thomas S. is the only child surviving. The esti- 
mable wife and mother departed this life in 1885. 
Mr. Hughes owns 1,000 acres of land, with 550 
acres under cultivation, and the numerous late im- 
provements placed upon it indicate the owner's 
spirit of progress. A comfortable and pleasant 
home, furnished in a quiet, refined way, show that 
culture and good taste have not been lacking in his 
busy career. Mr. Hughes has a gin with a capacity 
of fourteen bales per day, and he is also engaged 
in raising stock. In his politics he is a Democrat, 
and in religious faith a Baptist, though not a mem- 
ber of any church. 

Elijah C. Hughes, of St. Francis County, Ark., 
is too well known in this vicinity to render a formal 
introduction necessary, but in compiling a volume 
of biographical sketches of prominent men here- 
abouts, the omission of his biography would leave 
the work incomplete. His farm, which is one of 
the finest in the county, consists of 2,000 acres of 
valuable land, with 900 under a successful state of 
cultivation. He grows from 350 to 450 bales of 
cotton yearly, 4,000 bushels of corn, and is extens- 
ively engaged in stock raising. Mr. Hughes was 
united in marriage, in 1857, to Miss Martha M. 
Reddill, and by her became the father of five chil- 
dren, all deceased. He enlisted in the Confeder- 
ate service during the war, as a member of Com- 
pany B, McNeil's regiment, and participated in 
the battle of Cotton. He afterward employed a 



J^ 



lL^ 



474 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



substitute and remained at home, running his steam- 
mill for the Confederate army. Mr. Hughes is a 
stanch Democrat, and though not a member of 
any ehiwch is an adherent to the Methodist doc- 
trine, as is also his wife. His birth occurred in 
Marengo County, Ala., in 1837, he being the 
son of John and Susan Hughes. When only one 
year old his parents moved to Arkansas, which has 
been our subject's residence ever since, with the 
exception of eight years spent in Shelby County, 
Tenn. He has served as magistrate in this county 
for some time, discharging the duties of the office 
in a highly commendable manner. He is a mem- 
ber of no secret organization. Mr. Hughes lends 
his support to all movements of a worthy charac- 
ter, and is considered one of the most responsible 
and influential men of the county, winning by his 
courteous manner and honesty in all business de- 
tails, the respect of those who know him. 

Joseph L. Ingram owes his nativity to North 
Carolina, and is a son of Thomas and Ellen (Cov- 
ington) Ingram, who also came originally from that 
State. Thomas Ingram in 1849 removed to North- 
ern Mississippi, where he resided until his death, 
reaching the age of seventy-five years. His grand- 
father, whose name he bears, was a Virginian by 
birth and a wealthy planter_0f— tife' old Dominion, 
subsequently j-emo^lngto North Carolina where he 
lived until his final summons in 1825, when about 
eighty-five years old. Joseph L. Ingram was born 
in North Carolina in 1830. At the age of twenty- 
seven he commenced business for himself, and the 
following j'ear was married to Martha Young, 
daughter of Tandy K. Young. They were the par- 
ents of four children: W. C, Martha Y., Eben J. 
and Lady. Mr. Ingram was engaged in farming 
in Mississippi fi-om 1848 to 1885. He then re- 
moved to Arkansas and located in St. Francis 
County, where he piirchased a farm and is still em- 
ployed in planting. He joined the Confederate 
army in 18f32 and served two years, then returning 
to his plantation, which he found in a bad state of 
delapidation, the crops and stock having been con- 
fiscated by both armies. He was justice of the 
peace for several years while in Mississippi, and 
also served on the board of county supervisors for 



a term of years. Mrs. Ingram died in 1888 at the 
age of fifty. Mr. Ingram is a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South, and of the A. F. 
& A. M. and also the Ivnights of Honor. 
[y M. W. Izard & Co. are the owners and opera- 
' tors of the largest saw and grist mills and cotton 
gin in St. Francis County, located near Colt Sta- 
tion. The firm is composed of M. W. Izard and 
John N. Co tton, both representative, active young 
business men, and thoroughly worthy of the posi- 
tion to which they have attained. Mr. Izard was 
born in Fayette County, Tenn., on March 3, 1855, 
being a son of F. J. and Sarah E. (^^■hittaker) 
Izard. Reared in this county, he attended public 
and private schools and received a good education, 
and at the age of seventeen was employed as a 
clerk, which occupation received bis attention for 
about ten years. Subsequently he went into busi- 
ness for himself as a butcher, and two years after- 
ward entered in the saw-mill business, later form- 
ing a partnership with his father-in-law, John N. 
Cotton, in the grist-mill and cotton-gin business. 
He also owns a large farm of 190 acres of land, 
with sixty-five acres under cultivation, having good 
improvements, a small orchard, etc. Mr. Izard 
was married June 12, 1879, to Miss Emma Cotton, 
daughter of J. N. Cotton, his partner in business. 
They are the parents of two boys: John and Mark 
W. Mr. Izard is an outspoken Democrat, and he 
and wife are members of the K. & L. of H. John 
N. Cotton owes his nativity to Western Tennes- 
see, where his birth occurred March 2, 1834. His 
parents, John and Easter (Nelson) Cotton, were na- 
tives of Virginia and of English descent, their 
ancestors coming to this country in colonial days 
and taking part in the great struggle for liberty. 
Mr. and Mrs. Cotton moved from Virginia to Ken- 
tucky, and in 1834 to Arkansas, settling on a farm 
in this county, where they both died within two 
years after their arrival. John N. worked on a 
farm, and attended school three months during the 
first seventeen years of his life, imjsroving his spare 
moments and finding opportunity to prosecute his 
studies for a few terms after reaching that age. 
Thus he acquired a good common-school education. 
He was then engaged in clerking in a grocery at 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



475 



Taylor's Creek, now Colt, until the breaking out 
of the war, when he enlisted in the Twenty-third 
Arkansas Infantry and served as first lieutenant 
until the close of hostilities. After peace was 
restored he embarked in the general mercantile 
business in Forrest City, followed it for ten or 
twelve years, and then entered into the tie and 
timber business in company with his son-in-law, 
M. W. Izard. Mr. Cotton was married on Juno 
20, 1861, to Miss Taylor, who died in 1805, leav- 
ing one daughter, Emma, the wife of Mr. Izard. 
He was married the second time, September 2, 
1867, to Mrs. Gullett. They are the parents of 
three children: Edna, Guy and Willie. Mr. Cot- 
ton has held several important ofiSces since living 
in Forrest City, among them chief magistrate of 
the city, and deputy sheriff of the county. His 
family are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. He is a member of the Masonic and I. O. 
O. F. fi'aternities and of the County Wheel, be- 
longing, too, to the K. & L. of H. He is also a 
thorough Knight of Labor. 

Col. V. B. Izard, whose name is identified with 
only that which is good and noble, and who has 
attained an enviable position in the hearts of the 
citizens of Eastern Arkansas, owes his nativity to 
St. Francis County, Ark., where he was born in 
1837, being the son of Mark N. and Permelia 
(Sharkelford) Izard. The genealogy of the Izard 
family is traced to Scotland, whence at an early 
day the great grandfather of our subject emigrated 
to the New England States. Three of his sons 
afterward settled in South Carolina, and some time 
subsequent the grandfather of Col. V. B. Izard 
separated from his two brothers, and located per- 
manently in Lexington, Ky. His occupatioa was 
that of a farmer, and he was a gallant soldier in 
the War of 1812. His son. Gov. Mark W., was 
born in Lexington, Ky., in 1800, removing from 
his native State to St. Francis County, Ark., in 
1824. Here he was successfully engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits for some years, and also opened 
one of the first farms or plantations in the county. 
Mark N. Izard was not a man who attained high 
intellectuality as the result of a collegiate educa- 
tion, for he had scarcely more than ordinary liter- 



ary attainments. Something besides scholarly ac- 
complishments di-ew around him hosts of friends 
in the pioneer days of Eastern Arkansas, it may 
have been his inborn worth, and intuitive genius. 
He entered the political field with no other qualifi- 
cations to recommend, or guide him, than his own 
broad sense, untiring energy and clear judgment. 
First elected to the TeiTitorial legislature, he 
served as a member of the Constitutional Conven- 
tion, distinguishing himself in both cases, and to 
the credit of his county. He afterward served in 
both branches oi the Arkansas State legislature 
(two or more times each), assisting first as speaker 
of the house, and later as president of the senate. 
While still actively engaged in the affairs of his 
own State, a candidate for another term in the 
State senate, an incident occurred which clianged 
the field of his political labors from the State of 
Arkansas to the then Territory of Nebraska. This 
was his appointment as United States marshal of 
the Territory mentioned, by President Franklin 
Pierce, the first to hold that office. The demise of 
Gov. Burt, the incumbent of that position when 
Gov. Izard was serving as marshal, made it neces- 
sary that another Governor should be appointed. 
There were, of course, many aspirants for the place, 
but Gov. Izard with his usual characteristic origin- 
ality of method, carried the official news of Gov. 
Burt's death to the President, and solicited the in- 
fluence of the then two senators of Arkansas, W. 
K. Sebastan and R. M. Johnson, to have him made 
Governor, but they thought action on their part 
useless. This rebuff, however, did not daunt him. 
Going in person to President Pierce, after a clear 
statement of his ideas, he received the appoint- 
ment to the coveted office. Upon leaving the 
president he again sought the senators to learn if 
they had used their influence in his behalf; they 
responded in the negative, whereupon he produced 
his commission before their astonished gaze, with 
the remark that he was glad to succeed without 
their help. He then started on his perilous trip 
to Nebraska, though the mild winter greatly modi- 
fied the exposure incident to the journey. On 
February 20, 1854, he reached Omaha, his anival 
being formally announced to both houses. The 



,k 



476 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



house appointed a committee of reception to wait 
upon him, and with the council proceeded in a 
body to the house, Acting-Gov. Cunning present- 
ing him to the legislature in a brief address. 
Gov. Izard responded in his usual courtly and en 
tertaining way, and on the '28d took the oath of 
office, entering at once on the discharge of his 
manifold duties, his son James Izard acting as 
secretary. On February 27, 1855, Gov. Izard was 
duly inaugurated, and delivered his first formal 
message. The house being assembled in joint 
session, it was arranged that his colored servant 
should announce his presence at the door. That 
dignitary received his instructions to say, ' ' Mr. 
Speaker, the Governor is now approaching," but 
he changed the phraseology to a vernacular pecu- 
liar to himself, saying, ' ' Mr. Speaker, the Gubner 
done come." Greeted by shouts of applause the 
" Gubner ' ' proceeded to deliver his annual address, 
after which, the citizens in order to celebrate the 
event in a suitable manner gave a brilliant ball or 
reception, in which His Excellency and son James 
were cordially welcomed, the only ball of the kind 
ever given in Omaha. On the 28th of the same 
month the legislature proceeded with its duties, 
and for a period extending over the most eventful 
era in history. Gov. Izard presided over the Terri- 
tory of Nebraska. He met the perplexing ques- 
tions of the times, face to face, always displaying 
an executive ability, equal to the emergency. He 
was in sympathy with the South at time of 
secession, but believed the rights of the people 
could best be obtained under the constitution. 
Gov. Izard was also in favor of popular sover- 
eignty, and gave his opinion on this subject in a 
clear, concise way, in his introductory address of 
February 22, where he said: " The enemies of the 
law for organization of this Territory, the enemies 
of popular sovereignty are looking with anxiety 
for an opportunity to taunt us with breaking up 
in a row. Let wisdom and moderation govern 
all your actions. I feel that there is wisdom 
and integrity enough here to lay the founda- 
tion for a government, the blessings of which are 
soon to be enjoyed by a population unparalleled in 
the settlement of any country; a population which 



will vie in jjoint of numbers and intelligence with 
any country, new or old. We have the experience 
of those who have gone before us — let us profit by 
their example. Let us show the world we adhere to 
and adopt the principles of popular sovereignty. ' ' 
The second Territorial legislature met Tuesday, 
December IS, 1885; and when all was in readiness, a 
committee waited on the Governor stating their 
desire to receive any communications. Gov. Izard 
appeared and proceeded to deliver his annual 
speech. His personal appearance was command- 
ing, and his popularity unquestioned, the people 
knowing that their confidence was not misplaced. 
He had the iiiterests of the new settlement at heart, 
and his message of that date was devoted princi- 
pally to the improvements of the Territory and the 
protection of the people. Under his governorship 
the State prospered, in spite of the times. Vast 
public improvements were made, among which was 
the building of the State capitol, under his per- 
sonal direction, and his career as Governor was one 
which reflected honor upon Nebraska, and redound- 
ed with credit to himself. He was once requested 
to go to Kansas and quiet the troubles there, after- 
ward receiving a request from President Buchanan 
to receive the governorship of Kansas. His answer 
was that his Territory was in good condition, and 
at peace with all the world, and that he did not 
care for further gubernatorial honors. He resigned 
the governorship of Nebraska in 1858, his resigna- 
tion being at first repealed, but his desire to return 
to his family despite the strongest solicitations, 
secured at last his release from an office in the 
State which undoubtedly owes its present prosper- 
ity largely to his earnest efforts of long ago. His 
return to St. Francis County was more than cor- 
dially welcomed by all, and here among his friends 
and in the association of his early pioneer compan- 
ions, he spent his declining years, closing his eyes 
to worldly scenes in 1866, leaving a name and 
memory that will never fade from his descendants, 
or the world at large, whose appreciation of the 
works of a good man can not decrease. The son of 
Gov. Izard, Col. V. B. Izard, has been a life-long 
resident of St. Francis County, with the exception 
of the period of his father's office in Nebraska, 



V 





CRITTENDEN COUNTY, ARlfANSfiS. 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



479 



where be was employed as teller in the Western 
Exchange Bank, and afterward in the land agency 
business. He was married in Oxford, Miss., Jan- 
nary 28, 1848, to Miss Mary T. Fondren, and by 
her is the father of four children : Lena P. , Rich- 
ard J., Katie and V. B., Jr. After his marriage 
Col. Izard engaged in farming on a large planta- 
tion which is part of the present site of Forrest 
City. He entered the Confederate service in 1862, 
in the Trans-Mississippi Department, and served 
until the close of the war, when returning home 
he resumed agricultural pursuits, and subsequently 
embarked in merchandising, his avocation since 
that time. Col. Izard has always held a promi- 
nent place among the citizens of the county, and 
while never having made politics a profession — as 
did his father — he has frequently been sent as del- 
egate to various conventions, for the purpose of 
soliciting candidates for State affairs. He is a 
member in high standing of the Baptist Church, 
to which he lends his liberal support, and is also 
a Royal Arch Mason. 

R. J. Izard, one of Forrest City's most prom- 
inent attorneys at law, was born in St. Francis 
County in 1865, being the son of Col. V. B. and 
Mary T. (Fondren) Izard. [See sketch of Col. 
Izard.] R. J. was educated at Jackson, Tenn. , 
and after being prepared at that school for the 
study of law (which had been the ambition of his 
youth) he entered the office of R. J. Williams, of 
Forrest City. Subsequently he attended the Law 
Department of the University at Lebanon, Tenn., 
and was graduated with honors from that institu- 
tion in June, 1887, at once returning to the office 
of Mr. Williams, where his career has been a cred- 
itable one. He is now city attorney, having been 
elected to that position in April, 1889. In August, 
1889, Mr. Izard was united in matrimony to Miss 
Effie Howell, a daughter of Capt. J. L. Howell, in 
whose honor the town of Howell, Ark. , was named. 
Although young in years, Mr. Izard has attained a 
prominence that would compare favorably with 
others of maturer years and wider experience. He 
is loyal to his profession and clients, and numer- 
ous personal characteristics of worth have endeared 
him in the hearts of many friends and acquaint- 



ances, a confidence and respect which he will not 
do aught to misplace. 

William Jolly was born in Beaufort County, 
N. C, in 1844, being the son of Isaiah and Senia 
(Williams) Jolly, natives of the same State. He 
came to Arkansas with his parents in 1852, locat- 
ing in the eastern part of St. Francis County. 
His schooling was limited to a few months in the 
district school, as he was obliged to assist his 
father on the farm, and when twenty-two years old 
he purchased a farm near the home place in 1867, 
being married to Miss Mattie Cummiiigs, a daugh- 
ter of Sam and Martha Cummings, of Tenne.ssee. 
Mr. Cummings was among the early settlers of the 
county. To Mr. Jolly's marriage five children 
were born: Samuel E. , Katie Sliza, Lee A., Geor- 
gia Beulah and Julius H. He enlisted in 1862 in 
Company A, McNeil's regiment, of the Confed- 
erate army, participating in the engagements of 
Jenkins' Ferry, Helena. Little Rock, Mansfield and 
Prairie Grove. At the battle of Helena he received 
a wound, but which did not prove serious. He 
siu-rendered at Marshall, Tex. . and returned to his 
home, resuming his oconpation of farming, and 
accepting the results of the war, as a final adjust- 
ment of the difficulties between the North and 
South, Mr. Jolly cheerfully turned his attention to 
the recovery of his lost fortune, though his entire 
stock in trade consisted of II. 25, which he obtained 
from a Yankee in exchange for Confederate money. 
His success was swift and sure, and in 1868 he 
located on his present farm, numbering 125 acres, 
cleared and in a fine state of cultivation. A 
beautiful residence with all the modern improve- 
ments, gives evidence of his spirit of progress 
and prosperity. He is a member of the I\Iasonic 
order, and a Knight of Honor, a Democrat in his 
political views, and with his wife a member of the 
Baptist Church. Mr. Jolly contril)ute3 most gen- 
erously to all public movements, and is one of the 
representative men of the county, commanding 
the respect of the entire coiumuuity. 

Nathaniel M. Jones came to St. Francis County 
with his father in 1832, when nine years of age, 
the country at that time being a comparative 
wilderness. He remained with his father until 



« k. 



lit. 



480 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



his death, which occun-ed in 1851, and in 1856 
was married to Martha A. Agerton, who has borne 
five children: Mary C, Nancy, James P., Cleopatra 
and Senoth. Mr. Jones was born in Lawrence 
County, Ala., in 1823, to the union of Branch and 
and Nancy Jones, natives of Virginia and Tennes- 
see, respectively. Mr. N. M. Jones owns a farm 
of 146 acres, with sixty acres under cultivation, 
and is extensively engaged in stock raising. He is 
a Democrat in politics, and was a firm adherent to 
the Southern cause during the late war, serving in 
the Confederate army throughout that conflict. He 
is a member of the Baptist Church (as are also all 
of his family, with the exception of one of the chil- 
dren), in which he has been an active worker. 
Few men have led a more honorable life or con- 
tributed more liberally to the support of religious 
and educational enterprises than Mr. Jones. 

Philander Littell, attorney at law of Forrest 
City, first saw the light of day in Chicot County, 
Ark., being the son of Philander and Martha Lit- 
tell. He received his literary education in the 
schools of Arkansas, and in the Lebanon University 
of Tennessee, and commenced the study of law 
at Helena, Ark., under the prominent and able 
Supreme Judge Hanty. At the breaking out of 
the war he joined the First Arkansas Regiment, 
serving until the final surrender. He was aid- de- 
camp to Gen. Walker after the battle of Shiloh, 
in which battle he was badly wounded, and at the 
time of his duel with Marmaduke was sent by 
Gen. Sterling Price around the Federal army to 
carry the news of the wounding of Gen. Walker to 
his family, also to bring his wife to see him. This he 
did, but Walker had died of his wounds before her 
arrival. Mr. Littell being financially embarrassed 
by the war, read privately and taught school for sev- 
eral years, and began the practice of his profession 
in this city, receiving the license to practice law in 
any State in the year 1869. He followed farming 
here from the time of his admission till entering up- 
on the prosecution of his chosen profession in For- 
rest City, owning several considerable plantations, 
and is now opening a large stock farm. His father 
was a native of Kentucky, and an attorney for 
many years, afterward practicing medicine. He 



died in this county in 1864. The name Littell, as 
would be imagined, is decidedly French. Philan- 
der Littell is a Democrat in his political views, and 
a man noted for his thorough knowledge of law, 
and is perhaps better versed in land matters and 
titles than any other man in this part of the State. 
While he has a vast amount of land devoted to the 
growing of cotton, he takes decided interest in 
stock raising, in which he has been quite success- 
ful. Mr. Littell is conservative on all questions, 
and a man whose judgment is seldom biased. He 
believes that the race question could be solved 
without difiiculty if it were not for local politicians, 
whose zeal for county oSices rushes them into the 
perpetration of many blunders, irrespective of 
party. Mr. Littell was united in marriage with 
Miss Annie Seaborn, of this county, their marriage 
being solemnized in 1883. 

George W. Littlefield is the son of Andrew J. 
and Betsy Littlefield, his birth occurring in Gib- 
son County, Tenn. , in 1844. His boyhood years 
were passed in Panola County, Miss., and in 1861 
he came to St. Francis County, and purchased a 
farm of 120 acres, fifty acres of which are in a 
good state of cultivation. He is also engaged in 
raising stock, and at this occupation has been quite 
successful. Mr. Littlefield enlisted in 1861, in 
Comi^any C, Twenty-third Arkansas Regiment, 
participating in the battles of Corinth, luka, Rip- 
ley and Port Hudson, La., and served until the 
final surrender. He was married in 1866, to Miss 
Druecillar Halbert, and by her is the father of 
three children : John, Maggie and George. In his 
political views he is a Democrat, and socially is 
identified with the Knights of Honor. Mr. and 
Mrs. Littlefield are members of the Baptist Church, 
and while not wealthy in the possession of this 
world's goods, they have that which is more to be 
desired — an unsullied name, and the love of a host 
of friends. 

John F. Lynch first saw the light of day in St. 
Francis County, Ark., August 7, 1828, being the 
son of John and Pollie (Barnes) Lynch, natives of 
North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. The 
father moved to Arkansas in 1817, some time be- 
fore it was made a State, and saw it rise from an 



:T7" 



,k 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



481 



insignificant teiritoiy to a community of wealth 
and affluence in the sisterhood of the Union. His 
father, a native of North Carolina, was a resident 
here for many years, dying in his sixty-eighth year; 
he was the first man buried in the county. John 
F. (the subject of this sketch) l)ogan farming for 
himself at the age of eighteen, but at the breaking 
out of the war. laid aside the inoffensive imple- 
ments of the farm, to take up those that robbed the 
country of so many of her sons. He enlisted in 
ComjJany B, Capt. McNeil's regiment, and re- 
ceived his discharge just before the final surrender. 
Upon his return home be found he had .suffered 
serious losses, in fact everything being gone but 
his land. Mr. Lynch was married in 1853 to 
Miss Lizzie Davis, a daughter of Cornelius and 
Eliza Davis, who came to Arkansas from their na- 
tive State (Kentucky I in 1828. To his marriage 
with Miss Davis three children were born: Albert 
Sidney, Kate and Bessie. Albert is residing with 
his father; Kate was married in 1882 to Perrj' 
Minor, living at Phoenix, Ariz., engaged in the 
manufacture of ice, and Bessie, the youngest, is at- 
tending school at Lebanon, Tenn. Mr. Lynch 
owns 220 acres, with 150 carefully cultivated, and 
is also engaged in stock raising. He has amassed 
quite a large fortune, and is considered one of the 
representative men of the county, his success not 
having made him penurious, as is so often the case. 
He is always ready to assist in worthy enterprises, 
aiding in many movements having for their aim the 
growth of the country. The needy ever find in 
him a sympathetic listener, and many of his acts 
of charity never reach the ears of the outside 
world. He has passed his sixty-second year, and 
his w-hole life has been one of upright and honor- 
able jirinciples. The respect and esteem accorded 
him is as wide as his acquaintance. 

^Villiam H. McDaniel. The father of this re- 
spected citizen, John McDaniel, of Scotch origin, 
was born near Lexington, Ky., January 25, 1799, 
but grew to manhood in Virginia, where he mar- 
ried Miss Nancy Calvert, of Welsh descent. Soon 
after that event they decided to move, the tales 
related of the rich valley beyond the "Father of 
Maters, " inspiring them to seek a home in the 



then new territory of Arkansas, coming of ances- 
tors who were used to conflicts with the Indians, 
and the hardships of pioneer life, they did not 
hesitate to start for this new land of promise. 
Their trip was made by boat to a point several 
mil»*s above the mouth of L'Anguille Eiver, where 
they landed in 182-1, and set ashore their worldly 
goods, consisting of one pony, two cows, and what 

: household goods the pony could haul on a sled, 
and 12J cents in money. With his family, which 
then consisted of his wife and two children, and 
with no guide but the compass, Mr. DcDaniel 
struck out through the forest and staked off the 
farm now owned and occupied by the principal of 
this sketch. At that time there were not more 
than twelve families within the limits of the pres- 
ent St. Francis County. Upon the breaking out 
of the war, Mr. McDaniel was worth over $75,000 
in lands, negroes and stock, all accumulated in 
a little over thirty years, in a wild and unsettled 
country, and upon a start of only one shilling; 
such a record is marvelous, and shows the latent 
force and energy, which was lying dormant in the 
character of John McDaniel when coming to this 

; locality. Mr. McDaniel lived to a ripe old age, 
and died October 31, 1809, his wife suiwiving him 
only four years. She died September 15, 1873, 
aged seventy-feur years and six months. Ten 
years after their arrival here, January 17, 1834, 
was born William H. McDaniel, who, together with 
his brother, John L., are the only survivors of this 
pioneer family. The early life of William H. was 
spent on the farm, heljiing his father clear up the 
land which he had settled when coming to Aj-- 
kansas; the outbreak of the war found him still on 
the old homestead, but with the enthusiasm of a 
patriot, and the love of his native State burning in 
his breast, he enliste.d in the Thirteenth Arkansas 
Volunteer Infantry. Entering as a private, his 
bravery and good conduct were soon rewarded by 
his being promoted, fir.st to the position of orderly- 
sergeant, then first lieutenant, and after the battle 
of Shiloh to the rank of captain. He participated 
in the battles of Belmont, Shiloh, Richmond and 
Murfreesboro (where he was wounded and disabled 
for a short time, also being wounded at Cbicka- 



* 



482 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



mauga) then at Missioaary Ridge, and a number 
of other hard- fought battles, among which was the 
battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864. In August, 
1864, the Captain was sent west of the Mississippi, 
to gather up recruits for the service, and while on 
duty, in October of that year, was captured and 
taken to Chicago, and then to Johnson's Island, 
where he was held until the close of the war. 
Then returning home, he has since been engaged 
in farming in this county, with substantial success, 
and now owns 1,480 acres in one tract, having 900 
under cultivation. His principal crop is cotton, 
and he owns his own cotton-gin and saw-mill, and 
a supply store to furnish goods for his tenants, j 
On January 24, 1867, Mr. McDaniel married Miss 
Mollie E. Fondrew, of Tennessee They are the 
parents of three daughters: Willie, Nannie and 
Ada. Several years ago Mr. McDaniel moved his 
family to F'orrest City, where he has since lived, 
and has been a member of the city council for a 
number of years; also a member of the school 
board, and at one time was coroner of the county. 
James P. McDonald was born in Kingston, 
Canada, in the year 1830, and is of Scotch-Irish 
descent. When quite a young man he left the 
parental roof, engaging in the lumber business, 
some little distance from home, and afterward 
worked on the Erie Canal, in 1854 going to sea. 
He next went to New Orleans, and having com- 
menced boating on the Mississippi, followed that 
occupation until 1857, only discontinuing to ac- 
company Albert S. Johnston to Salt Lake City. 
After sojourning in the land of the ' ' Mormons ' ' 
■ for a while the spring of 1859 found him in Cali- 
- fornia. Later he went to Leavenworth, Kas., and 
from there to Hagerstown, Md. , where he accepted 
the position of wagon master in the Federal serv- 
ice, gaining the approbation of his superior offi- 
cers for his faithful attention to every detail 
of his business. In 1864 Mr. McDonald moved 
to Memphis, Tenn. , and remained until 1866, 
leaving to take up his permanent abode in St. 
Francis County, Ark. In 1870 he was united in 
marriage with Mrs. Williams, who died two years 
later. In 1874 Miss Lucy Halbert became his 
wife, and by her he had two children, who have 



since died: Rosie A. and Sallie Baker. Mrs. Mc- 
Donald closed her eyes to the scenes of this world 
in 1876, and in 1881 Mr. McDonald was united in 
matrimony with Mrs. Lane, his present wife. Mrs. 
McDonald is a very estimable lady, and enjoys the 
respect of a wide circle of acquaintances and fi'iends. 
In secret organizations Mr. McDonald is identified 
with the Masonic order, and is also a member of 
the Wheel. In politics he votes the union labor 
ticket, and with his wife attends the Baptist 
Church, in which they have been members of many 
years standing. 

Joseph McGowen, a native of North Carolina, 
was left an orphan at the age of seven years, his 
mother having died in 1886 and his father four 
years later. He was then bound out to a Mr. 
Turnage, with whom he remained until his seven- 
teenth year, when he commenced working for him- 
self at common farm labor in Shelby County, 
Tenn., and in 1852 purchased a farm in Tipton 
County. He was married November 19, 1854, to 
Cordelia A. Joyce, a native of Tennessee. They 
were the parents of thirteen children, seven of 
whom are still living: William Oliver (born Janu- 
ary 15, 1856), Eugenia H. (born September 6, 
1857) and Thomas Martin (born April 26, 1862), 
who are married; Edward G. (born October 1, 
1860), Annie Eliza (born January 10, 1867), Mary 
Frances (born December 25, 1868) and James Tay- 
lor (born June 28, 1872). Eugenia H. was married 
to William Williams March 4, 1875; William 
Oliver was married to M. J. English December 28, 
1881; Thomas Martin was married to Gertrude 
Tennant December 21, 1887. Mr. McGowen re- 
mained in Tipton County until 1878 when he re- 
moved to Lee County, Ark., but after one year 
there, came to St. Francis County, where he still 
resides. He owns a qiiarter section of land with 
all but twenty acres under cultivation. Mr. Mc- 
Gowen has always been an active Democrat, and 
is a strong advocate of the public school system. 

Jesse W. Mahaffey, though a native of Georgia, 
was brought to Arkansas by his parents when 
nine years of age, and was reared on a farm in St. 
Francis County, growing up here when there were 
but few settlers, with schools and churches few and 



"711 



^fV 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



483 



far between, and no society or companions except- 
ing his family, conse(|nently be had but a Umited 
advantage for receiving an education, starting 
out in life as a common farm laborer at the age of 
sixteen. In the fall of 1849 he went into the tim- 
ber biisiness and has been engaged in getting out 
timber from the forest and rafting it down the St. 
Francis River since that time in connection with 
farming. He owns a fine farm on the river bot- 
toms of 520 acres, well adapted to the growing of 
corn and cotton, and has ninety acres under culti- 
vation, the remainder being timber. This land 
lies partly in this county, and in Cross and the 
balance in Crittenden County. Mr. Mahaffey 
was born in Georgia on March 15, 1831, being a 
son of John and Lucinda (Wright) Mahaffey, na- 
tives of Eastern Tennessee. John Mahaffey was 
born near Knoxville in 1804, and was married on 
January 9, 1825, soon after which he removed to 
Georgia, and in 1840 came to St. Francis County, 
Ark., living here until his death in 1S59. He was 
a member of the Christian Church in his latter 
days and took an active interest in all religious 
matters, his chief object being to train his children 
in the fear of God. He was the father of seven 
children: Jesse Woods (the principal of this ar- 
ticle), Elizabeth P., William R., Lutishia, Belinda, 
Winnie and David R. The subject of this sketch 
is the only one of the family living. He has been 
twice married; first to Sarah Duncan, in 1854, a 
native of Tennessee, who died the following year, 
leaving one daughter. The latter also died when 
five years old. He married his second wife on Jlay 
19, 1857; she was formerly America E. Dixon, a 
daughter of Thomas Dixon, and a native of Ten- 
nessee. They were the parents of eight children, 
five of whom are living: James W., Jesse W., 
Thomas F. , Lucinda and Mary E. Mr. Mahaffey 
is a Democrat in politics, though formerly an old 
line Whig. He is an upright Christian gentleman 
and a liberal donator to all charitable o])jects. 

John W. Mallory was born in Petersburg, Va. , 
in the vicinity of which he resided with his mother 
until the year 1842, when she moved to Fayette 
County, Tenn, Leaving home in 1843, when fif- 
teen years old, John went to Memphis, Tenn., and 



became engaged in clerking in a dry-goods store, 
continuing at that business until 1849. During 
his stay in Memphis he enlisted in a company tit- 
ting out for service in Mexico, but as their services 
were not needed it was soon disbanded. In the 
winter of 1848 he returned to Fayette County and 
in the January following was married. In 1852, 
moving to St. Francis County, Ark., he engaged in 
the mercantile business at Mount Vernon, at that 
time the county seat. To Mr. Mallory' s marriage 
nine children were born : Etta, Cora, Emmett, Bessie, 
Eddie, John, Roger, Robert and Neeley. He now 
resides on his farm where he has made his home 
for thirty-seven years. He is a Mason, having 
passed the Blue Lodge to the Chapter, and thence 
to the Knight Templar degree. He is also a 
member of the I. O. O. F. and K. of H. Mr. 
Ma] lory's father was a native of Louisa County, 
Va. He was of Scotch descent and his mother of 
French, descended from the Huguenots who fled to 
America on account of religious persecution. At 
an early age he imoved to Petersburg, Va. , and en- 
gaged in business, subsequently enlisting in the 
War of 1812 as a member of the Petersburg Blues, 
and served in Canada under Gen. William Henry 
Harrison. He was present at the priiicij)al en 
gagements of that war, among others the battle of 
the Thames, in which the celebrated chief. Tecum - 
seh, was slain, and he was only a short distance 
from him when he fell. He secui'ed his tomahawk, 
which is still in the possession of the family. ,It 
is a piece of wonderfully unique and grotesquely 
finished workmanship. After the close of the war 
he was elected high sheriff of Petersburg, which 
olKce he held until his death in 1S80. In com- 
memoration of his untiring energy and devotion to 
his office the city council presented him with a 
silver cup, bearing the date of his birth, March 10, 
1790. It is now in the possession of his son, the 
subject of this sketch. 

Lowry Mallory is a native of AJaliama, and 
gi-ew to manhood in his native State, supplement-, 
ing his primary education by an attendance at Ox- 
ford College. I'pon leaving school he came to 
Arkansas, locating on White River, in Jackson 
County, wheie he opened up a farm and remained 



« k. 



484 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



for twelve years, improving his land: but overwork 
impaired his health, and he was obliged to travel 
for a few years. Thus were spent all the savings 
which he had made during that time in seeking 
restoration to his former condition, and he had 
only about $50 remaining. He then went to West 
Point, and was engaged in the real-estate business 
until 1884, when he entered the employ of the 
Little Rock Oil Company, and for four years was 
occupied as general purchasing agent of the com- 
pany, employed in buying cotton seed. Mr. Mal- 
lory's marriage was to Miss Bessie Mallay, who 
was born in St. Francis County. She died in 1886, 
leaving three children: Walter E., J. W. and Bes- 
sie. William Mallory, the father of our subject, 
is a Virginian by birth, and moved to Alabama at 
an early date, being one of the pioneers of that 
part of the State. He was there married to Miss 
E. J. Blackwood. He was a son of a soldier in 
the Revolutionary War, and was of Irish descent. 
William Manning was born near the city of 
Cork, Ireland, on August 12, 1835. In 1844 
his father and mother emigrated to the United 
States, and located in Dutchess County, N. Y. , the 
subject of this sketch, with the other children, fol- 
lowing in 1845. The family remained in New 
York, engaged in the nursery business and farming, 
until 1856, when all moved to Will County, 111. , 
and settled on a farm. There our subject con- 
tinued till 1866, the time of his removal to 
Jasper County, Iowa, where he was engaged in the 
nursery business until 1874. Selling his nursery, 
he returned to Illinois, and remained on the home- 
stead until 1876, when he moved to his present lo- 
cation in St. Francis County, Ark. He was mar- 
ried on April 8, 1863, to Miss A. D. Harrah, 
a native of Penn.sylvania. In September. 1861, 
Mr. Manning enlisted in the band of the Thirty - 
seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was dis- 
charged in June, 1862, when the band was mustered 
out of service. While in Illinois he served one 
term as commissioner of highways, and one year as 
collector of taxes. In 1888 he was elected repre- 
sentative from St. Francis County on the Fusion 
ticket. He is a Democrat in politics, but not of 
the ballot-box stuffing variety. In the legislature 



he upheld every measure that was in the interest of 
progress and development, and supported every 
local temperance measure, and was largely instru- 
mental in .securing the passage of the native wine 
bill. His family consists of seven boys and one 
girl, ranging in age from four to twenty-five years. 
Since coming to Arkansas Mr. Manning has been 
engaged in farming and stock raising, and has been 
fairly successful. 

W. J. Matthews, M. D. , a popular jihysician of 
Forrest City and a credit to the medical fraternity, 
was born in Maury County, Tenn. , May 28, 1831, 
being one of eight childi'en born to James W. and 
S. K. (Dooley) Matthews, natives of North Carolina 
and Tennessee, respectively. James W. Matthews 
was a pioneer of Tennessee, a farmer by occupa- 
tion, and surveyor of Maury County for many 
years. He died in his eighty-third year, his wife 
having gone before in her sixty- fourth year. The 
paternal grandfather was born in North Carolina, 
and came to Tennessee when James W. was a 
small boy, dying in Tennessee at a very old age. 
The maternal grandfather also owed his nativity 
to Tennessee, and served in some of the Indian 
wars, and was given the euphonious title of 
"OldCapt. Dooley." The great-grandmother was 
killed by Indians while holding the grandmother 
(a baby at the time), and engaged in spinning flax. 
^\'. J. Matthews passed his early life in the schools 
of Maury County, Tenn., afterward becoming en- 
rolled as a pupil of Erskine College, South Carolina, 
remaining away from home for three years. On 
the completion of his literary education he re- 
turned home and began the study of medicine 
under A. T. Boyd and J. M. Buldridge of Maury 
County, Tenn., and after having graduated from 
the Medical Department of the College at Nashville, 
Tenn., 18()0, went immediately to Taylor's Creek, 
St. Francis County, Ark. In June, 1861, he en- 
tered the Confederate army as a private, this 
company being commanded by Hon. Poindexter 
Dunn. After three months Dr. Matthews was pro- 
moted to the position of surgeon of the Third Con- 
federate Regiment, and served in that company in 
the same capacity till the close of the war. Of a 
company of 100 men from this neighborhood, all 



^. 



^IV^ 



Aji 




were unmarried, with the exception of the captain. 
They were in the Army of the Tennessee, and par- 
ticipated iu the hard- fought battles of Shiloh, Mur- 
freesboro, Missionary Eidge, Chickamauga, Ken- 
esaw Mountain, Ringgold Gap, Golgotha Church, 
Jonesboro, Franklin and Perryville. Pat. Cle- 
burne was the major-general, and Dr. Matthews 
was on the field when he met his death. Twenty-one 
men of the original number (100) returned home, 
and nine of them are now living. At the close of 
the war Dr. Matthews resumed his former practice, 
which he had established a year previous to the 
war at Taylor' s Creek, and though he voted against 
secession, he went with his State when it seceded. 
Coming to Forrest Citj% in 1871, he has since been 
actively engaged in the practice of his profession, 
and has attained an enviable position, both in social 
circles and as a competent physician. Dr. Mat- 
thews was married in 1866 to Miss Ella Eastham, 
of Summerville, Tenn., but death claimed her in 
1871, she having borne two children, now deceased. 
His second wife was Mrs. Carrie Prewitt, of Sauls- 
bury, Tenn. , and to them one child was born, Leta 
B. Mrs. Matthews died, and his third and present 
wife was Miss C. M. Gray. Dr. Matthews is a 
member of the State Medical Association, secre- 
tary of St. Francis County Medical Society, and a 
member of the A. F. & A. M., I. O. O. F., K. of 
H., and K. & L. of H. He is also an earnest 
worker in the Presbyterian Church. 

Archibald S. May, a well-known farmer of St. 
Francis County and numbered among its younger 
citizens, was born in that county in lS5i, being the 
son of R. A. and L. C. May, natives of North 
Carolina and Georgia, respectively. With the ex- 
ception of a few months spent in Texas he has 
passed his entire life in Arkansas. Mr. May was 
not fortunate in receiving a liljeral education, the 
advantages at the period of his boyhood being far 
from satisfactory, but by constant and close appli- 
cation to study of late years he is conversant with 
many topics of importance of the past and present. 
He was married in December, 1888, to Miss Mollie 
Taylor, a daughter of James H. and Lueinda C. 
Taylor of Arkansas. jMr. Jlay is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and also of 



the Wheel. His principal business is that of 
stock raising, and he is a man who stands high in 
his community — 2'°ssessing true worth and in- 
tegrity and being a liberal supporter of all pnlilie 
enterprises. 

Thomas I. Mohler, M. D. , who occupies a posi- 
tion of prominence in the medical affairs of Eastern 
Arkansas, was ushered into the world on March 
10, 1844, in the State of North Carolina, but was 
reared in Kentucky, spending his boyhood iu a 
tobacco factory. At the age of eighteen he went to 
Illinois and the following January enlisted iu the 
Thirty-first -Illinois Infantry as a private, before 
the close of the war being promoted to the position 
of second lieutenant. He served in Sherman's 
' ' march to the sea, ' ' and participated in all of the 
battles in that campaign. After the war going to 
Johnstown, Mr. Mohler bought a farm, and in April, 
1866, was married to Miss Judy S. Lawrence, who 
died in January, 1878, leaving six children. He 
was engaged iu farming for four years, after which 
he went into partnership with his brother in the 
manufacture of tobacco and cigars. Following the 
death of his wife he commenced the study of 
medicine and attended lectures at the St. Joe 
Medical College, subsequently traveling over Mis- 
souri, Iowa, Utah, California and all of the West- 
ern States. In 1887 he located at Palestine, Ark., 
and commenced the practice of medicine, and has 
built up an extensive patronage. He is a Repub- 
lican iu politics and a member of the K. of P. 

Irving R. Nail owns one of the carefully culti- 
vated farms of St. Francis County, Ark., it con- 
sisting of 120 acres, a greater portion of it being 
under the plow, and the general impression of the 
observer, is that thrift and prosperity prevail. He 
owes his success to no one, being thrown on his 
own resources at the age of thirteen, and though 
the prospect was not one to encourage one, he 
never grew despondent, but kept bravely on, with 
what success is already known. He was born in 
Tennessee in the year 1825. being the son of 
Andrew and Lucy, natives of Virginia and Ken- 
tucky, respectively. Mr. Nail came to St. Francis 
County iu 188S where he breathed his last a few 
years later. Irving R. Nail enlisted in the Confed- 



k. 



486 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



erate army in 1861 in Johnston's Company, Thir- 
teenth Arkansas Regiment, participating in the bat- 
tle of Belmont. He was shortly after discharged on 
account of illness, this ending his war career. He 
was married in 18G3 to Amanda Raney, a daughter 
of Thomas and Jane Raney. The result of this 
union was four children: Martha J., William R. , 
Dorinda and John C. Mrs. Nail died in August, 
1877, and Mr. Nail remained a widower until 
January, 1881, when he took for his second wife 
Miss Nancy Cobb, whose father, "W. M. Cobb, immi- 
grated from South Carolina to Arkansas in 1855, 
having been born in 1825. Mr. and Mrs. Nail are 
members in high standing of the BaptLst Church, 
to which the former lends his hearty support and 
influence. He is a Democrat politically. 

John M. Parrott, a retired lawyer of Forrest 
City, is native of Tennessee. His father, John 
Parrott, moved to that State at a very early day in 
its history, where he engaged in the saddlery busi- 
ness, serving as a soldier in the War of 1812. He 
died in 1845, his wife surviving him twenty years. 
They were the parents of a large family, of whom 
John M. , our subject, who was born in Jefferson 
County, Tenn., in October, 1814, is the only surviv- 
or. He lived at his native town, Dandridge, attend- 
ing the academy at that place, until seventeen years 
of age, when his father moved upon a farm in the 
vicinity. In 183fi he commenced life for himself 
at Blountsville, Ala. , going into the mercantile busi- 
ness, and three years later came to St. Francis 
County, continuing the same business at Madison. 
In 1840 he was appointed deputy clerk by Isaac 
Mitchel, then clerk of the St. Francis circuit court, 
and in 1842 was elected circuit clerk, which otBce 
he tilled with such satisfaction to the citizens that 
he was made his own successor for fourteen years 
in succession; during this time he apjjlied himself 
closely to the study of law, and in 1856 he was ad- 
mitted to the bar and commenced practicing, which 
he followed until within a few years, when he re- 
tired from active professional life. In 1864 Mr. 
Parrott was elected to the legislature, but did not 
serve the term, owing to the fact of there being no 
session that year. In 1874 he was a delegate to 
the constitutional convention. He was a candi- 



date for nomination for the office of auditor of 
State in 1876, but was beaten bj' John Crawford. 
During the war he entered the Confederate service 
and acted as assistant adjutant, though being in 
no engagements. Mr. Parrott has been twice mar- 
ried: first, in 1841, to Rhoda Johnson, who died in 
1858. His second union, in 1859, was to Mrs. 
Johnson (wee Witter). They are the parents of six 
children, three of whom are still living: Kate C. 
(now Mrs. Martin), Ida Lee (now Mrs. Miller) and 
MattieA., all residing in this county. Mr. Parrott 
has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, for the past forty- five years. He 
is also connected with the Masonic order. 

Rev. W. H. Paslay, prominently associated 
with the Baptist Church of Forrest City, first saw 
the light of day in South Carolina, December 18, 
1831, being the son of H. W. and Mary (Wright) 
Paslay, born in South Carolina, in 1803 and 1802, 
respectively. H. W. Paslay was a graduate from 
the Medical Institute of Charleston, and also a min- 
ister of the Baptist Church. He was recognized as a 
gentleman of unusual attainments, both in his prac- 
tice of medicine? and as a minister of the Gospel. 
He immigrated to Arkansas in 1857, where his 
death occurred in 1872. To himself and wife a 
family of eight children were born. The mother of 
Mr. Paslay closed her eyes to the scenes of this 
world in 1873. W. H. Paslay received his educa- 
tion in the schools of his native State, afterward 
taking a full course in the well known Furman 
University of South Carolina, graduating there- 
from in the year 1855. He then taught school for 
several years, and was ordained in Alabama, where 
for fifteen years he was engaged in preaching and 
teaching. Coming to Arkansas in the fall of 1872, 
he located in Monroe Coianty, and has endeared 
himself to many friends and acquaintances by his 
conscientious and faithful work in the church, as 
well as by his efficient discharge of the manifold 
duties of teacher in the schools. He has been occu- 
pied in preaching (as at present) in St. Francis, Lee, 
Monroe and Phillips Counties, his work covering a 
period of over thirty-one years. During the Civil 
War he was prevailed upon bj' many soldiers, who 
went into active service, to remain at home to look 






■^* B 



^ 



>> 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



487 



after their families, they feeling that his watchful 
care -would keep them from all harm, so his work 
ill the war covered only a short time. Mr. Paslay 
was first married to Miss Geraldine Rupum, of Ala- 
bama, who left four daughters, viz. : Mary Tula, 
Ora Lana, Aina Mona and Etta Leta. He was next 
married to Miss Julia Prince of Alabama, who died 
leaving one child, Estelle. His third and present 
wife was formerly Miss Ann Dozier of Jasper 
County, Ga. , and by her he became the father of 
three sons: W. H., Woods D. and Rob E. Mr. 
Paslay in connection with his many other duties, 
carefully cultivates a farm of 320 acres of valuable 
land. He is a Mason in the Blue Lodge and Chap- 
ter, and also a Knight of Honor. 

G. W. Pearson, deputy circuit and county clerk 
of St. Francis County, was born in Mississippi 
December 25, 1830, being the third in a family of 
nine children bom to John A. and Nancy (Nichols) 
Pearson. They were natives of North Carolina 
(near Fair Bluff), and married there, moving to 
Southern Mississippi in 1829. At the date of their 
deaths they lived near Brandon, Miss. John A. 
Pearson was a Methodist Episcopal minister, and 
had preached from the earliest recollections of his 
son until his death, in 1842. Of their largo fam- 
ily of children, G. W. is the only one now living. 
Everett died at Nashville, Tenn., in the Confeder- 
ate army, in the Sixth Mississippi Regiment ; John 
was waylaid and shot by a negro; the sisters 
married and all died after the war. G. W. has 
in his possession a cane which was made by his 
grandfather (a native of North Carolina) when a 
young man. He was a carpenter and natural me- 
chanic, and died in his seventy-third year. G. W. 
Pearson received his education in the schools of 
Mississippi, and selected farming as his occupa- 
tion, in which he was actively engaged until com- 
ing to Arkansas, in 1872. He was married in 
Mississippi to M. A. Taylor, and their union was 
blessed by two children: William Atkins and 
Annie Everett. Mr. Pearson owns a residence in 
town. He was agent for the Memphis & Little 
Rock Railroad for nine years, subsequently being 
appointed magistrate, and has been tilling the po- 
sition of deputy county clerk since May, 1889, dis- 



charging the duties of his office in a highly credit 
able manner. The grandfather of Mr. Pearson 
and two brothers were taken captives by Indians 
and carried far back into the interior of the coun- 
try, after which the savages held a council to de- 
termine the best way to dispose of their captives. 
The brothers were lashed to the ground to await 
their terrible death, but an Indian maiden became 
enamored of one of them — a very handsome man — 
and went to his relief, cutting the lashes that bound 
him, and telling him at the same time to flee for 
his life, which injunction he was not slow to fol- 
low. He released his brothers, and after running 
nearly all night, they crawled into a large log, 
whose capacity was sufficient to hold them all. The 
Indians followed in hot pursuit, and were close 
upon them when a herd of deer crossed their path, 
thereby destroying the trail. The redskins gave 
up the chase, and actually seated themselves on 
the log in which the brothers were secreted, and 
in which they remained until night. They had 
been without food for three days, and when an 
opossum crossed their path they killed and de- 
voured it without waiting to have it broiled, their 
intense hunger making them forget that it was 
raw. They made their way to a white settlement, 
and then on to their old home, where thoy were 
welcomed by their relatives and fi'iends, who had 
despaired of ever seeing them again. Mr. Pear- 
son has not been particularly fortunate in amassing 
property, but he and his honored wife enjoy that 
which is of far more consequence — an unsullied 
name and the sincere love of a host of fi'iends. He 
is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Mis- 
sionary Baptist Church, his wife also being con- 
nected with the same church. 

Hon. R. W. Peevey, farmer, stock raiser, and 
one of the prominent old settlers of St. Francis 
County, owes his nativity to Alabama, being a 
son of W. H. and J. A. (Childers) Peevey, origi- 
nally from Georgia and Tennessee, respectively, 
and of Irish descent. The parental grandparents 
of our subject came to this country shortly after the 
Revolutionary War. R. AV. Peevey was born 
Januaiy 8, 1827, and was the fourth son in a 
family of seven children. He spent his boyhood 



i\ rL, 



^4^ 



488 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



days on liis fatLer's farm, and before his twentieth 
birthday was married to Miss Nellie A. Collier, 
who died in 1850, leaving three children, two still 
living: James J. and Emma J. (wife of W. H. 
Fogg), both in this county. In 1862 Mr. Feevey 
enlisted in the Confederate army and served in Col. 
Robinson's regiment, being elected captain of his 
company at starting out, and in May, 1S63, he 
was promoted to major. He participated in the 
battles of Vicksburg, Baton Rouge, Corinth and a 
number of others. After the war he engaged in 
farming in Madison County, Ala., until 1873, when 
he came to Arkansas and located in St. Francis 
County, where he bought his present farm. In 
October, 1859, he married Miss Louisa Curry. 
She died in August, 1878, having borne seven 
children, and of these four survive: Thomas El- 
bert, Robert H. , William H. and Luther B. Mr. 
Peevey married his third wife, Mary J. Dew, in 
January, 1880. He is a jsrominent Democrat, and 
has ably served his coiinty in the State legisla- 
ture, to which he was elected in 1876. He also 
held the office of justice of the peace for several 
terms, and is still filling that position. A mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcoj)al Church, he is also 
connected with the Masonic fraternity. 

Frank M. Prewett, one of the oldest and most 
respected merchants of Forrest City, was Ijorn in 
Bedford County, Tenn., November 4, 1827, and 
at the age of sixteen went to Texas and volun- 
teered in the Mexican War, under Capt. James 
Arnold and Col. Albert Sidney Johnston. He par- 
ticipated in the battles of Monterey and Buena 
Vista, receiving an honorable discharge at the end 
of two years. On his way home he stopped at 
Mount Vernon, and then and there became en- 
snared in cupid's toils, yielding up his affections 
to the charms of Miss N. E. Izard. Ten days 
after they met she wore his engagement ring, and 
eight months later they were married. Mr. Prew- 
ett located at Mount Vernon and engaged in the gro- 
cery business, and, notwithstanding that he started 
with veiy little capital, he possessed at the breaking 
out of the war, a large plantation and twenty-nine 
slaves. He enlisted in Capt. Mallory's company as 
first lieutenant during the civil strife, and was 



promoted while at Cotton Plant to the office of 
captain. His health giving way necessitated his 
resignation, which took place in the northern part 
of Ai'kansas, inflammatory rheumatism, caused by 
exposure, rapidly making inroads uj^on his usual 
health. At the close of the war he found his fort- 
une all gone, and many debts previously con- 
tracted staring him in the face. His slaves re- 
mained with him, but the expense of keeping them 
was much more than they could possibly liquidate. 
One morning Uncle Frank (as he is familiarly 
called) was viewing his gloomy situation, naturally 
becoming more and more despondent, when he was 
accosted by Mr. J. H. Cole, an acquaintance of 
many years, who proposed that they go to Madison 
and enter into business, Mr. Prewett not to famish 
any capital. The result was the establishing of a 
mercantile establishment under the name of Cole & 
Prewett. After a few months Mr. Prewett discov- 
ered something which he considered more profit- 
able, and desired a dissolution of partnership, his 
share of the profits being $1,900. Mr. Cole pre- 
sented him with a fine horse and saddle, which he 
traded for a small box house, the first house erected 
on the present site of Forrest City, and since con- 
verted into a saloon. Here, in connection with 
Col. Izard, he amassed a fortune in the grocery 
biisiness, while the Little Rock & Memphis was 
being built. They afterward failed for $45,000, 
and were obliged to dispose of a large amount of 
real estate in order to cancel their indebtedness. 
Mr. Prewett went out of the business and resumed 
farming for ten years, at the expiration of that 
time coming back into the same business, where he 
is to be found at presen.t. Mrs. Prewett, who died 
in her fifty-fourth year, was a faithful worker and 
member of the Baptist Chvirch, and a most exem- 
plary lady, being thoroughly beloved by all who 
knew her. By her marriage with Mr. Prewett she 
became the mother of eleven children, seven now 
living: John M. (attorney at law of Forrest City), 
Mark V\'. (mail clerk from Helena to Knobel), 
Thomas E. (city marshal of Forrest City), Blanche 
(wife of T. L. Briscoe, of Helena), Oscar (a rail- 
road man), Mary E. and George Emma (at home). 
Mr. Prewett is a son of P. H. and Judy (Whit- 



% 



s k. 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



489 



taker) Prewett. His father was born in Bedford 
County, Tenn. , and in 1854 immigrated to Texas, 
breathing his last iu the hitter State, in 1860, at 
the age of seventy-two. Mr. Prewett is a Royal 
Arch Mason, an Odd Fellow and a member of the 
Baptist Church. 

George C. and Frank E. Prewitt are now prom- 
inent young farmers of this county, though natives 
of Missouri. They removed to St. Francis County, 
Ark., iu 1886, and settled on the St. Francis River, 
a section noted for its fertility and productiveness. 
Their father, Joseph E. Prewitt, was a native of 
Scott County, Ky. , where he was reared and mar- 
ried. Miss Naomi M. Nash, a native of Covington, 
Ky., becoming his wife. She was a daughter of 
M'illiam and Elizabeth Nash, and died in 1879, 
leaving six children: Robert C. (M. D.), William 
L. (a teacher in Missouri), Bettie A. (wife of 
George Vi'. Watts), George C. and Frank E., and 
Mattie C. (now Mrs. Clifford, of Mi.ssouri). Mr. 
Prewitt died in 1874 at the age of sixty-five. 
George C. Prewitt was born on May 20, 1850, and 
received a good education, being instructed in the 
rudiments of farm work by his father, who was an 
agriculturist of advanced ideas. At the age of 
twenty he commenced farming for himself. Frank 
E. was born in Pike County, Mo., June IS, 1859, 
and started out in hfe as a tiller of the soil at the 
age of nineteen, in 1886 becoming associated with 
his brother George. They are industrious and 
enterprising young farmers, and are turning their 
attention to that most lucrative branch of agricult- 
ural pursuits, as well as that most beneficial to the 
community, the breeding of line stock, iu which 
they will undoubtedly make a decided success. 
They are Democrats in politics and liberal dona- 
tors to all charitable and worthy enterprises. 

Hon. Otto B. Rollwage, mayor of Forrest City, 
and a member of the lirm of Rollwage & Co., one 
of the leading mercantile houses in Forrest City, 
was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1854, being 
reared and educated in that city. At the age of 
twenty years he came to Forrest City, and engaged 
as salesman in a store in this city for three months, 
nfter which he entered into the mercantile business 
with his brother Louis. They commenced on a 



small scale, but by close attention to business and 
strict economy, enjoy a very extensive trade, em- 
ploying eight salesmen in their store. They own 
five business houses besides the one they occupy. 
Mr. Rollwage was a member of the boai'd of alder- 
men for some time, and so efficient were his ser- 
vices in that capacity, and so diligently did he at- 
tend to the duties devolving on him that he was 
complimented with a nomination for mayor of 
Forrest City, while away from home, and without 
his knowledge. His administration has been very 
beneticial to the city, he having enforced the many 
ordinances that were before a deatl letter on the 
.status, and especially has he been vigorous in the 
prosecution of all parties violating the whisky laws; 
as a result there is now no better regulated city in 
the State. In his domestic relations Mr. Rollwage 
is not less happily situated than in business circles. 
He married Miss Jennie Anderson, of Monroe 
County, a graduate of a female college in Tennes- 
see, and a highly educated and refined lady. She 
is a leader in the society of Forrest City, and is 
one of the prominent members of the W. C. T. U. 
in Arkansas, having been a State delegate to the 
National Convention held at Nashville in 1887. 
This worthy couple are the parents of five children: 
Norma, Otto, Tolise, De Yelling and Madeleine. 
Mr. R. is a sou of Frederick and Mina (Kuker) 
Rollwage, both natives of Germany. Frederick 
Rollwage is still living and resides in Cincinnati, 
but spends about half of his time with his son, our 
subject. 

George M. Rowland, a prominent farmer of 
Utica Township, is a native of Mississippi, and a 
son of Charles and Mary (Lewis) Rowland, who 
were Virginians by birth. In 1830 they left the 
Old Dominion for Marshall County, Miss. , then a 
new part of the State, and from which the Indians 
had just l)eeu moved. Here the father lived on a 
farm which he entered until 1840, then going to 
Benton County, where he made his home until 
called away by death, in 1N63 His wife survived 
liiin until 1876. They wei-e the parents of six 
boys, three of whom are still living: W. L. (on the 
old place). J. E. (a resident of St. Francis County), 
and George M. The latter was born in Marshall 



^ 



<a k. 



:±=Al^ 



490 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



County, Miss., February 22, 1850. His father, 
like a number of other Southerners, was a Union 
man until Virginia attempted to withdraw from 
the Union, when he announced his allegiance to 
his native State, and gave three of his sons to the 
Southern cause. After the battle of Shiloh the 
brothers returned home on a furlough, and were 
surprised by the Federals, but would not have 
been captured had it not been for the treachery of 
a companion. The three boys and also their father 
were taken prisoners, and carried to Cairo, 111., 
afterward being exchanged, but the father died 
within eight days after his return, from exposure 
while coming down the river. George M. Row- 
land remained at home during the war, being too 
young to enter the service, though he heard bullets 
whistle on more than one occasion. In 1868 he 
went to Gibson County, Tenn., was engaged in 
teaming for a man by the name of Davis, and the 
following year took charge of a large farm in Har- 
deman County, belonging to the same party, where 
he remained until 1875. Going home on a visit, 
the month of January, 1876, foimd him en route 
for Arkansas, in charge of stock for J. D. Reans, 
of Forrest City, for whom he clerked the rest of the 
year. The next year he rented a farm, and has 
since been occupied in that occupation, now own- 
ing two farms, one of 214 acres, and one 185 acres 
in extent, with over seventy-live acres under culti- 
vation. Mr. Rowland has been twice married, 
first, in 1879, to Miss Mollie V. Jeth, who died in 
1881. His second wife was Mrs. Allie S. Johnson 
{nee Hill). They are the parents of one child, 
Charlie Pike, born in 1887. Mr. Rowland is an 
influential Democrat, and has served as justice of 
the peace two years. He is a member of the 
Knights of Honor, and at one time belonged to the 
County Wheel. 

John L. Roy, active in the agricultural affairs 
of Utica Township, is a native of Tennessee, and 
a son of James and Mary Roy, originally from 
Virginia and Tennessee, respectively. John L. 
came to St. Francis County, Ark., with his father 
in 1828, being at that time only one year old. 
Though not having been consulted as to this change 
of residence, he has never regretted being a citizen 



of the State of Arkansas, as he is entirely satisfied 
with the covintry and people. He grew up to farm 
life, and while living in the country in a day when 
it was but thinly settled, received a good educa- 
tion, attending school regularly until he grew to 
manhood. At the age of twenty-one he commenced 
life for himself as book-keeper at a store in Helena, 
but resigned that position in a short .time to take 
charge of a trading boat on the Mississippi River. 
Two years later he went to New Orleans, and re- 
sumed clerking in a dry goods and grocery house 
for two years, after which he returned home, and 
has since been occupied in farming. Mr. Roy was 
married in 1853, to Miss Lucy E. Dallor, daughter 
of James and Mary Dallor, natives of North Caro- 
lina. They are the parents of nine children: Mary 
E., Thomas J., Mark G., Martha J., Sarah F., 
William E., Nettie A., Richard L. and John A., 
the last two being twins. He owns a fine farm of 
160 acres, with sixty -five acres under cultivation, 
and is engaged in raising stock and farming, prin- 
cipally. He is a member of the Masonic order, 
and of the Knights of Honor, and also of the 
County Wheel, and he and his family belong to 
the Baptist Church. In the early days when the 
parents of our subject first came to this country, 
and for a number of years after, game was plenti- 
ful, and John L. had many exciting bear hunts. 
At one time, while his father and William Stags 
were out hunting, their dog was in danger of being 
killed by a bear, whereupon the former caught the 
wild animal by the ears, and held him until Mr. 
Stags shot him; this exploit gained him quite a 
reputation as a bear hunter. 

R. H. Sparkman, M. D., one of Forrest City's 
enterprising citizens, was born in North Carolina, 
May 10, 1828, being the son of John and Nancy 
(VVooten) Sparkman. John Sparkman owed his 
nativity to North Carolina, but moved to Tennessee 
when the subject of this sketch was quite small, 
locating in Shelby County, Tenn., where his death 
occurred in his fifty-ninth year. Mrs. Sparkman 
was also of North Carolina origin and by her union 
with Mr. Sparkman became the mother of five 
children, R. H. being the only one now living. The 
name Sparkman, as might be supposed, is Irish, 



Fp 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



491 



the ancestors of the family coming at an early day 
from the Emerald Isle. The grandfather was a 
soldier in the War of the Revolution, and the 
maternal grandfather served in the War of 1812. 
Dr. Sparkman received a good common education 
in the schools of Shelby County, and afterward at- 
tended his first course of medical lectures in Cin- 
cinnati, his early ambition having been to bo a 
jihysiciau, and by his determination and diligent 
application to his studies he became a credit to that 
most noble of all professions. He graduated with 
honors from the Medical School at Memphis in 
1857, and immediately began practice in Shelby 
County, but a year afterward, in 1858, making a 
trip to Arkansas became convinced that that State 
promised a better opening, so located on the Hel- 
ena road, live miles from Forrest City. At the 
breaking out of the war he had built up an envi- 
able practice. He joined the Confederate army, 
McGee's company, McNeil's regiment, afterward 
becoming surgeon of that regiment. The comj)auy 
was soon made independent and reported to Col. 
Dobbins, Dr. Sparkman remaining in the service 
about two years. He returned to Arkansas and 
practiced until 1875, but succeeded in collecting 
only about half of his bills, some of them of long 
standing. He has since retired from active prac- 
tice, and is now engaged in farming, owning 450 
acres of valuable land. Dr. Sparkman was united 
in marriage on December 23, 1859, to Mrs. Liza 
(Purvis) Daniel, of North Carolina. Dr. and Mrs. 
Sparkman are members of the Baptist Church, and 
the former is a member of A. F. & A. M. 

G. W. Seaborn, deputy sheriff of St. Francis 
County, is well known to the residents of that sec- 
tion of Arkansas, and enjoys the esteem of all, ex- 
cept from those whose disregard of law compels 
him to discharge the duties of his office in an im- 
partial manner; at such a time he would scarcely 
be recognized as a jovial companion or the per- 
petrator of many amusing jokes. Mr. Seaborn 
was born in St. Francis County in 1853, being the 
son of Q. AV. and Frankie (Casteel) Seaborn. The 
former, of Tennessee nativity, came to Arkansas 
when about nineteen years of age, locating in St. 
Francis County, and being the first man to bring 



a flat-boat load of merchandise up the St. Francis 
River. He ])urchased the goods in New Orleans, 
and established an extensive business near Mount 
Vernon, when that was the county seat. He was 
the first sheriff of the county, holding that office 
for twelve years, and subsequently served in the 
State legislature, and was a member of that body 
at the breaking out of the late war. In 1803 he 
moved to Tennessee, and upon the close of hostili- 
ties opened a mercantile establishment at Jeffer- 
son, Texiis. In 1872 he returned to St. Francis 
County, and died in 1875 at the ago of sixty-three 
years. Mrs. Seaborn accompanied her parents 
from Tennessee to Arkansas when quite small, and 
has resided in this county ever since. She was 
married in St. Francis County and became the 
mother of two children, G. W. being the youngest. 
Annie, his sister, is now the wife of B. F. Elington 
of Atlanta, Ga. Mrs. Seaborn owns a large farm, 
but resides with her children. G. W. Seaborn grew 
to manhood in St. Francis County, receiving his 
education in Texas, where the facilities afforded 
him were unusually liberal. After finishing his 
schooling, he came back to his old home and en- 
gaged in farming for four years, and with the ex- 
ception of four years spent in the livery business 
at Forrest City, has made agricultural pursuits his 
principal avocation. He now owns about 600 
acres in this and adjoining counties. Mr. Seaborn 
was married in 187(5 to Miss Mattie Cabbs, a 
daughter of Dr. J. H. Cabbs, brother of the pres- 
ent land commissioner. Dr. Cabbs' mother is 
living in this county at the advanced age of ninety- 
three years. To the union of Mi-, and Mrs. Sea- 
born three children were born. Mrs. Seaborn 
died in 1883, leaving many friends to mourn hor 
death. In his political views he sides with the 
Democratic jiarty. 

James W. Skinner was born in Fleming 
County, Ky., in 1842, as the son of Benjamin F. 
and Lucinda Skinner. His early life was jiassed 
in the schools of his native State, from which he 
received a superior education, and at the age of 
nineteen he began in business on his own responsi- 
bility in New Orleans, making many frieniLs both 
in social and business circles during his star in 






^ 



-^ 







that city. In 1861, going to Memphis, Tenn., he 
enlisted in the Confederate service, where he re- 
mained for one year and then commenced steam- 
boating on the Mississippi River, following this 
business until the Federals gained control of the 
river. In 1868 he came to St. Francis County, 
Ark., and embarked in the manufacture of staves. 
Two years later he settled his present farm, 
which is well improved and gives evidence of 
thrift and prosperity. Mr. Skinner is a believer in 
the Christian Church, and in his political views is 
a Democrat. He is liberal in his support to all 
worthy enterprises, and a man generally esteemed 
by the entire community. His ancestors came 
from Ireland, having emigrated to America pre- 
vious to the Revolution, in which conflict his 
grandfather was a gallant soldier. 

Stephen F. Snowden was born in Gibson 
County, Tenn., in 1844. His father and mother 
immigrated from North Carolina at an early day 
and when he was about two years old the father 
died. At the age of ten years his mother moved 
to Memphis, Tenn., where she still resides. Ste- 
phen's first work in Memphis was in a butcher 
shop, where he remained aboiit three years. He 
then went on the Mississippi River as cabin boy, 
continuing for some time in this and other capaci- 
ties, or, till about 1863, when he entered the employ 
of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad as brakes- 
man. He remained at this business about one 
year. In 1864 Mr. Snowden farmed and cut 
cord wood on Island Forty in the Mississippi River 
eighteen miles above Memphis. In 1865-66-67 
he was employed on a tug plying the Missis- 
sippi River above and below Memphis. His last 
work on the water was acting as mate on a steamer 
running up and down White and Black Rivers in 
1868. On the second day of March, 1869, he 
landed in St. Francis County, Ark., where he still 
resides. He has been occupied in farming since 
his arrival and now owns 250 acres of land, seventy 
acres of which are in a high state of cultivation. 
W. Snowden' s father dying when he was quite 
young and leaving his mother in indigent circum- 
stances caused him to be raised without any edu- 
cation. Consequently he had to depend on mother 



wit alone, but to his credit be it said he is in better 
circumstances than many who have had the advan- 
tage of a good schooling. Mr. Snowden was mar- 
ried in 1871 to Miss Temperance M. Claiborn. 
daughter of Thomas and Laiira A. Claiborn. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Snowden have been born four 
children: Johnie (born May 18, 1873, and died 
October 6, 1875), Vital (born January 1, 1876), 
Delia (born August 14, 1878) and Mildred (born 
November 2, 1882). Mr. Snowden is a Democrat 
of the first water, and with his wife belongs to the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He is a mem- 
ber in high standing of the Knights of Honor and 
enjoys the respect of all who know him. He is a 
liberal supporter of all worthy objects that indi- 
cate the growth and prosperity of the countiT. 
D. H. Stay ton, M. D. , was born and reared in 
Phillips County, Ark. His father, Thomas N. 
Stayton, made his advent into the world in Dela- 
ware, in 1809, and landed in Arkansas on Febru- 
ary 14, 1829, settling in Helena, which was at that 
time only a village numbering but seven families. 
Mr. Stayton painted the first house in that present 
city. His father, Hill D. Stayton, was employed 
as State surveyor at the time, and helped to lay out 
the section lines of those counties. Pioneers of 
such early days depended largely on their rifles for 
subsistence, as the farms were small and not cleared, 
but their children are the large land owners and 
prosperous farmers of the present. Mr. Stayton 
was maiTied after coming to Arkansas to Miss 
Easter Harris, a daughter of AVilliam R. Harris, 
who moved to this State in 1833. They were the 
parents of five children, three of whom are still liv- 
ing: John W. (a lawyer of Jackson County and at 
one time judge of the court), Ruth (now the wife 
of Dr. Hearing, of Brinkley, Ark.) and D. H. (the 
subject of this sketch). The latter was boi'n on 
September 13, 1837, being reared on the farm in 
Phillips County. His first absence from home was 
to attend the University of Louisville (Ky.) Medi- 
cal Department. After taking his first course he 
served four years as assistant surgeon in the Con- 
federate army. At the close of the war he prac- 
ticed in Lee County until 1870, when he returned 
to the University and completed his course, which 



hostilities had interfered with, and graduated in 
the spring of 1871, afterward resiiming his prac- 
tice at his old homo. In 1887 he came to and 
located in St. Francis County, at Palestine, where 
he has since been engaged in attending to the pros- 
ecution of his chosen profession, his practice being 
large and steadily increasing. Dr. Stayton was 
married May 9, 1862, to Mrs. Caroline Bowden 
{nee Lockart), a daughter of Thomas Lockart, of 
North Carolina. They have a family of three chil- 
dren: David H. (who is married and lives near 
Palestine), Thomas L. and Lelia C. Dr. Stayton 
was once president of the board of medical exam- 
iners of Lee County, and is medical examiner of 
the Royal Arcanum; he is also a member of the 
United States board of pension examining sur- 
geons for this locality, and examiner of the K. of 
H. and of the K. & L. of H. Besides being a mem- 
ber of the three lodges named he belongs to the 
Masonic order, in which he has occupied all of the 
positions of honor. He is a Democrat in politics, 
and he and his wife are members of the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church. He is now lord mayor 
of the incorporated town of Palestine, Ark. 

Capt. J. G. Stern's first trip south was an un- 
welcome one, but he remained for some time, 
boarding at Libby Prison and Belle-Isle. After 
his exchange he was again taken prisoner at the 
siege of Petersburg. Preferring death to that of 
prison life, he took the desperate chances and left 
his captors on the field of battle; this being done 
in daylight on the run. He was given a parting 
salute by a volley of musketry. The patriotic 
enthusiasm with which it was given was shown by 
a bullet hole through his equipage and one through 
his coat. Although given such a hearty farewell 
he stopped not until ho reached his regiment, the 
Eighty-fourth Pennsylvania Infantry. He partic- 
ipated in a number of l)attles, among the princi- 
pal ones were Fredericksburg, Chancel lorsville. 
Wilderness, Appomattox Court House, through the 
siege of Petersburg, and was present at the sur- 
render of Gen. Lee. He was born April 17, 1844, 
in the State of Pennsylvania. At the close of 
the war he followed his jiarents to the State of 
Illinois, where he completed his education, which 



was very limited u]) to that time. During the 
latter years of his residence in that State he was 
employed in teaching school. In 1872 he went 
south a second time and located in Arkansaw, 
Phillips County, at the mouth of St. Francis 
River, where he worked as a laborer in a saw- mill. 
He soon engaged in business on his own account, 
getting out logs and staves. A few years later he 
accepted a position as agent for the Helena Lum- 
ber Company, and purchased a half interest in a 
boat running on the St. Francis and Mississippi 
Rivers, of which he was captain and pilot. Sell- 
ing out his interest in the boat about seven years 
ago, he came to Madison, where he is now en- 
gaged in the timber and shingle business. He 
leased a shingle-mill about five years ago with 
a capacity of from 8,000,000 to 10,000,000 shingles 
per year. He owns a number of thousand of 
acres of timber land, located near his mill and to 
which he is connected by a tramway, operated by 
steam-power and leading into the woods for several 
miles. His parents are both living in the State of 
Illinois, his father at the age of seventy-one, and 
his mother one year younger. They were the 
parents of nine children, six of whom are living. 
James M. Stewart, of the representative firm of 
Stewart & Taylor, abstract, loan and general iu.sur- 
ance agents of Forrest City, was born at CoUier- 
ville, in Shell)y County, Tenn. , in 1842. In 1 859 he 
came to Arkansas, locating at the old county seat of 
Madison, in St. Francis County, where for two years 
he was engaged as clerk and book-keeper by an es- 
tablishment at that point. When the war between 
the States was declared he went to Kentucky to 
join the cavalry service, but the delicate condition 
of his health caused him to be rejected, much to 
his chagrin. Giving his supplies to a companion 
who had been more fortunate in being accepted, he 
returned to Arkansas and joined the Fifth Arkan- 
sas (Hart's) Regiment as a private of Company A; 
he was afterward adjtitant of his regiment, and at 
the close of the war was commanding Company A, 
in the Trans-Mississippi Department. He served 
for four years, and participated in all the princi- 
pal engagements of the State. When peace had 
been declared Mr. Stewart accepted a position of 



:A 



494 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



trnst with a firm at Memphis, Tena. , where he re 
mained until 1868, leaving at that time to return 
to St. Francis County to till a position as clerk 
and book-keeper. In 1879 he was elected clerk of 
the circuit court, in which capacity he served for 
four consecutive terms, in a manner eliciting the 
satisfaction and admiration of all concerned. Mr. 
Stewart then ceased to be an aspirant for office, 
and at that time was more popular with the people 
of the county than he had ever been before. By 
this prudent and all-wise step he still remains one 
of the most esteemed and influential men in the 
community. Soon after leaving the clerk's office 
he, in company with Mr. Taylor, formed the jires- 
ent real- estate firm, which is one of the most widely 
known and substantial establishments of this branch 
of business in this section of the State, they own- 
ing over 10,000 acres of valuable land. In socie- 
ties Mr. Stewart is identified with the F. & A. M., 
K. T., K. of H. and K. & L. of H. Washington 
G. and Sarah W. (Griggs) Stewart, his parents, 
were natives of South Carolina and Tennessee, re- 
spectively, he being the fourth of a family of nine 
children born to their union. Washington Stew- 
art was a millwright by trade, and enjoyed an ex- 
tensive business in Tennessee and Mississippi. He 
executed a greater part of the work on the plank 
road out of Memphis, Tenn. , through Mississippi, 
on Big Creek Plank Road, and many other public 
highways. He was a man of jarominence and in- 
fluence, and was one of the first mayors of Madi- 
son, the old county seat of St. Francis County. 
He died in 1868. J. M. Stewart was married, in 
1866, to Miss Ollie E. Colson, of Paducah, Ky., 
and by her became the father of three children: 
James H. , Elbert and Mary E. Mr. Stewart, be- 
sides his other interests, is a stockholder in and 
one of the incorporators of the Forrest City Hotel 
Company. He was elected secretary of that com- 
pany at its organization, serving as such until 
forced by ill health to vacate in the winter of 1888. 
He is also a stockholder in and one of the original 
incorporators of the Bank of Eastern Arkansas, 
located at Forrest City. A member of the city 
council of the town of Forrest City and chairman 
of the finance committee, he was also twice elected 



a member of the school board of the special school 
district of Forrest City, and as such took an active 
interest in educational affairs. He served as Mas- 
ter of the Masonic Lodge here several terms and 
was Grand Marshal of the .Grand Lodge of this 
State, also Dictator of the Lodge of K. of H. at 
same place, several consecutive terms. 

J. E. Stone, M. D. , has reached an eminence 
in his profession which renders his name almost 
a household word throughout Forrest Citj', and the 
surrounding locality. He received his literary ed- 
ucation in Tennessee, and commenced the study 
of medicine under a tutor in Arkansas, afterward 
entering the Missouri Medical College (known then 
as the old McDowell College, and situated in St. 
Louis), where he was graduated with honors. 
Entering the Confederate army in May, 1861, in 
Company B, First Arkansas Mounted Rifles, he 
served over four years, participating in the battles 
of Oak Hill (where he was severely wounded) and 
Pea Ridge, and was then transferred across to the 
Army of Tennessee, just after the battle of Corinth. 
He also took an active part at Jackson (Miss.), 
Chickamauga, Duggers' Gap, New Hope Church, 
Atlanta, Jonesboro, Franklin, and several other 
engagements of minor importance. After the war 
Dr. Stone located in Van Buren County, Ark., 
where he actively followed the practice of his 
chosen profession for five years, then going to 
Memphis, and thence to Walnut Bend, Ark. In 
1883 he came to Forrest City, and still enjoys an 
extensive patronage, besides a large livery busi- 
ness, also owning considerable land, both here and 
in Lee County. He is one of Forrest City's most 
enterprising and influential citizens, and has done 
much in his own peculiar way toward the present 
advancement and prosperity of the place. The 
Doctor has been twice married, his first union oc- 
curring in Tennessee, and the second in Arkansas. 
He was born in Virginia in 1839, and is the son of 
M. G. and Martha (Stovall) Stone, also originally 
from the Old Dominion. Dr. Stone is a member 
in high standing of the various Masonic lodges of 
this place. 

Capt. J. W. Stout enlisted in the Rebel army, 
in 1862, in the First Battalion, Arkansas Cavalry, 



"^i 



'y 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



495 



Gen. Price commanding. He was captured at tlie 
battle of Big Black Bridge, Miss., May 17, 1803, 
and sent to military prison on Johnson's Island, 
in Lake Erie, where he was kept till February, 
1865. After the collapse of the Confederacy, he 
returned to his family, and subsequently removed 
to Cross County, Ark., remaining there till 1871. 
Coming to St. Francis County, he purchased a 
home of 200 acres of land, and has since followed 
farming regularly and successfully, also serving 
the public as a mill and gin proprietor. Capt. 
Stout was born in McMinn County, E. Tenn., 
in 1829, and is of German descent, being a son of 
Daniel and Elisabeth Stout. His father was born 
in Virginia, and his mother in Kentuckj'. Her 
maiden name was Franklin. The senior Stout 
was a professional school-teacher in McMinn Coun- 
ty, E. Tenn. , for a series of years, and taught ten 
years in succession in the same academy. J. W. 's 
boyhood was spent in Teunessee, in attending 
school, and in 1851 he moved with his father to 
Walker County, Ga. , following farming for about 
one year. Then he was engaged as salesman with 
Parham & Lee, in the mercantile business, till 
December, 185-1:. He was married December 26, 
to Mi's. Elizabeth B. Brooks, daughter of Benjamin 
C. Hardin, who had one daughter. They have 
had nine children born to them, four of whom are 
dead, three sons and one daughter. Five children 
are living, two sous and three daughters: Minnie 
(the wife of Rev. W. W. Heudrix), Hollace W., 
Flora (wife of Dr. A. A. Berry), Thomas J. and 
Ophelia. Georgie A. , the daughter of Mrs. Stout, 
is the wife of A. C. Shaver. Capt. Stout and 
wife, and all the children are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He also be- 
longs to the Masonic order and the Knights of 
Honor. His wife is a member of the K. & L. of 
H. He is Democratic politically. 

George P. Taylor enjoys the friendship of, per- 
haps, a larger number of personal acquaintances 
than any man in Eastern Arkansas. Of magnifi- 
cent physical proportions, standing over six feet 
high and weighing above 195 poimds, he attracts 
attention in any gathering. He was born in 
Cooper County, Mo., October 13, 1850, and traces 

31 



his ancestry back four generations to John Taylor, 
of Scotch and Irish descent, who was the founder 
of that branch of the family on this side of the 
continent. He came to America before the great 
"Stamp Act" and " Boston Tea Party" occurred, 
and settled among the colonists of South Carolina. 
He was loyal to the country of his adoption when 
the great conflict began which announced the 
birth of the greatest nation on the face of the 
globe, and gave one of his sons to the cause of 
freedom. Early in the history of Kentucky John 
Taylor emigrated to this new territory, and here 
was born and reared his son, upon whom was con- 
ferred the family name of John. Ho grew to 
manhood in a locality even then thinly settled, but 
being lured by the tales of the new region across 
the Mississippi, followed the train of emigrants 
we.stward, and among the prominent names in the 
early history of Cooper County, Mo. , appears that 
of John Taylor. He was there married to Miss 
Cochrell. After remaining in that county until 
the breaking out of the war he moved to St. 
Louis. George P. Taylor spent his early life in 
his native State, and attended school at Boonville, 
conducted by the renowned Dr. Kemper. He was 
fourteen years of age when his father removed to 
St. Louis, and in 1867 removed to Arkansas, set- 
tling in Lee County, on a plantation, where he re- 
mained until 1873. Then he came to Forrest City 
and died here in 1879 of yellow fever, his wife 
preceding him about one year. George P. Taylor 
located as a citizen of St. Francis County in 1870, 
where he was engaged in farming, being married in 
February, 1873, to Miss Alice Koonce, a native of 
this county. She is the mother of six children: 
Edgar P., Walter R., Alva J., Alice N., Nannie 
and George P. , Jr. In 1874, after the reconetruc- 
tion act, Mr. Taylor was elected representative 
from St. Francis County, though at that time only 
twenty-four years of age; he was re-elected in 
1878, and in 1880 was appointed county collector. 
In 1880 he entered into the real estate business at 
Forrest City. In 1885 the "Forrest City Manu- 
facturing Company" was formed, with Mr. Tay- 
lor as president, but a $5,000 fire shortly after 
caused the dissolution of the company. In 1884-85 



LL^ 



496 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



lie formed a partnersliip with Hatcher & Mann in 
the mercantile business, this remainino; for two 
years. December, 1886, he was associated with 
James M. Stewart, as real-estate agents and 
brokers, then the only firm of the kind in the 
county. He is one of the organizers and is secre- 
tary of the Forrest City Hotel Company, a corpo- 
ration with a capital stock of 824,000, and is also 
a stockholder and director of the Bank of Eastern 
Arkansas, located at Forrest City, which has a capi- 
tal stock of $50,000. Both enterprises yield good 
returns, and their stock is quoted above par. Mr. 
Taylor also owns several large plantations in this 
county, and is conceded to be one of its most 
prominent citizens, especially having the esteem 
and confidence of the Democracy of this locality, as 
is shown by the fact that for eight consecutive years 
he has been chairman of the County Central Com- 
mittee, and was a delegate to the National Demo- 
cratic Convention of 1888. He was also a delegate 
to the National Farmers' Congress, held at Mont- 
gomery, Ala., in November, 1889. Mr. Taylor is a 
member of the Masonic order, in which he holds 
the ofiice of Master, also belonging to the order of 
Knights of Pythias. Besides these he is a member 
of the I. O. O. F. , and of the Knights and Ladies 
of Honor. Mrs. Taylor is a member of the Baptist 
Church. Their home in Forrest City is one of the 
finest here, elegantly furnished, and contains one 
of the largest and best-selected libraries in the 
county, embracing the leading authors in poetry, 
science, history and fiction. 

Thomas L. Taylor, a prominent planter of St. 
Francis County, is a native of Missouri, and a son 
of John and Mary Elizabeth (Cockrell) Taylor, 
originally from Virginia. John Taylor and wife 
came to Arkansas in 1866, whore he engaged in 
farming (in this county), during his life. Thomas 
L. received a good education at the public schools 
of this township, and later attended college in Clay 
County, Mo. , supplementing this by an attendance 
at the Kemper School of Boonville. He left this 
institution in the fall of 1861 to join the Confed- 
erate army, in which he served until taken prison- 
er in 1863, being confined eight months, after 
which he was paroled. His health having suffered 



by close confinement he went to California, but 
returned in 1866 by wagon train, as the cholera 
which was prevalent along the rivers prevented a 
passage by boat. Mr. Taylor was married in August, 
1874, in Shelby County, Tenn., to Miss Sallie A. 
Jarman, but she lived only a few months. He owns 
a fine farm of 120 acres, with a large part of it un- 
der cultivation, having good improvements, etc. 
He is a prominent Democrat of the Jeffersonian 
type. 

E. L. Vadakin, the popular editor of the For- 
rest City Times, owes his nativity to the State of 
Illinois, having first seen the light of day near the 
little town of Sullivan in 1864, as the son of H. F. 
and A. (Clements) Vadakin. H. F. Vadakin was 
born in Vermont, but when quite young immigrated 
to Illinois, settling near SiUlivan, where he became 
well known to the citizens for many miles around 
as an efficient and courteous druggist. His business 
was of many years' standing, and his death in 1888 
was sincerely mourned, both by his personal friends 
and those who knew him through reputation. Mrs. 
Vadakin died when E. L. was a little child. At 
the age of fourteen, the subject of this sketch en- 
tered a printing office and there laid the founda- 
tion of his future career. After a few months his 
brother-in-law purchased the paper, which was lo- 
cated at Stewardson, 111., but soon sold it. Mr. 
Vadakin remained with the successor, receiving 
$10 per month for his services. His next move was 
to Tower Hill, 111., where, as no other employment 
presented itself, he worked for three months on a 
farm. About this time a campaign paper was started 
in the town, and afforded work for our subject for 
some time, but unfortunately it was short-lived, 
and as it sunk into obscurity, the editor also failed 
to materialize, having neglected to give Mr. Vada- 
kin any compensation for his labor. The latter, as 
might be supposed, found himself in rather straight- 
ened circiimstances, but at this juncture, a railroad 
advertising agent stopped in the village, and taking 
a fancy to Mr. Vadakin, induced him to accompany 
him to Cincinnati, Ohio, promising to use his ut- 
most endeavors to secure for him a good position 
in some one of the printing offices of that city. 
This he was unable to do, but he did furnish 



^y 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



497 



him a home for some time. Eeager to become self- 
reliant, and not dependoiit on the bounty of his 
friends. Mr. Vadakin returned to his old home in 
Illinois, and accepted the position in one of the 
printing offices for the sum of 12 per week, and 
board. An uncle, who was a member of the Union 
Printing Company at Little Rock, then came to his 
assistance, and secured him work in an office in 
that city, where he remained for three years. At 
one time, while serving his apprenticeship, he had 
charge of the Union Job Office at Little Rock. 
Though his promotion was gradual, it was none 
the less sure, and he is to-day one of the expert 
printers in Arkansas. After working on the Demo- 
crat, at Lcftioke, Ark., for some time, the propri- 
etor purchased the Times at Forrest City, appoint- 
ing Mr. Vadakin the manager, he to receive half of 
the net profits. The paper had almost died out, 
having become exceedingly unpopular from the 
effects of a newspaper controversy, but Mr. Vada- 
kin brought it to the front, and it is now one of the 
best county papers in the State, besides being the 
leading publication of St. Francis County. In May, 
1886, Mr. Vadakin was united in marriage with 
Miss Lillie B. Landvoigh, and to their imion one 
child has lieen born, Dora Annette. Mr. Vadakin 
and his father-in-law bought the Times, and own it 
in partnership. He is a member of the Episcopal 
Church, and in politics a Democrat. 

Claude H. Vann, editor and proprietor of the 
Forrest City Register, was born in Cross County, 
Ark., April 17, 1871, being the son of J. M. and 
Ida H. (Hare) Vann, well-known and highly es- 
teemed residents of Cross County. Claude H. 
received his education in the schools of the county, 
and served an apprenticeship to the newspaper 
business in the office of the Cross County Chronicle. 
Having proved an able assistant in the office, at 
the expiration of his time he was given an oppor- 
tunity to remain, but as better inducements were 
offered him by the Morrill Bros. Printing Com- 
pany of New York as a traveling salesman, he 
accepted that position, and demonstrated his abil- 
ity as a commercial traveler, being considered a 
valuable acquisition to the force of that house. He 
subsequently was occupied as solicitor of the Forrest 



City Times, and in September of 1889 purchased 
the Register of that city. It had become consid- 
erably run down at the time he took it in hand, 
but though only a few months have intervened 
sinc(* then, he is making rapid strides in its up- 
building, and success is the sure future of his 
earnest endeavors. Mr. Vann is a young man, 
eighteen years of age, and only recently located at 
Forrest City, biit the prominence he has attained, 
the esteem in which he is held, and his position in 
business and social circles, concede him to be a 
prominent factor in the county. 

' ' Philip Van Patten, M. D. " So reads the sign 
that noisily swings to and fro on its rusty hinges, 
attracting the passers-by on one of the principal 
streets of Forrest City. The busy little notice is 
given only a momentary thought liv its many read- 
ers, but the reputation of him whom it represents, 
an efficient and popular physician, will survive him 
many years. Born in Schenectady County, N. Y., 
in 1827, Dr. Van Patten's boyhood days were 
passed in carving his name in wonderful designs 
on his desk and making pictures, much to the de- 
light of his schoolmates, but aside from all his fun, 
he was a good scholar, and won the approbation 
and affection of his teachers. When only thirteen 
years old he was deprived of his father's love and 
protection, death claiming him while on business 
in Michigan. Philip then moved with his mother 
to Iowa, the mother afterward going to Denver, 
Colo., where she passed away in 1885, at the age 
of eighty-six years. His literary education was 
received in Iowa, he taking a classical course, under 
the able instruction of Father Pelamargues, a 
Catholic priest, of Paris, France. His studies ex- 
tended to a course in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, 
the former being so thoroughly instilled in his 
mind, that he read Cfesar some four years ago 
without consulting his Lexicon but six times. He 
made it a rule to regularly demonstrate a certain 
number of mathematical problems every morning, 
and now devotes a half hour daily to the study 
of classics. Entering the Medical University of 
Iowa when twentj'-one, he graduated with honors 
in 1853, and first announced himself competent to 
alleviate the sufferings to whicli Hesh is heir, in 



498 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



DeAVitt, Iowa, where he practiced for one year iu 
association with Dr. Asa Morgan. During the year 
1861 he choose for the partner of his joys and sor- 
rows the daughter of Col. John Miller, of Bates- 
ville, Ark. , father of the late Gov. Miller. One 
child, Hattie L., born to Dr. and Mrs. Van Patten 
alone survives. She is now a student of art in 
Memphis, Tenn. During the war between the 
States, Dr. Van Patten was surgeon of the Thir- 
teenth Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, Col. Tappen 
in command. He was afterward promoted to bri- 
gade-surgeon, and subsequently to the position of 
division surgeon. For a short period he served as 
brigade-surgeon for Old Frank Cheatam, and was 
for two years in the Trans-Mississijjpi Department, 
under Gen. L. Polk, in Tennessee, Kentucky, Mis- 
souri and Mississippi, also being sui'geon of Fort 
Pillow, in 1861. He was present at the battle of 
Shiloh, and was made division-surgeon by Gen. 
Polk on the battlefield, in the presence of Albert 
Sidney Johnston and Beauregard. He was obliged 
to resign before the war closed, on account of 
nervous prostration. In 1858 Dr. Van Patten was 
elected to the State senate, but was kept out of the 
oiSce by fraud, perpetrated in the clerk's office in 
Poinsett County. In 1860 he was elected county 
representative from Poinsett County, and after- 
ward State senator of the Thirteenth district. He 
was also acting surgeon of the United States army, 
of the Sixteenth United States Infantry, at Little 
Rock for a short time. Upon the close of hostili- 
ties he resumed his practice in his old county, and 
then went to Little Rock, where he acted as secre- 
tary of the board of health, and was also phj'sician 
and surgeon for the State penitentiary. In Feb- 
ruary of 1885, the Doctor came to Forrest City, 
and formed a partnership with Dr. J. B. Cum- 
mings. He has been United States pension agent 
and president of the board of health here for two 
years. In societies he is associated with the A. 
F. & A. M. and the K. & L. of H. A genial com- 
panion, the essential characteristics of Dr. Van 
Patten as a gentleman and scholar mark his de- 
meanor, and his numerous noble acts, though per- 
haps a trifle philanthropic in his way, only serve 
to endear him in the heart of his many friends and 



acquaintances. When on the battlefield, with 
men more experienced and older in years, he was 
heard to remark to one of them, that he felt more 
like a son to a father, than a superior officer to his 
subjects. His father's (John P. Van Patten) im- 
mediate ancestors came direct from Holland and 
s(>ttled on Manhattan Island. The paternal grand- 
father and maternal grandfather were private sol- 
diers under George Washington in the Revolu- 
tionary War. A grand uncle was a colonel, and 
took charge of the prisoners at the surrender of 
Burgoyne. Dr. Van Patten' s children have inherited 
his own studious propensities, and have been en- 
dowed by nature with unusual capabilities. Eva 
Lillian graduated in higher mathematics at the 
age of fourteen years, under Prof. D. L. Thomp- 
son, of Wittsburg, the course extending through 
Calculus. After thus having her reasoning powers 
developed far beyond the height attained by 
even some of the most brilliant women of our 
country, in order to give her that proficiency 
in language, literature and the fine arts, which 
she had already attained in mathematics, and 
understanding that a harmonious development 
of all the faculties is requisite to attain perfect 
personal and intellectual culture. Dr. Van Patten 
wisely sent her to Notre Dame, Ind. , to the female 
school there, made famous the world over by the 
Sisters of Mercy. After having well improved the 
opportunities afforded her she again returned to 
her home an even more devoted student than be- 
fore. During her leisure hours she was found 
poring over the works of Tyndall, Huxley and 
Darwin, drinking in the many good things in their 
writings and criticising contradictory statements 
appearing on different pages. In mathematics, 
literature, language, art and every other branch, 
her mind searched eagerly for knowledge, and she 
daily meditated on many of the great questions 
which have from remote ages vexed and perplexed 
the minds of our greatest thinkers. She was the 
constant companion of her father, and with him 
discussed all questions. Her greatness of heart 
was unlimited, and she had charity for the faults 
of all. Such women are priceless gems, but her 
physical constitution could not stand the draft on 



~»1V 







^2'^'t^ C/ a^Z^^t^^.i.^<^ 



Forrest City, Arkansas. 



-A S> 



ST. FEANCIS COUNTY. 



501 



her intellect, and paralysis of the brain caused her 
death. Such an affliction is certainly to be la- 
mented by more than her family, and it is to be 
hoped her young soul, freed from its incumbrance 
of clay, can see, without effort into all the myste- 
ries she was continually investigating here. Hat- 
tie L. , now the wife of Eugene Parrish, of Para- 
gould, Ark., was on the point of graduating from 
Notre Dame, when the breaking out of diphtheria 
caused her sudden retiu'n home, and prevented her 
receiving a diploma. Her paintings and her 
music show the toiich of an artist. She paints 
from nature with absolute perfection, and her por- 
trait gems, which have been examined by many, 
are pronounced worthy of an artist of national rep- 
utation. She is an excellent English scholar, and 
proficient in Latin, French and German. She was 
married November 2, 1889. 

Wade Webb, a farmer by occujaation, owes his 
nativity to the State of North Carolina, his birth 
occurring in Edgecombe County in 1841. John 
and Esther Webb, his parents, were natives of the 
same State. The ancestors came from England 
before the Revolutionary War, settling near Jones 
River in Virginia. Wade Webb passed his youth- 
ful days in the schools of North Carolina, and 
iipon coming to St. Francis County, Ark., in 
1853, began farming. He now owns 200 acres, 
with 120 under a successful state of cultivation. 
He was married in July, 1860, to Matilda V., 
daughter of Absalom and Matilda Barker, and to 
their union seven children were given, five living: 
John Lee, Remington P., Willie W., James R. 
and Elbert. Mi-. Webb enlisted during the war 
in the Confederate army, in Company B of the 
Fifth Arkansas Regiment, serving until the final 
surrender. He participated in the battles of Mur- 
freesboro, Jonesboro, Stone River, Perryville, 
Missionary Ridge and Cumberland Gap. At the 
battle of Mnrfreesboro he received a severe wound. 
Mr. Webb is an enterprising, energetic farmer and 
citizen, and contributes liberally to those move- 
ments which betoken the good or growth of the 
county. 

John M. Widener first saw the light of day 
May 25, 1834, in a farm house situated in the 



wilds of St. Francis County. He grew to man- 
hood in that locality with no companions save his 
brothers and sisters, and without the advantages 
of schools and churches which his children now 
enjoy. After remaining in this county until 1802, 
he went to Shelby County, Tenn. , but throe years 
later moved to Saline County, El., returning home 
in about a year. Mr. Widener owns, at this time, 
some eighty acres of land on the St. Francis River 
bottoms, and in connection with farming is success- 
fully engaged in stock raising and in the timber 
business, his earnest efforts and industry having 
yielded substantial returns. His father, Samuel 
Widener, was born in North Carolina, in 1798, 
and lived there for a number of years, then re- 
moving to Alabama, where he remained for a 
short time. His home was Tennessee for a while, 
from which State he came to Arkansas, settling in 
the wilderness of St. Francis County. Here he 
resided until his death, which occurred in 1842. 
His wife, Margaret (Evans) Widener, died in 
1838, leaving a family of ten children, John M. , 
our subject being the only one living. The latter 
has been twice married; first, in 1858, to Miss 
Lavina Land, a native of this State, who died in 
1877, leaving four children, two of these survive: 
Mary J. (wife of Samuel A. Mead, a farmer of St. 
Francis County) and Samuel A. (living at home). 
Mr. Widener was married the second time, in 
June, 1885, to Mrs. Mary McGuffey, daughter of 
John Halbert, of Missoiu-i birth. Mr. and AIi-s. 
Widener are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, in which they take an active part, 
Mr. AVidener being steward. He is of German 
descent, and a prominent Democrat, and a leading 
citizen of this county. 

N. G. Williams is a descendant of a Revolu- 
tionary hero, and it was only natural that his pa- 
triotism should demon.strate itself at the outburst 
of civil strife in 1801. His paternal grandfather 
was one of the early settlers of North Carolina, and 
a soldier in the War of the Revolution, serving un- 
der Gen. Greene. His parents, Hardin and Mar- 
tha (Tanner) Williams, were both natives of Ten- 
nessee, and had a family of three children, two of 
whom are living: Jane A. (widow of Samuel I. 



502 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Sutton, of Phillips County) and N. G. The latter 
was born in Maury County, Tenn., on April 27, 
1832. He spent his boyhood on the old home 
farm in that State, receiving a good education in 
the common schools of his county, after which he 
attended the University at Lebanon, Tenn. Two 
years before becoming of age he commenced farm- 
ing for himself in Maury County, and in November, 
1855, moved to Arkansas, locating in St. Francis 
County, where he was engaged in tilling the soil 
on the St. Francis River bottom lands, until the 
breaking out of the war. Then he entered the 
Confederate forces in the Fifth Arkansas Infantry, 
but was in only a few engagements, as he held the 
office of commissary of his regiment. After peace 
was declared he settled down to farming again at 
Taylor's Creek, and in 1883 opened up a stock of 
merchandise, since which time he has carried on 
the mercantile business in connection with farm- 
ing. His stock of goods will invoice about $1,500, 
and he enjoys a good trade. Mr. Williams was 
married in 1854 to Mary Lee Wortham, who died 
thirteen years later, leaving one son, Lawrence E. 
He was married to his second wife, Martha H. Mos- 
ley, in 1869. They are the parents of three chil- 
dren: M. E. Williams, N. G. and M. J., all at 
home. Mr. Williams now owns 500 acres of land, 
with 131 acres under cultivation. Hia life illus- 
trates what pluck and energy can accomplish in 
connection with good common sense, for success is 
bound to follow persistent effort. 

R. J. Williams, attorney at law of Forrest 
City, made his first appeal for his rights in Win- 
chester, Tenn., September 23, 1848. His literary 
education was received in the schools of that State, 
and afterward he entered one of the prominent 
universities of the South, commencing the study of 
Blackstone under the efficient tutelage of Walker J. 
Brooks, of South Carolina, in the class of 1869-70. 
Finally he graduated from a law school in Virginia, 
and commenced the practice of his chosen pro- 
fession in this place in 1873, having taught school 
for two years after finishing his college career, to 
liquidate the expenses of that course. His client- 
age has gradually increased, and he is, without 
exception, now conceded to be one of the most able 



practitioners of the county. He represented the 
Seventh senatorial district in 1878, and served 
until 1881, with an ability and efficiency that not 
only satisfied his Demociatic constituents, but the 
people at large. Mr. Williams owns some 400 
acres of land, and has the finest residence in For- 
rest City. He was married in Summerville, Tenn. , 
in 1872, to Miss Sallie T. Wainright, and by her is 
the father of two children: Lucy and Addie. 
Mr. Williams is the son of J. W. and Mary (Mc- 
Nabb) Williams, natives of Virginia. The former, 
a mechanic by trade, was for many years estab- 
lished in Winchester. He was judge of Franklin 
County during the civil war, and held a similar po- 
sition for twenty years in Winchester. He is now 
residing in the latter place at the advanced age of 
seventy years. Mrs. Williams died in 1863. She 
and her husband had a family of six children, all 
of them living. Mr. Williams has attained an en- 
viable reputation in his profession, but his jsopn- 
larity does not end there, for he is also a favorite in 
social circles. Cordiality and a pleasant word for 
all are among his many noble attributes, and 
though ready at repartee and jesting, there is no 
occasion to regi'et the word spoken. He is a mem- 
ber of the Blue Lodge of the Masonic order, and 
is High Priest of the Royal Arch Chapter, also be 
longing to Commandery No. 11, K. T. 

Eugene Wilson, proprietor of one of the largest 
bakeries and confectionery establishments in For- 
rest City, was born in St. Francis County, in 1870, 
and is a son of S. C. and Mar}' (Beck) Wilson, also 
residents of that city. Mr. Wilson and his partner, 
John Reno, do a large business in their line, their 
trade amounting to an average of $200 per week. 
The latter is a baker by trade, besides whom they 
also employ an experienced baker to meet the de- 
mands of a large trade, having, in connection with 
the bakery, an ice-cream parlor |that is liberally 
patronized), and the fmest delivery wagon in the 
city. S. C. Wilson was born in Trambiill County, 
Ohio, in 1825, but was reared in Pennsylvania, 
where his parents moved when he was a small boy, 
settling on a farm, on which he worked when not 
attending school until sixteen years of age. At 
that time he was apprenticed to learn the carpen- 



a Xj 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



503 



ter's trade, serving three years in Lowell County, 
Ohio. After familiarizing himself with its varied 
details, he worked two years in New Castle, and 
then went South, locating in Blackhawk, Miss., in 
1846, where he remained about ten years, follow ■ 
ing his adopted calling. Subsequently he was en- 
gaged in the saw-mill business until the war broke 
out, when he joined the Confederate army, serving 
in Stevenford's battery until the close of the war. 
He was captured at the battle Missionary Ridge, 
and taken to a Federal prison, being confined six 
months. He participated in the battles of Mis- 
sionary Ridge, Chickamauga, Murfreesboro, and a 
number of skirmishes. After the war, returning to 
Mississippi, he was employed by J. H. Pait in his 
saw-mill until 1869, at which time he came to 
Arkansas, and located in St. Francis County, about 
three miles north of Forrest City. He erected a 
new saw-mill and operated it in connection with 
a grist-mill, until removing to the city, in 1881, 
since which time he has, been occupied in the mer- 
cantile business, with substantial success. He has 
acquired some property, owning six houses in the 
city, besides other possessions. Mr. and Mrs. Wil- 
son are the parents of three children, all residents 
of this county: Mary E. (wife of William M. Han- 
nah), Charles M. and Eugene (the principal of this 
sketch). S. C. Wilson is the son of Dr. Andrew 
and Mary (Simpson) Wilson. His paternal grand- 
father was of Irish parentage, and his maternal 
grandfather was born and reared in England, 
running away from home when a young man in 
order to marry the girl of bis choice, an Irish lady, 
and a sister of Thomas Nugent, the noted warrior. 
They eloped and came to America, and were mar- 
ried in New York City, after which they settled in 
Pennsylvannia, where he engaged in farming. 
Mrs. Wilson died in March, 1889, and was a prom- 
inent member of the Baptist Church, to which she 
had belonged for over thirty years. Mr. Wilson 
is a prominent resident of Forrest City, and is the 
present deputy United States marshal of this dis- 
trict. He is Grand Master of the I. O. O. I*. 
He is the patentee and inventor of the "patent 
car coupler," of which he is the sole owner. 

H. W. Winthrop, one of the representative cit- 



izens of Forrest City, was born in New England 
(Vermont) in 1S8U, ))eing the son of William and 
Ann (Herrou) Winthrop. • William Winthrop owed 
his nativity to England, and was of English and 
Scotch descent. When quite young he came to 
America, and became prominently identified with 
politics, serving as a member of the legislature, 
and at the date of his death, in his eightieth year, 
was holding the position of county judge, having 
acted in that capacity for twelve years. His wife 
was born in Ireland, but married in Vermont, and 
by her marriage with Mr. Winthrop became the 
mother of live children. She is now living with 
her son, H. W. Winthrop, having passed her 
eighty-eighth birthday. Grandfather Herrou came 
originally from Ireland, and after losing his first 
wife there, emigrated to America about the year 
1800, attaining a place as one of the richest men 
in Vermont. He left seventy-two grandchildren, 
all well-fixed, and the monument erected to his 
memory in Vermont is one of the largest in the 
State. The mother of H. W. (the subject of this . 
sketch) is his daughter by the first wife. H. W. 
Winthrop ran away from home when a boy, but 
was found in Boston and brought back by his 
father. He then concluded that the locality in 
which he was settled did not suit him, so went 
West, and at the date of the war was in Massa- 
chusetts. Joining the Federal arm_v. Company N, 
Fifty-third Massachusetts Regiment, he served 
three years, having been promoted first lieutenant, 
though not commissioned, and he did not go to his 
regiment. Resigning his position he went into the 
sutler's department, and was brigade-sutler over 
the Eleventh New Jersey Cavalry, Second Iowa 
and Third United States, finding himself at the 
close of the war in Memphis, Tenn. He purchased 
a steamboat at that place with the intention of do- 
ing a tradinjj business on the St. Francis River, 
but after making one trip, and landing at Madison, 
this county, he was accosted by familiar faces, who 
inquired if he did not recognize them, and whether 
he was not the man who had captured them, while 
serving in an official capacity during the Civil War. 
Ho fir.st hesitated in replying, but finally admitted 
the soft impeachment, though not without some 



-^kt 



^ 



9 k^ 



^ 



504 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



fear of results. He indeed was the man, and im- 
mediately was at the mercy of several of his former 
prisoners. Long before, when he captured them, 
his men, though all Federal soldiers, had given 
their rations to the Confederates, who were half 
famished, and gone without themselves. The act 
was never forgotten. Mr. Winthrop was enter- 
tained in a royally hospitable manner by his ex- 
Confederate captives, who were gratified in having 
an opportunity to extend favors to one who had so 
nobly rendered them assistance in a time of dis- 
tress. This partly led to his disposing of the boat 
and locating at Madison, where he enterd the gro- 
cery business in the firm of Cole & Prewett, Mr. 
Cole being one of the leading men of the soldiers, 
whom Mr. Winthrop had captured as a rebel. 
From the moment of this second meeting a strong 
friendship grew up between the two, and many 
years of business and social relations have failed 
to sever the bond. Mr. Winthrop again served an 
appointment soon after the war, when he was ap- 
pointed chief clerk of the United States Bureau, 
and has filled many official positions since that 
time. He has been United States assessor of the 
Eastern District of Arkansas, United States col- 
lector of the same district, and collector of St. 
Francis County for six years. In 1872 he was 
elected sherifP of the county, but a change of 
political administration caused him to decline 
the election. He discharged the manifold duties 
of postmaster in a highly commendable manner for 
several years, and was deputy United States mar- 
shal for a long period. His experience as marshal 
would make an interesting volume within itself, as 
his honesty and justice in dealing with men caused 
them to regard him more as a friend than an enemy 
or officer of the law, though he was never derelict 
in duty. Fortune has smiled on Mr. Winthrop in 
a most generous way, he now owning the city 
opera house, erected by himself, and other valuable 
property, exclusive of which he has 8,000 acres of 
very valuable land. His marriage with Miss 
Georgia Johnson has proved a most happy one. 
Two children have blessed their union: Mary and 
Fannie. In societies he is identified with the I. 
O. O. F. and A. F. & A. M. , and in politics is a 



Republican. He is a direct descendant of Gov. 
Winthrop, of Massachusetts. 

Thomas Jefferson Withers came to this county 
with his father at the age of five years, and re- 
mained on the home farm until the father's death, 
which occurred in 1876. He then purchased a 
tract of land and commenced farming for himself, 
also being engaged in teaching school for three 
years. In 1881 Miss Mary E. Ratton became his 
wife. She was a daughter of William Ratton, of 
Kentucky nativity, and is now the mother of one 
son, Clarence W. Mr. Withers was born in Ken- 
tucky, March 26, 1862, as the son of Thomas Up- 
ton Withers, who was engaged in farming in the 
Blue Grass State (Kentucky), and after moving 
here was occupied in furnishing the Mississippi 
steamers with wood. At this calling he was mak- 
ing a good income, until 1858, when, during the 
high water he lost several hundred cords of wood, 
which financially crippled him. He then came to 
St. Francis County, where he resided until his 
death in 1867, at the age of fifty-nine. His wife, 
who was born here, siirvived him eleven years. 
Mr. AVithers owns a farm of 185 acres, of which 
over 100 acres are under cultivation. He is en- 
gaged in stock raising principally, and is one of 
the most successful farmers in Griggs Township, 
although a young man not yet twenty-eight years 
of age. He is also a leading Democrat, and hav- 
ing served three years as justice of the peace, and 
at this time holds the office of school director, and 
supervisor of roads of his township, being a prom- 
inent member of the County Wheel. Mrs. With- 
ers belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. 

O. P. Wolff. In 1848 O. P. Wolff, Sr., and his 
wife, Anne E. (Russell) Wolff, came to Arkansas 
fi'om Philadelphia, their native home, and settled 
on the present site of the town of Colt, which he 
purchased from W. M. Taylor, consisting of 160 
acres, with four acres of it cleared. Mr. Wolff 
improved the rest and bought adjoining lands, and 
in 1870, at the time of his death, was the owner of 
some 600 or 700 acres. Soon after arriving here 
he opened up a stock of general merchandise, and 
as settlements were few and far between he had a 






■4^ 



ST. FRANCIS COUNTY. 



505 



large trade and enjoyed a profitable patronage, 
which he continued for some years after the war. 
The place was then known as Taylor's Creek, by 
which name it was called until 1882, then being 
changed to Colt, after the railroad contractor who 
built the railroad through. Mr. Wolff was twice 
married. By his first im^ion he was the father of 
two children, our subject being the only one living; 
and by his second marriage there were three chil- 
di-en: Fisk B., Cornelia W. and Sallie J. (wife of 
J. H. Hancock, of Wynne). Oscar P. WolfP, the 
subject of this sketch, was born in St. Francis 
County, May 8, 1852, and up to the time of the 
death of his father enjoyed the advantages of be- 
ing able to attend the subscription schools of his 
neighborhood. After the senior Wolff's demise he 
went to Texas and was engaged for the following 
five years as a "cowboy," on the western plains. 
Returning home he entered into farming on the 
old homestead for seven years, but in 1882 was 
employed by Mr. Lesca as book-keeper and clerk. 
In 1883 he was appointed station agent at Colt 
for the Iron Mountain Railroad, which position he 
still holds. November 10, 1880, Mr. Wolff mar- 
ried Mrs. Fannie Giirley. They are the parents 
of two children: Annie E. and Edward P. Mr. 
Wolff is a member of the Knights of Pythias and 
also of the Knights of Honor. He is a Democrat 
in politics, and a well-known citizen of Colt. 

Daniel Wylds, the son of David and Mary 
Wylds, natives of Georgia and Tennessee, respect- 
ively, was born in St. Francis County, Ark., in 
1846. David Wylds, when eighteen years of age, 
enlisted in the War of 1812, serving through the 
entire period as orderly-sergeant of his company. 
About the year 1821 he moved to Arkansas, locat- 
ing in St. Francis County, where he died at the 
age of seventy-four years, and it can be truly said 
that no resident of the county ever passed away 
who was more sincerely mourned than he. A gen- 
ial and courteous gentleman, be was one whom it 
was a pleasure to meet, and bis absence in busi- 
ness and social circles was always regretted. He 
was broad shouldered, well proportioned, with a 
shrewd, kindly face that was more remarkable for 
its intelligence and keenness than for its beauty of 



features. He was a sympathetic listener to the 
sorrows and ills of the poor and needy, and no one 
ever told his tale in vain, or went fi'om his home 
empty-handed. At the time of his removal to Ark- 
ansas it was almost a wilderness, and had not 
then reached the dignity of being a State. He be- 
gan opening a farm, working under difficulties in- 
cident to that period, such as few, if any, of the 
present generation realize. They had to put up 
bear meat in winter to do them through the sum- 
mer. It required a man of nerve and indomitable 
courage to undertake the work that he did, and his 
thrift and perseverance formed a foundation for the 
home of beauty and plenty that Daniel Wylds now 
enjoys. It should be added in this connection, 
however, that the wealth and accumulation of 
property was not all inherited by the son, for he 
began for himself at the ago of twenty years. Pos- 
sessing in a large degree his father's ambition and 
energy, he chose for his profession that most inde- 
pendent of all vocations — farming, and has con- 
tinued it ever since. He has been remarkably 
successful in amassing property, and now owns 
large landed estates of over 1,168 acres, aside 
from being an extensive stock raiser. He is con- 
sidered one of the wealthiest men in the county. 
AVhen seventeen years of age, Mr. Wylds enlisted 
in Company K, Dobbin's regiment, Confederate 
States army, participating in several battles, and 
receiving a wound at the battle of Jefferson City, 
Mo. ; he was taken prisoner to Illinois, remaioiog 
there until March of 1865, when he was exchanged 
at Richmond, Va. , and again captured in April, 
1865, following, then receiving his parole. After 
the war he started for home, but was obliged to 
make more than two- thirds of this distance on foot. 
Mr. Wylds was married in 1872 to Virginia I. 
Thompson, a daughter of William and Mahala J. 
Thompson, natives of Virginia. To their union 
five children were born: Charles A., Wilmoth O. , 
Mary E. (deceased), Daniel T. and Allen G. Mr. 
Wylds' mother, who was a lovely woman, came to 
St. Francis County in 1816, when only eight years 
old, and made it her home until she died, at the 
age of sixty-six, a Christian and philanthropist. 
In politics our subject is a Democrat, and in secret 



V 



506 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



societies is identified with the Knights of Honor. 
In religious faith he is a Presbyterian. Mrs. 
Wjlds is a member of the Baptist Church. He 
has always been a consistent and liberal contrib- 
utor to the cause of religious and educational 



movements, and his private charities are numerous 
and judicious. He has worthily followed in the 
footsteps of his honored father, whose favorite 
text was, ' ' God loves the cheerful giver. ' ' His 
ideas of charity are indeed broad. 




^^ 



^1 



MONROE COUNTY. 



OUT 



Monroe County— Transpoktation Facilities— Taxation, Valuation. Etc.— Bonded Indebtedness— 
Productions— Live Stock— Horticulture— Location— Topography— Variety of Soil- 
Drainage— Streams, Etc.— Timber— Original Occupancy— Pioneer Settlers 
AND First Homes— County Organization — Seat of Justice and 
Public Buildings— List of Officials— Political Aspect 
—Population— Court Affairs — Civil War- 
Towns AND Villages— Schools and 
Churches — Private 
Memoirs. 



«>g 




111 fares the land, to hastening ill a prey, 

Where wealth accumulates and men decay. — Campbell. 



ONROE COUNTY bas 
better shipping facili- 
ties than any other 
^ ' county in the State. 
The St. Louis, Arkansas 
& Texas Railway enters 
it from the north and 
runs thence in a southerly direc- 
tion, bearing a little westward for 
a distance of thirty-two railes, pass- 
ing via Brinkley and Clarendon. 
The Little Rock & Memphis Rail- 
road crosses the northern portion 
of the county, its length therein 
being fifteen miles. The Batesvillo 
& Brinkley Railroad commences at 
Brinkley, and runs in a northerly 
direction to Newport, its length of line here being 
about eight miles. The Arkansas Midland Railroad 
commences at Clarendon and traverses the county 
a distance of seventeen or eighteen miles in the 
direction of Helena, its eastern terminus. The 
Brinkley, Indian Bay & Helena Railroad is com- 




pleted from Brinkley south to Pine City on the 
Arkansas Midland, a distance of twenty- five miles, 
and will have several miles more in the county 
when finished through. There are now nearly 100 
miles of finished railroad within these limits. 
Aside from the shipping facilities by rail, Monroe 
has the advantages of the navigation of White 
River, a mo.st excellent outlet for heavy prodiiots. 
In 1880 the real estate of the county was 
valued for taxation at $830,130, and the personal 
property at $290,012, making a total of §1.13"), ■ 
742; and the total taxes charged thereon for all 
purposes were $30,002. In 1888 the real estate 
was assessed for taxation at $870,407, and the 
personal at$858,254, making a total of ?1, 728. 751. 
This shows that of the real estate the assessed 
valuation was not much increased from 1880 to 
1888, but the value of the personal property 
nearly thribbled, and the aggregate taxable wealth 
increased over fifty-two per cent. The total taxes 
levied in 1888 were 850, 222. o9. With the personal 
property of the latter year, the railroads were 
assessed as follows: St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas, 



^. 



<2 W_ 



508 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



$261,570; the Batesville&Brinkley, 129,505: Lit- 
tle Rock & Memphis, $119,390; the Arkansas Mid- 
land, 163,020, making a total of 8473,485. The 
assessment of the Brinkley, Indian Bay & Helena 
line when completed will add largely' to the value 
of railroad property. The property of the West- 
ern Union Telegraph Company was assessed for 
taxation at $2,600. 

In accordance with a decision of the people, 
expressed at a special election held May 23, 1871, 
the county subscribed 1100,000 to the capital 
stock of the Arkansas Central Railway Company, 
and bonds to that amount were afterward issued. 
This has been a burden to the tax payers of Mon- 
roe County, but the bonds are mostly paid. The 
total indebtedness of the eotinty as shown by re- 
port for the year ending July 6, 1889, was 
$53,800.07, and the assets in the treasury 
amounted to $18,468.81, thus leaving a net in- 
debtedness of 135,331.26. A part of the bonded 
indebtedness is payable by Lee County, a portion 
of that county having been embraced in Monroe 
when the bonds were issued. The Arkansas Cen- 
tral Railway was the former name of the present 
Arkansas Midland. 

In 1880 the census showed Monroe County to 
have 952 farms and 51,238 acres of improved 
lands. The value of the farm products for the 
year 1879 amounted to $783,470, the yield of cer- 
tain products having been as follows: Cotton, 
14,106 bales; Indian corn, 208,607 bushels; oats, 
13,995 bushels; wheat, 200 bushels; orchard pro- 
ducts, $50.20; hay, 511 tons; Irish potatoes, 6,193 
bushels; sweet potatoes, 14,128 bushels; tobacco, 
2,590 pounds. These figures show that cotton 
was then, as now, the staple product, and corn the 
next in order; also, that but very little attention 
was then paid to the growing of wheat. This is 
not surprising, for it is not prudent to try to raise 
wheat in a country not adapted to its cultivation. 
These figures will be interesting to compare with 
the census of 1890, which will show the products 
of the present year, 1889, and the great increase 
over those of 1879. With proper cultivation the 
lands of Monroe County will yield from 1,000 to 
1 , 500 pounds of seed cotton, forty to sixty bushels 



of corn or oats, Irish or sweet potatoes from 200 to 
300 bushels, and turnips 300 bushels j)er acre. 
Wheat may occasionally yield from twelve to fif- 
teen bushels per acre, but it is not a certain crop, 
and would not pay at these figures. Carrots and 
rutabagas, the best of feed for live stock through 
the winter months, would ' ' surprise the natives, ' ' 
if sown, with their abundant yield in the rich allu- 
vial soil. Improved farms can be pui'chased at from 
$10 to $50 per acre, and unimproved lands at from 
$1 to $15 per acre, according to location and 
quality. 

In 1880 the county had the following live 
animals: Horses, 1,459; mules and asses, 1,024; 
cattle, 8,470; sheep, 405; hogs, 13,318. The num- 
ber of these animals in the county as assessed 
for taxation in 1888 were as follows: Horses, 
2,222; mules and asses, 1,464; catfele, 8,345; 
sheep, 708; hogs, 6,749. This shows a large in- 
crease in horses, mules and sheep, and a decrease 
in the number of the other animals, the latter be- 
ing more afiparent than real. To get a more truth- 
ful comparison, compare the figures given here for 
1880, with those of the forthcoming census of 
1890. The raising of live stock for profit has not 
been developed in Monroe County, but certainly 
for this industry its advantages are equal to those 
of any other county in Eastern Arkansas. 

Monroe County can produce all the fruits com- 
mon to its latitude, but not with as good success as 
locations of higher altitudes. The small fruits and 
berries, especially strawberries, do exceedingly 
well. Not much attention is given, however, to 
horticultiire. Cotton is the king which demands 
and receives the principal attention of the farmers 
and business men. 

Monroe County, in East Central Arkansas, is 
bounded on the north by Woodruff and St. Francis 
Counties, east by Lee and Phillips Coiinties, south- 
west and west by Arkansas and Prairie Counties. 
The base line of the public survey of lands runs 
east and west through, or near the center of the 
county, and the fifth principal meridian passes 
through the southeastern portion thereof. The 
greatest distance across the county from east to 
west is twenty-two miles, and from its extreme 






>> 



MONROE COUNTY. 



509 



northern to southern boundary is forty-seven miles. 
It lies partly in the Olst", but mostly in the 
92d° of west longitude. The area of the county 
is 642 square miles or 410,880 acres, of which 
about one-eighth is improved and cultivated. 
Nearly 30,000 acres belong to the State, all of 
which is subject to donation to actual settlers. 
The Little Rock & Memphis Railroad Company 
also owns a large amount. White River touches 
the county at or near the point where the line 
between Ranges 3 and 4 west, crosses the base 
line, and flows thence southeasterly to the southern 
extremity thereof, forming for many miles the 
southwestern boundary. Cache River flows through 
a portion of the northwestern part of the county 
and empties into the White just above Clarendon. 
White River is navigable the year round, and the 
Cache is navigable to points north when the water 
is high. Big Creek flows southeasterly across the 
northeast corner and returns into the county in 
Township 3 south, flowing thence in a south- 
westerly direction to its junction with White 
River in Township 5 south. These streams and 
their tributaries furnish all the drainage for the 
county. The natural surface is generally level, but 
sufficiently undiilating to furnish good drainage. 
At no point is it elevated more than forty feet 
above the water level of White River. Good well 
water, mostly soft, is obtained at an average depth 
of twenty- five feet. 

Nearly all the land of the county is of alluvial 
formation, and, with the exception of about fifteen 
square miles of prairie in the southeastern part, 
they are covered with timbei". The soil is gener- 
ally a dark loam composed of sand, vegetable 
mold, etc., and has a substratum of clay, at a 
depth of from two to three feet. It is very rich 
and productive, and is especially well adapted to 
the raising of cotton, corn, oats, clover, timothy, 
other lame grasses and all kinds of root crops. 
Clover has been introduced and raised to a limited 
extent, but the tame grasses, so essential to suc- 
cessful farming, by way of keeping the soil in good 
condition, have as yet, received but little attention. 

In the eastern part of the county there are 
about 100 square miles covered with excellent pine 



timber; the bottoms along the streams abound with 
cypress, sweet gum, sycamore, elm, etc., the 
cypress being very abundant, and the more ele- 
vated lands are covered with nearly all kinds of 
oak, the white oak being large, thrifty and valuable 
for lumber. A few factories and several saw-mills 
have been established, which are cutting the tim- 
ber, but as yet they have scarcely made an ira 
pression upon the native forests. 

The settlement of the county, or of the terri- 
tory composing it, began soon after the beginning 
of the nineteenth century, and the central and 
southern portion was settled first. Dedrick Pike 
settled in the vicinity where Clarendon now stands, 
about the year 1816, and subsequent j)ioneer set- 
tlers in that neighborhood were: William, John 
A. and N. T. Harvick, brothers, Alfred Mullens, 
Henry C. Toms, Samuel Martin and Col. James 
Harris. Isaiah Walker fi'om Illinois settled about 
the year 1831 on the Walker Cypress, on the 
Helena road, and in October, 1855, John W. Kerr, 
father of B. F. KeiT, now of Clarendon, came 
from Missouri and settled in Jackson Township, 
on the Helena road, being the first settler in that 
vicinity. William J. Edwards, who was one of 
the first settlers in the Indian Bay country in the 
southern part of the county, is still living, and 
over eighty years of age, hale and active, and still 
hunts and traps. Dr. Duncan was the first settler 
of the Duncan Prairie settlement, a few miles 
south, bearing a little east from Clarendon. Other 
pioneer settlers of this neighborhood were Will- 
iam Pride, from Alabama, John Smith, from South 
Carolina, William McBride, also Oliver H. Oates, 
a subsequent secretary of State. Thomas and 
John Pledger, James F. McLaughlin and Henry 
F. Overton, from Alabama, were the first settlers 
of the Pledger settlement, about ten miles south 
of the present town of Brinkley. 

In what is now Montgomery Township, Indian 
Bay country, James R. and Robert Jackson, Robert 
Smalley, Thomas Jackson, Major Johnson, G. W. 
Baldwin, John Carnagee and George Washington 
were the pioneer settlers. The fir.st settlers in the 
vicinity of old Lawrenceville, on Maddox Bay, 
were Thomas Maddox, F. P. Redmond, a large 



510 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



planter who worked from 300 to 400 slaves, Law- 
rence Mayo, Elijah Kiuzie, Simon P. Hughes (since 
Governor), John Simmons, H. W. Hays, James G. 
Gay and Clement C. Clark. The latter recently 
drew $15,000 from the Louisiana Lottery, bnt now 
is deceased. 

The Daniels' settlement, northeast of Clarendon, 
was settled by William Daniels, S. P. Jolly and 
William H. H. Fellows. Capt. Andrew Park and 
his family, consisting of himself and wife and sons 
James, William, M. B., Reuben and Andrew, Jr., 
with three daughters, and H. A. Carter, the latter 
now of Brinkley, came from Mississippi in 1856, 
and settled what it known as the Park settlement, 
about six miles east of Clarendon. Three of the 
sons and all the daughters of this family are living 
now (fall of 1889). David Fancher and Thomas J. 
Brown, from Alabama, were early settlers in this 
neighborhood. Moses Guthrie was the pioneer 
settler in the vicinity of Brinkley. William Munn, 
Alexander White and a Mr. Buchanan were the 
pioneers of the Munn settlement north of Brinkley. 
The large planters began to settle in the county 
early in the fifties. Prior, thereto, the settlement 
was very slow, but little land was cleared and wild 
game had continued almost as plentifiil as it had 
ever been. There is still plenty of game, though 
the deer have become scarce. A few bear linger 
in the cane brakes along White River. 

The county of Monroe was organized under an 
act of the legislature of Arkansas Territory, ap- 
proved November 2, 1829. The first section of the 
act provided: "That all that portion of the coun- 
try bounded and described as follows: Begin- 
ning where the eastern boundary line of Range 1 
east, strikes the boundary line between Phillips 
and Arkansas Counties; thence west on said county 
line to White River; thence up said river to the 
mouth of Rock Roe; thence west to the western 
boundary line of Range 4 west; thence north on 
said range line to the northern boundary line of 
Township 3 north; thence with the St. Francis 
County line to its intersection with the eastern 
boundary line of Range 1 east; thence south with 
said range line to the beginning, be laid off and 
erected into a new county, to be known and called 



by the name of Monroe." The act also provided 
that the temporary seat of justice for the county 
should be at the house of the widow of the late 
Thomas Maddox, until otherwise provided by law. 

By reference to the original boundary lines it 
will be seen that when created, the county con- 
tained territory that has since been cut off and at- 
tached to surrounding counties, thus reducing it 
considerably below its original size. 

The original county seat was located at Law- 
renceville, on Maddox Bay, a point on White 
River several miles below the town of Clarendon, 
and there a small frame court house and a log jail 
were erected. The seat of justice remained at this 
place until 1857, when it was removed to Claren- 
don, where it has ever since remained. Here the 
walls of a brick court house were erected on the 
same foundation on which the present one stands, 
and the building was covered, when the Civil War 
began and stopped its completion. After the Fed- 
eral army took possession of this part of the State, 
the soldiers took the building down and shipped 
the brick up the river to De Vall's Bluff and there 
used them in erecting fire-places and chimneys, 
etc., for their own comfort. Immediately after 
the close of the war a one-story frame court house, 
18x30 feet in size and divided into two rooms, was 
erected on a corner of the public square at Claren- 
don, to be used until a more commodious house 
could be built. It was built by contractors Moses 
D. Cheek and Henry D. Green. 

In February, 1870, the county court appro- 
priated 112,000 for the pui'pose of building a new 
court house, and appointed W. S. Whitley com- 
missioner to let the contract and superintend its 
construction. In July following another thousand 
dollars was appropriated. The house was finished 
in 1872 at a cost to the county of a little over 
$13,000. It is a plain two-story brick structure, 
with a hall and offices on the first floor and court 
room on the second, and stands in the center of the 
public square at Clarendon. On the southeast 
corner of this square stands the county jail, a com- 
mon two-story wooden building. 

Following is a list of the names of the officers 
of Monroe Countv, with dates of service annexed: 



liL 



MONROE COUNTY. 



511 



Judges: William Ingram. 1829-32; James 
Carlton, 1832-36; R. S. Bell, 1836-40; J. B. 
Lambert, 1840-44; D. D. Ewing, 1844-46; Will- 
iam Harvick, 1846-48; J. R. Dye, 1848-50; Will- 
iam Harvick, 1850-52; E. Black, 1852-54; J. G. 
Gray, 1854-56; H. D. Green, 1856-58; W. W. 
Wilkins, 1858-62; P. O. Thweatt, 1862-64; E. 
Black, 1864-65; W. D. Kerr, 1865-68; Peter 
^JoWj, 1868-72; B. F. Lightle, 1874-76; S. P. Jolly, 
^ 1876-80; T. W. Hooper, 1880-84; H. B. Bateman, 
present incumbent, first elected in 1884. 

Clerks: J. C. Montgomery, 1829-32; M. Mitch- 
ell, 1832-33; R. S. Bell, 1833-86; W. B. Ezell, 
1836-38; Philip Costar, 1838-40; R. S. Bell, 
1840-48; H. H. Hays, 1848-50; E. W. Vann, 
1850-54; N. T. Harvick, 1854-56; J. P. Vann, 
1856-58; J. A. Harvick, 1858-65; D. D. Smell- 
grove, 1865-66; P. C. Ewan, 1866-68; A. A. 
Bryan, 1868-72; F. P. Wilson, 1872-74; W. S. 
Dunlop, 1874-86; C. B. Mills, present clerk 
elected in 1886 and re-elected in 1888. 

Sheriffs: James Eagan, 1829-30; James Carl- 
ton, 1830-32; J. R. Dye, 1832-36; W. Walker, 
1836-38; J. Dye, 1838-40; Philip Costar, 1840- 
46; D. L. Jackson, 1846-48; J. A. Harvick, 
1848-54; S. P. Hughes (now ex- Governor), 1854- 
56; George Washington, 1856-60; W. B. Meeks, 
1860-62; H. P. Richardson, 1862-66; R. C. Carl- 
ton, 1866-68; E. P. Wilson, 1868-72; A. Galli- 
gher, 1872-73; Frank Galligher, 1873-74; C. J. 
Harris, 1874-76; B. N. D. Tannehill, 1876-78; A. 
McMurtiy, 1878-84; J. W. Walker, 1884-86; J. 
W. B. Robinson, present incumbent, first elected 
in 1886. 

Treasurers: J. Jacobs, 1836-38; S. B. Goodwin, 
1838-48; H. D. Green, 1848-52; T. D. Johnson, 
1852-56; I. Walker, 1856-60; D. Pike, 1860-72; 
A. W. Harris, 1872-76; J. A. Garrett, 1876-78; 
A. W. Harris, 1878-86; R. N. Counts, 1886-88; 
H. D. Green, present incumbent, elected in 1888. 

Coroners: John Maddox, 1829-32; William 
Ingram, 1832-36; A. D. Nance, 1836-38; E. Fra- 
zier, 1838-40; W. B. Fail. 1840-42; W. Ualker, 
1842-44; D. L. Jackson, 1844-46; H. Watterman, 
1846-48; J. S. Danby, 1848-50; V. Vanslyke, 
1850-52; Peter Jolly, 1852-54; J. W. GaiTett, 



1854-56; John Dalvell, 1856-58; W. E. Moore, 
1858-60; J. Brown, 1860-62; W. R. Elkins, 1862- 
64; E. Honnigan, 1864-66; R. F. Kerr, 1866-68; 
T. Pledger, 1868-72; J. H. Hillman, 1872-74; 
W. T. Stafford, 1874-76; W. H. Odem, 1876-78; 
Ed Kelley, 1878-80; W. J. Capps, 1880-82; R. 
F. Tyler, 1882-84; M. B. Dyer, 1884-86; W. J. 
Hall, 1886-88; A. J. Smith, present ofiScer, elected 
in 1888. 

Surveyors: Lafayette Jones, 1829-30; J. Jacobs, 
1832-38; D. D. Ewing, 1838-44; L. D. Maddox, 
1844-46; J. B. McPherson, 1848-50; M. Kelly, 
1850-52; D. E. Pointer, 1852-56; H. Garretson, 
1856-58; H. P. Richardson, 1858-62; E. T. Shaw, 
1862-64; P. W. Halloran, 1864-66; A. A. Bryan, 
1866-68; Henry Bonner, 1868-69; A. A. Bryan, 
1872-74; John C. Hill, 1874-76; A. J. Hon'ser, 
1876-78; W. M. Walker, 1878-80; H. N. Allen, 
1880-84; John C. Hill, 1884-88; A. A. Bryan, 
present incumbent, elected in 1888. 

Assessors: H. C. Edrington, 1868-72; P. Mitch- 
ell, 1872-73; John Rainey, 1873-74; L. Ward, 
1874-76; D. D. Dickson, 1876-78; W. M. Speed, 
1878-80; J. A. Lovewell, 1880-82; J. R. Riggins, 
1882-86; B. L. Hill, present incumbent, first 
elected in 1886. 

Delegates in State conventions: 1836, Thomas 
J. Lacy; 1861, William N. Hays; 1868, A. H. 
Evans; 1874, Simon P. Hughes. 

Representatives in legislature: Isaac Taylor, 
1836-38; L. D. Maddox, 1838-40; Isaac Taylor, 
1840-42; John C. Johnson, 1842-44; J. B. Lam- 
bert, 1844-46; Lewis B. Tully, 1846-48; Philip 
Costar, 1848-50; R. Pyburn, 1850-52; Francis P. 
Redmond. 1854-56; Oliver H. Gates, 1856-60; 
Z. P. H. Farr, 1860-62; E. Wilds, 1864-66; S. P. 
Hughes, 1866-68; F. W. Robinson, 1874-76; J, 
K. Whitson, 1876-78; Lecil Bobo, 1878-80; J. K. 
Whitson, 1880-82; John B. Baxter, 1882-86; W. 
J. Black-well, 1886-88. 

The vote cast in Moni'oe Countj' for the candi- 
dates for Governor at the September election, 1888, 
and for President at the succeeding November elec- 
tion was as follows : For Governor, James P. Eagle 
(Dem.), 965; C. M. Norwood (Com. 0pp.), 1,732; 
for President, Cleveland (Dem.), 784; Harrison 



r 



<S fc_ 



^ 



512 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



(Rep.), 1,1(57; Streeter (U. L.), 15; Fisk (Pro.), 6. 

The population of Monroe County, in 1860, was 
3,431 white and 2,220 colored, making a total of 
5,657; in 1870, 5,135 white and 3,200 colored, 
making a total of 8,335; in 1880, 4,365 white and 
5,209 colored, making a total of 9,574. The pop- 
ulation in 1830 was, in the aggregate, 401; in 
1840, 936; in 1850, 2,049. 

During a portion of the war period, from 1861 
to 1865, the courts of Monroe County were sus- 
pended. No term of the county court was held 
after April, 1862, until July, 1865. All other 
courts were suspended about the same length of 
time. The several courts convene now in regular 
session on the following dates: County, first Mon- 
day of January, April, July and October of each 
year; probate, on the second, and common pleas 
on the fourth Monday of the same months; the 
circuit on the fourth Monday after the third Mon- 
day in February and August. The following 
named attorneys constitute the legal bar of the 
county: Grant Green, S. J. Price, J. P. Roberts, 
M. J. Manning, J. S. Thomas, P. C. Ewan, J. C. 
Palmer, H. A. Parker, C. W. Brickell, W. J. 
Mayo, R. E. Johnson, R. C. Lansford and W. T. 
Tucker. 

Upon the approach of the Civil War many citi- 
zens of Monroe held out for the Union until the 
first gun was fired at Charleston, S. C. ; then they 
became .solidly united and ca.st their lot with the 
proposed Southern Confederacy. In the spring of 
1861 the first company of soldiers was organized 
and commanded by Capt. James T. Harris, of 
Clarendon, a brother of Senator Isham G. Harris, 
of Tennessee. This company was called the " Har- 
ris Guards." The next company organized, the 
' ' Monroe County Blues, ' ' was under the charge 
of Capt. G. W. Baldwin; another company, the 
"Arkansas Toothpicks,'' was commanded by Capt. 
L. Featherstone. Another company was com- 
manded by Capt. Oliver H. Oates. These were 
all raised in 1861, and in 1862 two other com- 
panies were raised and commanded, respectively, 
by Capts. George Washington and W. J. F. Jones. 
In the battle of Shiloh the ' ' HaiTis Guards ' ' 
and the ' ' Monroe County Blues ' ' suffered very 



great loss, and soon thereafter they were re- 
organized and consolidated into one company, of 
which Parker C. Ewan became the captain. Capt. 
Harris was killed at that battle. The soldiers 
furnished by Monroe County, like their comrades 
in general, fought with great desperation and de- 
termination, and many fell to rise no more on 
earth. 

The Federal forces, under Gen. Steele, took 
possession of Clarendon, in August, 1863, and 
camped there for some time, and then moved on 
and took Little Rock on September 10, following. 
Prior to this the county had not suffered much 
from the ravishes of war, but now it became forag- 
ing ground for the United States army possessing 
it. On one occasion, in 1864, Gen. Joe Shelby, 
with a Confederate force, captured the crews of 
two gunboats in White River, at Clarendon, and 
sunk the vessels. The next day a detachment of 
the Federal army went down from De Vall's Bluff, 
and drove Shelby's forces several miles oiit on the 
Helena road to a point from which they made their 
escape. The Union soldiers then returned to the 
Bluff. Aside from this fight there was only a few 
slight skirmishes in the county between guerrillas 
and scouting parties. However, the county suf- 
fered greatly from the ravishes of the war in gen- 
eral. 'Tis over, and one would gladly forget its 
painful incidents. 

Lawrenceville, though for many years the site 
of the county seat, never gained much size nor 
importance. The town disappeared long ago, and 
the site thereof is now in farm lands. 

Clarendon, the county seat of Monroe County, 
is situated on the eastern bank of White River, 
near the center of the county north and south. 
Prominent among the settlers of this place was 
Samuel Martin, who opened the first store and 
kept the ferry across the river, and erected the first 
steam saw-mill. The ferry was established about 
the year 1836. The next store was opened by Henry 
M. Couch, who came from Tennessee, and in 1856 
it was the only one in the town. Martin died 
prior to the latter date, and his widow opened and 
kept the first hotel in the place. Col. James Har- 
ris, of Tennessee, brother of Senator Isham G. 



■t — K 



I>>. 



MONROE COUNTY. 



513 



Harris, of that State, settled at Clarendoa in 1856, 
married the widow Martin, finished the new hotel 
she was then building, and with her continued tbe 
business. Harris had the town surveyed and laid 
out in 1857, the same year it became the county 
seat. The next merchants were William Gran- 
berry and Jesse Brown. Prior to the removal of 
the county seat to Clarendon, the place was known 
only by the name of "Mouth of Cache." The 
next year, 1858, the town took on a more rapid 
growth, and when the Civil War began it did a 
large amount of business. During the war the 
town was entirely destroyed, not a building was ■ 
left, and at the close of that struggle, the site was 
completely covered with weeds. Immediately 
after the war the town began to be rebuilt, and 
soon became a great cotton market, shipping from 
4,000 to 5,000 bales yearly. It now ships from 
8,000 to 9,000 bales per year. It contains four- 
teen general stores, three groceries, two drug 
stores, a meat market, an undertaking shop, two 
blacksmith and wagon shops, an extensive feed 
and farm implement store, where wagons are also 
kept for sale, two cotton-gins, a grist-mill and 
machine shop, a large stave factory, run by the 
"White River Stave Company, which was erected in 
1888, and where from seventy-live to 100 men are 
employed, a lumber yard, three hotels and a hotel 
kept by and for colored folks, several boarding 
houses, three churches (Methodist, Presbyterian 
and Cumberland Presbyterian) for the white.s, and 
two churches (Methodist and Baptist) for the 
blacks, a very large frame school-house for the 
white peoj)le, and a comfortable one for the colored 
people. In addition to the foregoing, thei-e are 
the county buildings, railroad depots, express and 
telegraph offices and several other important places 
of business. 

Of the benevolent orders there are a lodge. 
Chapter and Council of Masons, and a lodge each 
of the Knights of Honor, Knights of Pythias and 
American Legion of Honor. There are seven 
physicians, and the same number of lawyers, and 
a population of 800 to 1,000. 

The Monroe County Sun, published at Claren- 
don, was established in 1876 by Capt. P. C. Ewan. 



It is a seven-column folio, now published by the 
Sun Printing Company, and edited by W. E. 
Spencer. Politically it is Democratic. 

The princi2)al shipments from Clarendon con- 
sist of cotton, cotton-seed, lumber and staves. 
The tovsm is not incorporated. 

Brinkley is situated in the northern part of the 
county, at the crossing of the St. Louis, Arkansas 
& Texas and the Little Rock& Memphis Railroads, 
and at the southern terminus of the Batesville & 
Brinkley Railroad, and the northern terminus of the 
Brinkley, Indian Bay & Helena Railroad. It was 
laid out in the winter of 1869-70, on lands be- 
longing to the Little Rock & Memphis Railroad 
Company, and the first general sale of lots took 
place in August of the latter year. M. B. Park 
and H. A. Carter, under the firm name of M. B. 
Park & Co., opened the first store (it being also in 
1870). Baxter & Dillard established the second 
store (also in the same year). The town assumed 
a gradual and substantial growth, but has never 
had a boom. For the last two years, however, its 
gi-owth has been more rapid than at any time be- 
fore. The first brick buildings in the place were 
erected in 1887, and now there are six brick blocks, 
containing altogether fourteen large store-rooms 
on the first floor. 

It now consists of the Monroe County Bank, 
seven general, six grocery, three drug and two 
jewelry and notion stores, a boot and shoe shop, 
a furniture and undertaker's store, a millinery store, 
bakery, feed store, billiard hall, four hotels, a ho- 
tel and restaurant kept by colored people, a meat 
market, a meat market and restaurant, two black- 
smith and two barber shops, a pool hall and tern, 
perance saloon, the machine and car shops of the 
Batesville & Brinkley Railroad, two livery stal)les, 
two brick-yards, a grist-mill, cotton-gin, Niffen's 
foundry, the Union Wood Turning Works, Brink- 
ley Oil Mill (om))loying from fifty to seventy-five 
men), the Brinkley Car and Manufactimng Works 
(employing about 200 men), three churches (Meth- 
oilist. Baptist and Cumberland Presbyterian), also 
three Baptist churches and one Methodist for the 
colored people, a public school -house for the whites 
(the school for colored children being taught in one 



,4« 



•k 



514 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



of the church edifices). In addition to the forego- 
ing, there is a lodge, each, of Masons, Knights of 
Pythias, Knights of Honor, Knights and Ladies of 
Honor, and two Building & Loan Associations. 
The town is incorporated, and in August, 1889, 
the school board took an actual census of the in- 
habitants within the corporate limits, and found a 
population of 1,498, and there is said to be several 
hundred outside of these limits. Brinkley is a 
railroad center, a good cotton market, and its ship- 
ments are extensive. 

The Brinkley Argus, a neat seven-column folio 
newspaper, is now in its seventh volume and is 
published every Thursday by W. H. Peterson. 

Holly Grove, situated on the Arkansas Midland 
Railroad about ten miles southeast of Clarendon, 
was laid out and established in 1872, by John 
Smith and James Kerr. D. B. Renfro opened the 
first store, and Kerr, Robley & Co. opened the 
second one. The village now contains one drug 
and seven general stores, a grocery and restaurant, 
an undertaker' s shop, livery stable, a steam cotton- 
gin and grist-mill, a mechanic's shop, two churches 
(Methodist and Presbyterian) for the whites and 
churches also for the colored people, a two -story 
frame school-house, a Masonic lodge, two phy- 
sicians, and a population of about 300. It is 
situated in the best cotton growing district in the 
county and ships a large quantity of that com- 
modity. 

Indian Bay, a small village in the southern 
part of the county, contains three general stores, 
two cotton-gins, grist and saw mills, and a small 
population. 

Pine City, a station on the Arkansas Midland 
Railroad, a few miles east of Holly Grove consists 
of a large saw-mill, where extensive quantities of 
pine timber is cut into lumber. There are a few 
small residences. 

The following statistics given in the last pub- 
lished report of the State superintendent of public 
instruction will serve to show the progress of the 
free school system in Monroe County. Scholastic 
population: White, males, 999, females, 892, total 
1,891; colored, males, 1,449, females, 1,384, total 
2, 833 ; number taught in the public schools, white, 



males, 487, females. 424, total, 911; colored, males, 
853, females, 803, total, 1,656. School districts, 
38, of which only 26 made any report. Teach- 
ers employed: Males, 45, females, 13, total, 58. 
Amount expended during the year to support 
the schools: Teachers' salaries, 88,401.50, building 
and repairing, $2,718.97, purchasing apparatus, 
$79.55, treasurer's commissions, $112.55, other 
purposes, $200.65, total, $11,513.22. By compar- 
ing the scholastic population with the number re- 
ported attending the schools, it will appear that a 
very large percentage of the children of school age 
did not attend, but a greater percentage than shown 
by the figures undoubtedly attended, as twelve of 
the districts failed to make report. 

Of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
there is the Clarendon and Brinkley Station, with 
a membership, as shown by the last Conference 
minutes, of 166, with Rev. S. L. Cochran as pastor; 
the Brinkley Circuit, with a membership of 172, 
and W. W. Hendrix, pastor; the Holly Grove Cir- 
cuit, with a membership of 111, and N. E. Skin- 
ner, pastor; the Cypress Ridge Circuit, with a 
membership of 228, and T. Rawlings, pastor; the 
Howell and Cotton Plant Circuit, with a member- 
ship of 168, and M. B. Umstead, pastor. About 
one half of the latter circuit lies in Woodruff 
County. All of these belong to the Helena Dis- 
trict of the White River Conference. 

The Baptist Churches of Monroe County, as 
shown by the minutes of the session of the Mount 
Vernon Baptist Association, held at Salem Church 
in Phillips County, in October, 1888, are as fol- 
lows with their respective pastors and memberships : 
Clarendon, G. C. Goodwin, pastor, 45; Mount 
Gilead, M. A. Thompson, pastor, 23; Brinkley, 
R. G. Hewlett, pastor, 52; Lone Chapel, G. C. 
Goodwin, pastor, 35; Ash Grove, S. D. Johns, 
pastor, 52, and Philadelphia, G. C. Goodwin, pas- 
tor, 78. 

The Cumberland Presbyterians have four church 
organizations within the county, one at Brinkley, 
with a membership of 25, and Rev. A. B. Forbess, 
pastor; one at Clarendon, membership 50, and 
Rev. R. V. Cavot, pastor; one at Valley Grove in 
the southern part of the county, membership 75, 



-7- 



® k^ 



-^ 9 



\£_ 



MONROE COUNTY. 



515 



and Rev. Cavot, pastor; the other on Cypross 
Ridge about twelve miles southeast of Brinldoy, 
membership about 50, and Rev. Stewart, pastor. 
The organization at Brinkley has a new $2,500 
brick church edifice, and the one at Clarendon has a 
fine frame building with the Masonic hall on the 
upper floor. 

The Presbyterians (Old School) have an organ- 
ization at Clarendon with a membership of al)out 
70, and Rev. W. C. Hagan, pastor; another at 
Holly Grove with a membership of about 25, and 
Rev. Hagan, pastor; also an organization at Brink- 
ley with a small membership, Rev. S. I. Reid, of 
Lonoke, pastor. 

The churches in the towns in general have 
Sunday-schools connected with them, and some of 
the country churches also conduct Sunday-schools. 
There is a large Catholic Church with a strong 
membership at Brinkley; Father McGill is the 
priest. The people of the county are moral and 
hospitable, and persons seeking new homes will do 
well to visit this section of country. 



J. T. Andrews, planter at Cotton Plant, is one 
of the leading planters of Monroe County. Born 
in Limestone County, Ala., in 1837, he is the son 
of Daniel and Mary (Morris) Andrews, natives of 
Virginia and North Carolina, and born in 1814 and 
1815, respectively. The parents were married in 
1836 and to their union were born two children, a 
son and daughter: J. T. and Dionitia F. (wife of 
T. L. "Westmoreland). Daniel Andrews died in 
1841 and Mrs. Andrews was married the second 
time in 1843 to J. H. Deaver. By this union she 
became the mother of five children: Mary A. (wife 
of Dr. J. AY. Westmoreland), Thomas M., Martha 
J. (widow of Saul Salinger), Bettie M. (wife of 
H. C. McLaurine) and D. J. (wife of J. R. Whit- 
fieldj. J. H. Deavt-r died in 1853, and Mrs. Deaver, 
who survives her husband, now lives with her 
widowed daughter, Mrs. Salinger, at Cotton Plant. 
She is, and has been for many yeais, a consistent 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 
J. T. Andrews started in business for himself in 
rSbS by farming his mother's land in Tennessee, 



Init left that State and immigrated to Arkansas in 
1800, locating in Poinsett County. His mother 
purchased 240 acres of land, which he farmed un- 
til the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted 
in the infantry under Capt. Westmoreland and 
served until July 9, 1863. He was then captured 
at Port Hudson, taken to Johnson's Island, and 
there held until February 9, 1864, when he was 
transferred to Point Lookout. He was there re- 
tained until March 3, when he was sent to City 
Point and was there paroled. After the war he 
resumed farming and also operated a cotton-gin in 
Woodruff County. He selected as his companion 
in life. Miss Martha A. W'estmoreland, daughter of 
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Westmoreland, and was 
united in marriage to her in 1858. This union 
has been blessed by the birth of three children, but 
only one now living: Sam (who married a Miss 
Cattie Keath and resides on a farm in this county). 

j The children deceased were named: Edward and 
Minnie. Mrs. Andrews was born in Giles County, 
Tenn., in 1836. Her father died in 1865 and her 
mother in 1887, both members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. Mr. Andrews is a member of 
the I. O. O. F. Lodge No. 76, and he and wife 
have been members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church for seventeen years. Mr. Andrews is one 
of the enterprising farmers of the county, and is 

' the owner of 230 acres of land in Woodruff Conntv, 
Ark., with 120 acres under cultivation and his 
[jrincipal crops are corn and cotton. 

Judge H. B. Bateman, judge of the county and 
inobate and of the court of common j)leas of Mon- 
roe County, Ark. , has been a resident of the county 

! all his life, having been born one and one-half 
miles from Clarendon, in 1857, and is a worthy 
descendant of an old and highly respected family. 
His parents, Baker H. and Jane E. (Harvick), 
Bateman, were born in North Carolina, but owing 
to their early removal to Arkansas, they were mar- 
ried in Monroe County. The father died in this 
county in 1861, aged about forty years, and the 
mother's death occurred in 1874, aged forty-eight 
years. She ■was married three times, Mr. Bateman 
being her (bird hus^band, and by him she became 

I the mother of two sons: H. B. and Thomas T., the 



516 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



latter being the present deputy sheriff of Monroe 
County. After passing many of the important 
years of his life on a farm, and in attending the 
common schools and the schools of Searcy, Judge 
H. B. Bateman began clerking in a coniitry store, 
continuing one year, and in ISTU established a 
drug store in connection with J. B. Chapline, at 
Clarendon, the firm continuing business until 1889, 
under the title of Bateman & Chapline, at which 
time G. A. Franklin succeeded Mr. Chapline, and 
the firm is now Bateman & Franklin. Their stock 
of drugs is valued at $900, and their labors in this 
direction have met with substantial results, as they 
have the reputation of being safe, thorough and 
reliable business men. Judge Bateman has a fair 
share of this world's goods, and in addition to 
owning a fine farm of 350 acres, the most of which 
is under cultivation, he has a fine brick business 
block in Clarendon. His first presidential vote 
was cast for Hancock in 1880, and for some years 
he has been quite prominent in local political mat- 
ters, and, besides being justice of the peace for 
about six years, he was elected to his present office 
in 1884, and has held it by re-election up to the 
present time. He has made a very efficient officer, 
and is respected and esteemed for his sterling in- 
tegrity, sound judgment, broad intelligence and 
liberal progressive ideas. He is a man whose de- 
cisions are not made without careful and pains- 
taking study of the evidence, and all feel that his 
judgment can be relied upon. He belongs to 
Cache Lodge No. 235, of the A. F. & A. M., and 
he is also a member of the Chapter and Council of 
Clarendon. 

Maj. John B. Baxter is a real estate and insur- 
ance agent at Brinldey. In all business communi- 
ties the matter of insurance holds a prominent 
place and deservedly so, for it is a means of sta- 
bility to all commercial transactions, and is a main- 
stay against disaster should devastation by fire 
sweep property away. He was born in Wilson 
Coitnty, Tenn., in 1839, and is a son of George 
W. and Rebecca A. (Hooker) Baxter, who were born 
in North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively, and 
were married in the latter State, their union taking 
place in Wilson Comity, about 1833, when the 



father was nineteen years of age and the mother 
fifteen. They remained in Wilson County until 
after the birth of our subject, then removed to La 
Grange, Tenn., and here the father died May 25, 
184-t, having been a farmer throughout life. 
George Baxter, the maternal grandfather, was of 
Scotch-Irish descent, and was born in North Caro- 
lina, but died in Tennessee. Joshua Hooker, the 
maternal grandfather, was also born in North 
Carolina, but after residing many years in Wilson 
County, Tenn., he removed in 1840 to Fayette 
County, Tenn., and in 1851 he came to Monroe 
County, Ark., where he died of small-pox in 1866. 
He was the father of a large family, a farmer by 
occupation, and was a soldier in the War of 1812, 
and was with Jackson at New Orleans. Our sub- 
ject came with his mother to Monroe County, Ark., 
in 1851, but soon after removed to Des Arc, where 
they resided until the opening of the war, then 
returned to Memphis, where the mother's death 
occurred in July, 1867, she being in full com- 
munion with the Methodist Church at that time. 
Maj. John B. Baxter is the fourth of six children, 
and only he and his youngest brother, Hon. George 
W. Baxter, of Hot Springs, Ark., are now living. 
The former received his education in the common 
schools of Tennessee and Arkansas, and upon the 
opening of the war in 1861, he joined Company 
K, Fifth Arkansas Infantry, and operated in 
Kentucky. He soon after assisted in organizing 
Company F of the Twenty-third Arkansas Infantry, 
of which he remained a member until the fall of 
Port Hudson, when he was captured and impris- 
oned at Johnson's Island, Point Lookout, Fort 
Delaware, Morris" Island off Charleston, Fort 
Pulaski off Savannah, Ga. , and was returned to 
Fort Delaware just before the close of the war. 
He was released in June, 1865, and at once went 
to Memphis, Tenn., where his mother was still liv- 
ing. In 1866 he traveled in x4.rkansas for a 
Memphis cotton and wholesale grocery house, but 
before his marriage, in April, 1866, to Josephine, 
daughter of William A. and Mary Pickens, he re- 
moved to Cotton Plant, Ark. , but removed shortly 
afterward to Clarendon, from which place he en- 
tered the army, where he followed mercantile pur- 



3^ 



^r^:*- 



MONROE COUNTY. 



517 



suits. He next engaged in farming near Cotton 
Plant, but since 1S72 he has lived at Brinkley, 
and until 18S2 was engaged in the practice of law, 
having prepared himself for this profession prior 
to the war. He has been a prominent politician 
since his residence here and served 'several terms 
as sergeant-at-arms of the lower house of the 
State legislature, and in 1S82 was elected to rep- 
resent Monroe County in that body, and was re- 
elected in 1884, serving four years. He has been 
mayor of Brinkley several terms, and in 1887 was 
chosen sergeant-at-arms of the State senate, being 
elected by the Democratic party to his various of- 
ficial positions. His first presidential vote was 
cast for Breckenridge. He is Worshipful Master 
of Brinkley Lodge No. 295, A. F. & A. M., and is 
Dictator of Brinkley Lodge No. 3127. K. of H., 
being also a member of the K. & L. of H. Maj. 
Baxter is one of only three of the original settlers 
of Brinkley, who are now residing in the town. 
His wife was born in Mississippi, but her parents 
were Tehnesseeans w^ moved to that State, and 
in 1859 came to Cotton Plant, Ark. They both 
died here during the war. 

William L. Benton is a farmer and blacksmith, 
of Pine Eidge Township, but was born in Jack- 
son County, Ga.,in 1834. His parents, Thomas 
and Sarah (Norman) Benton, were Virginians, 
spending most of their life in Georgia, in which 
State Mr. Benton died, September 1, 1889, at the 
age of eighty- six years, his wife's death occuiTing 
in 1872 or 1873, when sixty-seven years old. They 
were farmers, and of Irish descent. The paternal 
grandfather. Reason E. Benton, died in Georgia 
before the war, aged eighty-seven years, and the 
maternal grandfather's (Joseph Norman) death oc- 
curred in the State of Mississippi. William L. 
Benton is the sixth of fourteen children, and al- 
though his educational advantages were of a very 
limited description, he became a well-informed 
young man. and when twenty-two j'ears of age 
went to Mississippi. He was married there in 
1857, to Catherine Eavenson, but her death oc- 
curred in 1863, after having borne two children, 
only one now living, named Andrew. His second 
marriage took place in December, 1865, his wife 



being a Miss Eliza Latimer, but he was called 
upon to mourn her loss by death in 1878, she hav- 
ing borne him three sons and three daughters. 
Mr. Benton's third man-iage was consummated 
June 14, 1884, his wife being a Mrs. Catherine 
(Aldridge) Graham, by whom he has one son. Mr. 
Benton resided in Mississippi until 1870, when he 
came to Monroe County, and in 1872 purchased a 
woodland farm, comprising 160 acres, of which 
seventy-five acres are in a state of cultivation. In 
1862 he joined Company H, First Mississippi Par- 
tisan Rangers, and operated with his command in 
Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, and 
participated in nearly all the leading battles of 
those States, among others the battles of Shiloh, 
Franklin, Nashville, and was all through the 
Georgia cam])aign, and in the siege of Vicksburg, 
and during his entire service was never captured 
or wounded, surrendering at Selma, Ala. He is a 
conservative Democrat in his political views, and 
his first presidential vote was cast for Buchanan, 
in 1856. He belongs to Clarendon Lodge No. 
2328, of K. of H., and was formerly Vice Dictator 
in Oak Grove Lodge. He and wife belong to the 
Christian Chiu'ch. 

Samuel Langloy Black, planter. Indian Bay, 
Ark. Of that sturdy and independent class, the 
planters of Arkansas, none are possessed of more 
genuine merit and a stronger character than he, 
whose name stands at the head of this sketch; he 
has risen to a more than ordinary degree of success 
in his calling of an agriculturist, and wherever 
known he is conceded to be an energetic and pro- 
gressive tiller of the soil, imbued with all these 
qualities of goaheadativeness which have charac- 
terized his ancestors. Mr. Black is the son of 
John D. and Susan (Langley) Black, the father a 
native of Virginia and of English descent, and the 
mother a native of Kentucky. Samuel L. Black 
owes his nativity to Fayette County, Tenn. , where 
his birth occurred March 22. 1842, and received 
his education in the high schools of that coun- 
ty, finishing at Bethel College, McLemoresvilie, 
Tenn. At the age of eighteen years he commenced 
the study of law at Clarendon, Ark., in the office 
of Oates, Cocke ik Wilburn, there remaining until 



i "V" 



A* 



518 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



1861, when he enlisted in Capt. James T. Harris' 
company, organized at Clarendon, this being the 
first company organized in this county, and served 
in the capacity of junior lieutenant in Patrick R. 
Cleburne's regiment. This regiment was the first 
one organized in the State for the War of the Re- 
bellion, but throiigh error of the officer, the services 
of the regiment were tendei'ed to the State service 
instead of the Confederate State Government, 
thereby losing the opportunity of being credited 
with being the first regiment of Arkansas organized 
in that State, Gen. Fagan's regiment securing that 
distinction. At Bowling Green, Ky. , Mr. Black 
was made captain of his company in 1861, and his 
first battle was the famous battle of Shiloh, where, 
by his bravery and meritorious conduct, he won his 
spurs. He was immediately elected to the office of 
lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, and was ap- 
pointed to the staff of Lieut. -Col. Hardee as in- 
spector-general of his corps, in which capacity he 
served the balance of the war. He participated 
in Gen. Bragg' s invasion in Kentucky, which cul- 
minated in his retreat to Knoxville, Tenn. ; was at 
the surrender of the Federal force at Munfords- 
ville and the battle of Perryville. He took a lead- 
ing part in the battle of Murfreesboro, and was with 
the Army of Tennessee until its retreat to Chatta- 
nooga. He went from there to Enterprise and Me- 
ridian, Miss., and served for a time upon the staff 
of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. He was ordered 
back to the Army of Tennessee after the battle of 
Chickamauga, participated in the battle of Mis- 
sionary Ridge and the retreat to Dalton, and was 
in all the tights and skirmishes of the Army of Ten- 
nessee from Dalton to Atlanta, including the bat- 
tles around Atlanta and Jonestown. After Hood 
took command of the Army of Tennessee, he was 
released with Gen. Hardee and went with him to 
Charleston, S. C. He was in front of Gen. Sher- 
man in his march from Savannah through the Car- 
olinas; was captured by a squad of his cavalry, 
but escaped after a few hours by a bold ride. He 
participated in the battle of Bentonville and soon 
after surrendered with the balance of the army at 
Greensboro, N. C, in May, 1865. He returned 
home on July 4 of the same year, went to work 



for a firm in Memphis, Tenn., and subsequently 
was united in marriage to Miss Rosa E. Beas- 
ley, daughter of John P. and Eveline T. Beasley. 
Only one child, John S., was the result of this 
union, his birth occurring on September 28, 1866. 
Mr. Black has' been constantly engaged in agricult- 
ural pursuits since, and was also a member of the 
firm of Martin & Black from February 1, 1882, to 
February 1, 1889, when he sold out. Mrs. Black 
died on June 1, 1886. He has never held any 
civil office, but at one time was a candidate for the 
office of secretary of State. 

Mrs. Bena Black, widow of the late Maj. Will- 
iam Black, of Brinkley, was born in the State of 
New York in 1843, and her parents, John and 
Matelina (Leanhart) Colless, were natives of Ger- 
many. They were married in their native country, 
and three daughters were the result of this union: 
Catherine (wife of George Guislerl, Julia (wife of 
John Bowers, of New Orleans), and the subject of 
this sketch. John Colless died in New Orleans in 
about 1847, and his wife afterward married a Mr. 
Frederick Buck, of New Orleans, and became the 
mother of five children, two sons and three daugh- 
ters, all of whom are living in New Orleans. Maj. 
Black was born in Toronto, Canada, November 22, 
1836, came to Memphis, Tenn., in 1856, and 
worked at ship carpentering for awhile, after which 
he went into the grocery business on Jefferson 
Street. He carried this on successfully, but subse- 
quently disposed of this business and built a saw- 
mill just south of Brinkley, which business increased 
so rapidly that a more suitable and convenient place 
for handling lumber had to be selected, hence the 
mill was moved to what is now known as "'Old 
Mill," east of town. Again it was located on the 
site it now occupies, and the present corporation 
formed, The Brinkley Car Works & Manufact- 
uring Company, which, in the meantime, owing 
to its excellent business management, has devel- 
oped into the largest manufacturing concern of its 
kind in the State, and one of the largest in the 
South. It at several times had large railroad con- 
tracts, building about twenty-five miles of the 
Little Rock & Memphis Railroad, and about forty 
miles of the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railroad. 



spr' 



^^ 



MONROE COUNTY. 



519 



He built what is known as the W. & B. R. V. 
Raihoad as far as Tupelo, Ark. He built the 
Brinkley & Helena Railroad, and at the time of 
his death was busily engaged in extending the 
road through to Indian Bay, about twenty miles 
of which was ready for iron. He was a director 
and stockholder in the Little Rock & Memphis 
Railroad, was president and principal owner of 
the Brinkley Car Works & Manufacturing Com- 
pany, president of the Monroe County Bank, vice- 
president of the Brinkley Oil Mill Company, and 
principal owner of the business of T. H. Jack- 
son & Co., the largest mercantile firm in Eastern 
Arkansas. About five years ago, through his great 
business sagacity, he saw an opportunity to start 
a lumber business in Memphis, and as a result, 
owned the Brinkley Lumber Company of that city, 
which is, without doubt, the leading- himber estab- 
lishment of Memphis, receiving and selling more 
lumber and doing through his exertions a large 
and extensive business. Maj. Black served through 
the war with distinction, participating in all the 
battles in and around Memphis. Soon after the war 
he moved to what is now known as Brinkley, then 
a dense forest. At that time he had to walk twenty 
miles to the nearest railroad, which was the Mem- 
phis & Little Rock, at Palestine, while now, by 
his indomitable energy, Brinkley can boast of four 
railroads. Maj. Black was fifty-three years, nine 
months and twenty-six days old when he returned 
from Waukesha Springs, and looked the picture of 
health and vigorous manhood, with the exception 
of a large carbuncle on the back of his neck near 
the base of the brain, which caused much uneasi- 
ness among his fi-iends, but were met with hopeful 
assurance from the friends of the family. There 
were in attendance the most eminent surgeons of 
Memphis and Little Rock in consultation with local 
physicians, and all felt hopeful until the fatal day, 
September 18, ISSV), when at the close of a surgic- 
al operation, at about 1 P. M., he breathed his last. 
When the sad news spread among the ))ei)ple that 
Maj. Black was dead, a hush fell upon the town that 
will long be remembered. Business houses were 
closed, a Sal)bath like calmness rested upon the 
streets and in the dwellings, as if each one paused 



in the l)usy walks of life to commune with himself 
on the uncertainty of life and the awful change, 
death. On Thursday, September I'J, the obsequies 
took place, and seemingly the whole city followed 
in mourning to the cemetery where they carried 
this honored and much -respected citizen. The 
funeral services took place at the Catholic Church, 
and were conducted by Rev. Father McGill, after 
which the K. of H. lod<jo took chaisre of the l)urial 
ceremonies. A procession was formed at the 
church, headed by members of the K. of H. , fol- 
lowed by the carriages of the family and immediate 
friends; next came the employes from the mill, 
numbering about 100, and as the procession reached 
the school-houses it was joined by the teachers and 
pupils from both schools, numbering about 200. 
After them came numberless carriages and many 
on foot, variously estimated at from 000 to 1,000 
persons. The ceremonies at the grave were im- 
pressive, and at their close the school children 
were each permitted to place a handful of flowers 
on the coffin— a most touching tribute. Those 
most intimably acquainted with Maj. Black knew 
best his noble traits of character, for, though pos- 
sessed of wonderful business acumen, yet he was 
modest and retiring to an unusual degree. Though 
so active, he never neglected those delicate court- 
esies which beautify life, but paid the strictest 
deference to the feelings of all his business asso 
ciates, instances of which will be kindly remem- 
bered by them in years to come. He never took a 
very active part in politics, although at one time 
he represented this senatorial district in the State 
Assembly. He was the founder and leader, as it 
were, of this flourishing city, and his death pro- 
duced a shock on every side, making all feel, in 
the presence of such a calamity, as if the ordinary 
pursuits of life were vain. When his death was 
announced at a meeting of the Memphis Lumber 
Exchange, remarks of profound regret were made, 
and resolutions of sympathy adopted and sent to 
the bereaved fauiily — commending his many virt- 
ues and his noble life as an example to those whom 
he left behind. He was the father of twelve chil- 
dren, eight of whom are living at the present time, 
two sons and six daughters: Lena (wife of T. H. 



'k 



520 



HISTOEY OF AEKANSAS. 



Jackson), Katie (wife of H. H. Myers), Anna (wife 
of Charles Labell), Maggie, Nellie, Garland, Sarah 
and Willie. Mrs. Black still resides in Brinkley, 
and is a most estimable lady. 

A. T. Blaine is another successful merchant of 
Indian Bay, and since 1882 has been established 
at his present place of business, the average value 
of his stock of goods amounting to $2,000. He 
was born in Worcester County, Md. , in 1849, his 
parents, Thomas J. and Sarah G. (Burnett) Blaine, 
having been born in Somerset and Worcester 
Counties, in 1829 and 1833, respectively. They 
spent their lives in their native State, and the 
father at the time of his death, in ISS-t, was en- 
gaged in the boot and shoe business. He was a 
church member, as was his wife, and was a son of 
James Blaine, a native of Ireland, who came to 
the United States after becoming grown, and made 
his homo in Maryland. Eixam Burnett, the ma- 
ternal grandfather, was also born in Ireland, and 
after coming to the United States, settled in the 
west of Maryland. He had one son who was a 
ship carpenter and sailor for many years, on the 
vessel Ohio, and served in the United States navy 
during the war, the most of his time being spent 
on the Mississippi Eiver. A. T. Blaine is the 
eldest of nine brothers, four of whom are living, 
and is the only one residing in Monroe County. 
He was educated in Pocomoke City, Md., attend- 
ing both the private and public schools, but in 
1871 he came to Indian Bay, Ark., and was en- 
gaged in clerking until 1882, when he again began 
business for himself, and as above stated, has done 
well. He is a Democrat, casting his first vote for 
Greeley, in 1872, and belongs to Indian Bay 
Lodge No. 249, A. F. & A. M. , in which order he 
held the positions of Junior Warden and Secretary, 
and he is also a member of Advance Lodge No. 
2491, K. of H., and is now filling the position of 
Past Dictator. In 1876 he was married to Jennie 
Eainbolt, who died in 1885, having borne one son 
and two daughters, and in 1887 he wedded Mrs. 
Emma (Erwin) Clark, a native of Tennessee, and 
a member of the Presbyterian Church. He owns 
1,000 acres of land, with 500 under cultivation, 
and since 1885 has been postmaster of Indian Bay. 



William H. Boyce is a planter and cotton gin- 
ner of Montgomery Township, and has been a 
prominent and enterprising resident of Monroe 
County, Ark., since 1866. He was born in Jack- 
son, Tenn, July 19, 1847, and is a son of Isham 
and Elizabeth (Tharpe) Boyce, natives respectively 
of South Carolina and North Carolina. Both re- 
moved to Tennessee with their parents when young 
and were married in Paris of that State, but after- 
ward became residents of Jackson. Mr. Boyce 
died at Brownsville, Tenn., in 1866, at the age of 
fifty-four years, and his wife in 1853, aged thirty- 
four years. After the death of his wife Mr. 
Boyce married again. William H. is the youngest 
of seven children born to his first union and re- 
ceived his early education in the common schools 
of his native State. When the war opened he 
joined Company L, Sixth Tennessee Infanti-y, and 
for some time was with Gen. Bragg in Kentucky 
and Tennessee, participating with that general in 
the battles of Perryville, Shiloh and Corinth. Just 
before the battle of Murfreesboro he was trans- 
ferred to Company G, Ninth Tennessee Cavalry, 
and was at the battle of Chickamauga and in many 
skirmishes. He was captured at Panther Springs, 
Tenn., January 24, 1864, and was kept a prisoner 
at Ball's Island until just before the close of the 
war when he was released and rejoined his com- 
mand and surrendered with it at Gainesville, Ala. 
Mr. Boyce has been very successful in his farming 
ventures and has an excellent lot of land, compris- 
ing 1,400 acres, lying seven miles northeast of 
Indian Bay. His land was almost wholly covered 
with timber, but with the energy and push which 
have ever characterized his efforts, he began ener- 
getically to clear his property and now has about 
500 acres under cultivation. He keeps his cotton- 
gin running almost the year round and finds this a 
lucrative business. In 1869 he was married to 
Laura, a daughter of Capt. William M. Mayo, 
whose sketch will be found in this work, and by 
her became the father of ten children, three daugh- 
ters only now living. Mr. Boyce is a Democrat, 
and his wife is a member in good standing of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He has one 
sister living, Georgia, the wife of John W. Gates, 



'C 



D ^ 



of Jackson, Tenn. William A. Tharpo, the mater- 
nal grandfather, was born in North Carolina, and 
died near Paris, Teun. 

W. F. Branch, merchant. Holly Grove, Ark. 
There are in every community some persons who, 
on account of their industry and practical manage- 
ment of the afPairs which fall to their lot, deserve 
special credit; and such is Mr. Branch. He was 
originally from Wilson County, Tenn., where his 
birth occurred in 1849, and is the son of James 
Branch, who is also a native Tennesseean, born 
1817. The elder Mr. Branch was a farmer by oc- 
cupation, and was married to Miss Eleanor Neele, 
by whom he had seven children, two of whom 
only are living: W. F. and Sallie (wife of J. W. 
Walker, of Clarendon). The father moved from 
Tennessee to Arkansas in 1859, located in Monroe 
County, and there his death occurred in 1 867. The 
mother died in 1885. W. F. Branch was married 
to Miss Ella Walls in 187-4, and four children 
blessed this union, two of whom are living: Bes- 
sie and Addie. Mrs. Branch died in 1886. She 
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
In 1888 Mr. Branch took for his second wife Miss 
Ada Peete, a native of Tennessee, a very estimable 
lady, and the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Peete, 
of Memphis. Mr. Branch is a prosperous mer- 
chant, and the firm title is Branch & Wall. He 
opened business in Holly Grove, in 1887, and 
is doing well. He also owns 600 acres of land. 
He is a member of the K. of H., and he and wife 
are members of the Presbyterian Church. 

Rev. Thomas J. Brickell. No calling in which 
a man can engage is so truly noble and unselfish as 
that of the man who devotes his life to the saving 
of souls, and although Mr. Brickell is a local min- 
ister, he has been instrumental in bringing many 
erring ones to the feet of the IMaster. Ho has been 
established in business in Brinkley since 1885, and 
deals in fixrniture and undertaker's goods, his stock 
being valued at from SI, 500 to $2,000. He is a 
Georgian by birth, born in Palmetto, Coweta 
County, in 1849. and is a son of Nicholas and Mar- 
tha J. (Sanders) Brickell. natives of North Carolina, 
their nuptials being celel)rated at Palmetto, Ga. 
Since 1870 they have resided in Phillips County, 



Ark., and are there still living, both having been 
members of the Methodist Church, South, many 
years. The father, the oldest of a family of four 
sons and one daughter, was born May 11, 1824. 
About 1844 he went to Eockford, Surry County, 
N. C, living with an uncle, J. F. Harrison, and 
in 1846 moved to Palmetto, Ga. His wife's mother 
was formerly Fannie Harris. Mr. Brickell upon 
leaving Palmetto, was located at Franklin several 
years, and in 1870 moved to Trenton, Phillips Coun- 
ty, Ark. He now lives at Poplar Grove in the same 
county. He served the Confederate cause for three 
years during the Civil War, as a mechanic in the 
saltpetre works, being in Georgia most of the time. 
He belongs to the A. F. & A. M. , and is a grand- 
son of John B. Brickell, a Frenchman who came 
to the United States with Gen. La Fayette dur- 
ing the Revolutionary War. After that conflict he 
settled in the lower part of North Carolina, snbse- 
quentlj' going to Union District, where he died. 
His wife, Frances Gregory, a Virginian by birth, 
went to Surry County, N. C. , and reared a large 
family. At that place our subject's gi-andparents 
were married. Rev. Thomas J. Brickell is the eldest 
of nine children, and in addition to attending the 
common schools in his youth, he worked in his fa- 
ther's cabinet shop. He began for himself as a 
clerk in 1869, in Atlanta, Ga. , but a short time 
afterward he came to Arkansas, and taught school 
and farmed for a few years. In 1873 he joined the 
White River Annual Conference, and for five years 
was an itinerant preacher of the Methodist Church. 
On account of his wife's health he then located at 
Po])lar Grove, and was there a jiartner with his fa- 
ther in business until his removal to Brinklej-, 
where he has established a good home and a profit- 
able business. He owns eighty- live acres of tim- 
ber land, four miles from Brinkley, together with 
si.'c town lots, all his property being acquired by 
his own exertions. He was for some time a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
joining when sixteen years of age, and at the age of 
twenty, upon removing to Arkansas, united with the 
Congregational Methodist Church, and was licensed 
to preach. Some three years after he returned to 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and now preaches 



522 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



the doctrine of that denomination as a local min- 
ister. His wife, whom he married in 1872, and 
who was born in Alabama, April 16, 1853, was a 
Miss Martha J. Morriss, a daughter of William D. 
and Harriet A. (Curry) Morris. She was reared 
princiisally in Phillips County, Ark. Her father 
was born in Lawrence County, Ala.. November '23, 
1820, subsequently moving to Phillips County, 
Ark. His wife was born in Maury County, Tenn., 
September 17, 1823. Mr. Morris died May 21, 
1888, but his widow still survives him. Our sub- 
ject and his wife have one son, now sixteen years 
of age. 

Elijah C. Brown has passed his entire life in an 
industrious manner and his efforts have not been 
without .substantial evidences of success, as will be 
seen from a glance at his present possessions. He 
was born in Fayette County, Tenn., in 1851, and 
is the third of four children born to Thomas J. 
and Frances (Branch) Brown, natives respectively 
of South Carolina and Tennessee. They were 
married in Fayette County, of the latter State, 
where Mrs. Brown was reared from infancy, and 
there their home continued to be until 1859, when 
they settled in Monroe County. Ark. They opened 
a farm in what is now Pine Ridge Township, and 
here Mr. Brown's life expired on January 6, 1866, 
his wife following him to his long home August 
22, 187-1. The maternal grandfather, Benjamin 
Branch, was born in Tennessee and spent his en- 
tire life in Fayette County, having served in the 
capacity of sheriff and clerk. His wife was a na- 
tive of the Blue Grass State, and died in Tennessee 
also. Elijah C. Brown has one brother and two 
sisters: Sarah (wife of Dr. William Parks), Thomas 
M. and Eva Lillian (wife of E. T. Dyer). Elijah 
C. started out in life for himself with a limited 
education, but after the war he determined to rem- 
edy this defect and accordingly entered Hickory 
Withe Academy of Fayette County, Tenn., and 
upon leaving this institution was much better pre- 
pared to light the battle of life. He followed the 
slow but sure way of making money by farming 
until 1874, then spent two years in Clarendon, en- 
gaged in clerking, after which he returned to his 
farm and he and a brother opened a store and put 



up a steam cotton-gin, successfiilly operating both 
until 1883, when our subject sold out to his brother, 
and in 1884 came to Brinkley. Here he has since 
made his home and in addition to managing his 
farm he trades in stock and real estate. He has 
582 acres of fine land with about 300 under the 
plow, and he also owns considerable real estate in 
Brinkley. He is a Democrat, a member of the K. 
of H. and his wife, whom he married December 16, 
1874, and whose maiden name was Jennie David- 
son, is a member of the Methodist Church. They 
have had eight childi'en, but three sons and four 
daughters are now living. Mrs. Brown is a 
daughter of James B. and Harriet Davidson, na- 
tive Tennesseeans, born, reared and married in that 
State. Before the opening of . the Civil War they 
came to Arkansas and Mr. Davidson was sheriff of 
Poinsett County for nine years. He was a large 
mail contractor and died in Cross County in March, 
1862, while serving as captain of a company be- 
longing to the Confederate States army. His wife 
died in Craighead County in 1873. 

W. D. Burge has been a successful merchant of 
Indian Bay since 1876, F. J. Robinson also con- 
stituting a member of the firm until 1887, when he 
retired. Mr. Burge' s stock of goods is valued at 
about $2, 500, and his annual sales net him a hand- 
some profit. His native birthplace is Rutherford 
County, N. C, where he was born in 1848, and he 
is a son of M'oody and Dulcinea (Mclntire) Burge, 
who removed to the State of Mississippi, when 
their son, W. D. , was about two years old. Here 
the father died in 1877, having been a farmer 
throughout life, his wife's death occurring in 1865. 
W. D. Burge was the eighth of eleven children, 
and received his education in the common schools, 
and at the age of seventeen years he began for him- 
self, his occupation being that of clerking. His 
life occupation has been merchandising and farm- 
ing, and he has been successful in both occupations, 
and besides his store he is the owner of 400 acres 
of land in different tracts. He has been a resident 
of Indian Bay since 1871, and since 1877 has been 
a married man, his wife being Lila, daughter of 
Hon. F. M. and E. A. Robinson, a sketch of whom 
appears in this work. Mrs. Burge was born in the 



^^ 



MONROE COUNTY. 



523 



State of Tennessee, and has borne Mr. Burj^o a 
son and a daughter. Mr. Burgo is a Democrat and 
cast his first presidential vote for Horace Greeley 
in 1872. He Ijclonirs to Advance Lodge No. 2491, 
K. of H., and has held the office of Past Dictator 
iu that order. His wife is a member of the Cum- 
berland Pr(>sbytcriau Church. 

Ca{)t. Hilliard A. Carter is a planter and a re- 
tired merchant of Briukley and was born in Wil- 
cox County, Ala., in 1833, Ix'ing one of seven sur- 
viving members of a family of fourteen children 
born to Aaron B. and Elizabeth (Lee) Carter, both 
of whom were born, reared and married in Fairlield 
District, S. C, removing in 1825 to Alabama and i 
in 1835 to La Fayette County, Miss. In 1865 they j 
removed to Hopkins County, Tex., and the follow- 
ing year Mr. Carter died. His wife's death oc- 
curred in Lamar County, Tex. , in 1877, at the age 
of seventy-five years, l)oth having Ijeen members 
of the Presbyterian Church for many years. The 
father was a successful planter and socially was i 
a member of the A. F. & A. M. The patei-nal 
grandfather, John (barter, was a planter and a 
l)lacksmith and spent all his life in South Carolina. 
He served in the Revolutionary War. His parents 
were born in Ireland and were among the first set- 
tlers of South Carolina. The maternal grand- 
father, John Lee, being also one of the early set- 
tlers of that State and a Revolutionary soldier. 
Capt. Hilliard A. Carter is the only one of his 
family residing in Monroe County, Ark. , and 
although he received little early schooling he be- 
came versed with the world' s ways at an early day 
and was intelligent and well posted on all current 
topics. In 185(3 he came to Monroe County, and 
until the opening of the war acted in the capacity 
of an overseer, but gave up this work and in 1S02 
joined Company E, A. W. Johnson's Regiment of 
Infantry and held the positions of sergeant and 
lieutenant until 1863, when he was made captain 
of his company. About a year later he and four- 
teen other men were detailed to look up absentees, 
and after securing sufficient men he and his fol- 
lowers were called Company C. He afterward 
raised another company, which he commanded 
uiiHl the close of the war and surrendered at 



Helena with a portion of his men. After his 
return from the war he re.sumed his farming opera- 
tions, but in 1868 gave this up to engage in mer- 
cantile pursuits at Clarendon, which he continued 
until 1870, then came to Brinkloy where he was in 
business until September, 1887, at which time his 
l)ro[)orty was destroyed liy tire and has never re- 
built, but has given his attention to his real estate, 
being the owner of about 1,000 acres. He has 
over 400 acres under cultivation, besides valuable 
property in Brinkloy, all of which is the result of 
his own hard work and good management, as ho 
started in life for himself a poor l)oy. In his politi- 
cal views he has been a Democrat all his life and is 
also a Mason, having been a member of Briukley 
Lodge No. 295 for the past twelve or fourteen 
years. In 1884 he was married to Elizabeth, a 
daughter of William and Elizabeth Hawkins, who 
were Mississijjpians and removed to Monroe 
County, Ark., prior to the war, the mother dying 
in 1864, and the father in 1876. Mrs. Carter was 
l)orn in Jefferson County, Ala., her parents being 
also natives of that State. 

James Allen Cooke, planter, Arkansas. Tiiat 
a life-time spent in pursuing one occupation will, 
in the end, result in substantial success, where en- 
ergy and perseverance are applied, can not for a 
moment be doubted, and such is found to lie the 
case with Mr. Cocke. He was born in Monroe 
County, Miss., on February 10, 1837, and is the 
son of Jester and Eliza C. (Atkins) Cocke, whose 
marriage occurred in 1828. The father was a na- 
tive of Virginia, of English ancestors, who came to 
America prior to the Revolutionary War. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Cocke were born four cliildren: Mary E. , 
John B. , James Allen and Sarah E. The father 
died in Monroe County, Miss., in 1841. After his 
death the mt)ther married John M. Smith, and in 
1845 came to Arkansas. James Allen Cocke was 
reared to agricultural pursuits, and received a lim- 
ited education i[i the subscription schools of Mon- 
roe County. On November 6, 1860. he was wedded 
to Miss Nancy A. Youngblood. a native of Alal)ama, 
and a daughter of Ephraim A. and Mary A. (Bag- 
by) Youngblood. The fruits of this union were 
three children : Jester Andrew (born June 28, 1808), 



& 

f 



^ •^* ^ 



524 



-— ^t ^ 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



John Benjamin (born April 26, 1870) and Lucy 
Adaline (born October 26, 1871). Mrs. Cocke 
died on November 10, 1871, and on May 8, 1872, 
Mr. Cocke married Miss Elizabeth Virj^inia Hess, 
a native of Alabama, and the dauj^hter of David 
and Louisiana (Kerr) Hess, the father a native of 
Holland, and the mother of Scotch-Irish descent. 
To this marriage six children were born: Sarah F. 
(born March 10, 1873), Thomas (born January 7, 
1875), Ada Beulah (born December 5, 1878), 
Helen Bertha (born December 9, 1880), Anna 
Laura (born March 5, 1882) and David Hess (born 
October 12, 1885). During the late war Mr. Cocke 
enlisted in Company A, Fifteenth Regiment Arkan- 
sas Volunteer Infantry (the first company organ- 
ized in Monroe County), and participated in the 
battles of Shiloh, Richmond, Perryville. Murfrees- 
boro and Chickamauga. He was captured at the 
last-named place, on September 19, 1863; was a 
prisoner for about two months before finally reach- 
ing Camp Douglas, 111., where he remained for 
eighteen months. On May 28, 1865, he was lib- 
erated at the landing below Vicksburg, and left on 
the first boat for home, where he arrived June 4, 
1865, just a month from the time he left Camp 
Douglas. After this he rented land, and also car- 
ried on the carpenter's business until 1871. He 
then bought 160 acres of land, and now has forty- 
five acres under cultivation. He and wife, and his 
children, Benjamin and Sarah, hold membership 
in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. 
Cocke is a member of Kerr Lodge No. 195, Holly 
Grove, A. F. & A. M. ; Chapter No. 16, R. A. 
M. ; Blakely Council No. 19, Clarendon, Monroe 
County, Ark. He was made a Mason in 1860, and 
united with the Chapter in 1869, the Council the 
same year, and has served his lodge as W. M., the 
Chapter as Capt. of H. , and has also served in all 
the offices in the Council. 

John W. Cooper. For a period now approach- 
ing forty- five years, this honored resident of Monroe 
County, Ark. , has been identified with the agricult- 
ural interests of this region, having settled here 
with his parents, Benson and Delphia (Lindsey) 
Cooper, in 1845. He, like his father, was born in 
Spartanburg District, S. C, his birth occurring in 



1843, and there the latter' s marriage occurred, his 
wife having been born in Lawrence County, N. C. 
Upon their arrival in Arkansas they spent the first 
year in Crittenden County, afterward locating on 
a woodland farm in Monroe County. The father 
died on his farm, three miles below Brinkley, in 
1863, his wife having also died there three years 
earlier. They had been members of the Baptist 
Church for many years, and the father was of 
Irish descent and a son of Matthew Cooper, who 
probably spent all his life in South Carolina. John 
W. Cooper is the fourth of seven children, and 
spent his youth in the wilds of Monroe County, re- 
ceiving but few advantages for acquiring an edu- 
cation, as the schools of that day were few and far 
between. In 1861 he espoused the Southern cause 
and joined Company E, Twenty-fifth Arkansas In- 
fantry, and operated in Mississippi, Tennessee, 
Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Virginia, and 
was a participant in eighteen difPerent engage- 
ments, among which may be mentioned Shiloh, 
Richmond, New Hope, Peach Tree Creek, Mur- 
freesboro. Missionary Ridge and Chickamauga, and 
was all through the Atlanta campaign. He re- 
turned with Hood to Tennessee and was in the en- 
gagements at Franklin and Nashville, but was 
captured at the last-named place and taken to 
Camp Chase, Ohio, where he was retained until 
after Lee's surrender. On being released he went 
to Fort Riley, Kan., but soon after returned home, 
and, in August, 1866, was married to Rachel, a 
daughter of Samuel and Rachel A. Martin, natives, 
lespectively, of North and South Carolina. After 
the war they came to Faulkner County, Ark., 
where the mother died in 1846. Mr. Martin mar- 
ried again and in 1860 settled in Monroe County, 
where his demise occurred seven years later. He 
was a member of the Methodist Church, a farmer 
by occupation, and held the office of justice of the 
peace for some years prior to his death. Mrs. 
Cooper was born in what is now Faulkner County, 
in 1844, and has borne Mr. Cooper a family of 
nine children, three sons and two daughters now 
living. Mr. Cooper has resided in difPerent parts 
of Brinkley Township, and has improved four 
good farms and is now putting in a tillable condi- 



'C c 



9 "V 



-< 5 



MONROE COUNTY. 



525 



tion his fifth farm, which comprises 520 acres, 200 
acres of which are under cultivation, but a consid- 
erable portion of his land is devoted to stock rais- 
ing. He has been a resident of Brinkley for six 
years, in order to give his children the advantages 
of the town schools, and is considered one of the 
wide-awake and public-spirited citizens of the 
place. He is a Democrat and a member of the 
K. of H. and the I. O. O. F. At the time of his 
marriage Mr. Cooper was $75 in debt, but by 
many years of hard labor he is now in affluent cir- 
cumstances. He and his elder brother, Dillard L. , 
served together throughout the war, and during 
their entire service were never separated but eight 
days, and that was while our subject was in the hos- 
pital, after being wounded at the battle of Mur- 
freesboro. 

Richard N. Counts is a general merchant and 
cotton buyer of Clarendon, and although he has 
only been established in business at this place 
since October, 1888, he has deservedly acquired 
the reputation of being a safe, thorough and re- 
liable man of business. He is a native of the 
State, having been born in Independence County, 
in 1851, and he is the youngest of eight children 
born to the marriage of Richard N. Counts and 
Mary A. Tucker, who were born, reared and mar- 
ried in the State of Missouri, afterward removing 
to Independence County, where the father fol- 
lowed the occupation of husbandry, and died in 
1858. His wife died when our subject was about 
one year old, and after his father's death he was 
left to depend on his own resources, and from 
1800 has made his home in Prairie and Monroe 
Counties, receiving a common-school education. 
For about six years he followed book-keeping and 
clerking for B. F. Johnson, and the following five 
years worked in the same capacity for J. M. 
Wheelock, by this means acquiring sufficient means 
to enable him to engage in his present business, 
which has proven a decided success. His property 
has been acquired by his own exertions, and in 
addition to his store he has a fine farm of 320 
acres, of which 160 acres are in a good state of 
cultivation. He is a Democrat, casting his first 
vote for Tilden, in 1876, and in March, 1885. he 



was elected to fill an unexpired term of county 
treasurer, and in 1886 was re-elected, serving in 
all nearly four years. He has been a member of 
the A. F. & A. M., Cache Lodge at Clarendon, 
also the K. of P. and the K. of H., and for several 
years has been financial reporter of the latter order. 
He also l)olongs to the A. O. V. W., and he and 
his wife, whom he married in 1885, and whose 
maiden name was Lucy Bonner, are members of 
the Methodist Church. They have one daughter. 

' Mrs. Counts was born in North Carolina, and is. a 
daughter of W. H. Bonner, a Tennesseean, who 
came to Monroe County, Ark., in 1859, and here 
died in 1888, having been an assessor and farmer, 
his wife's death occurring in 1881. Mr. Counts 
had previously married in 1873 Fannie E., a daugh- 
ter of James H. and Eleanor Branch. She was 
born in Tennessee, and died in 1879, at Clarendon, 
leaving two children, a son and a daughter. Mr. 
Counts is of Irish descent, and has a brother and 
two sisters living: AVilliam A. (a hardware mer- 
chant of Little Rock), L. J. (Mrs. Meeks, of Brink 
ley") and Linnie (Mrs. Loving, of Pine Bluff). 

Robert Craig, planter and ginner, Brinkley, 
Ark. There are many citizens of foreign birth 
represented within the pages of this volume, but 
none are more deserving of mention than Robert 
Craig, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 
1852. His father, John Craig, was a native also 
of Glasgow, Scotland, was a farmer and stock 
raiser for many years, and was also engaged in 

I merchandising in Belfast for several years. He 
was married to Miss Ann Cruitle, of Scotland, in 
1822, and they became the parents of eleven chil- 
dren, six sons and three daughters now living: 
James, Sarah, Mary (wife of John Curry, and still 
living in the old country), John, Annie (wife of 
James Hamilton), Robert, George, Thomas and 
Alexander. The father is still living and resides 
in Scotland. Robert Craig crossed the ocean to 
America in 1867, located in Arkansas, and was 
united in marriage to Miss Lou Stall in 1875. 
She was born in Arkansas in 1853, and her par- 
ents, George and Catharine Stall, were natives of 
Pennsylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Craig were Ijorn 
three children : George R. , Anna B. and Mary L. 






"9 \' 



^ <<J@ — w. 



-l^ 



526 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Mr. Craig is the owner of 247 acres of land, with 
about 100 acres under cultivation, and his princi- 
pal crops are cotton and corn. He erected a good 
cotton-gin in 1883, and has since added a corn- 
mill, with a capacity for forty bushels per hour. 
He is one of the most progressive and energetic 
farmers of this section, and his farm buildings are 
neat, commodious and substantial. He has also 
two tenant houses. He is a member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity, and his wife is a member of the 
Baptist Church. 

S. W. Davis, planter, Cotton Plant, Ark. The 
subject of this sketch needs no introduction to the 
people of Monroe County, for a long residence 
here, and above all a career of usefulness and 
prominence, have given him an acquaintance 
which shall last for years. He was born in La 
Fayette Coimty, Miss., in 1845, to the union of 
Chesley and Mary E. (Simpson) Davis, natives of 
South Carolina and Alabama, respectively. Eight 
children were the fi'uits of this union, two daugh- 
ters and six sons, three of whom only are living: 
S. W., Mary E. (wife of Ben Glover) and R. S. 
Chesley Davis was reared to agricultural pursuits 
and this was his chief occupation during life. He 
immigrated from Mississippi to Arkansas in 1851, 
locating in St. Francis County, and there entered 
and traded for land until he had 380 acres. He 
was a member of the A. F. & A. M. ; was justice 
of the peace for several years, and a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church and died in Wood- 
ruff County in 1859. His wife died in 1865 and 
was a member of the Baptist Church. S. W. 
Davis began life upon his own resources in 1867 
and hired to work in a gin-house. In 1868 he 
began farming on rented land, continued at this 
until 1872, when he fell heir to some land from his 
father's estate. He was married, in 1867, to Miss 
Mollie C. Harbour, a native of Tennessee, born in 
1851, and the daughter of and Eliza 

B. Harbour, of Woodruff County, Tenn. The 
result of this union were eight children, six of 
whom are now living: E. B. , Samuel T. , John C, 
William A., Mattie and an infant not yet named. 
The parents of Mrs. Davis are originally from 
Kentucky, immigrating from that State to Tennes- 



see, thence to Mississippi and finally settling in 
Arkansas, where they both died; E. B. died in 1861 
and his wife in 1879. During the late war, or in 
1864, Mr. Davis was in the Confederate cavalry. 
Company B, under Captain Wilson, and served until 
the surrender at Wittsburg, Ark., in 1865. After 
this he resumed farming and has followed this pur- 
suit ever since. He is one of the prosperous and 
leading citizens of this township, has a fairly im- 
proved farm of 160 acres and has 109 acres under 
ciiltivation. He was justice of the peace for eight 
years and was appointed deputy sheriff in 1886. 
He erected a large gin in 1885 and this he has run 
ever since. 

J. H. Dial, merchant and planter. Holly Grove, 
Ark. In the business of merchandising Mr. Dial 
is second to none in Duncan Township, and in con- 
nection is also extensively engaged in agricultural 
pursuits. A native of Greene County, Ala. , he was 
born June 28, 1821. His father, David M. Dial, 
was born in South Carolina in 1785, was married 
to Miss Jennette Spence in 1801, and successfully 
tilled the soil all his life. His wife was born in 
Newberry District, S. C. , in 1783. To them were 
given thirteen children, only two now living: J. H. 
(the subject of this sketch) and his sister, Rebecca 
(the wife of George Rix, of Keokuk, Iowa). David 
M. Dial was an elder in the Old School Presby- 
terian Church. His wife was a member of the 
same church. They immigrated fi'om South Caro- 
lina to Greene County, Ala., in 1818, where the 
father died in 1834, the mother in 1855. At the 
age of sixteen J. H. Dial started out for himself, 
and began farming on a tract of land he owned in 
Sumter County, Ala. In the year 1853 he moved 
to this State and purchased land in Monroe County. 
When the late war broke out he enlisted in the 
Confederate army. Company E, Thirty-first Regi- 
ment Infantry, under Capt. O. H. Oates, and was 
wounded in the battle of Stone River, Tenn., De- 
cember 31, 1862. He was first taken to the field 
hospital and remained there ten days, then being 
removed to Nashville in a six-horse wagon, going as 
fast as it could over the rough roads. There he 
was put in the guard house and three days later in 
the penitentiary, where he was kept four or five 



.f^ 



days and then taken to the hospital. It was found 
necessary to amputate his right arm, which opera- 
tion was performed by Surgeon Massy, and he was 
then removed to Mr. Kobinson's, a private house, 
where he was nursed and taken care of for three 
months by two noble ladies, Mrs. Cartright and 
Miss Mary Hadley. Being taken to Louisville 
(Ky.) as a prisoner, he and his companions were there 
robbed of all their clothes and money. Later, 
going to Baltimore, Md. , and thence to Petersburg, 
he was finally released and from there went to 
Shelbyville, Tenn., where he received his discharge. 
Starting on a tramp for home he walked the entire 
distance from West Point, Miss. In 1804 he was 
again taken prisoner when at Clarendon on some 
business, had his wagon and mules taken from him 
and was put in prison at Devall's BlufF and kept 
for a week or ten days. Had it not been for the 
kindness of Mr. Steele and Mr. Phillip Trice he 
would have suffered, but they furnished him 
clothes and money and he fared sumptuously for 
a prisoner. Mr. Dial was married to Miss Letitia 
Caulfield, a daughter of Henry and Isabella (Wat- 
son) Caulfield, on November 2, 1853. She was 
born in Greene County, Ala., her parents being 
from Ireland. Her father came to this country in 
1821. He was a successful and energetic farmer 
and died in Greene County October 16, 1867. The 
mother died March 15, 1870. They were the par- 
ents of six children, two daughters now being the 
only living members of the family : Bessie (the wife 
of Jere Horn, of San Marcos, Tex. ) and the present 
Mrs. Dial. J. H. Dial and wife had a family of 
eight children, of whom six survive at this time: 
Belle (the wife of T. G. Trice, of Holly Grove, 
Ark.), Mary V. (widow of Dr. C. H. Boyd, of Holly 
Grove, Ark.), Margie (wife of W. M. Harrison of 
Pine Bluff, Ark.), their sons, David M., Thomas G. 
and Jere H., all live in Holly Grove, Ark. Mr. 
Dial owns a valuable farm and is a successful 
farmer. He and his wife are members of the 
Presljyterian Church. 

Capt. Parker C. Ewan is a member of that 
substantial and successful law firm of Ewan & 
Thomas, of Clarendon. The senior member of the 
firm, Capt. Ewan, was born in New Jersey, in 



1837, and is a son of John and Sylvia H. (Han 
kins) Ewan. who were also born in that State, the 
former in 1800, and the latter in 1804. After 
their marriage they moved to Clermont County, 
Ohio, in which place Mr. Ewan died of cholera, in 
184'J. His wife (lied in Ciiiciunati. Ohio, twenty- 
eight years later. He was a farmer, and was a 
son of Evan Ewan, a native of New Jersey, who 
died there, at about the age of eighty years, having 
been an iron manufacturer by trade. He was a 
cai:)tain in the Revolutionary War, and traced his 
ancestors back to Sir Raleigh Ewan, a Scotchman. 
Many of the family now in this country have 
changed the name to Ewing. Richard Hankins, 
the maternal grandfather, was of Irish extraction, 
a farmer by occupation, a soldier in the Revolu- 
tionaiy War, and spent his entire life in the State 
of New Jersey. The immediate subject of this 
biography is one of a family of ten chUdren, all of 
whom are living, with the exception of one, who 
was killed by a train in Texas, in January, 1888, 
and in youth he became familiar with farm life by 
assisting his father. Until twelve years of age he 
attended the common country schools, then en- 
tered the Bantam (Ohio) High School, and two 
years later the College Hill Academy, near Cin- 
cinnati, but in 1854 left school and went South, 
and for a short time was engaged in flat-boating 
on the Mississippi River. In 1855 he began teach- 
ing school, in Phillips County, Ark., at which time 
the country was in a very wild and unsettled con- 
dition, the timber being full of wild animals, and 
at one time he stood in his school -house door and 
shot a panther. In 1857 he came to Monroe Coun- 
ty, and taught school until the opening of the 
Civil War, then dropped the ferrule to take up the 
musket, and joined Company E, First Arkansas 
Infantry, afterward the Fifteenth Arkansas, com- 
manded by Col. (afterward Gen.) Cleburne. His 
lirst experience in warfare was in the battle of 
Shiloh, and still later he was made captain of his 
company, and participated in the battles of Rich- 
mond and Perry ville (Ky.) and Murfreesboro, 
(Tenn.), when he was again severely wounded, and 
was compelled to give u]) his command. After re- 
covering he was placed in command of the post at 



<S k^ 



528 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



West Point, Ga., was made provost marshal, and 
when the news of the tinal surrender readied hira 
he was on post duty at Macon, Ga. After his re- 
turn to Monroe Coiinty he farmed one year, then 
began tilling the duties of county clerk, to which 
position he had been elected in 1866, serving with 
ability for two years. His first experience in the 
practice of law was with Jeremiah Marston, and 
in 1872 the firm became Marston, Ewan & Bobo, 
which continued until the death of Mr. Marston, 
about ten years later. From that time until 1880 
Mr. Ewan continued alone, and was then asso- 
ciated with Mr. Palmer for two years, after which 
Mr. Thomas became a member of the firm. Mr. 
Palmer withdrew in 1888, and the firm is now 
Ewan & Thomas, one of the strongest and most 
thorough law firms in Eastern Arkansas. Mr. 
Ewan was county attorney from 1868 to 1872, and 
is one of the leading members of the Democratic 
party in his coiinty and State. He has been a 
delegate from Monroe County to nearly every 
Democratic State convention, and has never voted 
outside of Monroe Coiinty. He has been a member 
of the A. F. & A. M. since 1862, Cache Lodge 
No. 235, and he also belongs to the K. of P., 
Cowan Lodge No. 39. By his own indomitable 
energy and methodical business habits he has be- 
come one of the wealthiest men of the State, and 
is the owner of about 70,000 acres of land in Mon- 
roe, Phillips, Lee, Arkansas and Prairie Counties. 
He has thirty-five improved farms, ranging from 
eighty to 1,600 acres each, and also owns seven 
cotton-gins, two saw-mills, and one-half interest in 
a railroad, all of which he has earned since the 
war, and, unlike many wealthy men, he can truth- 
fully say that he never intentionally wronged a 
man out of a dollar. That he is one of the hon- 
ored and trusted men of the county can readily 
be seen. He owns the Monroe County Sun, a 
newspaper which he founded in 1876, and has 
since controlled. In 1865 he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss M. L. Rayston, who was born in 
Mississippi, and left her husband a widower in 
1868, with a daughter to care for, named Carrie 
L., now the wife of W. N. Johnson. Mr. Ewan 
celebrated his second marriage in 1870, his wife 



being Maggie H. , a sister of his first wife, also 
born in Mississippi. After bearing him one child, 
who is now deceased, he was again left a widower, 
January 4, 1872. September 21, 1874, he mar- 
ried his third wife, Julia C, a daughter of Prof. 
Frank S. Connor, of Abbeville, S. C. His wife 
•is a Methodist, and has borne him four children, 
Parker C. , Jr. , aged eleven years, being the only 
one living. 

S. E. Fitzhugh, farmer, Brinkley, Ark. This 
comparatively young agriculturist is the son of a 
man who, during his residence here, was intimate- 
ly and permanently associated with the county's 
interest, and whose memory is cherished by a host 
of those acquainted with him while living. S. H. 
Fitzhugh was a native of Dyer County, Tenn., 
born in 1815, was reared on a farm and followed 
tilling of the soil all his life. He was married to 
Miss Martha S. Christy, the daughter of Mr. and 
Mrs. Abisha Christy, of South Carolina, and be- 
came the father of ten children, two of whom are 
now living: S. E. and Susan M. (wife of G. W. 
Hullom, of Monroe County). Mr. Fitzhugh im- 
migrated from Tennessee to Arkansas in 1846 or 
1847, locating in Monroe County, and there pur- 
chased 160 acres of laud. He built a log- cabin 
and improved his farm. He died in this county on 
May 17, 1886, and his wife died on March 18, 
1883. Both had been members of the Baptist 
Church for many years. S. E. Fitzhugh now lives 
on the farm where his father first settled on com- 
ing to Monroe County. He started out to earn a 
living for himself, and first engaged in agricultural 
piirsuits when nineteen years of age on his father's 
land. Here he remained until after the death of 
his father, when the land was divided by will, 
and he received 120 acres, with about sixty acres 
under cultivation. He married, in 1869, Miss Sarah 
F. Capolenor, a native of Phillips County, Ark., 
born January 8, 1842, and the daughter of John 
and Martha Capolenor, of Monroe County. They 
are the parents of six children, four daughters and 
two sons: Kilda J., James H. , Joseph N. , Ten- 
nessee F., Laura E. and Lulu. Mr. and Mrs. Fitz- 
hugh are members of the Baptist Church. As she 
was quite young when her parents died, Mrs. Fitz- 



^■<« 



MONROE COUNTY. 



529 



hugli knows very little of the olescent of her ances- 
tors or of her parentage. She has a brother and 
sister living: T. C. (of Cotton Phuit) and Martha 
(wife of John H. Tomlinson, also of this State). 
Mr. Fitzhugh is one of the leading planters of his 
township, and is a genial and clever gentleman. 

J. M. and A. Flora. The businosa interests of 
this portion of the country are well represented by 
these gentlemen, who have been located in the 
town (since 1883) long enough to become thor- 
oughly established. Their stock of goods is valued 
at some f6,r)00, the annual sales reach $20, 000 and 
the establishment is conducted with ability and 
success. J. M. and A. Flora, the proprietors, were 
born in Shelby County, Tenn., in 1852 and 1861, 
respectively, and J. M. is a son of William and Eliz- 
abeth (Wood) Flora, the former a native of North 
Carolina, and the latter of Virginia. Their union 
was consummated in Shelby Coimty, Tenn., and 
there Mrs. Flora died when her children were small. 
Mr. Flora afterward married Sallie E. White, by 
whom he became the father of A. Flora, one of the 
members of the above-named firm. Mr. Flora was 
a farmer by occupation, and died in 1864. J. M. 
Flora, the youngest of the four children born to 
his first union, was denied the privilege of more 
than a common-school education, but by contact 
with the world and close application to business he 
has added to his early schooling and has become 
thoroiighly posted on the current topics of the day. 
In 1881 he began merchandising at Henning, 
Tenn., continuing until 188-t, and he then became 
connected wuth his brother, A. Flora, who had es- 
tablished their present mercantile establishment in 
Brinkley in 1883. Their union has been very pros- 
perous and their stock of goods is of excellent 
quality and is sold at reasonable prices. In 1888 
they built a two-story brick business block, contain- 
ing two storerooms, which are well and conven- 
iently fitted up. Both these gentlemen were reared 
to farm life and have acquired the greater portion 
of their property since 1881. J. M. Flora is a 
Democrat, a member of the Christian Church, and 
of the children born to his parents, one brother 
only is now living, John. A. Flora has one sister 
living, who is Mis. Bettie Rogers, of Shelby County, 



Tenn. Micagor Wood, the maternal grandfather 
of J. M. Flora, was a pioneer farmer of West Ten- 
nessee, and died there. 

J. M. Folkes is a successful real-estate and col- 
lecting agent at Brinkley, and no name is more 
prominently identified with this business than his. 
His judgment is thoroughly relied upon as to the 
value and nature of real estate, and he is an ener- 
getic and thorough going man of business, and is 
strictly honest in all his transactions. He is a 
Kentuckian by birth, born in Pendleton County in 
1851, his parents, Henry Harrison and Mary E. 
(Woodyard) Folkes, being also natives of that State 
and county, where they were reared, marri<><l and 
spent their lives. They were members of the 
Methodist Church of many years' standing, and 
the father was very successful in his farming 
operations, as he started in life with little or no 
capital and at the time of his death left an estate 
valued at $30,000. The grandfather, Jerome 
Folkes, was born in Harrison County, Ky. , and 
there died, having been a life-long farmer. His 
parents were Virginians. J. M. Folkes, our imme- 
diate subject, was the third of nine children, and is 
the only one now living so far as he knows. His 
early life was spent in attending the common 
schools and following the plow, and upon attain- 
ing the Ttge-ef-4fteen_yearii_h^^v©irtr to Ohio, and 
began clerking in a store in Xenia, which occupa- 
tion he continued to follow for four or five years. 
His education not being suificient to satisfy him, 
he, during this time, attended night school and 
graduated therefrom. After clerking in Cincinnati, 
Ohio, for two years he began traveling for Frank 
Loeb & Block of that city, and continued thus 
for six years, after which ho clerked for some time 
in different counties of Texas. He kept books for 
T. H. Jackson & Co. , and managed a commission 
store for Black & Co. at Gray's Station. Mr. 
Folkes is quite an extensive traveler, and in 1871-72 
made a trip around the world, his journey be- 
ing varied by many interesting incidents. He is 
now settled down to hard work, and is doing a 
prosperous business, his home in the town of Brink- 
ley being commodious and comfortalile. He was 
married in Memphis November 30, 1S80, to Miss 



'^A 



<s w_ 



x*". 



530 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Libbie J., a daughter of John and Elizabeth Davis, 
of Brooklyn, N. Y. , the father being a wholesale 
oyster dealer of that city, having succeeded his 
father, who was also in that business. He died 
in October, 1889, but his widow is still living. Mr. 
Folkes is a Democrat, and socially is a member of 
the K. of H., the K. & L. of H. and the K. of P., 
being Vice-Chancellor in the latter order. His 
wife is a finely educated and accomplished lady, 
and is a member of the Episcopalian Church of 
Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Dr. J. W. Frazer is a physician of more than 
ordinary ability, located at Clarendon, Ark., and is 
engaged in farming and selling drugs at that place. 
From an early age he displayed an eagerness 
for study and desire for professional life, and after 
attending the common schools and laboring on 
a farm until eighteen years of age, he took a three 
years' course in the Jacksonville (111.) College, ob- 
taining in this institution a thorough education. 
He then spent some time in farming, and during 
leisure moments pursued the study of medicine, 
beginning his practice in Union County, Ark., 
after having taken a course of lectures in the Uni- 
versity of Louisville in 1848-49. In 1860 he grad- 
uated from the Medical Department of the Univer- 
sity of Louisiana, at New Orleans, and from that 
time until 1887 was in the active practice of his 
profession at Tupelo, Miss., coming then to Clar- 
endon, Ark. , where he has since devoted his atten- 
tion to the practice of medicine, selling drugs and 
farming. During about three years of the war he 
served as surgeon in Confederate hospitals in Mis- 
sissippi and Alabama, and since the war has been 
conservative in his political views, although for- 
merly a Whig. He is a member of the Masonic 
order, and since 1850 has been a member of the 
Presbyterian Church; his wife, whom he married in 
that year, and whose maiden name was Margaret 
A. Wiley, was also a member of the Presbyterian 
Church. She was born in Perry County, Ala., 
in 1830, and died in Tupelo, Miss., in 1887, child- 
less. Dr. Frazer wedded his present wife in Feb- 
ruary, 1888, she being a Mrs. Lucy N. (Mullens) 
Youngblood, born near Clarendon in 1848, a mem- 
ber of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and 



the mother of one child, about fourteen years of 
age, named Beulah M. Youngblood. The doctor 
was born in Autauga County, Ala. , in 1826, and is 
a son of Walter and Nancy (Brann) Frazer, both of 
whom were born in Mecklenburg County, Va. , and 
were there reared and married. About 1818 they 
removed to Alabama, where the father's death oc- 
curred in 1831, he having been a successful farmer. 
He was a lieutenant in the War of 1812, and was a 
son of Rev. James Frazer, who was born in Scot- 
land, and came to America when a young man, 
marrying and settling in Virginia, but returned to 
his native land about the commencement of the 
American Revolution. He was a minister of the 
Presbyterian Church, and died in . His 

family remained in America. 

Alfred J. Gannon is a son of John Porter Gan- 
non, who was born in North Carolina in 1813, and 
immigrated to Tennessee in 1823 with his father, 
George Gannon. He was married in 1837 to Miss 
Elizabeth Hayes, a native of Virginia, and of 
English descent. The family of Gannon is of 
Irish ancestry. Elizabeth died in 1858, leaving 
seven children, four sons and three daughters: 
Martha A. (wife of Nathan McBroon, now of Delta 
County, Tex.), Alfred J., William C, John Q., 
Joanna (wife of William A. Sullivan), Fannie T. 
(wife of N. J. Mason) and James B. He was mar- 
ried a second time in 1859 to Miss Travis. They 
were the parents of three children, two of whom 
are still living: Isaac and Samuel L. He was a 
captain in the Mexican War. Capt. John P. Gan- 
non followed farming and stock raising all his life. 
He was a strict member of the Christian Church, 
and a strong temperance advocate never allowing 
whisky to enter his house only in the form of med- 
icine. His life was an exemplary one, both as a 
Christian gentleman and as a member of society. 
He died in August, 1870. Alfred J. Gannon was 
born in Cannon County, Tenn., on April 19, 1842, 
and being raised on a farm was taught farming 
and stock raising until the war between the States 
in 1861. He was among the first to enlist in his 
State, and joined the company known as the 
"Woodbury Guards," afterward called Company 
A, Eighteenth Regiment Tennessee Volunteers 






.^ ^ 



MONROE COUNTY. 



531 



(Joseph B. Palmer, colonol). Mr. Gannon was in 
the Kentucky campaign of 1861, and was captured 
at the fall of Fort Donelson, February 16, 1862. 
He was sent to Camp Butler, Springfield, EL, 
and was there confined in close prison for seven 
months, and was then sent down the Mississippi 
River to Vickslmrg for exchange in the trans- 
port steamer A. McDowell, Commodore Farragut's 
fleet. Here he was exchanged and went to Mont- 
gomery, Ala., and re-enlisted in the war. Mr. 
Gannon was in the battle of Murfreesboro and was 
one of the participants in the celebrated Brecken- 
ridge charge on the evening of January 2, 1863. 
He was also in the battle of Chickamauga, and 
here received a wound in his right arm, by reason 
of which he was honorably discharged from service. 
■He had many narrow escapes during the war. He 
immigrated to this State in 1872, and was married 
to Miss Maggie L. Palmer on January 19, 1876, 
who was born in Phillips County on May 29, 185-4. 
They have a family of five children: Katie L. , 
John Hayes (who died on October 7, 1886, in the 
seventh year of his age), Maggie C, Alfred J., Jr., 
and Ellett Hewitt. His wife is the second daugh- 
ter of John C. and Margret E. Palmer, of this 
State, and a granddaughter of Jesse J. Shell, one 
of the early settlers of the State. Mr. Gannon is 
a member of the Christian Church and his wife 
belongs to the Catholic Church. Ho owns a fine 
farm of 160 acres of land with good buildings, 
orchard, etc., and is also a breeder of fine cattle. 
He is a member of the I. O. O. F. , and a stanch 
Democrat, as his father and grandfather were be- 
fore him. 

William H. Govan is the son of Andrew R. 
Govan, who was born in Orangeburg District, S. C, 
in 1796. His parents. Daniel and Elizabeth (Roach) 
Govan, were of Scotch descent. Andrew was a 
large planter of that State, which he represented 
in Congi-ess in 1824. He was married to the mother 
of our subject. Miss Mary P. Jones, a daughter of 
J. Morgan and Sallie (Davis) Jones, in 1824. They 
reared a family of eight children, six of whom are 
still living: D. C. (a brigadier-general in the 
Civil War, who is now a resident of Helena), John 
J. (a farmer of Lee County), George M. (now sec- 



retary of State of Mississippi), Sarah (the wife of 
John M. Billups, of Columbus, Miss.), Bettie and 
William H. (our subject, and the next to the oldest). 
Andrew R. Govan moved from North Carolina in 
1881, and settled in Western Tennessee, near Sum- 
merville, going five years later to Mississippi, where 
he died in 1841. His wife was a native of New 
Berne, N. C. , and was born in 1802. and died on 
July 12, 1888, in Mississipjn. William H. Govan 
was born in Northampton County, N. C, in 1831. 
He was married in 1878 to Miss Jennie Jackson, 
daughter of John S. and Isabella \X. (Rliodes) 
Jackson, natives of Tennessee and Mississippi, re- 
spectively. She was born in Louisiana, in 1834. 
Mr. Govan moved to Arkansas in 1858, and bought 
a farm in Phillips County, where he lived until the 
breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in the 
Second Arkansas Infantry, serving as quarter- 
master and jiaymaster. At the close of the conflict 
he embarked in the mercantile business with Maj. 
W. E. Moore, and the following year sold out and 
entered into partnership with Hon. H. L. Hawley 
and Oliver H. Gates, in the practice of law at Hel- 
ena. The next year he returned to Phillips County, 
and engaged in farming, but in 1874, resumed the 
practice of law with Hon. John H. Huett, at Mar- 
iana, where he remained until 1878. Moving 
to Monroe County, he purchased a farm of 500 
acres, with over 300 acres under cultivation. The 
house he now occupies is one of the oldest in the 
county, having been built by Dr. Duncan in 1834. 
He is a member of the A. F. & A. M.. and of the 
K. of H. Mrs. Govan is a member of the Presby- 
terian Church. 

Grant Green is a member of the law th'ni of 
Price & Green, of Clarendon, Ark. The profes- 
sion of law is one of the most important of human 
callings, and he who takes upon himself the prac- 
tice of it, assumes the weightiest responsibilities 
that his fellow-man can put upon his shoulders. 
As a copartnership, who.se honor is above criticism, 
and whose ability places it among the leading law 
firms of the West, is the above named. Mr. Green, 
the junior member, was born in Jlonroe County, 
Ark. , in 1850, and is the son of Dr. Henry D. and 
Martha H. (Lambert) Green, who were born in 



9 k^ 



tiU. 



532 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Henderson County, Ky., in 1824 and 1832. re- 
spectively. In 1847 Dr. Green removed to Mont- 
gomery Point, Ark., but after a short time re- 
turned to his former home, and in 1848 came to 
Monroe County, Ark., where he was married in 
1849, being among its early settlers, and one of 
its most prominent physicians for many years. 
He was an influential and public-spirited citizen, 
and did a great deal toward developing the 
country and improving the morality of the com- 
munity in which he resided. His medical educa- 
tion was acquired in Louisville, and during the 
Rebellion he was assistant surgeon in the Con- 
federate States army. He served as county judge 
of Monroe County, and filled the oifice of county 
treasurer two terms. He was a prominent Mason. 
a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 
and died in 1879. His father, John W. Green, 
was born in Kentucky, in all probability, and was 
killed while serving in the Mexican War. Dr. 
Green's wife bore him two sons and one daughter, 
and from a child she was reared in Monroe County, 
Ark., and left him a wido\''9r in 1857. She was a 
daughter of Rev. Jordan B. Lambert, who was a 
Kentuckian, Vnit was one of the early settlers of 
Monroe County, having come here in 1839. He 
represented Monroe County in the State legisla- 
ture, was at one time judge of the county, and was 
an influential citizen and a prosperous farmer. 
Dr. Green was married a second time, in 1859. to 
Miss Minnie I. Swift, in Fayette County, Tenn. , 
who bore him four sons and two daughters, all 
of whom, including herself, are still living. Their 
eldest son is Henry D. Green, Jr., the present 
treasurer of Monroe County, and an energetic 
and successful young merchant at Clarendon. 
Mr. Lambert was a minister of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. Grant Green, our immedi- 
ate subject, was educated in the local schools of 
Monroe County and West Tennessee, and for one 
year was an attendant of the Jesuit School of St. 
Louis. At the age of nineteen years he entered 
the Law Department of the Cumberland University 
of Lebanon, Tenn. , attending two terms, and after 
teaching school a few terms, and pursuing the 
study of law in the meantime, he was admitted to 



the bar in 1870, but did not enter actively upon 
his practice until two years later. Since then he 
has been actively engaged in practice; two years, 
1875 and 1876, he was at Helena. He has been 
one of the leading members of the Monroe County 
bar for a number of years, and since 1882 has been 
associated with Mr. Price. He is one of the well- 
to-do men of the county, and is the owner of a 
fine farm comprising 1,000 acres, eight miles from 
Clarendon, of which 400 acres are iinder cultiva- 
tion. Mr. Green voted tirst for Greeley in 1872, 
and has always been a Democrat in his political 
views. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M. , the 
Knights of Honor and the Knights of Pythias, and 
has been presiding officer in all these orders. 
June 1, 1875, he was married to Miss Loula M., 
a daughter of Dr. Henry G. Jackson, of Monroe 
County, Ark., but she left him a widower in 1870. 
Mr. Green's second marriage was celebrated at 
Somei-ville, Tenn., in 1888, his wife being Mrs. 
Willie Word, a daughter of Maj. W. E. Winfield, 
of Fayette County, Tenn. , who obtained his title 
while serving in the Confederate army under Gen. 
Johnston. Mrs. Green was born in West Tennes- 
see, and she and Mr. Green have two children, a 
son and a daughter. They are members of the 
church, Mr. Green being a member of the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church, and Mrs. Green of 
the Old School Presbyterian Church. 

Henry D. Green, treasurer of Monroe County, 
Ark., is the son of Dr. H. D. Green, who was mar- 
ried twice, his last wife being the mother of our 
subject. His grandfather Swift, was a Tennesseean, 
who died in Fayette County. Henry D. Green was 
born in Monroe County, Ark., in 1863, the fifth 
of ten children, six sons and four daughters, and 
as he grew up he was daily instructed into the 
mysteries of farm life. Although he only attended 
school for about eighteen months he made the 
most of the advantages offered him and later by 
reading and contact with the business affairs of 
life, has become one of the well informed and in- 
telligent young men of the county. Upon the 
death of his father he began the battle of life for 
himself, and until 1884 was engaged in tilling the 
soil. From that time until 1885 he clerked in a 



^ 



.> 



MONROE COUxMTY. 



533 



store in Clarendon, then engaged in general mer- 
chandising on his own responsibilitj' and has a 
stock of goods valued at $1,000, the firm being 
known as H. D. Green & Co. He was notary 
public for four years or until 1888, then was 
elected to the office of treasurer of Monroe County 
by the Democratic party, of which he has long been 
a member, and is now filling the duties of this 
position. He is a member of the K. of H., of 
Clarendon Lodge No. 2328, and he and wife, whom 
he married in 1888, and whose maiden name was 
Kate Blake, are members of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Green was born in 
Henderson Count}', Ky. , and she and Mr. Green 
are the parents of a daughter. Her parents, 
Augustus and Gertrude Blake, were born in Hen- 
derson County, Ky. 

William Jasper Hall, planter and stockman. 
Holly Grove, Ark. This prominent agriculturist 
is the son of Thomas and Mournen (Stephens) Hall, 
the father of Scotch- Irish and English descent. 
The ancestors of the Hall family came to America 
prior to the Revolutionary War, and the grand- 
father Hall, who was probably a native of North Car- 
olina, served in this war. The maternal ancestors 
were of French-Scotch descent, and the parents of 
Mrs. Hall, Willoughby and Margaret (Littleton) 
Stephens, were natives of North Carolina, their an- 
cestors having emigrated to America previous to 
the War of 1T7G. William Jasper Hall was born 
on January 31, 18-44, in Onslow County, N. C, 
and received the rudiments of an education in 
a private school at Mill Run, Onslow County, 
completing his education at Jacksonville, the same 
county. He was early initiated into the duties of 
farm life and remained at home until the early 
part of 1862, when he enlisted in Company C, 
Fourth Regiment North Carolina Cavalry. The 
command was called up after the Ijattle of Gettys- 
burg to cover the retreat of the Confederate army 
after their defeat in that battle, and the regiment 
dismounting at a bridge on the Hagerstown road, 
were surrounded by Federal forces and were cut off 
from their horses and lost nearly all of them. The 
command remained on the north side of the Po- 
tomac for about three weeks after the battle, in con- 



sequence of the high water. They finally forded 
the river at Williamsport. a number being drowned 
in the attempt, and joined thoir comrades. Mr. 
Hall was with his command nearly all the time, ex- 
cept when driven out of Culpeper, and was pa- 
roled at New Berne, N. C, in April, ISGy. He 
walked from New Berne to his home the latter part 
of April, and engaged in tilling the soil, which oc- 
cupation he continued until 1870, when he came 
to Arkansas, locating near Indian Bay, Monroe 
County, where he worked for Samuel Pointer, 
whoso sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. 
He returned to North Carolina about Christmas 
of the same year, and was united in marriage 
to Miss Sallie L. Stephens, the daughter of Enoch 
and Mary (Tatum) Stephens. Mr. and Mrs. Hall 
arrived in Arkansas on February 16. 1871, rented 
a farm on shares, and, after remaining there one 
year, moved on the John Walker farm, Jackson 
Township, Monroe County. He made his first 
purchase of land in 1870, a tract of 200 acres with 
no improvements, and has added to this until he 
now is the owner of 600 acres, 480 acres in one 
body and 275 acres under cultivation. He princi- 
pally raises cotton, but also raises good corn, and 
has a good young orchard. He is quite a stockman 
and raises cattle and hogs. To Mr. and Mrs. Hall 
have been born eight children, seven now living: 
Florence Geraldine (born January 1, 1872), Will- 
iam Enoch, Samuel Norman, Beatrice Rosa, Paul 
Ransom (deceased), Paula E., Mary M. and Sallie 
Edith. Mrs. Hall died in Jackson Township, in 
November, 1887. Mr. Hall takes a deep interest 
in all educational matters, and is determined to 
give his children all the advantages possible in that 
direction. He is a memlier of the Masonic frater- 
nity, Indian Bay Lodge No. 256, and also holds 
membership in the K. of H. Lodge No. 16, Indian 
Bay, and is a charter member of the L. of H. In 
1886 be was elected to the oflSce of county coroner, 
but never qualified, having been elected without 
being consulted. 

William Hooker. Among the many enterprises 
necessary to complete the commercial resources of 
a town or city, none is of more importance than 
that of the grocer, as he is one of the main factors 



l\^ 



534 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



in the furnishing of our food supplies. Promi- 
nent in this trade is Mr. Hooker, who has been 
established here in business since October, 1889, 
his stock of goods being valued at about $1,500. 
He was born in Shelby County, Tenn., in 1856, 
and is a son of Joseph W. and Fannie A. (Jones) 
Hooker, the former a Tennesseeau and the latter a 
native of South Carolina. Their marriage took 
place at Memphis, and prior to the war they came 
to Arkansas, and opened a farm on White River. 
During the struggle between the North and South 
they returned to Tennessee, coming again to Ar- 
kansas after the war had closed. From that time 
until his death he kept a hotel at Clarendon, and 
in the latter years of his life also an eating-house 
at Brinkley, and one at Black Fish for the Lit- 
tle Rock & Memphis Railroad. He met a violent 
death, being killed in a railroad accident in 1879. 
He was a soldier for three years in the Confeder- 
ate army, being a member of an Arkansas regiment. 
His widow survives him, and is a member of the 
Methodist Church. William Hooker is the second 
of seven children, three now living, and received 
his early education in the city of Memphis, his 
higher education being acquired in Leddin Com- 
mercial College. After clerking for nine years for 
Walker Bros. & Co. , of that city, then the largest 
mercantile house in the South, he became a book- 
keeper for Saul Alinger, of Saulsburj', with whom 
he remained eighteen months, then clerked for 
(runn & Black, until they sold out. During 1883 
he associated himself with Louis Salinger, in the 
general mercantile business, continuing until 1887, 
then began trading in real estate. Mr. Hooker is 
a Democrat politically, and has shown his approval 
of secret organizations by joining the Knights of 
Honor and the Knights and Ladies of Honor. 
On March 12, 1887, he was married to Emma, a 
daughter of John A. McDonald. She was born in 
Jackson County, Ark. 

W^esley H. Hugheu, farmer and stockman. 
Holly Grove, Ark. Mr. Hughen was born Maj' 19, 
1824, in Abbeville District, S. C. , and received a 
limited education in Coweta County, Ga. , whither 
his parents had moved in 1831. Later they moved 
to Rome, and there Wesley attended the male 



academy for aboiit two years. He was early ini- 
tiated into the duties of farm life, and on Decem- 
ber 21, 1845, he was married in Floyd County, 
Ga., to Miss Elizabeth Mann, who was born 
November 14, 1825, and who was the daughter 
of Young and Mary A. (Garrison) Mann, natives 
of North Carolina and Georgia, respectively. 
After marrying Mr. Hughen engaged with his 
brother and father in farming, and the following 
year immigrated to Alabama. To his marriage 
were born these childi-en: Martha A. (born August 
6, 1847), Mary L. B. (born July 21, 1849), Sarah A. 
(born December 17, 1850), Robert A. (born August 
22, 1853) and William R. (born August 22, 1855). 
The mother of these children died Sej^tember 4, 
1866, and was buried in Floyd County, Ga. 
While living in Alabama Mr. Hughen followed 
agricultural pursuits, and in 1855, he moved to 
Gordon County, Ga. , where he engaged in the 
milling business with Mr. Mann (his father-in- 
law), and erected a flouring and saw mill. By a 
freshet, the property was badly damaged, but they 
rebuilt and had gotten fairly started again, when 
the Rebellion broke forth, and put another stop to 
their operations. In May, 1863, Mr. Hughen en- 
listed as a soldier, and was assigned to duty in the 
First Georgia Regiment Infantry, serving from 
that time until December, 1865. He participated 
in two engagements: Stone River, and during the 
siege of Fort Sumter he frequently went into the 
fort to witness the manner of defense. On the 
5th day of December, 1864, while on duty, he was 
captured by the Union soldiers and taken to New 
York, being confined for thirteen days. He then 
took the oath of allegiance to the United States, 
and afterward went to Edgewood. 111., where he 
engaged in milling, following this until the close 
of the war. He then returned to his home in 
Georgia, where he was employed for some time in 
endeavoring to repair the damages done during the 
war, and working at various occupations, until the 
fall of 1869, when he came to Arkansas. He 
rented land for three or four years, and in 1873 
bought the land uj)on which he now lives, and 
where he has since made his home. The tract 
contains sixty-six acres of wild, woody laud, upon 



^ \t 



MONROE COUNTY. 



535 



which not an improvement had been made. At 
the present time Mr. Hughen has forty-seven acres 
under cultivation, and has good buildings, or- 
chards, etc. On October 3, 1867, he took for his 
second wife Mrs. Eliza Moore, who bore him one 
child, Ida Lee, whose birth occurred July 9, 1808. 
At the present time, five of Mr. Hughen's children 
are living, and all are married: Martha A. (wife 
of Mr. Knowlis, who became the mother of four 
children. Her second marriage was to Mr. Bon- 
ner, of Texai'kana). Mary L. B. (married Jasper 
Lampley. She died in 1883, and left children), 
Sarah (married twice, first to Zeke Meeks, by whom 
she had one child, and second to Mr. Fitzhugh, by 
whom she had four children, all deceased. She 
died in 1884), Robert A. (died at Little Rock, in 
1885), William R. (died on December '9, 1887, 
and left four children, the result of his union with 
Miss Elizabeth Chrisp), Ida Lee (became the wife 
of Elihn Williams, and has one child). Mr. and 
Mrs. Hughen are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South, and Mr. Hughen has been a 
local preacher since 1 883. He has been a member 
of that church for thirty- eight years. He is in- 
clined to be Democratic in his political views. He 
is the son of James and Elizabeth (Anthony) 
Hughen, the father born and reared in South 
Carolina, and of Irish descent. His ancestors 
came to America, previous to the Revolutionary 
War, located in South Carolina, and the paternal 
grandfather, R. A. Hughen, was a commanding 
officer in the Revolutionary War. His uniform 
was seen by the subject of this sketch, in the 
clerk' s office at Coweta, Ga. , thirty years ago, at 
which time it was in a good state of preservation. 
Others of this family participated in the Florida 
War. James Hughen and Miss Elizabeth An- 
thony were married August 31, 1822, in Anderson 
District, S. C, and became the parents of seven 
children, all of whom grew to mature years. Mrs. 
Elizabeth (Anthony) Hughen was the daughter of 
Joel and Mary (Bratton) Anthony. 

James Benton Hughes, planter, Lamberton, 
Ark. On August 8, 1841 , there was born to Joshua 
and Nancy (Bookout) Hughes, a son, James Benton 
Hughes, who was one of a family of thirteen chil- 



dren, the result of their union. The father was born 
in Tennessee in 1814, and was of English descent, 
his ancestors having emigrated to America pre- 
vious to the Revolutionary AVar. The Grandfather 
Hughes participated in the struggle. James Ben- 
ton Hughes' birth occurred in De Kalb County, 
Ala., and of the large family of which he was a 
member, only eight are now living. He was edu- 
cated in the subscription schools of his native 
county, and subsequently attended Sulphur Springs 
Academy. He was reared to the arduous duties of 
the farm, and this has been his principal occupa- 
tion during life, although for about three or four 
years he was engaged in rafting on the White 
River, between Indian Bay and New Orleans, their 
cargo being cypress logs. In 1859 Mr. Hughes 
went to Texas, where he was engaged in farming 
and herding for a year or two. He contracted 
with the Government to deliver supplies to the 
troops at Fort Colorado, and in March, 1802, he 
enlisted in Company C, Twenty-fourth Texas Cav- 
alry, afterward the Twenty-fourth Texas Infantry, 
serving until the close of the war. He participated 
in the battle of Helena, was in the Missouri raid under 
Gen. Price, and at Pilot Knob, where he received 
a wound in the hand. He was also in a number of 
skirmishes previous to the Missouri raid. He went 
from his home to take the oath of allegiance at 
Jacksonport, but was not successful. In 1800 he 
worked on Dr. Washington's farm on shares, for 
one year, and then engaged in rafting as before 
mentioned. On March 5, 1871, he was united in 
marriage to Mrs. Sallie (Simmons) Stuuson, the 
daughter of John and Jennie Simmons, who were 
among the first settlers of Eastern Arkansas. One 
child, Rosabell, was born to this union, her birth 
occurring on August 10, 1872, and her death on 
November 1, 1885. Mrs. Hughes died on April 
14, 1876. Mr. Hughes made his first purchase of 
land, a tract comprising forty acres of wild land, 
in 1873, and has since added to this, until he now 
owns 380 acres, with about ninety acres under cul- 
tivation, his principal crops having been corn and 
cotton. He has a fine young apple and peach or- 
chard, and raises as fine peaches as can be found 
anywhere. In his political views he coincides with 



^1 



536 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



the Democratic party. He officiated in the ca- 
pacity of deputy sheriff for eight years by appoint- 
ment, and was a capable and efficient officer. He 
is a member of the K. of H., Indian Bay Lodge 
No. 2491, and is also a member of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. 

G. W. Hurst, at the early age of fifteen, was 
made overseer of an extensive plantation, and had 
the full management of the same, in Monroe 
County, Miss. , for over three years. After this he 
took charge of a large gang of negroes for James 
Erwin, being thus engaged until the opening of 
the war, when he enlisted in the Eleventh Missis- 
sippi. He was taken prisoner at the battle of 
Gettysburg, and removed to Ohio, where he was 
held for seven months, when he escaped and went 
to Buffalo, and a number of other cities, but was 
unable to join his regiment. G. W. Hurst was 
born in Franklin County, Ala., in 1840, being a 
son of Henry and Mary (Austin) Hurst, natives of 
Georgia and Alabama, respectively. They were 
the parents of nine children, five of whom are still 
living: G. W. , Richard, Henry, William and Eliz- 
abeth (the wife of David Hooker, of Mississijjpi). 
Mr. Hurst was a member of the A. F. & A M. , and 
of the Baptist Church, as was also his wife. He 
died in 1853 or 1854, and his worthy companion 
in 1849. At the close of the war the principal of 
this sketch returned to Franklin County, Ala., 
where he was married to Miss Mary E. Askew, 
daughter of Josiah and Permelia Askew, natives 
of that county. The following year they removed 
to Arkansas and located in Monroe County, and 
engaged in farming. They had a family of eight 
children, five of whom are living: Mary J. (the 
wife of W. H. Odon, of Ellis County, Tex.), James 
F. , Clara J. , George A. and John H. Mr. Hurst 
is a member of the K. of P., and his wife of the 
Baptist Church. 

T. H. Jackson is the senior member of the gen- 
eral mercantile firm of T. H. Jackson & Co., of 
Brinkley, Ark. , their stock of goods being valued 
at 135,000, and their annual sales reaching $120,- 
000, and in addition to successfully disposing of 
the manifold duties connected with this establish- 
ment, he is connected with the Brinkley Car 



Works and the Monroe County Bank and director 
of the Louisiana, Arkansas & Missouri Railroad. 
Being a native-born citizen of the State, he has 
ever had the interests of his State and county at 
heart, and has manifested his desire to witness 
their advancement by taking an active interest in 
all worthy enterprises, such as schools, churches, 
and the erection of public buildings of all kinds. 
In every walk of life he has proven himself to be a 
man of strict integrity and moral worth, and his 
influence in all public affairs has always been on 
the side of right. His birth occurred in Helena, 
Ark., in 1855, and he is a son of Jesse A. and 
Eliza L. (Hicks) Jackson, the former of whom is 
supposed to have been born in North Carolina, and 
the latter in Tennessee, their marriage taking place 
in Helena at an early day. During the war Jesse 
A. Jackson was a recruiting officer for Company A, 
but he afterward settled in Helena, Ark. , of which 
place he was several times mayor, and councilman 
for some years, and was also in the United States 
land office, being there for some time, and after- 
ward becoming interested in banking and mercan- 
tile business. He moved to Shreveport, La., where 
he died of yellow fever, in 1873. He was a member 
of the A. F. & A. M. His wife is still living and 
is sixty-two years of age. T. H. Jackson is the 
fourth of ten children, and received his education 
in the city of Helena, and spent three years in the 
Cumberland University of Lebanon, Tenn. Upon 
leaving that institution he was about sixteen years 
of age, and although his knowledge of the world 
was at that time very limited he was compelled to 
begin the battle of life for himself and his first 
work was in the capacity of clerking. He remained 
with one firm at Helena for seven or eight years, 
then became traveling salesman for William R. 
Moore & Co. , of Memphis, but after remaining with 
them for a period of five years he settled at Brink- 
ley (in 1886) and is now classed among the lead- 
ing men of the county. He is a conservative Dem- 
ocrat in his political views, and socially is a mem- 
ber of Brinkley Lodge No. 3127, of the Knights 
of Honor, the Knights and Ladies of Honor and 
Knights of Pythias, being Chancellor Commander 
of the latter order. January 6, 1886, witnessed 



^-. 



^^ 



MONROE COUNTY. 



537 



the celebration of his marriage to Lena A., daugh- 
ter of Maj. AVilliam and Bona Black, prominent 
residents of the county. Mrs. Jackson was born 
in Memphis, Tenn., is a member of the Catholic 
Church, and her union with Mr. Jackson has been 
blessed in the birth of two bright little sons. 

Capt. Benjamin F. Johnson is a member of the 
general mercantile firm of B. F. & G. F. Johnson, 
they being also engaged in cotton dealing at Clar- 
endon. This firm is one of the most successful 
and enterprising in Eastern Arkansas, and the 
senior member of the firm, our sul)ject, was born 
in La Fayette County, Miss., in 1839, being a son 
of Benjamin J. and Harriet T. (Owen) Johnson, 
the former a Georgian, born in 1802, and the latter 
a Virginian, born in 1818. The nuptials of their 
marriage were celebrated in Maury County, Tenn. . 
and soon after they removed to La Fayette County, 
Miss., coming to Monroe County, Ark., in 1848, 
and settling near Cotton Plant. Here they im- 
proved a good farm, but becoming a little dissatis- 
fied with bis location, he, in 1859, went to Texas. 
He soon returned, however, to Monroe County, and 
here spent the rest of his days, dying in 1809, a 
successful planter and one of the leading pioneers 
of the county. For some years he was a lead- 
ing commissioner of what was then St. Francis 
County, and, as he was enterprising in his views 
and honest and upright in character, he had many 
warm admirers and friends. He and wife were 
Baptists, and he was a son of Henry Johnson, a 
native of Ireland who, when but sixteen years of 
age, came with a brother to the United States. He 
served in the Eevolutionary War and afterward 
made his home and was married in Virginia, mov- 
ing thence to Georgia, but his death occurred in 
Alabama, he having settled where Decatiu' is now 
situated. The maternal grandfather, John W. 
Owen, was born in Scotland and being of an en- 
terprising and adventurous disposition he emi- 
grated to America when a young man and also 
participated in the American Revolution. He 
spent many years of his life in the Old Dominion, 
but his declining years were spent on a farm in 
Fayette County, Tenn. Capt. Benjamin F. John- 
son lost his mother in 1854, and in 1858 his father 



married again, having one daughter by his last 
wife, and three sons and two daughters by his 
first. Benjamin F. is the only child living born 
to his parents, and many of the important years of 
his life were spent on a farm, but although en 
gaged in the monotonous duties of farm work ho 
obtained a fair education in the schools near his 
home. S('ptonil)er 13, 1859, witnessed his marriage 
to Miss Jane E., a daughter of \Villiam A. and 
Mary Pickens, who were born, reared and married 
in Tennessee, and moved from there to Mississippi, 
thence to Monroe County, Ark. , in 1858, both f)ar- 
ents dying here in 1860, having been farmers and 
worthy citizens of the county. Mi's. Johnson is a 
native of Tennessee, and two years after her mar- 
riage her husband left her to join Company B, 
First Arkansas Infantry, and during a service of 
about three years he was in th(> fights of Pea Ridge, 
Big Black, Richmond, Murfreesboro and many 
others. On account of failing health he was fnr- 
loughed and remained at home about three nionths, 
but soon recovered his wonted energies, and in 1862 
returned to the army, becoming one of Price's men, 
and was with him while on his raid through Mis- 
souri. He was paroled at Wittsburg and retui-ned 
to farm life, but in 1869 also engaged in merchan- 
dising at Crockett's Bluff. Owine; to the dullness 
of trade he moved to Clarendon in April, 1869, 
and began business after settling in Clarendon, 
continuing until 1874, when misfortunes overtook 
him and all his accumulations of years were swept 
away. He then went to Helena, Ark., where fie 
worked for wages a few years, and by dint of econ- 
omy and many self-denials he had accumulated 
sufficient property by 1878 to permit him to again 
eml)ark in mercantile pursuits on a small scale. 
Owing to the many warm friends he had previously 
made in Clarendon and to his honesty, industry 
and strict attention to the details of his business, his 
patronage has steadily increased and he now does 
an annual business of about S90.000 in Clarendon, 
besides a business of ?25,()00 in Indian Bay. His 
nephew, G. F. Johnson, whom he has reared from 
a lad of thirteen years, is his partner and is an 
intelligent and wide-awake young business man. 
Mr. Johnson owns about 3,000 acres of land, with 



»Tv*" 



>> 



538 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



about 1,700 acres under cultivation, all of which 
he has earned since 1878. He is a Democrat, a 
member of the A. F. & A. M., the K. of H. and 
the I. O. O. F. He and wife are worthy mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church. They have no 
offspring, but have raised and educated seven or- 
phan children, one girl and six boys, all of them 
steady and of good habits. One of the boys will 
study law, another medicine, one civil engineering 
and still another one will embark in stock raising 
out west. G. F. Johnson is his partner, and the 
sixth and last one, died just as he was in his 
eighteenth year. The names of these children are 
James B. Benson, Jasper W. Benson, Frank Mil- 
ler, G. F. Johnson, William H. Johnson, E. B. 
Montgomery and Miss Mattie Lee Benson. 

Capt. "William J. F. Jones is a farmer and me- 
chanic of Pine Ridge Township, Monroe County, 
Ark., but his birth occurred in Maury County, 
Tenn., in 1831, his parents being William and 
Penny (Skipper) Jones, natives respectively of 
North Carolina and Virginia. They were both 
taken to Maury County, Tenn., when small and 
were reared, educated and married in that State. 
Mr. Jones died when our subject was about twelve 
years of age, and his wife afterward married again 
and removed to Texas, where she died in 1888, 
both she and Mr. Jones having been earnest mem- 
bers of the Methodist Church. Mr. Jones was a 
farmer, as were his father and father-in-law, Joseph 
Skipper, and all were early settlers of the State of 
Tennessee. Capt. William J. F. Jones was the 
second of five children, and he and his elder 
brother, John W., were reared to a farm life and 
after their father' s death assisted in the sujaport of 
the family until they attained manhood, William 
J. F. being so occupied until he was twenty-four 
years of age. He was married in 1854 to Nancy 
A., a daughter of William and Louisa Malone, by 
whom he became the father of ten children, three 
sons and two daughters being now alive: William 
C. , James T. , Maggie I. (wife of John L. Barnett), 
Viola J. and Theodore T. After his marriage Mr. 
Jones resided in De Soto County, Miss, (which 
was Mrs. Jones' native birthplace), until 1856, 
since which date he has been a resident of Monroe 



County, Ark. His first home here was a little 
log- cabin among the woods, twelve miles east of 
Clarendon, and here, after many years of slow and 
disheartening labor he finds himself the owner of 
680 acres of as fine land as there is in the county, 
and by his own efforts he has put 125 acres under 
the plow. At the breaking out of the war he owed 
$500 on his homestead of 1 '20 acres, but during this 
time he paid off the debt in full, and although suit 
was afterward brought against him for the amount, 
the case was decided in his favor. The rest of his 
property has been made since then. In 1861 he 
joined Company A, Fifteenth Arkansas Infantry, 
as a private and became a member of the Army of 
the Tennessee, participating in the battle of Shiloh. 
On May 15, 1862, he was detailed home for re- 
cruits, and had no difficulty in raising sufficient men 
to form Company E, which was attached to the 
Sixth Arkansas Infantry, and he became its cap- 
tain. He was in the engagements of Prairie Grove 
and Helena, but was taken captive at the latter 
place on July -t, 1863, aud was taken to Alton, 
111., where he spent one month, and from that time 
until January 9, 186F', he was kept a prisoner at 
Johnson's Island. After being paroled he returned 
to his farm. His first presidential vote was cast 
for Pierce in 1852, biit since 1874 he has been 
a member of the Union Labor party. He belongs 
to the Agricultural Wheel. His wife is a member 
of the Christian Church. 

Benjamin F. Kerr is one of the early residents 
of Monroe County, and is a retired merchant and 
planter of Clarendon. He was bom in what is now 
Hale County, Ala., in 1830, his parents, John ^\'. 
and Margaret (Dial) Kerr, having been born in 
Lincoln County, Ky. and Newberry District, S. C. , 
respectively, the former's birth occurring in 1798. 
Their nuptials were celebrated in Greene County, 
Ala., and in 1852 they came to Monroe County, but 
the father did not long live to enjoy his new home, 
as he was taken sick while en route to St. Louis, 
and died in that city in 1855. He was a very suc- 
cessful man of business, having been a planter and 
merchant, and at the time of his death was quite 
wealthy. His father, James Kerr, was born in 
Scotland, and when a young man came to the 



a,|^ 



.-w^— ^ 



MONROE COUNTY. 



53'J 



United States aud settled in Kentucky, where he 
made his home until his death. David M. Dial, 
the maternal grandfather, was born in the "Emer- 
ald Isle," and died in Sumter County, Ala., in 
1834, having been a wealthy farmer. Benjamin 
F. Kerr is the second of six children, and although 
his youth was spent at hard labor on the farm he 
succeeded in acquiring a good education, and after 
attaining his twelfth year attended school at 
Bridgeport, Conn. , for two years, then Middletown, 
Conn., two years, and spent the three following 
years at Danville, Ky., graduating from a school 
at that place in 1849. He spent the following 
eight years with a wholesale house of St. Louis, 
and in 1855 came to Monroe County, Ark., and 
settled at Holly Grove, whore he farmed until 
1875. Since then he has resided in Clarendon, 
and, until March, 1877, he was engaged in the 
mercantile business, but since that time he has been 
retired from the active duties of life. He is quite 
well off as far as worldly goods are concerned, and 
has a line farm of 300 acres and a good house in 
town. His wife, whose maiden name was Kate 
May and whom he married in Sumter County, 
Ala. , in 1851, was born in Marengo County of that 
State, and by Mr. Kerr is the mother of four sons 
and two daughters. She is a daughter of Asel and 
Charlotte May, natives, respectively, of Alabama 
and Kentucky. The former died in his native State 
in 1835, and the latter's death occurred in Rankin 
County, Miss. Mr. Kerr was a Whig prior to the 
war, but has since been a Democrat. He served 
the Confederate cause in the commissary depart- 
ment until 1863. and afterward went to Little Rock, 
where he was made recruiting oflScer. He was cap- 
tured near Helena, in 1804, and was imprisoned 
at Camp Chase, Ohio, until just before the close of 
the war, when he was exchanged. He is a Knight 
Templar in the Masonic fraternity. 

W. D. Kerr, manager of the firm of Isaac Hal- 
pin, was l)orn in Jackson County, Ala., in 1832, 
and is the son of James Kerr, whose birth occurred 
in Pulaski County, Ky., in 1804. The father was 
a mechanic by trade, and this occupation carried on 
until late in life, when he began farming, continu- 
ing at this until his death. He was married to Miss 



Cynthia Taylor, of Alabama, in about 1829, and 
they became the parents of fourteen children, 
seven sons and seven daughters, seven of whom 
are now living: Eliza J. (wife of J. T. Simms, of 
Texas), W. D., John M., James A., Rufus L., 
Emma A. (wife of W. H. Sperry, of Holly Grove), 
Martha E. (widow of Mr. Beever) and Charles G. 
James Kerr was a member of the A. F. & A. M. , 
and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, for over forty years, being class 
leader and steward in the same. He immigrated 
from Alabama to Arkansas in 1853, located in this 
county, and was the founder of the town of Holly 
Grove, owning part of the ground the town now 
stands on. He bought land when ho came here 
and built a log-cabin, having previously lived in a 
tent. He died in 1881, and his wife died in this 
county in 1888. She was also a worthy member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. W. 
D. Kerr began life for himself in 1852, as a clerk 
in a book and music store of Gainesville, Ala., and 
there remained for a year, when he began clerking 
in a drug and dry goods store for J. H. & J. G. 
Webb, of Sumterville, Sumter County, Ala. He 
moved from that State to Arkansas in 1858, and 
located in or near Holly Grove, where he has re- 
mained ever since. He was married to Miss Eliza- 
beth D. Nicholson, of Alabama, in 1854, and by 
her became the father of three children: Lillian 
(wife of W. B. Wellborn), Gertrude E. and Hattie 
N. Mr. Kerr was elected justice of the peace in 
1800, and held the otHco two terms; was also 
county judge a number of years. Mrs. Kerr was 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
died in 1884. Mr. Kerr took for his second wife 
Mrs. Emma Metcalfe, a native of Union County, 
Ky. , born in 1840, and the daughter of Mr. and 
Mrs. Martin Berry, of Union Coimty, Ky. Mrs. 
KeiT is a member of the Presbyterian Church, but 
Mr. Kerr has been a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South, since he was sixteen years 
of age. 

L. W. Kizer, farmer. Cypress Ridge, Ark. Mr. 
Kizer is a man who can appreciate the comforts of 
a desirable home and surroundings, and his well- 
improved farm ami attractive residence prove an 



a w_ 



540 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



ornament to the community. His father, David 
Kizer, was born in Tennessee in 1810, was reared 
on a farm and followed agricultural pursuits as a 
livelihood all his life. He was married to Miss 
Susan Ferguson, of Tennessee, and they became 
the parents of seventeen children, only five of whom 
are now living: Thomas D., James M. , Joseph F., 
William and L. W. Mr. Kizer died in Mississippi 
in 1877, and his wife died in 1835. He was a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. L. W. 
Kizer was married, in 1883, to Miss Sallie Ferofu- 
son, a native of De Soto, Miss., born in 1855 and 
the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Ferguson. 
Four children have been the result of this mar- 
riage, three now living: Georgia E., Katie and 
Grover C. Mr. Kizer is the owner of 320 acres of 
excellent land, with 175 acres under cultivation, and 
he also owns and operates a large cotton-gin. He 
moved fi'om Mississippi to Arkansas in 1883 and 
has since made his home in this county. He is 
one of the leading farmers and citizens in this sec- 
tion. Mrs. Kizer is a member of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

Charles B. La Belle is the capable cashier of 
the Monroe County Bank, and is also a member of 
the general mercantile firm of T. H. Jackson & 
Co., of Brinkley. He was born in Little Eock, 
Ark., in 1860, and is a son of Charles and Marga- 
ret (Crudgington) La Belle, the former a Canadian, 
who, after traveling in different States, finally set- 
tled in Pulaski County, Ark., becoming one of 
its pioneer settlers. Here he was married and 
sjjent the rest of his life, dying June 26, 1888, a 
contractor and brick-mason and a large real-estate 
owner. He was a well-known citizen of Little 
Rock, a Democrat in his political views, and at the 
time of his death was in full communion with the 
Catholic Church. His wife died October 4, 1877, 
having borne two children, a son and a daughter, 
the latter now being Mrs. J. H. Laster, of Little 
Rock. Charles B. La Belle attended the public 
schools of his native town, and later graduated 
from the Little Rock Commercial College, after 
which he became book-keeper for T. S. Diffey & 
Co., of that city until 1883, when he came to 
Brinkley and spent the first three years as a clerk 



for M. Kelley. He also filled the position of clerk 
and book-keeper for T. H. Jackson & Co., and in 
the month of May, 1888, was made a member of 
that well-known and enterprising firm. Although 
young in years he ranks among the leading busi- 
ness men of the place and in every respect deserves 
success, which has attended his career. In politics 
he is a Democrat and his first presidential vote was 
cast for Cleveland in 1884. He has served one 
year as alderman of Brinkley. and socially is a 
member of Brinkley Lodge of the Knights of 
Pythias, and also belongs to the Knights of Honor. 
October 3, 1888, he was married to Miss Anna, a 
daughter of the late Maj. William Black, whose 
histor3' is given in this work. Mr. La Belle and 
his wife have one son, whom they expect to rear in 
the Catholic faith. 

B. J. Lambert, merchant and farmer, Lamber- 
ton. Ark. Among the most important industries 
of any community are those which deal in the 
necessaries of life, and nothing is more necessary 
than bread and meat. Lamberton at least has one 
first-class estalilishment doing business in this 
line, which is successfully conducted by Mr. Lam- 
bert and son, who handle nothing but the best and 
freshest goods. This gentleman owes his nativity 
to Tennessee, his birth occurring in Madison 
County, in 1838, and is the son of Jordan B. and 
Judith W\ (Key) Lambert, the father a native of 
the Old Dominion, born in 1797, and the mother 
of North Carolina, born in 1799. They were mar- 
ried in Henderson County, Ky. , and later moved 
from there to Madison County, Tenn. , where they 
resided for seventeen years. In 1839 they came 
to Monroe County, located near Indian Bay, among 
a wild and immoral class of people, who were op- 
posed to culture or refinement, and rather disposed 
to riot and turmoil. Such a class of people was 
very olnioxious to the cultured and refined taste of 
Mr. Lambert, who put forth every effort to effect 
a change in that direction, and his exertions were 
eventually crowned with success. Here he passed 
the closing scenes of his life, his death occurring 
in January, 1860. He was a prominent Cumber- 
land Presbyterian minister for many years, and 
was one of seven brothers, six of whom were min- 



^ 



isters in that church. He was tho only one to 
reside in Monroe County, where he was one of the 
prominent pioneers. In 1844 he served in the 
Arkansas legislature, and afterward was judge of 
the county and proljate court. He probably did 
more toward moralizing the people and advancing 
the general interest of the country than any other 
one man. He was a member of the A. F. & A. 
M. His fathei, Joel Lambert, was a native Vir- 
ginian, of English descent, and died in Kentucky, 
Mrs. Lambert (mother of the subject of this 
sketch) died in 1868. She was the daughter of 
Chesley Key, who was a native of North Carolina 
and who died in Kentucky. B. J. Lambert was 
next to the youngest of ten children, eight sons 
and two daughters, seven of whom lived to be 
grown, but only two of whom are now living: B. 
J. and S. T. The former received his education 
in the common schools and attended two and a 
half years at Princeton, Ky., and one year at Mc- 
Lemoresville, Tenn. He then engaged in agricult- 
ural jiursuits and continued at this until the open- 
ing of the war. He served two and a half years 
in the Confederate army, in different companies, 
and was first with his brother, Capt. Robert Lam- 
bert, who was killed at the battle of Shiloh. After- 
ward he was in McCrea's brigade and operated in 
Arkansas. He was captui'ed in Monroe County, 
April 10, 1864, and was imprisoned at Camp 
Chase, Ohio, until the close of hostilities, and 
then returned home. He was married March 20, 
1861, to Miss Fannie A. Beasley, a native of Ten- 
nessee, and the daughter of Maj. John P. and 
Evaline T. Beasley, who came from West Tennes- 
see to Monroe County, Ark., in 1859. There Mrs. 
Beasley still resides, but Mr. Beasley was murdered 
in Texas, December 14, 1865, whither he had gone 
after stock. He and wife were natives of Alabama, 
and both were church members, he of the Method- 
ist and she of the Baptist. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Lambert were born eleven children, three sons and 
two daughters now living, and since 1871 Mr. 
Lambert and family have resided at Lamberton, 
where he purchased 1 , 500 acres of land, and has 
about 500 acres under cultivation. Since 1883 he 
has conducted the plantation store. He has been 



postmaster at Lamberton since the establishment 
of that office, and in 1872 was elected sheriff of 
Monroe County, but was counted out and the mat- 
ter was not settled for three years. In politics he 
was formerly a Whig, but is now a Democrat, and 
his first presidential vote was cast for Bell in 1860. 
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Indian 
Bay Lodge No. 256, and Forest Home Chapter No. 
16, at Clarendon. He and wife are members in 
good standing in the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. 

Henry A. McGill began life for himself at the 
early age of twelve years, by learning the painter's 
trade. Six years later he went to Mason County, 
111., where he worked at his trade until the break- 
ing out of the war, then enlisting in the Twenty- 
eighth Illinois Infantry, and participating in all the 
principal engagements of his division. He received 
his discharge in April, 1865, when he returned to 
Illinois, and engaged in farming until 1867. the 
time of his removal to Arkansas. Then he located 
in Monroe County, where he again took up his 
trade of painting. Four years later he bought a 
farm of 180 acres, with 130 acres under cultiva- 
tion, and now owns a cotton-gin and grist-mill, 
built in 1883, which he operates in addition to his 
farm. Mr. McGill was born in Madison County, 
Tenn., in 1845, and is a son of William McGill, a 
native of the same county. The latter was born in 
1824, and was married, in 1849, to Miss Adaline 
Gustin. They were the parents of three sons: 
Henry A. (our Hul)joct), John and William, dp 
ceased. He immigrated from Tennessee to Arkan- 
sas in 1849, and there died, having been a planter 
and overseer all of his life. Mr. Henry ilcGill 
was married in 1877 to Miss Annie S. Hallum, who 
was born in Poinsett County, in 1855. They were 
the parents of seven children, three of whom only 
are living: Volency H., Harrold and Julius. Jlr. 
McGill is a member of the K. of H., and he and 
wife belong to the Baptist Church. He is a strong 
Democrat, and a well-known and respected citizen. 

M. J. Manning is a member of one of the lead- 
ing law firms of the State of Arkansas, that of 
Roberts & Manning. He was born in De Soto 
County, Miss., in 1861, and is a sod of Hon. T. P. 



J^ 



542 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



and K. A. (Barbee) Maiming, natives, respectively, 
of North Carolina and Tennessee, who were mar- 
ried in De Soto County, Miss., where the mother 
died in 1882. Mr. Manning was a very successful 
lawyer of that State for twenty years and made his 
home in the above-named county until 1884, since 
which time he has resided in Paris, Ark., and the 
reputation he has acquired as a lawyer has been 
gained through his own efforts and at the expense 
of diligent study and hard practical experience. 
He is of Scotch-Irish descent, and during the late 
Civil War commanded a company of men fi'om 
Mississippi, Confederate States army, and on many 
occasions showed marked ability as a commander 
and achieved considerable distinction. In 1874 the 
people of De Soto County showed their apprecia- 
tion of his ability, by electing him to the State 
legislature of Mississippi, and he served in that 
body with credit to himself and to the satisfaction 
of all concerned. M. J. Manning, whose name 
heads this sketch, was the second of nine children 
and after acquiring an excellent education in the 
schools of his native county he entered the Law 
Department of the Mississippi University at Oxford 
and ixpon graduating, in 1883, came immediately to 
Clarendon, and in September of the same year was 
admitted to the Monroe County bar and has already 
risen to distinction in his profession, and notwith- 
standing the fact that he is young in years he has 
already attained prominence in his calling. He is 
a Democrat in his political views, an active member 
of the K. of P. and the K. of H., also the Ameri- 
can Legion of Honor. In 1885, Miss Jessie, a 
daughter of Major William E. Winfield, of Ten- 
nessee, who was a soldier in the Confederate 
army, a farmer by occupation and who died in 
1878, became his wife. She was born in Ten- 
nessee and by Mr. Manning is the mother of two 
daughters. She belongs to the Episcopal Church 
and he to the Baptist. 

M. D. Martin is a member of the general mer- 
cantile firm of Martin, Black & Co., of Indian Bay, 
Ark., the business being established on February 
1, 1877, the average value of the stock being about 
$10,000, and their annual sales amounting from 
$40,000 to 180,000. In connection with their dry- 



goods establishment they own and operate a good 
steam cotton-gin and saw-mill. Mr. Martin was 
born in Atlanta, Ga., in 1840, and was a son of 
Joseph J. and Jane (Thurmond) Martin, who were 
born in South Carolina and Atlanta, Ga., in 1811 
and 1820, respectively. They were married in the 
mother's native birthplace, but in the year 1852 
removed to Tilton, at which place the mother's 
death occurred in 1867, and the father's in 1886. 
He was an extensive planter, and a prominent 
man, and both he and his wife were members of 
the Baptist Church. The paternal grandfather, 
William G. Martin, was born in Virginia, and died 
in Atlanta, Ga. , but a number of the years of his 
life were spent in Abbeville District, S. C. He 
was colonel of a regiment of militia during the ^^'ar 
of 1812, but did not see much service. His father 
was a Virginian, the first one of the family born in 
America, as his father was a native-born English- 
man. M. D. Martin, our immediate biographical 
subject, is the eldest of a family of eleven children, 
eight now living, and his early education was ac- 
quired in the high school of Atlanta, Ga., and in 
the schools of Dalton. He next studied under a 
private tutor, and afterward read law with Judge 
John G. Stewart, and was admitted to the bar just 
at the breaking out of the late Civil War. He im- 
mediately joined the Second Georgia Battalion, and 
served in the Army of Virginia, until after the bat- 
tle of Gettysburg, at which time he was captured. 
From that time until April, 1864, he was kept a 
prisoner at Fort Delaware and Point Lookout, and 
was then paroled. After spending a short time in 
New York City he came to Memphis, and was en- 
gaged in the timber business in that city until 1869. 
Since that time he has resided in Indian Bay, and 
after following the same business here for a few 
years he began keeping books, and a year later in 
connection with this work engaged in farming. 
From 1877 to 1882, he was engaged in merchandis- 
ing for himself, but at the latter date he formed a 
partnership with Maj. S. L. Black, who sold his 
interest to his son, John L. Black and J. W. Mar- • 
tin, a brother of our subject and they now consti- 
tute the present firm. In 1872 M. D. Martin was 
married to Sarah E., a daughter of William Rad- 



V 



MONROE COUNTY. 



543 



man, formerly of Indiana, wlio died in Monroe 
County, Ark. Mrs. Martin was bora in Indiana, 
and she and Mr. Martin have become the parents 
of six children, two sons and one danirhter livinfr. 
By push and energy Mr. Martin has become a well- 
to-do man, and his farm of 332 acres, near Indian 
Bay, is the result of his own industry. He is a 
Democrat, his first presidential vote being cast for 
Greeley in 1808, and he belongs to Indian Bay 
Lodge No. 25G, A. F. & A. M., and has tilled nearly 
all the chairs of this order. He also belongs to 
Advance Lodge No. 2491, K. of H. , at Indian 
Bay, and the American Legion of Honor, Warsaw 
Lodge, at Indian Bay. He and wife are Meth- 
odists. 

William Montgomery Mayo, planter and stock- 
man, Indian Bay, Ark. There are many incidents 
of peculiar interest presented in the career of Mr. 
Mayo, which can not be given in the space allotted 
to this article. Known over a large region of coun- 
try tributary to Indian Bay, his reputation is that 
of a man honorable and reliable in every walk of 
life. He is the son of James and Sarah Eliza 
(Cokely) Mayo. [For family history see sketches 
of John W. and Laurence S. Mayo, elsewhere in 
this volume.] Capt. William M. Mayo was born 
September 26, 1822, in Martin County, N. C. He 
was early initiated into the details of farm life, and 
received a liberal education in an academy estab- 
li.shed by his father, the latter being the prime 
mover in securing its establi.shment. William 
moved with his parents to Tennessee, in 1837, and 
finished his education in the public academy in 
Fayette County, taught by Hartwell Rollins, near 
La Grange, Tenn. Afterward this school was 
taught by him for one year, but his principal occu- 
pation during life has been tilling the soil. On 
Christmas eve of the year 1844 he was united in 
marriage to Miss Jane Elizabeth Anderson, daugh- 
ter of Major Joel and Sallie (Younger) Anderson, 
both natives of Virginia, and whose ancestors on 
both sides probably came to America about 1765. 
Jane E. Anderson was born April 27, 1S29, and is 
one of three children born to her parents: John 
Anthony, Lucinda Thomas and Mrs. Mayo. The 
latter was educated at the same school in Tennes- 



see with her husband, was almost reared with him, 
their parents living on adjoining farms, and was a 
pupil of her husband during the year he taught 
school near La Grange. To Mr. and Mrs. Mayo 
have been born eleven children: Frederick An- 
thony (born March 31, 1840, now resides in Som- 
erville, and an attorney at law at Somerville, 
Tenn. He married Miss Laura Cocke and became 
the father of seven children), Leauna Melvina (was 
born June 10, 1848, and died August, 19, 1849), 
Richard Dale (was born November 5, 1850, mar- 
ried Miss Willie Pointer, and has one daughter and 
four sons), Laura Montgomery (was born Decem- 
ber 29, 1851, and became the wife of W. H. Boyce, 
a native of Tennessee, who is now residing near 
her parents; they had ten children, three now 
living), William Thomas (was born December 20, 
1853, and died August 5, 1854), Nannie Jane (was 
born July 28, 1859, and married Sidney S. Bond, 
of Jackson, Tenn., January 14, 1879; has one 
child now living), William James (was born June 
23, 1801, graduated in B. A. course and B. L., at 
the University of Mississippi in class of 1884, now 
an attorney at Clarendon, Ark.), Gaston Baldwin 
(was born September 20, 1803, and died Novem- 
ber 28, 1865), Fannie Lula (bom June 4, 1806), 
Lillie Lina (born August 11, 1808) and Walter 
Lee (born June 28, 1871, and died April 30, 1877). 
Fannie Lula married Samuel W. Hargis, on Feb- 
ruary 11, 1885. Her husband died on September 
10, 1886, and in 1888 she was married to Major S. 
L. Black, Indian Bay, Ark. William James mar- 
ried Miss Annie C. Lake, of Oxford, Miss. ; she 
died at Clarendon, Ark.. October 10, 1886. Lil- 
lian L. Mayo married John S. Black and resides 
at Indian Bay; they have one child. Capt. Mayo 
came to Arkansas in 1853, bought a tract of 2,4(X) 
acres, with a few acres cultivated, and he now 
has 1,200 acres under cultivation. In 1859 the 
Captain completed a story and a half log-house, 
18x52 feet, and the same year added to that a two- 
story frame, 20x52, the two constituting the house 
in which ho has since made his home, and in which 
his children received the principal part of their 
schooling. In 1862 ue enlisted in the Confederate 
army as a private in the companj' known a-s the 



ir^ 



544 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



Monroe Rebels of the Twenty- fifth Arkansas In- 
fantry. In August of the same year he received 
a commission as captain with orders to return and 
report to the command of the Trans-Mississippi De- 
partment. He then raised what is known as Par- 
tisan Company to operate in the Eastern portion of 
Arkansas. The company afterward became Com- 
pany C of the Forty- fifth Arkansas Cavalry, oper- 
ating under Gen. Shelby, at Clarendon, Ark. At 
or near the last-named place, in 1864, he com- 
manded two companies in a battle near Clarendon, 
Ark., with a detachment of the Eighth Missouri 
Cavalry, which he defeated; was then in a battle at 
Miller's Creek under Gen. Thomas McRae, was 
then at Brownsville under Gen. Shelby, Ironton 
Mountain under Gen. Price, and at the last named 
place received a wound in the shoulder and was left 
on the field for dead. He was afterward assisted 
fi-om the field by members of his company, and al- 
though his wound rendered him unfit for duty he 
remained with the command through the Missouri 
raid and until the end of the war, being in the re- 
cruiting service near his home at that time. In 
politics Capt. Mayo is a Democrat, and his first 
presidential vote was for Henry Clay. He was a 
member of the convention when Arkansas seceded 
from the Union. He holds membership in Indian 
Bay Lodge, No. 256, F. & A. M., and also holds 
membership in the Chapter and Council at Claren- 
don. He and wife and all their family are mem- 
bers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

Lawrence Sberod Mayo, planter and stockman, 
Lamberton, Ark. This much-esteemed citizen is 
the son of James and Sarah (Cokely) Mayo, of 
Irish and English descent, respectively. The par- 
ents were married in Edgecomb County, N. C, 
and the father was a successful agriculturist. 
His ancestors came to America previous to the-- 
Revolutionary War. To Mr. and Mrs. James 
Mayo were born a family of twelve children as fol- 
lows, the years representing their births: Cather- 
ine, 1816; John W., 1818; Mary Eliza, 1820; Will- 
iam Montgomery, 1822; Harriet Ann, 1824; Ben- 
jamin Cokely, 1826; Sarah Louisa, 1828; Lawrence 
Sherod, March 13, 1830; Nancy Jane, 1832; Na- 
than, 1834; Olivia, who died in childhood, and 



James M. , who was born in 1838. The children 
were all natives of Martin County, with the excep- 
tion of James, whose birth occurred in Fayette 
County, Tenn. Lawrence Sherod Mayo, with his 
brothers and sisters (excepting the two youngest), 
received his education at home under arv instructor 
employed by the father, and never attended any 
other school. He commenced life as a farmer at 
the age of twenty-one years, and ou December 18, 
1850, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Elizabeth Terrell, a native of Edgecomb County, 
N. C. The same year he bought a farm in Fay- 
ette County, Tenn. , and tilled the soil for three 
years. In 1852 he sold his farm and came to Ark- 
ansas, locating in Jackson Township, then Law- 
rence County, and there he bought land. There 
he remained until 1857, when he sold out and 
moved to his present property. He at one time 
owned 1,000 acres of land, but now has about 600 
acres, with about 200 acres under cultivation. He 
owned at one time about thirty slaves. His wife, 
Mrs. Mayo, was the daughter of Nathan and Alice 
(Redmond) Terrill, both natives of North Carolina, 
and of English descent. The father was a farmer 
and carriage dealer by occupation. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Mayo were born these children: Daniel Red- 
mond (born September 28, 1854), Sherod Dale 
(born May 28, 1856, and died February 16, 1875), 
Lawrence Montgomery (born September 20, 1859, 
and died February 16, 1875), James (born July 
26, 1861), Nannie (born April 11, 1865), Alice (born 
January 10, 1867, and died September 10, 1870), 
Patrick C. (born June 7, 1879), Henry Jackson 
(born March 24, 1871, and died April 24, 1881), 
and Mary Lawrence (born October 24, 1877). Dan- 
iel Redmond was married to Miss Annie Swift, and 
became the father of two children. He is now 
merchandising at Knoxville, Tenn. Nannie be- 
came the wife of Martin C. Bond, a farmer of 
Phillips County, Ark. They have three children. 
Mr. and Mrs. Mayo are members in the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church, as are also their children, 
Daniel R., Nannie and Mary L. Mr. Mayo is a 
Democrat, and his first presidential vote was cast 
for James K. Polk. 

John William Mayo, a farmer and stockman of 



V 



jvt^ 



MONROE COUNTY. 



545 



Monroe County, now residing with Wiley T. Wash- 
ington, his son-in-law, on Section 24 of Jackson 
Township, is a son of James and Sarah Eliza 
(Cokely) Mayo. The founder of this branch of 
the Mayo family came o America in 1 730, as far 
"as is known, and the Cokely family also emigrated 
from England, probably before the llevolutionary 
War. Benjamin Cokely, John W.'s maternal 
grandfather, married a sister of Com. Dale. Sarah 
E. (Cokely) Mayo had two brothers: Benjamin and 
William. The subject of this sketch was married 
to Miss Emma Ann Winston, on February 8, 1842, 
at the home of the bride's parents near La Grange, 
Fayette County, JTenn. She was a daughter of 
Thomas J. and Elvira (Jones) Winston, of Fayette 
County. In 1850 Mr. Mayo removed to Arkansas, 
and located in Monroe County, where he bought a 
farm of 160 acres, engaging in the occupation to 
which he had been reared. He located-on Section 
30, Jackson Township, in 1859, and now owns 355 
acres, with 140 acres under cultivation, upon which 
are five tenant houses, and his land is in a high 
state of improvement. Mrs. Mayo died December 
2, 1888, having borne a family of children as fol- 
lows: Laura C. (born February 22, 1843, married 
Wiley F. Washington, October 16, 1860, and died 
January 18, 1887, leaving eight children, three liv- 
ing), Winston (born March 5, 1846), Sarah Olivia 
(born March 27, 1848, married Oran Washington 
February 18, 1874, who died January 2, 1875; 
their only child, Oran, Jr., was born January 3, 
1875. She became the wife of W. F. Washington, 
December 25, 1887, and has one child by this un- 
ion, Lawrence, born August 4, 1889), John J. (born 
December 19, 1849, married Miss Lou Walker, who 
bore one child, John W., January 1, 1876; after 
her death Miss El am became his wife in 1878, and 
they have four children: Alice Vivian, Sarah Olivia, 
Emily and Bettie), William Jones (born January 
24, 1852), Mary Louisa (born October 13, 1854, 
died October 10, 1859), Henry (died in infancy), 
Harriett Ann (born October 20, 1856, died Septem- 
ber 27, 1871). Nathan (born February 12, 1862 
(deceased), and Lucy. Mr. Mayo is a prominent 
Democrat, though he cast bis first presidential vote 
for William H. Harrison. He is a member of the 

34 



Cumberland Presbyterian Church, as are also all 
of the grown children, and some of his grandchil- 
dren, he having belonged since 1865. He had a 
fairly good education in youth, and is a popular 
man and a good citizen. 

James M. Miles Is a native of this county, and 
a son of Charles J. and Mary A. (Montgomery) 
Miles, originally from Tennessee, who were bom 
in 1811 and 1816, and of Irish and English 
descent, respectively. They were the parents of 
nine children, two of whom are now living: 
James M. (our subject) and Hichard. Mr. Miles 
removed to Arkansas in 1830, and settled in 
what is now Monroe County, where he entered 
three quarter sections of land, and engaged in 
farming and in rafting on the Mississippi. His 
land lay in the woods, where he erected a log- 
house, living in it tor a number of years. He died 
in 1863, preceded by his wife some nine years. 
He was a soldier in the Indian Wars of 1836. 
James M. was born April 6, 1843, and lived on 
his father's farm, helping clear it up, until his 
death. He was married August 4. 1864, to Sal- 
linda A. Spardlin, who died in 1874, leaving four 
children, one of whom, Richard, is now living. 
He was married to his second wife. Miss Louisa 
Crisp, June 5, 1876, who died in 1884, having been 
the mother of four children, one of whom, Emma, 
is now living. He was married February 18, 1886, 
to his present wife, Annie I. Olison, of this county. 
They have a family of two sons: Bart and Grover 
M. Mr. Miles enlisted in the late war in 1861, 
and served until^he was captured in 1864, and taken 
to Louisville (Ky.), where he was held for over a 
month, when he escaped and returned home. He 
owns a fine farm of 280 acres, over half of which 
is under cultivation. He is a strong Democrat and 
a prominent citizen of Monroe County. Mrs. 
Miles is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

Charles B. Mills is the eflScient circuit court 
clerk of Monroe County, Ark., and was born in 
Ralls County, Mo., in 1839. being the eldest of 
five children born to James M. and Maiy (Kelly) 
Mills, who were born in the State of Tennessee 
about 1816. They were married in Mis.suuri and 



i? 



2il« 



546 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



made that State their home until 1866, when they 
came to Monroe County, Ark. , where Mr. Mills died 
in 1878 and Mrs. Mills in 1872, both being con- 
sistent members of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. Mr. Mills was a cabinet maker by trade, 
but at the time of his death he was engaged in 
farming and stock raising. He served a short time 
in the Confederate States army, and socially was a 
member of the A. F. & A. M. His father. James Lee 
Mills, was born in Maryland and died in Ralls Coun- 
ty, Mo. , a farmer and of Welsh descent. Charles 
B. Mills, the immediate subject of this sketch, was 
educated in the schools of Hannibal, Mo. In 1861 
he left the school-room to join Grimshaw's com- 
mand of Missouri State Troof)s, and operated with 
him until the winter of 1861-62, when he joined 
the First Missouri Regiment, Confederate States 
army, afterward designated as the Second Missouri 
Infantry, and served until he lost his left arm at 
the battle of Corinth. He was soon after placed 
in the commissary department under Maj. John S. 
Mellon, and remained thus employed until the close 
of the war, when he returned home. In 1866 he 
came to Monroe County, Ark. , and was engaged in 
merchandising and stock dealing at Aberdeen, 
which place, having been cut off by change in coun- 
ty lines, is now in Prairie County. From 1874 to 

1882 he served as circuit clerk of that county. In 

1883 he was again cut off into Monroe County, of 
which he has since been a resident, and here he 
was engaged in farming and stock raising until 
1886, when he was elected clerk of the county and 
re-elected in 1888, being chosen by the Democrat 
party, of which he has been a member since the 
death of the Whig party. He is Treasurer of Clar- 
endon Lodge of the K. of H. and was a charter 
member of Des Arc Lodge, of whieh'he was Dicta- 
tor two terms. In 1870 he was united in marriage 
to Miss T. W. Gean, a daughter of John and Nancy 
Gean, who were born, reared and married in 
Chatham County, N. C. , and in an early day re- 
moved to Hardeman County, Tenn. , where their 
daughter, Mrs. Mills, was born. In 1859 they 
came to Arkansas, the father dying in Monroe 
County and the mother in Prairie County. M rs. 
Mills belongs to the Methodist Church, and she and 



Mr. Mills are the parents of one son and four 
daughters. Mr. Mills is a Cumberland Presby- 
terian in his religious preferences. 

L. B. Mitchell, M. D., a practicing physician 
and druggist, of Brinkley, Ai'k. , although born in 
Monroe County, Ky. , in 1828, has been a resident 
of Arkansas since 1858, at which time his parents, 
James S. and Sarah (Scott) Mitchell, came to this 
State. They were born in Ohio and Tennessee, in 
1793 and 1798, respectively, but were married in 
the Blue Grass State, and in 1836 removed to 
Tennessee, thence to Arkansas. They settled in 
what is now known as Lonoke County, and here 
the father died in 1862, followed to his long home 
by his wife in 1875, both being members of the 
Christian Church at the time of their deaths. Mr. 
Mitchell was an Irishman by descent, a farmer by 
occupation, and during the early history of Indiana 
he was a participant in a number of her Indian 
wars. The maternal grandfather, John Scott, was 
of Scotch lineage, and died in Macon County, Tenn. 
Dr. L. B. Mitchell is one of the three surviving 
members of a family of six children, and was reared 
on a farm, receiving his education in the common 
schools. tJj)on reaching manhood he clerked for 
four years, then during 1854-55 he attended col- 
lege at McLemoresvilJe, Tenn., and after making 
up his mind to become a physician, he entered the 
University of Louisville, Ky., attending during the 
winter of 1855^56, but did not graduate fi-om any 
college until 1858, at which time he left the Nash- 
ville University as an M. D. He came immediately 
to Arkansas, and has snccessfuUy practiced his 
profession ever since, but during the war served 
the Confederate cause as assistant- surgeon of the 
Fourth Arkansas Battalion for some two and a-half 
years, and the two following years was with the 
Second Arkansas Dismoimted Riflemen. Owing to 
his personal popularity and the respect and esteem 
in which he is held, he was elected in 1870 to rep- 
resent Pulaski County in the State legislature, and 
was re-elected in 1872, being the candidate of 
the Democratic party, with which he has long 
affiliated. He was State treasurer of the Grange 
for about three years, and since 1855 has been a 
Mason, and was Master of Mount Pleasant Lodge 



o 'j' 



a great many years. He resided in Austin for 
about thirty years, but has been a resident of 
Brinldey since 1888, whore he has acquired a lu- 
crative practice and trade in the drug business, 
this calling having previously received his atten- 
tion in Austin also. He was married in 1805 to 
Sarah J., a daughter of Peter St. Clair, a Ten- 
nesseean, who died at Austin in I860, a farmer and 
mechanic by trade. Mrs. Mitchell was born in 
West Tennessee, and by Dr. Mitchell became the 
mother of six sons and three daughters, all of 
whom are living. Lewis E. , the eldest of the fam- 
ily, is now treasurer of the Famous Life Associa- 
tion of Little Rock. The Dr. has been a member 
of the Christian Church for a great many years, 
but his wife belongs to the Methodist Church. 

Polk Montgomery is a prosperous planter of 
Duncan Township, and is well known to the people 
of Monroe County. A native of Tennessee, he 
was born to the union of A. H. and Hannah 
(Robinson) Montgomery, natives of South Caro- 
lina and Tennessee, respectively. A. H. Mont- 
gomery first saw the light of day in 1 796, and was 
reared in his native State. In 18'20 he came to 
Tennessee, where he was married in 1841, to Mrs. 
Hannah (Lady) Robinson. Mr. Montgomery was 
in the War of 1812, and died in 1865, and his 
wife in the same year. Both members of the 
Campbellito Church. Polk Montgomery, the only 
child born to their marriage, owes his nativity to 
Shelby County, Tenn. , where his birth occurred in 

1845. He was married in 1865 to Miss Anna 
Nicks, who was born in Cherokee County, Ga., in 

1846, a daughter of Elijah and Charlotte Nicks. 
Ml', and Mrs. Montgomery removed from Tennes- 
see to Arkansas, in 1868, and settled in this coun- 
ty, where he purchased 240 acres of land, of which 
175 acres are under cultivation, lying one-half 
mile south of Holly Grove. He is a member of 
the A. F. & A. M. His wife is a member of the 
Presbyterian Church. During the war between 
the States, be served in Company C, Fourth Ten- 
nessee Infantry, Confederate States army. 

Harry H. Myers is the present secretary, treas- 
urer and director of the Brinkley Car "Works & 
Manufacturing Co., which is one of the foremost 



industries of the county, and was established in 
1882, the present company being the successors of 
Gunn & Black, who were activelj' engaged in the 
manufacture of lumljor at Brinkley for about six- 
teen years. The present company is one of the 
mo.st enterprising and extensive in Eastern Arkan- 
sas, and they have a pay role of some 260 persons, 
120 of whom are employed at the sawmill in the 
woods, and cut down 68,000 feet of timber per 
day, the rest being employed in con.structing rail- 
roads and in the general car repair shop. Every 
facility incident to this particular industry is em- 
braced within the works, the tools and machinery 
being of the most modern and improved kind, and 
only skillful and experienced workmen are em- 
ployed. This company ships about 220 carloads 
of lumber, consisting of flooring, shingles, mold- 
ings, lath, pickets, doors and window sashes, per 
month, to Memphis, Tenn., where they have one 
of the leading lumber establishments in the city, 
it having been established through the efforts of 
the late Maj. Black. Prior to Mr. Black's de- 
cease, which occurred in September, 188'J, he was 
president and director of the company, with O. M. 
Norman, manager, and H. H. Myers, secretary 
and treasurer, but after his death Mr. Norman was 
made president, director and manager, and Mr. 
Myers became secretary, treasurer and director. 
This company also owns the Brinkley, Helena & 
Indian Bay Railroad, and about 36,000 acres of 
land in Monroe County. Mr. Myers, a member 
of this company, was bom in Keokuk, Iowa, in 
1865, and until he was thirteen years of age, at- 
tended the schools of his native town, after which 
he became an employe of the AV abash Railroad 
Company, and for five years was telegraph oper 
ator and traveling auditor for that company. In 
1883 he came to Brinkley, and was made cashier 
of the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railroad Com- 
pany, but shortly after became agent for the com- 
pany at Brinkley. continuing until ISS6, when he 
entered upon his present duties. He is also presi- 
dent of the Myers & Sapp Drug Company, and is 
prominently connected with other enterprises in 
Brinkley, among them as proprietor of a wholesale 
and retail grain produce and feed store, carrying 



J^* 



iA 



548 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



about $5,000 to $6,000 in the business continually. 
All in all he is one of the foremost business men of 
the county, although yoving in years. He is also post- 
master here. In April, 1SS7, he was married to Miss 
Katie R. , a daughter of Maj. William Black. He 
is a member of the K. of P. , and is Prelate of his 
lodge. His parents, Theodore H. and E. R. 
(Worster) Myers, resided in Keokuk, Iowa, before 
the war, but have recently moved to Kearney, 
Neb. The father was born in Anderson, Ind., and 
for many years has been a merchant. He belongs 
to the I. O. O. ¥., and the A. F. & A. M., and 
during the war he was captain of a company, in 
the Third Iowa Regiment, United States Army. 
His wife is a daughter of Col. Robert Worster 
(deceased), who was formerly one of the leading 
wholesale merchants of Keokuk, he being one of 
the founders of the Huskamp Boot & Shoe Com- 
pany. He was a prominent Mason, and at one 
time ranked third among the Masons of the West. 
Alfred Owens, planter and ginner. Cypress 
Ridge, Ark. This representative citizen was born 
in Gwinnett County, Ga. , in 1826, and was the 
son of W'illiam Owen, who was a native of South 
Carolina and a farmer by occupation. The latter 
moved fi'om South Carolina to Georgia, at an early 
day, and there resided until his death, in 1816. 
He had married Miss Mary Fisher and by her be- 
came the father of ten childi'en, five of whom are 
now living: Temjjey (wife of John Westmoreland), 
John, Wiley, James and Alfred. Both parents 
were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and the mother died in 1857. Alfred Owens was 
married to Miss Elizabeth J. Stone, in 1847, and 
to them were born nine children, three daughters 
and six sons, four only of whom are now living: 
W. F., Alfred L., Bryant T. and Joel M. Mr. 
Owens took an active part in the late war; enlisted 
in the infantry in 1861, under Capt. Joel Roper, 
and was captured in 1863, being kept a prisoner 
for two months. He was then paroled and after 
returning home was engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits. He immigrated from Georgia to Arkansas 
in 1870, located in Monroe County, and is now the 
owner of 250 acres of land, with 160 acres under 
improvement. In 1883 he embarked in mercantile 



pursuits, and the year following erected a gin. In 
1873 he lost his wife, who was a worthy and con- 
sistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
In 1874 he met and afterward married Miss Har- 
riet F. Breakelield. Both are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Owens raises 
an abundance of tine fruit: Apples, peaches, pears, 
etc., and is one of the wide-awake planters of the 
county. Mrs. Owens was born in Shelby County, 
Ala., in 1837, and her parents were both natives 
of South Carolina. The mother died in 1848, but 
the father is still living and is eighty-nine years of 
age. He has followed the occupation of a farmer 
all his life. 

James C. Palmer, one of the leading planters 
of this county, was born in Phillips County, Ai-k. , 
in 1860, and is a son of John C. Palmer, who 
came upon the stage of action in Lexington, Ky. , 
in 1823. A lawyer by profession, he is now prac- 
ticing in Helena, Ark., with substantial success. 
He was married in 1852 to Miss Margaret Shell, 
of that city, and they became the parents of seven 
children, six of whom are living: James C. (the 
principal of this sketch), Maggie (the wife of A. J. 
Gannon), Mamie, Sallie (widow of Capt. T. C. 
Hicks, of Hicksville, Ark.), Hattie (the wife of 
Horace My rick) and Robert E.- Mr. Palmer took 
part in the War with Mexico, and also in the Civil 
War. James C. Palmer was married in 1885 to 
Miss Lenora Mitchell, who was born in Phillips 
County, in 1862, a daughter of John and Jane 
Mitchell, natives of South Carolina and Arkansas, 
respectively. To this union were born two chil- 
dren: John C. and Wellman T. Mr. Palmer now 
lives in the old homestead, near the town of Pal- 
mer, consisting of 350 acres, with 125 acres under 
cultivation. This is a well- improved farm, having 
upon it a fine brick house that contains all of the 
modern improvements. He is a Democrat in poli- 
tics, and is a prominent citizen of this community. 

Robert W^. Park was born in Lawrence Dis- 
trict, S. C, in 1824, but since 1861 has been a 
resident and farmer of Monroe County, Ark. His 
parents, William and Jane (Word) Park, were born 
in the same county as himself, and there the father 
spent his life, his death occurring in 1828 or 1829. 



*$t; 



i \ ' 



^ 9 



MONROE COUNTY. 



y4'.t 



He was a well-to-do farmer, and was in full coiu- 
munion with the Presbyterian Church at the time 
of his demise. His father, Andrew Park, was born 
in the Emerald Isle, but at an early day came to 
the United States, and settled in Lawrence Dis- 
trict, S. C. , where he reared a large family of sons 
and daughters. Thomas Word, the maternal 
grandfather, spent nearly all his life in the same 
county, but died near Gunter's Landing, Tenn., 
having been a carpenter by trade. Robert W. 
Park came with his mother to Arkansas, and her 
death occurred on the farm, where he now lives 
in ISGl, she, like her husband, being a member of 
the Presbyterian Church. He was the youngest 
of five sons and one daughter, and is the only one 
now living; his school days were confined to about 
five years. In March, 1855, he was married to 
Charlotte, a daughter of Randall and Dorcas Ann 
Ramsey, who were born in Anderson County, S. 
C, and spent their declining years in Georgia, 
and they have reared, during their married life, a 
family of live sons and five daughters; three chil- 
dren died in infancy. In this State MJr. Park met 
his first wife, he and his mother, and her family 
having removed there in 1836. In 1860, as above 
stated, he came to Arkansas and purchased a farm 
of 240 acres, seven miles east of Clarendon, and 
by his own efforts soon had 130 acres under the 
plow and covered with waving grain. The country 
was very wild when he first came to this region, 
and bear, panthers and deer were veiy plentiful. 
He served all through the Civil "War, being a mem- 
ber of Hawthorn's regiment of Arkansas Cavalry, 
and since that time has been a Democrat, politic- 
ally. He and wife have been members of the 
Christian Church for many years. 

James Park is one of the foremost and progres- 
sive farmers of this region and a sketch of his life 
is essential in this work in giving a history of its 
prominent men. His birth occurred in Lawrence 
County, S. C, November 24, 1824, and he is a son 
of Andrew and Isabella H. (Park) Park, both born 
in that county in I TUT and 1808, respectively, and 
were first cousins. They lived in that county until 
1844, when they removed to the State of Missis- 
sippi, and soon after settled in what is now Cal- 



houn County, but came to Monroe County, Ark., 
in 1856. Mr. Park was a practical and scientific 
planter, and owing to his progressive views and 
his energy he became quite wealthy. He died in 
1868, and his wife in 1880, both having been mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church from early youth. 
The paternal grandfather, who also bore the name 
of Andrew, came with his only brother, James, 
also the grandfather of our subject on his mother's 
side, to America, and both were private .soldiers of 
the American side throughout the Revolution. 
They settled in Lawrence County, S. C, and be- 
came extensive planters of that region, and were 
well known for their unimpeachable honesty and 
uprightness of character. They were men of ex- 
emplary habits in every respect, of religious na- 
tures, and were leaders in whatever enterprise they 
took an interest in. They left manj^ descendants, 
who have followed in their footsteps, and all are 
upright and honorable citizens, some of whom be- 
came eminent in South Carolina in different pro- 
fessions and offices. They did much toward mold- 
ing the moral and religious sentiment in the county 
whore they lived, and were stanch members of the 
Presbyterian Church. Their native birthplace was 
County Tyrone, Ireland. Their grandson, James 
Park, the subject of this sketch, like the rest of 
their descendants, has followed their precepts and 
examples, and has won the respect and esteem of 
all with whom he has come in contact. He was 
the eldest of six sons and three daughters, three 
sons and three daughters being now alive. He 
received excellent educational advantages in his 
youth, and at the age of twenty-nine years was 
married at Okolona, Miss., to Catherine, a daugh- 
ter of Uridge and Sarah (Smith) Whiffen, who 
were born, reared and married in England. After 
becoming the parents of two children, previous 
to 1832, they came to the United States, and 
after living in different localities in New York, 
they settled at Utica, where Mr. Whiffen died in 
183T, at the untimely age of thirty six years. His 
wife's death occurred on her farm near Carmi in 
the State of Illinois in 1887. Mr. Whiffin was a 
professor of languages and mathematics, and filled 
that position in both Buffalo and Utica. His wife 



7F 



^ 



] 



550 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



J 



was a teacher of music aud French, and followed 
this occupation many years after the death of her 
husband in North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana 
and Illinois. Mrs. Park was born in Buffalo, N. 
Y., in 1S35. Mr. Park came to IMonroe County, 
Ark., in 1856, and settled on a woodland farm, and 
now owns 320 acres, and has 180 acres under cul- 
tivation. During 1868-69 he was engaged in 
merchandising in Clarendon, but since that time he 
has given his attention to farming. Prior to the 
late Civil War he was a Whig, but since that time 
has affiliated with the Democrat party. He is a 
member of the A. F. & A. M. , and he and wife 
belong to the Christian Church. 

Dr. William Park is one of Monroe County's 
most eminent physicians and surgeons, and was 
born in Lawrence District, S. C, in 1829, and is 
a son of Andrew and Isabella H. (Park) Park, who 
were first cousins. In 1844 they removed to Mis- 
sissippi, and in 1856 came to Monroe County, Ark., 
and settled on a woodland farm six miles east of 
Clarendon, and here the father met with a violent 
death, being thrown from a buggy and killed, in 
1868. His wife's death followed his in twelve years, 
both having been earnest members of the Presby- 
terian Church for many years. Andrew Park, the 
paternal grandfather, and James Park, the ma- 
ternal grandfather, were brothers, born in Ireland, 
and came to America during the Revolutionary 
War and settled in South Carolina, James mar- 
rying an English lady and Andrew an Irish lady. 
Both were farmers and died in the State of their 
adoption. Dr. William Park is the third of six 
sons and three daughters, and his knowledge of 
the world up to manhood was only such as could 
be obtained on the home farm. After acquiring a 
good education in the common schools he con- 
cluded to engage in teaching in order to obtain 
means to carry on his medical education, and after 
two and a half years of this work, during which 
time he pursued his medical studies under his 
brother-in-law, Dr. T. F. Robinson, he entered the 
Medical Department of the University of Nashville 
(Tenn.), and at the end of two years, in 1856, 
graduated therefrom. He came immediately to 
Monroe County, Ark., whither his parents had just 



moved, and entered upon his practice, and has ac- 
quired no inferior reputation as a physician and 
surgeon, being now the oldest resident practitioner 
of the county. For five years he has made his 
home in Clarendon, and in addition to the pleasant 
home which he now owns in the town, he is the 
owner of 320 acres of land in different farms, with 
130 acres under cultivation. Although formerly a 
Whig in politics, casting his first presidential vote 
for Gen. Scott, since the late Civil War he has 
been a Democrat. He is a member of the A. F. & 
A. M. , and he and his wife, whom he married in 
1866, and whose maiden name was Sarah A. Brown, 
have long been members of the Old School Pres- 
byterian Church. Mrs. Park was bom in Fayette 
County, Tenn. , and is the mother of two sons and 
one daughter. Her parents are Thomas J. and 
Fannie Brown, a sketch of whom appears in an- 
other part of this work. 

J. T. Parker, planter, Cotton Plant, Ark. Mr. 
Parker is a typical Arkansas citizen, substantial, 
enterprising and progressive, and such a man as 
wields no small influence in the community where 
he makes his home. He came originally from St. 
Francis County, where his birth occurred in 1838. 
His parents, Archie and Mary (Adair) Parker, were 
natives respectively of Alabama and Kentucky and 
were married in St. Francis County, Ark., in 1835. 
Of the five childi'en born to this marriage, only two 
are now living: J. T. and Prudy A., who is one of 
a pair of twins and who is now the wife of Will- 
iam Moore, of Kerr Coimty, Texas. Archie Parker 
came to this State from Alabama with his parents 
at an early day, and became a very enterprising and 
substantial farmer. He was justice of the peace 
for a number of years and was deacon in the Bap- 
tist Church. He died in St. Francis County in 
1843 and his widow afterward married William 
Dobkins in 1848, by whom she had three children: 
Samuel L. , William A. and Robert P. Mrs. Dob- 
kins died in St. Francis County in 1861 and had 
been a member of the Baptist Church for at least 
thirty years. Mr. Dobkins died in 1863. He 
was in the Confederate army during the late war. 
J. T. Parker passed his youthful days in assisting 
on the farm and in attending the common schools, 



*7\ 



r 



aT'^ — »>- 



MONEOE COUNTY. 



551 



where be received a fair education. He was mar- 
ried in 1861 to Miss Elizabeth Jones, a native of 
St. Francis County, born in 18-13, and the daughter 
of Mrs. Kichard Jones of Arkansas. Twelve 
children have been the result of this union, live 
daughters and seven sons, six of whom are still 
living: Nellie J., Margaret A., Sarah R., George 
T., Eichard and Benjamin. In lSf51 Mr. Parker 
enlisted in the infantry and served until 1804, when 
he was released on account of ill health. Politi- 
cally he is a Democrat. After the war he Ijought 
a steam saw and grist mill in Woodruff County, 
Ark. , and this he ran for three years, after which 
he resumed farming on 100 acres of laud which 
he had purchased. He now owns 800 acres of 
good land, with 350 acres under cultivation and is 
one of the most practical and progressive farmers 
in the county. At the close of the war, Mr. Parker 
was, like many of his comrades, left without any of 
this world's goods, and what he has accumulated 
since is owing to his hard labor and good manage- 
ment. The parents of Mrs. Parker were natives 
of Tennessee and immigrated to Arkansas in 1820. 
Her father, Eichard Jones, died in 1853 and her 
mother in 1884. 

W. H. Peterson is the general manager of the 
Brinkley Argus, having successfully filled this po- 
sition since December, 1888. He was born in the 
"Blue Grass" State in 1827, but the most of his 
early life was spent in the city of Philadelphia, 
but, notwithstanding the fact that be was in a city 
of schools," bis early advantages for acquiring an 
education were very limited. At the age of fifteen 
years be began learning the printer's trade, which 
work continued to receive his attention until 1852; 
then, after a short residence in Illinois, he removed 
to Missouri, and in 1881 came to Beebe, Ark., 
and, as above stated, came to Brinkley in 1888. 
He has been in the newspaper bu.siuess the greater 
part of his life, following his calling in different 
towns and cities of Missouri, and during his long 
career at this work ho has acquired a thorough 
knowledge of journalism. He has always affiliated 
with the Democratic party, and has shown his aji- 
proval of secret organizations by becoming a mem- 
ber of the Knights of Labor. During the Eebellioa 



he served for over three years in the Confederate 
arm}', being most of the time under Gen. Marma- 
duke. He has been married twice; first, in 1850, 
to Miss Ellen \V. Lloyd, of Penn's Grove, N. J., 
who died in Missouri in 1808. His second union 
was consummated in 1870, his wife being a Miss 
Sarah Underwood, who died about 1879, leaving 
besides her husband two children to mourn her 
loss. Three children were born to the first union. 
Samuel R. Pointer, a planter of Montgomery 
Township, Monroe County, Ark., is of English de- 
scent, and traces his ancestry back to his great- 
grandfather, who came with a brother to the United 
Staftos, and settled in Virginia, where his son, Sam- 
uel (the grandfather of our subject], was born, his 
birth occurring in Halifax County. He was a 
soldier in the Revolutionary War. Dr. David 
Pointer (his son), was born and reared in Halifax 
County, Va. , the former event taking place in 1802. 
After his marriage to Miss Obedience Torian, who 
was also born in Halifax County, her birth occur- 
ring in 1807, he removed to North Carolina, and in 
1814 emigrated westward, settling in Marshall 
County, Miss., bis death occurring at Como of 
that State, in 1871. He was a successful physician 
for a number of years, then turned planter, and in 
this occupation became wealthy. He was a mem- 
ber of the A. F. & A. M. The maternal grand- 
father, Torian. was born, and spent 
all his life in Halifax County, Va., and was also of 
English descent. Samuel R. Pointer was born in 
Caswell County, N. C. , in 1828, and was the second 
in a family of eight children, and received his ed- 
ucation, or the principal part of it, in the College 
of La Grange, Ala. In 1849. Eliza, a daughter 
of James and Esther (Hicks) Mooring, became bis 
wife, she being a native of Marshall County. Miss., 
her parents coming to that countj' fi'om their 
native State of North Carolina, and there dying 
in 1857 and 1850 respectively, both members 
of the Methodist Church, and the former a planter 
by occupation. Mrs. Pointer died at her parent's 
home in Mississippi, in 1856, having borneoneson, 
who is also deceased. In 1S5S Mr. Pointer espoused 
Susan E., a si.ster of bis first wife, she having also 
been born in Marshall County, but he was called 



'K^ 



552 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



upon to mourn her death in July, 1884. Their 
family consisted of ten children, one son and five 
daughters only being alive: Willie (wife of R. D. 
Mayo), Susan E. (wife of L. Hall), Edwin M., 
Hallie, Ethel and Pearl. In 1853 Mr. Pointer 
came to Arkansas, and in 1856 to Monroe County, 
settling on a woodland farm six miles northeast of 
Indian Bay. His farm now comprises 800 acres, 
and he had about 500 acres under cultivation, all 
of which property he has earned by his own efforts 
and the help of his worthy wife. Politically he is 
a Democrat, and socially is a member of the A. F. 
& A. M., Indian Bay Lodge No. 259. He comes 
of a long-lived race of people, and although he 
has reached the age of sixty-one years, he shows 
but very little the ravages of time. His brothers 
and sisters are all living, the eldest sixty-four 
years of age, and the youngest forty- four. He 
has always been interested in the cause of educa- 
tion, and be has endeavored to give his children 
the advantages of a good education, three of whom 
are now attending an excellent school in Tennessee. 
During the war he served three years under Capt. 
"Weatherly, who operated in Eastern Arkansas to 
protect the homes of the citizens, and although he 
furnished his own horse and ammunition he has 
never received any compensation. 

Dr. W. D. Powell, planter and physician, Cot- 
ton Plant, Ark. Dr. W. D. Powell, the third liv- 
ing child born to Benjamin and Eliza (Fowler) 
Powell, owes his nativity to Henry County, Tenn. , 
where his birth occurred in 1833. His father was 
a native of North Carolina, and was a mechanic 
and architect by occupation. He left his native 
State in 1820, journeyed to Tennessee, purchased 
land and followed farming for about twelve years. 
In 1831 he married Miss Fowler, who bore him 
eleven children, four sons and seven daughters, 
seven of whom are now living: Thomas A., Joseph 
D., W. D., Helen (now Mrs. John Kibble), Gur- 
pana (wife of Allen Hill), Mollie (wife of George 
Bell), and Jennie A. Mrs. Powell was also a na- 
tive of North Carolina and immigrated to Tennes- 
see with her father in 1818. She was a member 
of the Baptist Church. Mr. Powell and family 
moved to Mississippi in 1854, and here he died in 



Marshall County of that State, on September 15, 
1889. He was a member of the Baptist Church 
and was a soldier in the Creek War. Dr. W. D. 
Powell began the practice of medicine in 1856 and 
the same year was united in marriage to Miss 
Almoina Sophuer, a native of Tennessee, who bore 
him three childi-en, only one, Georgiana, now liv- 
ing. Mrs. Powell died in 1869, and Mr. Powell 
was married the second time in 1881 to Miss 
Maria A. Hill. The fruits of this union were 
three children, only one of whom is now living: 
William Oscar. Dr. Powell was in the late war, 
enlisting in the cavalry, Monroe Regiment, Par- 
son's brigade, in 1862. He served until after the 
surrender at Fort Smith, and then returned home, 
where he has since been engaged in agricultural 
pursuits. He immigrated from Mississippi to Ar- 
kansas in 1869, purchased 160 acres of land, and 
has about eighty acres under cultivation. He is 
progressive in his ideas, and is one of the leading 
farmers of this section. As above stated he began 
the practice of medicine in 1856, and this he has 
since continued in connection with farming. He 
is a clever, genial gentleman, and in his political 
views affiliates with the Democratic jjarty. 

D. B. Renfro, conceded to be among the pros- 
perous merchants of Holly Grove, is a Tennesseean 
by birth, which occurred in 1848, and is a son of 
T. A. and Tizzie (Harrison) Renfro, natives of Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee. The senior Renfro was a 
prominent farmer of his county, and died in 1860, 
his wife dying within two hours after him. They 
were the parents of thirteen children, four of whom 
are still living: John H., T. A., Mary T. (the widow 
of S. H. Baulch) and D. B. (our subject). D. B. 
Renfro enlisted in the Confederate army, in 1861, 
in the Thirty-second Tennessee Infantry, and while 
in service was captured at Fort Donelson, and car- 
ried to Indianapolis, Ind., in February, 1862, and 
held until the following October, when he was ex- 
changed. After his exchange he was again cap- 
tured at Atlanta, in July, 1864, and taken to Indi- 
anapolis, where he was kept until April, 1865. At 
the close of hostilities he returned to Maurj' Coun- 
ty, Tenn., and in 1866 immigrated to Arkansas, 
locating in Phillips County, where he made farm- 



*P 



^ » 



^ 



MONROE COUNTY. 



553 



inr,' a means of gaining a livelihood. In 1871 he 
was married to Sui5an E. Smith, who was born in 
Monroe County, in 1849. Five children were born 
to this union: John W., Leroy G., D. B., Laura 
V. and Lizzie S. In 1872 Mr. Eenfro moved to 
Holly Grove, and engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness, and is now doing a large and lucrative trade, 
and carries a stock of goods which invoices about 
$2,000. He is the owner of a fine farm of 200 
acres, with over 100 under cultivation, and also 
owns some real estate in the town of Holly Grove. 
He is numbered as a member of the A. F. & A. M. , 
while he and his wife worship in the Presbyterian 
Church, to which they belong. 

George A. Rich, chief engineer of the Brink- 
ley, Helena & Indian Bay Railroad, was born in 
Wayne County, N. Y. , in 1843, and like the ma- 
joritj' of the native citizens of the " Empire State," 
lie is energetic, intelligent and enterprising. He 
is the youngest of three sons and three daughters, 
and was reared on a farm in Hillsdale County, 
Mich., from the time he was four j'ears old till he 
reached manhood, but his educational advantages 
were not of the best. After becoming his own 
man he remedied this defect by considerable self- 
application. In 1865 he was married to Caroline 
Nickerson, a native of Hillsdale County, Mich., 
and his second marriage was consummated in De- 
cember, 1885, his wife, Jane Hanna, being a 
daughter of John and Ann Hanna, natives of Ire- 
land, where they were reared and married. They 
afterward moved to Canada, where Mrs. Hanna 
died, her husband's death occurring in Michigan. 
Mrs. Rich was born in Canada. In 1874 Mr. 
Rich came to Brinkley, and was in the employ of 
Gunn & Black until that company was dissolved, 
serving them in various capacities, and cut the 
first ties and laid the first iron on what is now the 
Brinkley, Batesville Railroad. In 1881-82-83 he 
was in Mexico in the interests of the Mexican Cen- 
tral Railroad, and after a short stay in Arkansas 
he went to the Isthmus of Panama, where he spent 
one year having charge of a number of employes 
on the constniction of the Panama Canal. Since 
then he has resided in Brinkley, and is connected 
with the Brinkley Car Works & Manufacturing 



Company. Some years prior to coming West he 
was engaged in civil engineering in Michigan, and 
is a thorough master of that science. He is a con- 
servative Republican in his political views, and is a 
member of the A. F. & A. M., K. of H., K. & L. of 
H., K. of P., and the I. O. O. F. His parents, 
Butler J. and Clarissa (Redfield) Rich, were born in 
Connecticut and Massachusetts, respectively, but 
their marriage took i)lace in the State of New 
York. In 1847 they moved to Michigan, and here 
the father was engaged in farming until his death 
in 1865, his wife's death occurring in 1880. The 
paternal grandfather came from England to Amer- 
ica with four brothers, and all were active partici- 
pants in the Revolutionary War, taking part with 
the colonists. He died in the State of New York. 

J. P. Ridout, whose prosperity and enterprise 
as a planter of Monroe County is well known, is 
a native of Tennessee, and a son of John and Lucy 
(Williams) Ridout, who came originally from Vir- 
ginia and Tennessee, respectively. They removed 
to Arkansas in 1858, settling in Monroe County, 
Mr. Ridout being the owner, at the time of his 
death, in 1866, of 640 acres of land. He was a 
member of the A. F. & A. M. Of a family of 
eight children, four are still livintj: J. P.. Martha 
G., Eliza (now Mrs. Hambrick) and Amanda (tlie 
wife of W. A. Roads). J. P. Ridout, the subject 
of this sketch, began farming for himself in 1866, 
after his father's demise, on rented laud. In 1880 
he moved to this county, and bought 240 acres of 
land, with seventy-five acres under cultivation. Bfe 
was married in 1869 to Miss Sena Williams, whose 
birth occurred in Shelby County, Tenn., in 1852. 
They became the parents of eight children, four 
of whom are still living: -Jennie, Luther, Joel R. 
and James P. Mr. and Mrs. Ridout are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. South. He is 
a member of the Knights of Honor, and is a prom- 
inent factor in the Democracy of Cache Township. 
He owes his nativity to Fayette County, Tenn., 
where he was born in 1852. 

James P. Roberts is a member of that well- 
known legal firm of Rol>erts & Manning, they being 
also abstractors and dealers in real estate. They 
command a large practice, and in the management 



:^ 



554 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



of their cases show great ability and sagacity. Mr. 
Roberts, the senior member of the firm, is a native 
of Hamilton County, Tenn. , born in IS.")!, and is 
a son of John and Louisa (Vaughn) Roberts, the 
former a native of Maryland and the latter of Ten- 
nessee. They were married in the latter State and 
in 1866 came to Phillips County, the father's death 
occurring here in 1869 and the mother's in 1870. 
They were prosperous tillers of the soil and Mr. 
Roberts was collecting officer of Hamilton County 
for a number of years, and during the war served 
as Government agent for the Confederate States. 
His father, James Roberts, was of English descent, 
born in Virginia. The maternal grandfather was 
Jesse Vaughn. James P. Roberts is the first of 
four sons and four daughters, and was reared to a 
farm life, receiving the advantages of the common 
schools, which he improved to the utmost, also 
making the most of his advantages while an at- 
tendant at the Savannah (Tenn.) Academy. He 
farmed in Phillips County, Ark., iintil 1875, then 
began the practice of law, and the same progress 
which marked his advancement at school has at- 
tended him in his professional career. He is a 
close student, well versed in law, and possesses in 
more than an ordinary degree the natiiral attri- 
butes essential to a successful career at the bar and 
in public. His worth and ability received a just 
recognition, and in 1880 he was elected to repre- 
sent Phillips County in the State legislature, and 
was re-elected in 188-1. He has been a member of 
several important committees, especially those per- 
taining to courts, and has always taken a deep in- 
terest in the political affairs of his county and 
State. Although his first presidential vote was cast 
for Grant, in 1872, he is now a Democrat in his 
political views. He is a member of the K. of H. , 
the K. & L. of H., the K. of P. at Clarendon 
and the American Legion of Honor. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Lulu Boardman and whom 
he married in September, 1872, was born in the 
State of Kentucky, and is a daughter of Edward 
T. and Elizabeth Boardman, natives, respectively, 
of New York and Kentucky. They were married 
in Henderson, Ky. , and after living .some years in 
Indiana, came, in 1869, to Phillips County, Ark., 



where Mr. Boardman died, in 1886. His wife is 
living, a member of the Baptist Church. Mr. and 
Mrs. Roberts are the parents of four children, one 
son and three daughters. 

F. J. Robinson's career in life, as far as its 
connection with industrial affairs is concerned, 
might be divided into two periods, that during 
which he was occupied in merchandising, and his 
more recent experience in the capacity of a farmer. 
In each of these callings he has had the energy 
and push to attain success, and he seems admir- 
ably fitted for the business in which he is now en- 
gaged. He was born in Shelby County, Tenn. , in 
1853. and is a son of F. M. and E. A. (Erwin) 
Robinson, the father being also a native of that 
State, born in 1828. In 1859 he came with his 
wife and family to Monroe County, Ark., and set- 
tled at Holly Grove, where he spent his declining 
years, and died in 1882, having been engaged in 
merchandising and farming. He and his wife 
(who died in 1880) were members of the Bap- 
tist Church, and he was quite a politician, and be- 
sides holding the office of justice of the peace, he 
represented Monroe County in the State legisla- 
ture from 1874 to 1876. The maternal grandfather, 
John Erwin, was a farmer of Tennessee. F. J. 
Robinson is the eldest of six children, and in his 
youth received but meager educational advantages 
as he was obliged to assist his father in improving 
the home place. In 1876 he was united in mar- 
riage to Lois, daughter of D. A. L. and Anna 
AVilson, who were formerly from North Carolina, 
but died in Monroe County, Ark. , and their union 
was blessed by the birth of four children. Mr. 
Robinson lived at Indian Bay from 1868 to 1882, 
engaged in merchandising and farming, but since 
the latter date has given his time and attention 
solely to farming, at which he has been remark- 
ably successful. He has a tine farm of 800 acres, 
and has about 300 acres under cultivation, all of 
which he has gained since 1882. Politically he is 
a Democrat, and his first vote was cast for Tilden, 
in 1876. His wife is in communion with the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

J. W. B. Robinson is the efficient sheriff and 
lax collector of Monroe County. Ark., and was 



>? (§ r- 



^^ 



MONROE COUNTY. 



55E 



born in Serepta, Miss., in 1856, being a son of Dr. 
Thomas F. and Nancy S. (Park) Robinson, natives 
of the "Palmetto" State. They were married in 
Mississippi in 1849, and in 1856 came to Monroe 
County and settled eight miles east of Clarendon, 
taking up their abode on a woodland farm, on 
which the father died the same year. On this 
farm his family resided until 1886, when they 
removed to Clarendon. Mrs. Robinson is a mem- 
ber of the Old School Presbyterian Church, 
of which the father was an elder during his life- 
time. He was a very successful medical prac- 
titioner, and owing to his early death but littlq 
is known of his parents or other relatives. He 
left his home in South Carolina when quite young 
and went first to Alabama, and thence to Missis- 
sippi, where he was married. Our subject is the 
youngest of his four children and is now the only 
one living. Like so many of the substantial citi- 
zens of this county at the present time, he was 
initiated into the mysteries of farm life from the 
very first, and this continued to be his calling up 
to within a few years of 1886, when he was 
elected to the office of sheriff and county collector, 
and has made an efficient officer. He first voted 
for Hancock for the presidency in 1880, and has 
always affiliated with the Democratic party. The 
old homestead, of which he is the owner, com- 
prises 240 acres, with about 125 acres under culti- 
vation, and he also owns a good house and lot in 
Clarendon. The history of Mrs. Robinson's 
family will be found in a sketch of Dr. William 
Park, who is her brother. 

W. F. Sain, a prominent planter of this town- 
ship, was born in Gibson County, Tenn. , in 1841, 
and is a son of William Sain, deceased, who was a 
native of North Carolina, and whose first wife was 
Virginia Ann Goward, of North Carolina; she being 
the mother of two childi'en: Henry and Mary. He 
removed to Gibson County, Tenn., after his wife 
died, and was there married to Frances Lathan, 
originally of North Carolina, and who died in 1886. 
She was the mother of four children: Nancy J. (the 
wife of Josiah Cooper, of Tennessee), W. F. (the 
principal of this sketch), John A. and James A. 
Mr. Sain belonged to the Masonic lodge, and to 



the Presbyterian Church. He died in 1848. \\ . 
F. Sain was a soldier in the late war, enli.sting in 
the Thirty fourth Mississijjpi Infantry, and served 
until his capture at Lookout Mountain, and was 
taken to Rock Island, 111., where he was held until 
al)out the close of the war. He then retui'ned to 
Bylialia, Miss., in 1877, and then removed to Ger- 
mantown, Penn. , whore he remained until 1881, 
thence to Arkansas and located within five miles of 
Forrest City. In 1.SS3 he moved to this county 
and bought his present farm of 160 acres. I\Ir. 
Sain was married in 1861 to Mildred Alexander, a 
daughter of Moses and Margaret Alexander. They 
were the parents of nine children, all of whom are 
still living: William C, J. A. S., E. A. S., OllieB., 
Robert E., T. C. S., V. L. S., Mamie A. and Lelia 
L. S. They belong to the Presbyterian Church, of 
which Mr. Sain is one of the elders and an in- 
fluential member. 

Louis Salinger. Well directed energy and 
honorable dealings always tell in business, as in- 
deed in everything else. Mr. Salinger has con- 
ducted a very prosperous business since 1871 and 
daring the whole time that has elapsed his trade 
has advanced by rapid strides, until to- day he is 
enjoying one of the best retail trades in Brink- 
ley. His stock of goods is well selected and will 
invoice at about §10,000, the sales of which will 
amount to $;]5,000 annually. Mr. Salinger was 
born is Prussia in 1840, and like all natives of the 
Fatherland, he acquired a good education. When 
about fourteen years of age he and an elder brother 
determined to seek their fortune in the New World, 
and after spending five years in the States of Indi- 
ana and Illinois they came to Arkansas and made 
their home in Woodruff and Monroe Counties. Two 
years later Louis Salinger joined the Fifth Arkan- 
sas Infantry and was under Gens. Hardy, Johnston 
and Beauregard. While on duty in Kentucky he 
was captured just before the tight at Perry ville, but 
was soon after released on bond and returned North 
and resumed bis farming operations in Arkansas. 
In 1866 he engaged in the m(>rcantile business at 
Augusta, continuing until 1870, and in 1871 he re- 
turned to his native laud and brought his mother, 
whose maiden name was Rebecca Cohn, with him 



« k. 



-^ — ^t> , 



556 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



to America, her death occurring in the city of St. 
Lotiis in 1881. The father, Saul Salinger, died 
during our subject's youth, having been a farmer 
in the old country. In 1872 Mr. Salinger was 
united in maiTiage to Miss Lena Fillman. He is 
one of the wealthy men of the county and, besides 
owning about 2,000 acres of land in Monroe 
County, he has a splendid brick residence in Brink- 
ley, which was erected in 1887, and a substantial 
and commodious brick business block which was 
built in 1888. In 1882 he gave up merchandising 
and turned his attention to the real estate business, 
but since 1887 has been following his old calling. 
He is a member of the A. F. & A. M., the K. of P. 
and the K. & L. of H. 

James S. Seale. An important branch of in- 
dustry is that represented by Mr. Seale, carpenter, 
blacksmith and general wood workman of Claren- 
don, and his superior work has entitled him to the 
distinction of a representative business man. He 
was born in Shelby County, Ala., in 1850, a son 
of Willoughby and Sarah (Ford) Seale, who were 
born in South Carolina and Georgia, in 1818 and 
1829, respectively. They were married in Shelby 
County, Ala., and are still living there, the father 
being a prominent farmer and wagon maker. He 
served in the Confederate army the last year of the 
war. His father, Herod Seale, served in the War 
of 1812, was a mechanic by trade, and died in Cal- 
houn County, Miss., in 1875. Rev. John Ford, 
the maternal grandfather, was a Methodist minis- 
ter and died in Macon, Ga. James S. Seale is the 
second in a family of four sons and one daughter, 
and was brought up and educated in the State of 
Alabama, but his advantages, as far as his school- 
ing was concerned, were very limited indeed. He 
learned the trade of wagon maker of his father in 
his youth, and in 1873 came to Monroe County, 
Ark., and until 1887 lived on a farm four miles 
north of Clarendon, since which time he has been 
a resident of the town, and has worked at his trade 
the greater part of the time and is considered an 
excellent carpenter and blacksmith. Besides his 
fertile farm of 250 acres, of which 100 acres are 
under cultivation, he owns an excellent house and 
lot in town, all of which is the result of earnest 



and consistent endeavor on his part. He has 
always been a Democrat in his political views, and 
his first presidential vote was cast for Greeley, in 
1872. He belongs to the Knights of Honor, and 
his wife, whom he married in 1875 and whose 
maiden name was Mattie Arnold, is a member of 
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. She was 
born in Calhoun County, Miss., is the mother of 
five children, three daughters living, and is a 
daughter of Warren Arnold. 

Miles A. Simmons, Jr., a merchant and planter 
of Palmer Station, is a son of Miles A. Simmons, 
Sr., a resident of Mississippi, who was born in 
Georgia in 1820, of English ancestry. He was 
married in 1842 to Miss Elizabeth Revel, born in 
the State of North Carolina in 1825. They were 
the parents of ten children, four of whom are still 
living: Charles F., Miles A., Jr. (the principal of 
this sketch), Virginia W. (the wife of John E. 
Done) and EazerP. Mr. Simmons is the patentee 
and manufacturer of the famous "'Simmons Liver 
Regulator," and has been engaged in the manufact- 
ure and sale of that medicine for thirty-nine years, 
now, however, being retired from business. He 
and his wife are living in the State of Mississippi, 
where they moved in 1844. He is a member of 
the Masonic order and of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. His wife belongs to the Baptist Church. 
Miles A. Simmons, Jr. , was born in Mississippi in 
1866, and was married at the age of twenty to 
Miss Inez L. Smith, daughter of Capt. W. P. and 
Electa Smith. She was born in Springfield, 111. , 
in 1866. They have one son, William F. Mr. 
Simmons commenced clerking in his brother's 
drug store at the age of eighteen, and two years 
later bought his brother's interest, a short time 
after selling out to his father and removing to St. 
Louis, where he was engaged as bookkeeper. In 
1887 he came to Palmer, and was occupied in get- 
ting out railroad ties until 1889, when he started 
in the mercantile business, his present calling. 
He is also postmaster of Palmer, and is the rail- 
road agent at that place. Besides his other inter- 
ests he owns a large steam cotton-gin and corn- 
mill, and a farm of 640 acres with some eighty 
acres under cultivation. Mr. Simmons is a mem- 



MONROE COUNTY. 



00 1 



ber of the K. of H. , and of the Cumberland Pres- 
byterian Church, as is also his wife. 

Stephen Simons, a progressive and successful 
farmer of Monroe County, is a native of Alabama, 
his father, William Simons, having come originally 
from Massachusetts. He was a bridge builder and 
carpenter by trade, which occupation he followed 
up to the late war. He then erected a steam grist- 
mill in Alabama, and operated it until his death in 
1877. He married Susan D. Wheeloek, a native 
of Alabama and a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, who died in 1861. They were the 
parents of ten children, four still living: Stephen 
(our subject), Cornelia (the wife of A. S. Neeley, 
of Kentucky), Martin E. and John. Stephen 
Simons was born in 1848, and remained in his 
native State until 1874, when he removed to Ark- 
ansas, settling in this county. He worked at the 
carpenter's trade the first two years, and for three 
years following was engaged in the saloon business, 
after which he began farming on his present farm 
of 168 acres, with sixty acres under cultivation. 
He was married in 1878 to Miss Nancy A. Brown, 
daughter of Jesse and Mary Brown. She was 
born in this county in 1854. Her parents are now 
dead, her father havmg been killed in the late war, 
and her mother dying in 1877. Mr. Simons is an 
influential Democrat in political circles and a lead- 
ing man in his township. 

Washington Simpson, planter. Cotton Plant, 
Ark. Of that sturdy and independent class, the 
farmers of Arkansas, none are possessed of more 
genuine mei'it and a stronger character than ho 
whose name stands at the head of this sketch. 
Mr. Simpson first saw the light in Morgan County, 
Ala., January '21, 1823, and was one of eleven 
children, eight sons and three daughters, born to 
the union of Samuel and Elizabeth (Owen) Simp- 
son. The father was born in the Old Dominion, 
was a farmer by occupation, and, in connection, 
carried on the tanner's trade for many years. He 
immigrated from Alal)ama to La Fayette County, 
Miss. , in 1837, and there carried on both his for- 
mer occupations, until 1852, when he moved to 
Arkansas, locating in St. Francis County. He 
took up land, built a cabin, and there remained 



until his death, which occurred in 1860. His wife 
died in Monroe County, in about 1857. She was 
a member of the Baptist Church for many years. 
Of the large family born to his parents, Washing- 
ton Simpson is the only one now living, although 
all were reared to maturity. He was married in 
1847 to Miss Martha Davis, and they became the 
parents of seven children, of whom only three are 
now living: Josiah A., Allice M. and Mary E. (the 
widow of John C. Madox). The mother of these 
children died in 1860; she was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Two years later 
Mr. Simpson took for his second wife Miss Frances 
Henderson, who died in 1869. In 1871 he mar- 
ried Miss Mary A. iVnderson, who bore him nine 
children, six daughters and three sons, seven of 
whom are living: Alexander A., John W., Anna P., 
Mittie E., Mary O. , Margaret A. and Hassie P. 
Mr. Simpson owns 207 acres of land, has about 120 
acres under cultivation, and is a very successful 
farmer. In 1863 he enlisted in the infantry under 
Capt. Wilson, and served until the surrender at 
Wittsburg, in 1865. He filled the position of con- 
stable for eight years in this county, and he and 
Mrs. Simpson are members of the Baptist Church. 
Mrs. Simpson was born in La Fayette County, Miss. , 
in 1853, and came to Arkansas with her father in 
1859. He was a farmer, and died in 1862. Her 
mother died in 1885. Both were members of the 
Baptist Church. 

William K. Sims is a dealer in drugs and 
medicines at Brinkley, Ark., and has been estab- 
lished in business at this point since February, 
1883, his stock of goods amounting to about 
?2,500. He was born near Helena, Ark., in 1860, 
and is a son of Dr. William K. and Mary (Scaife) 
Sims, who were born, reared and married in the 
"Palmetto State," and there made their home 
until some years prior to the late Civil War, when 
they came west and settled in Phillips County, 
Ark. About the time of the opening of hostilities 
Mr. Sims died, and his family returned to South 
Carolina, but liking the West best, and thinking 
the prospects for becoming rich much better here 
than at their old home, they returned to Arkansas 
in 1868. From that time imtil 1883 they made their 



-fr-^ 



^ 



-< s 



£: 



558 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



home in Phillips County, then came to Brinkley 
where the mother's demise occurred on November 
9, 1885, she having been an earnest member of 
the Baptist Church for many years, as v?as her 
husband. The latter was a successful physician 
for many years, a graduate of his profession, and 
was a son of William Sims, who was a Virginian, 
but died in South Carolina, a well to do farmer. 
The maternal grandfather, Vida Scaipe, was of 
Welsh descent, and is supposed to have been born 
in South Carolina, but came to Phillips County, 
Ark., in 1868. William K. Sims is the youngest 
of three children born to his parents, and spent his 
youth in tilling the soil and acquiring a common- 
school education. He began for himself at the age 
of fourteen years as a farm hand, continuing until 
he was about twenty-three years old, in the mean- 
time clerking in Helena part of the time, and pre- 
vious to coming to Brinklej' he clerked in a drug 
store in Trenton, Ark. , for one year. Since es- 
tablishing himself in business at Brinkley, he has 
become one of the leading druggists of the town, 
and by his thorough knowledge of drugs, his ac- 
curacy, intelligence and honesty, he has established 
a large and lucrative trade. From October, 1885, 
to October, 1889, he was postmaster of the town, 
being appointed to the position by President 
Cleveland. Mr. Sims is a Democrat, and is quite 
well-to do for a young man, being the owner of an 
excellent business lot on Main Street. 

William E. Spencer is the efficient editor of 
the Monroe County Sun, published at Clarendon, 
and owing to the admirable manner in which it is 
conducted it has had a most flattering increase in 
its circulation. It has been in existence since 
1876, and has already become one of the leading 
newspapers in the State. Mr. Spencer was born 
in Minneapolis, Minn., in 1865, and is a son of 
Abraham and Agnes (McMurray) Spencer, who were 
born in Liverj)Ool, England, and Glasgow, Scotland, 
respectively. They were married in the mother's 
native land, and in 1863 removed to Quebec, Can- 
ada, and the following year to the State of Minne- 
sota, where their son, William E. , was born. In 
the year 1871 they removed to Indian Bay, Ark., 
and in 1881 to Clarendon. Mrs. Spencer died 



three years previous, having been an earnest mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church for many years. 
Mr. Spencer was a machinist by trade, and a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church. William E. Spencer 
is the fourth of their live children, two sons and 
three daughters, and in his youth received a com- 
mon-school education in Winchester, Tenn. At 
the early age of eight years he began learning the 
printer's trade in an office of his own, and after 
reaching a suitable age began clerking in his 
father's hardware store, continuing until 1880, 
when he began editing the Monroe County Sun, 
which has already become one of the well-estab- 
lished journals of the State, and is published in 
the interests of the Democrat party, of which Mr. 
Spencer has always been a member, his first presi- 
dential vote being cast for Cleveland. He belongs 
to the Arkansas Press Association and is a mem- 
ber of the K. of H. and K. of P. In November, 
1888, he was married at Malta Bend, Mo., by the 
Rev. W. B. Palmore, to Miss Ella Bonner, who 
was born in Clarendon, is a member of the Meth- 
odist Church, a daughter of W. H. Bonner, who 
was a prominent farmer and resided in Monroe 
fi'om 1854 until his death in 1887. He was asses- 
sor of the county from 1882 till 1886. 

William Grant Sutton has been a resident of 
this State since 1853. He was born in Fayette 
County, Tenn., in 1853, but his parents came to 
Arkansas that year, and located in this county, 
where they purchased land. His parents were 
Thomas and Sarah (Weeks) Sutton. Thomas Sut- 
ton was born in Perquimans County, N. C, in 
1804, and was a son of Thomas and Helena (Ra])er) 
Sutton, both of English descent. On coming to 
this county he purchased 240 acres of land, almost 
all in timber, which he improved and made a good 
farm, living upon it vintil his death, August 28, 
1854. Mrs. Sutton was born in 1815, and was 
married to the father of our subject in 1831, and 
died in March, 1860. Thomas Sutton was the 
father of fourteen children, this being his second 
marriage; there were eleven children, three of 
whom are living: Susan F. (the wife of J. M. 
Kerr), Anna (the wife of Rev. R. B. Cavett) and 
William G. (our siibject). The latter, the young- 



r 



MONROE COUNTY. 



559 



est of the family, was an infant at the deatb of 
bis father. He now owns a fine farm of 174 acres, 
with sixty acres under ciiltivation. He is a well- 
known Democrat of Duncan Township, and highly 
spoken of by all who have become acquainted with 
him. 

Judge James S. Thomas is an attorney at law, 
of Clarendon, and is a member of the legal firm of 
Ewan & Thomas. He was born in Anson County, 
N. C, in 1844, and is a son of A. J. and Eliza C. 
(Smith) Thomas, of South Carolina and North 
Carolina, respectively, the former's birth occurring 
in 1813. They were married in North Carolina, 
in 1844, and moved soon after to Weakley County, 
Teun., and in 1858 to Prairie County, Ark., where 
his wife died in October, 1867. Mr. Thomas is 
still living, and is a planter by trade, and a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Church and the A. F. & A. M. 
John Thomas, the grandfather, was of Welsh de- 
scent, a native of South Carolina, who died in 
Weakley County, Tenn. Our subject's father has 
been married three times, his second wife bearing 
him seven children, of whom James S. is the eld- 
est. He was reared to the duties of a farm life 
and acquired a limited education in the country 
schools. In 1861 he joined Company E, First 
Arkansas Infantry, and was discharged at Fort 
Pillow on account of ill health, but soon recovered 
and rejoined the army, becoming a member of the 
Fourth Arkansas Battalion. He was captured at 
Island No. 10, and was confined at Camp Chase 
for some time, after which he was removed to 
Johnson's Island, and was exchanged in 1862. 
He was then given a position in the commissary 
department, and in 1868 was transfen'ed to the 
Trans-Mississippi Department, and served in the 
quartermaster's department until the close of the 
war. He held all the ranks, from that of a private 
to captain, being made the latter in December, 
1862. He surrendered at Gilmore, Tex., in June, 
1865, and returned to his home and friends, and 
took up the study of law. After becoming thor- 
oughly prepared to enter upon his practice, he 
located in Des Arc, where he was a successful prac- 
titioner until 1888, since which time he has been 
in'"Claretuiou~~In~1870 he was elected to repre- 



sent Prairie County in the State legislature, and 
j in 1874 was choson tax collector, filling this posi- 
j tion until again elected to the legislature in 1876, 
which position he held by reelection until 1880. 
In 1882 he was elected county and probate judge, 
and served by re-election sis years, continuing 
during this time the practice of law. He spent 
five or six years in the newspaper business, being 
editor of the Prairie County Appeal, and afterward 
edited the Des Arc Citizen until his removal to 
Clarendon, and during his editorial career served 
for some time as president and vice-president of the 
Arkansas Press Association. Ho edited his papers 
in the interest of the Democrat party, with which 
he has always affiliated, and by his pen did much to 
sway the politics, of not only his county, but the 
State also. He has shown his brotherly spirit by 
joining the Masons and the Knights of Honor, and 
is a member of White River Lodge No. 37, of 
Des Arc in the former order and Clarendon Lodge 
in the latter. In 1867 he was married to Anna, a 
daughter of E. B. and N. N. Powell, who were 
l)orn, reared and married in Tennessee. They 
removed to Prairie County, Ark., in 1861, and are 
there still living. Mrs. Thomas was born in Ten- 
nessee, and by Mr. Thomas is the mother of one 
I son and two daughters. She has been a member 
of the Methodist Church for many years. Mr. 
Thomas is a large real estate holder, and owns 
1,500 acres of land in Prairie County. The first 
of the family to come to America, was shipped 
from Wales in a box to avoid punishment, as he 
had participated in a rebellion, and one of his de- 
scendants was afterward a general in the Revolu- 
tionary War. 

Frank B. Toms is a planter residing near Clar- 
endon, Ark., and was born in Penjuimans County, 
N. C, in 1847, being the eldest of six children 
born to Henry C. and Susan M. (Lynch) Toms, 
also of that State, born February 6, 1825, and in 
December, 1829, resjjectively. They were mar 
ried in their native State, in 1846, and there re- 
sided until 1851, then came to Monroe County, 
Ark., and settled on a woodland farm, about 
five miles southeast of Clarendon. Mr. Toms was 
a man of very limited means at that time, and 



J^ 



•^ 



560 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



came west in order to mcake a home for his family, 
and in this siicceeded, for at the time of his deatli 
lie was the owner of a good farm. He was a man 
possessing high moral principles, temperate, in- 
dustrious and of exemplary habits, and his death, 
which occurred in 1859, while he was representing 
his lodge in the Masonic Grand Lodge at Little 
Rock, was deeply lamented, not only by his im- 
mediate family, but by all who knew him as well. 
His wife was a consistent member of the Method- 
ist Church, and died in 1868. The paternal 
grandparents, Francis B. and Sarah Toms, were 
probably born and married in England, and were 
early emigrants to and farmers of the ' ' Old North 
State." Richard and Nancy Lynch, the maternal 
grandparents, were also early settlers of North 
Carolina, from Ireland, in which country they 
were born, reared and married. They came to 
this country on account of persecution, the father 
having participated in a rebellion in his native 
land. Both died in North Carolina. Frank B. 
Toms and his sister Sarah, widow of A. W. Harris, 
are the only ones of their father's family now liv- 
ing. The former spent his early days on a farm, 
and after his father's untimely death, the principal 
care of the family devolved on him. This left him 
with but little chance of acquiring an education, 
but he remained faithful to his trust until his mar- 
riage, in 1877, to Fannie, a daughter of Reuben 
and Rebecca Harrod, natives respectively of Loui- 
siana and Mississippi, and very early settlers of 
Monroe County, Ark. The father was a soldier in 
the Confederate States army, a farmer by occupa- 
tion, and died in 1872, followed by his wife two 
years later. Mrs. Toms was born in Monroe 
County, and she and Mr. Toms are the parents of 
one daughter. Mr. Toms lived on the old farm, 
on which his father settled, until 1888, when he 
removed to Clarendon, where he now owns a com- 
fortable and commodious home. His farm of 160 
acres comprises some of the best land in the coun- 
ty, and he has eighty acres under cultivation, all 
being acquired by his own good management and 
industry. He is a Democrat, his first presidential 
vote being cast for Greeley, in 1872, and he is a 
Royal Arch Mason. He also belongs to the K. of 



H. , and in his religious views is a Methodist, his 
wife being a member of the Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church. 

B. P. Vanderford, by reason of his association 
with the aifairs of this county as a planter, de- 
serves prominent mention. He is the only one 
living of a family of twelve children born to W. 
H. and Rhoda A. (Harris) Vanderford, natives of 
North Carolina. They removed from that State 
to Tennessee, and from there to Arkansas, locating 
in Jackson County, where he died in 1867, and his 
wife three years later. B. P. Vanderford was 
born in Buncombe County, N. C, in 1842. He 
was married in 1866 to Miss Mary E. Foster, a 
daughter of Josiah and Mary Foster, of this 
State. They are the parents of seven children, 
five still living: W. H. , L. O. , Jennie (the wife of 
J. H. Simson). B. H. and B. C. Mr. Vanderford 
enlisted in the Confederate army in 1861, and 
served until the battle of Chickamauga, in which 
he was wounded, being unable to again participate 
in active service. After the war he returned to 
Jackson County, and resumed farming, in 1871 
removing to this county. He now owns a fine 
farm of 180 acres, with sixty acres under cultiva- 
tion, and good buildings, etc. He is a prominent 
Democrat, and has served as justice of the peace 
since 187-1, also belonging to the Knights of Honor. 
His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

Capt. Milton H. Vaughan, notary public, jew- 
eler and photographer, of Brinkley, Ark., was 
born in Tipton County, Tenn. , in 1839, and is a 
son of Edwin and Susan (Owen) Vaughan, lioth of 
whom were born near Halifax, Va. They removed 
to Tennessee in their youth and there became ac- 
quainted and married, the mother's death occur- 
ring about 1854, after having borne a family of 
eleven children, four sons and seven daughters. 
Mr. Vaughan afterward removed to Arkansas, 
where he took a second wife, and here spent the 
rest of his days, his death occurring in 1857 or 
1858, at about the age of fifty-five years. He was 
a farmer by occupation and a man who possessed 
sterling traits of character, which won him the re- 
spect and confidence of his fellow-men. Capt. 



^-. 



V 



-^ 



MONROE COUNTY. 



561 



Milton H. Yaughan was the youngest of his father's 
family, and in his youth received such education 
as usually falls to the lot of the farmer's l)oy. 
When about fifteen years of age ho began learning 
photography in Mem[)his, but upon the breaking 
out of the Rebellion he gave up this work and as- 
sisted in organizing Company E of the Tenth Ar- 
kansas Infantry, of Springfield, Conway County, 
Ark., and was elected first lieutenant, being pro- 
moted to captain soon after. His brother, E. L. , 
was lieutenant of the regiment. The fir.st engage- 
ment in which he participated was Shiloh, but he 
soon after went to Louisiana and was soon after 
taken prisoner at the fall of Port Hudson. He was 
taken to Johnson's Island and kept a prisoner un- 
til June 9, 1805, when he was released and re- 
turned home. Two years were spent in active 
duty and two in prison. After his return to West 
Point, Ark., he was married in September, 1865, 
to Susan Oliphant, a native of Tennessee, who 
died in 1870, having borne four children, one son 
only being now alive: Thomas L. His second 
marriage took place in 1875, his wife, Sallie 
Lynch, being a daughter of William B. and Eliza 
J. Lynch, whose sketch will be found elsewhere in 
this volume. Mrs. Vaughan was born in Missis- 
sippi and by Mr. Yaughan is the mother of a 
daughter named Mabel. After being engaged in 
the jewelry business in West Point for a few years 
Mr. Vaughan removed to Searcy, where he made 
his home until after his second marriage, since 
which time he has been a resident of Brinkley. 
He has been a succe.ssful jeweler and photographer, 
and as far as his finances are concerned he is in in- 
dependent circumstances. He has a pleasant home 
on New York Avenue, and his business house is 
commodious and substantial. He has been a no- 
tary pulilic for the j)a8t thirteen years and has 
filled the position of mayor of the town several 
terms, has been justice of the peace one term, and 
Las been an alderman and recorder of the city. 
He is an A. F. & A. M., a K. of H., and belongs 
to the K. & L. of H. and the K. of L. He was 
formerly a member of ihf I. O. O. F. He is a 
Democrat, and he and his wife are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 



Capt. J. W. Walker is one of the leading plant- 
ers of the county and enjoys the reputation of l)eing, 
not only a substantial and progressive farmer, but an 
intelligent and thoroughly posted man in all public 
affairs. He is a native Tonnesseean, Ijorn in ^\■hite 
County, in 1837, and is a son of David and Polly 
(Stalls) AValker, both of whom were Virginians, and 
were probably married there. At an early date they 
removed to Hawkins County, East Tenn. , thence to 
White County, Middle Tenn. , and when the subject 
of this sketch was a lad, went to Van Buren Coun- 
ty, where they resided for several years, his mother 
dying in February and his father in April of the 
same year. The father was a farmer, of Irish de- 
scent and a son of Micager Walker, who was born 
in Ireland and came to the United States prior to 
the American Revolution, and took part in that 
war. After living some years in Virginia he re- 
moved to Tennessee and died in Van Buren Coun- 
ty, at the age of one hundred and seven years, his 
demise occurring since the close of the Civil AV'ar. 
Capt. J. W. Walker, the fifth of eleven children, 
is the onh' one living in Monroe County. He ac- 
quired only a moderate education in the common 
schools, and upon the death of his parents, began 
doing for himself and made his home with one man 
for nine j-ears, working for wages four years and 
being a partner five years, becoming thoroughly 
familiar with stock trading. In 1860 he married 
Bettie Rankins, who was born in Bledsoe County, 
Tenn. , and died in 1863, leaving one son, who die(^ 
in 1885. at the untimely age of twenty-five years. 
Mr. Walker's second marriage took place in 1882, 
his wife being Mrs. Sallie Walls, a daughter of 
James H. and Eleanor D. Branch, natives of Wil- 
son County, Tenn. They were married in 1840, 
and removed to West Tennessee, in 1851, living 
there eight years and going thence to Monroe 
County, in 185y, where Mr. Branch died, in 1867, 
and his wife in 1885. She was a member of the 
Christian Church. Mr. Branch was a well-to-do 
farmer. Mrs. Walker was Ixirn in Wilson County, 
Tenn., in 1847, and married Allen V. AValls in 
1868. By her first husltaiid she became the mother 
of three children, only one of whom is living. She 
and Mr. Walker had one child that is now de 



<<. 



562 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ceased. Mr. Walker lacked one day of serving 
four years in the Confederate army, and during bis 
term of service, while participating in different 
battles, was wounded four times and had five 
horses shot from under him. The first year he 
was a member of Branhan's battalion of East Ten- 
nessee Cavalry, and operated in East and Middle 
Tennessee and Kentucky. His battalion was after- 
ward consolidated with Company I, Eighth Ten- 
nessee, under Gen. G. D. Dibrell, with whom he 
remained, operating in nearly all the Southern 
States east of the Mississippi River, until the close 
of the war. During this time he served as captain 
and was a gallant and faithful officer. He was in 
many severe engagements, among which may be 
mentioned Fishing Creek, Camp Goggins (Ky.), 
Murfreesboro, Neely's Bend, Lexington, Humboldt, 
Union City, Trenton, Parker's Cross Roads, Fort 
Donelson, Thomjison's Station, Franklin, Shelby- 
ville. Wild Cat Bridge, Chickamauga, Dalton, Res- 
aca. Missionary Ridge, New Hope Chui'ch, Lost 
Mountain, Wainesboro, (S. C), Landersville and 
Marietta, (Ga. ). He was wounded at Camp Gog- 
gins, Wild Cat Bridge, Parker's Cross Roads and 
Landersville, and was captured at Wild Cat Bridge 
(Tenn.), August 9, 1863; being wounded severely 
he was at once paroled. He surrendered near 
Washington, Ga. , May 11, 1865, and in 1866 came 
to Clarendon and was engaged in farming and raft- 
ing logs until in 1873, when he fovind employment 
in the sheriff's office, continuing as deputy seven 
years. He was elected sheriff of the county in 
1884, but at the end of two years resumed farming 
on his land, comprising 176 acres near the town. 
He has in all, some 1,200 acres, about 600 under 
cultivation, nearly one-half of which has been 
acquired by his own efforts since coming to Arkan- 
sas. He raises some fine stock. He is a Demo- 
crat, though formerly a Whig, and during Cleve- 
land's administration served one year as deputy 
United States marshal. He has been a member of 
the A. F. & A. M. for twenty years, and is now 
residing on the farm formerly owned by ex-Gov. 
Hughes. He is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. His wife is a member of the Cum- 
berland Presbvterian Church. 



William B. Wellborn, a merchant and an exten- 
sive land owner of Monroe County, commenced 
work for himself in 1871 as superintendent of a 
large plantation, at $50 per month. The follow- 
ing year he rented land and was engaged in farm- 
ing one year, in 1873 embarking in the mercantile 
business in what is known as Duncan Station, 
where he has been in business ever since. He was 
born in Knoxville County, Miss., in 1851, the son 
of Jones D. and Lucy (Tate) Wellborn. The father 
was born in Madison County, Ala., in 1824, and 
was a son of Isaac S. Wellborn, of English and 
Irish origin. He was a planter and stockman, also 
owning a stage line in Monroe County, Ark., in 
1855, before there were any railroads in that part 
of the State. He was mamed to Miss Lucy Tate, 
in Madison County, Ala., in 1848, she having been 
born in that county in 1827. They had a family 
of four children, three of whom are still living: 
Elizabeth I. (wife of W. W. Capps, of Memphis, 
Tenn.), Lucy C. (the wife of E. F. Maberry, of 
Prairie County, Ark.) and William B. (the princi- 
pal of this article). J. D. Wellborn on leaving Ala- 
bama went to Tennessee, and from there to Missis- 
sippi in 1850, coming thence to Arkansas in 1853. 
He bought a farm in this county, where be made 
his home until his death in 1857, one year after 
the final summons of his wife. In addition to his 
business at Duncan Mr. Wellborn owns and con- 
ducts a large plantation, consisting of 1,900 acres 
of fine land, with 700 acres under cultivation. He 
was married in January, 1875, to Miss Lillian E. 
Kerr, daughter of W. D. and Lizzie D. Kerr; she 
was born in Alabama in 1856. They are the par- 
ents of five children, four of whom survive: Henry, 
Jennie E. , Lucy A. and Barton G. He is a mem- 
ber of the A. F. & A. M., of the K. of P., and of 
the K. of G. R. Mrs. Wellborn belongs to the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Dr. Robert M. West has, by his assiduous at- 
tention to all his patients, acquired a large and 
steadily increasing practice, and has gained the 
confidence of all as a clever and scientific practi- 
tioner. He is a member of the firm of ^\'est & 
Thomas, of Clarendon, and was born in Henderson 
County, W. Tenn., July 6, 1832, being the young- 



liL 



MONROE COUNTY. 



563 



est of seven sons and live daughters born to 
Easton and Mary E. (Simuions) West, born in 
North Carolina in 1775 and 1782, respectively. 
After their marriage, which took place in their 
native State, they removed to Virginia, and a few 
years later to West Tennessee, where they were 
among the early settlers. He was very active in 
clearing the forests, and settled on twenty-two dif- 
ferent farms in as many years, being a resident of 
different counties. Both he and wife died in Hum- 
boldt. Tenn. , in 18G6, members of many years' 
standing in the Baptist Church, of which Mr. 
West was a deacon for seventy-two years. His 
father was an Irishman, and served in the Revolu- 
tionary War from North Carolina. A. L. Simmons, 
the maternal grandfather, was of Irish- Scotch de- 
scent, a Virginian, and also a Revolutionary sol- 
dier. Dr. Robert M. West is the only one of his 
father's family who is now living, to his knowledge. 
After remaining at home and assisting his father 
until he was fourteen years of age, he began work- 
ing for himself as a farm hand, but at the end of 
two years, seeing the need of a better education, 
he attended a five-months' term of school, working 
seven months for a farmer of the region to pay for 
his schooling. He then concluded to try how 
teaching the young idea suited him, and find- 
ing that' his first term was a success, and liking 
the work, he followed it three j'ears in West Ten- 
nessee, in the meantime devoting his spare time 
to the study of medicine. In 1860 he graduated 
from the Medical Department of the Univer- 
sity of Louisville, Ky., but had previously begun 
practicing in Tennessee, in 1858. He returned 
there after graduating, but in April, 1802, he 
joined Company H, Tenth Tennessee Cavalry, of 
Gen. Forrest's army, but at the end of seven 
months was made assistant-surgeon of the Fif- 
teenth Tennessee Regiment, and in 1864 was trans- 
ferred to the examining board of conscripts, in 
which capacity he served until the cessation of 
hostilities. He resumed his practice in Tennessee, 
but in 1871 came to Clarendon, where he has since 
practiced his profession with much success. He 
has been president of the Monroe County Exam- 
ining Board since its organization; is Senior \\i\r- 



den of Cache Lodge No. 235, A. F. & A. M. ; is 
Past-Chancellor in the K. of P., Cowan Lodge No. 
39, and is Examiner in the K. of H. and K. of P. 
Politically he is a Democrat, his first [)rcsidential 
vote being cast for James Buchanan. He is ac- 
counted one of the substantial men of Monroe 
County, and is the owner of 240 acres of land three 
miles from Clarendon, and 320 acres seven miles 
from the town, and also owns an elegant house in 
the town. He was married in October, I860, to 
Mary F. Conner, who was born in Tennessee, and 
died in 1872, having borne two children, both now 
deceased. Dr. M'est's second marriage was con- 
summated January 10, 1874, his wife being Miss 
Celena", a daughter of Lewis Wahl, a German by 
birth, now a resident of Milan, Tenn. , aged seven- 
ty-four years. Mrs. West was born in New Al- 
bany, Ind. , was reared in Kentucky, and received 
her education in Columbia, Tenn., being a grad- 
uate of a female college of that place. She and 
the Doctor have two children: Nora C. and 
Julius M. 

Capt. J. W. Whitfield, a general merchant of 
Roc Roe Township, was born in Davidson County, 
Tenn., in 1839, and is a son of Capt. Thomas J. 
and Sallio L. (Dillyhnnt) Whitfield, the former a 
Virginian, and the latter born in Davidson County, 
Tenn. Their marriage took place in this county, 
and here they made their home, with the exception 
of about one year spent in Texas, the father's 
death occurring in 1873 and the mother's in 1882, 
she being a member of the Baptist Church at the 
time of her death. Mr. Whitfield was brigadier- 
general of the Tennessee militia in early days, and 
was all through the Rebellion, being a member of 
the Forty-second Tennessee Infautrj', Confederate 
States army, and was captain of Company H. He 
was captured at the battle of Fort Donelson and 
was kept a prisoner at Johnson's Island for seven 
months. He was then taken on a gunboat to For- 
tress Monroe, thence to Richmond, where he was 
liberated or released at the close of the war. He 
was a member of the A. F. & A. M. and was of 
English descent. The maternal grandfather. Dil- 
lyhunt, WHS a German and died in Davidson County, 
Tenn., having been a soldier in the War of 1812. 



n= 



•|v> 



564 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Capt. J. W. Whitfield was the fourth of nine chil- 
dren, five sons and four daughters, and received 
but little schooling in his youth. Upon the open- 
ing of the war he joined the Confederate army as 
captain of Company I, Forty-second Tennessee In- 
fantry, and he and his brother, Capt. Silas D. H. 
Whitfield, and two younger brothers, were all in 
the same regiment with their father, the latter and 
his two eldest sons, each commanding a company. 
They were, all captured at Fort Donelson and taken 
to Johnson' s Island, and oiir subject was exchanged 
at Vickaburg, and soon after assisted in organizing 
Company G, becoming a member of Wheeler's 
cavalry, and operated with his regiment in Tennes- 
see and Mississippi. In the fall of 1863 he was 
captured on the Tennessee River, but a few hoars 
afterward made his escape and rejoined his com- 
mand and captured the Federal who had a short 
time before captured him; this was in Humphreys 
County. From that time until the final surrender 
he operated in West Tennessee, and surrendered at 
Brownsville of that State. The most important 
engagements in which he participated were Fort 
Donelson, Fort Hudson, Johnsonville, and some 
spirited skirmishes. After the war he began farm- 
ing in Madison County, Tenn., then returned to 
Middle Tennessee and was engaged in merchandis- 
ing for five years, and in 1873 removed to Texas, 
where he followed the same occupation and also 
managed a cotton plantation for three years. After 
returning to Tennessee and residing there until 
1880 he came to Lonoke County, Ark., and at the 
end of one year settled in Aberdeen. Since Oc- 
tober, 1888, he has resided in Roc Roe Township, 
and is carrying on the mercantile business with 
success and also managing a farm of 100 acres. He 
has a good plantation in Madison County, Tenn., 
and a store which nets him a comfortable annual 
income. He is one of the prominent business men 
of the county, and is a man who commands the 
respect and esteem of all who know him. He is 
very fond of hunting, and much of his spare time 
is spent in the woods with his gun. Mr. Whitfield 
has always been a Democrat and voted for Jeffer- 
son Davis in 1860. He is a member in good 
standing of the Christian Church, and his wife. 



whose maiden name was Delia Scott, and whom he 
married in 1862, was a member of the Methodist 
Church. She was born in Fayette County, Tenn. , 
and died in June, 1887. being a daughter of George 
R. and Hester A. Scott, natives, respectively, of 
Davidson and Madison Counties, Tenn. The 
father was a wealthy farmer, and both he and wife 
died in Madison County, his death occurring in 
November, 1887, and hers in the winter of 1865. 
Capt. Lewis N. Williams is a stock trader and 
farmer of Roc Roe Township, and was born in Bed- 
ford County, Tenn., in 1836, being the youngest of 
six sons born to William D. and -Mary A. fPhilIi{)s) 
Williams, the former born in North Carolina, and 
the latter in Tennessee. They were married in the 
mother's native State, and here the father was en- 
gaged in farming and stock trading. His death 
occurred while serving in the Confederate army. 
His wife followed him to the grave a few years 
later, her death occui-ring in Texas while on a visit 
to a son. She was a member of the Presbyterian 
Church. Lewis N. Williams received very limited 
early educational advantages, and at the early age 
of thirteen years, left home and went to Texas, 
where he spent some years working on a farm and 
in the stock business on the frontier. In 1862 he 
joined Company C of a Texas Battalion, and after 
the fight at Elk Horn, his company was reorgan- 
ized at Des Arc, and became the First Texas Legion, 
afterward operating east of the Mississippi River. 
He was made orderly-sergeant of his company, was 
promoted to lieutenant, and finally for meritorious 
conduct was raised to the rank of captain. At the 
evacuation of Corinth, he lost his right arm, but re- 
mained with the army about a year longer, althoufrh 
not on active duty. He returned to Texas after 
this, and ran a wagon train of about twenty ox 
teams in Western Texas, being engaged in hauling 
cotton for the Government, and at the time of the 
final surrender was at Brownsville, Texas, He has 
spent many years of his life on the frontier, and 
has endured many hardships and privations, and 
has had many hairbreadth escapes from death, hav- 
ing been robbed several times. His life has been an 
eventful and interesting one, full of excitement and 
romance, and in all the difficulties he has encount- 



-^; 



^1 



-" — "t ^^ 



MONROE COUNTY. 



565 



ered in his walk through life, he has met and sur- 
mounted them all. He first came to Monroe County, 
Ark., in 1S67, but in 1870-71 was in the stock com- 
mission business in Memphis, and while there lost 
all his accumulations of years, and was left $1,000 
in debt. He then retiu'ned to Monroe County, en- 
gaged extensivelj' in stock dealing, and is now one 
of the wealthiest men of Monroe County, being the 
owner of about 4,000 acres of land. He has been 
interested in the development of the county, 
morally, intellectually and socially, and has the 
reputation of being a man of progressive views, thor- 
oughly posted in all public matters. He is a Demo- 
crat politically, a member of the Famous Life 
Association, and in 1872 was united in marriage to 
Miss Dora Miller, a native of Mississippi, who died 
in 1883. His second marriage was consummated 
in 1884, his wife being Miss Josie Cannon, a native 
of Arkansas County, and a member of the Method- 
ist Church. 

A^'oodiin & Henderson. Among the leading 
general mercantile establishments of Brinklej% 
Ark., none are deserving of more favorable men- 
tion and consideration than the above mentioned 
firm, of whom E. L. Woodfin and R. M. Hender- 
son are the proprietors. Their house was estab- 
lished in 1887 and with their stock which amounts 
to $4,000 they do an annual business of $15,000. 
Mr. Woodfin was born in Marshall County, Miss. , 
in 1851, and is a son of John and Mary (Scott) 
Woodfin, the former a native of Alabama and the 
latter of North Carolina. After spending most 



of their youth in Tennessee they were married 
there, but afterward moved to Mississippi, which 
State continu(>il to be their homo until 1859, at 
which time they came to Arkansas and settled in 
Cotton Plant. Mr. Woodruff was a farmer l)y 
occupation, a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
and died at Des Arc in 1861. His wife survives 
him and is a member of the Presbyterian Church. 
E. L. Woodfin is one of three surviving members 
of a family of seven children and spent his youth- 
ful days in laboring on the farm. Two years were 
spent in cattle dealing, which occupation proved 
fairly remunerative, but in 1885 he engaged in his 
present occupation in Brinkley. In 1875 he was 
married to Miss Mollie, a daughter of Benjamin 
and Matilda Glover, who were born, reared and 
married, in Limestone County, Ala., but removed 
to De Soto County, Miss., and in 1859 to Ai-kan- 
sas, locating near Wheetley, where the mother's 
death occurred in 1871. Mr. Glover married 
again and is now living at Cotton Plant occupied 
in farming. Mrs. Woodfin is one of five children 
and was born in Mississippi and for a number of 
years has been a member of the Old School Pres- 
byterian Church. Mr. Woodfin is a Democrat. 
When starting out in life for himself in 1869 he 
had only $18 but now owns the old home.stead of 
480 acres, besides a good house and business block 
in Brinkley. He lost heavily during 1874, his 
large crop of cotton being consumed by fire, but he 
has retrieved his losses and is now in affluent 
circumstances. ' 




-'^:'' 



^yy -J V ■~'■.'^*• 



±=:t 



566 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



:i[&ifi 



« > ♦ < ♦ 



Lee County— Kecent Organization— Creative Act— Seat of Justice- Officers of Trust— During 

War Times— Political Complexion — Valuation— Development— Churches and Schools 

—Period of Settlement— Location, Area and Population— Streams, Soils, 

Etc.— Natural Yields— Stock Raising Interests— Sketch of Mari- 

anna and h a ynes— numerous selected sketches. 




— •^■S'^- — 

Culture's hand 
Has scattei'd verdure o'er the land; 
And smiles and fragrance rule serene, 
Where barren wild usurp'd the scene. — Anon. 



■"EE, one of the more recent 
acquisitions to the sister- 
hood of counties in Arkan- 
sas, is yet comparatively 
new, having been created 
by the legislature of 
1873. The territory now 
embraced within its limits was a por- 
tion formerly of four counties, viz. : 
Phillips, Monroe, St. Francis and 
Crittenden. 

The act of organization was en- 
titled ' ' an act to create the county of 
Lee and for other purposes." The 
tirst section defining the boundaries 
of the new county was as follows: 
" That all that portion of territory, now being 
in the counties of Phillips, Monroe, St. Francis 
and Crittenden, included within the following 
boundaries, viz. : Beginning at the southwest cor 
ner of Section 31 on the base line, in Township 1 
north. Range 1 east, running east with base line 
•to the Mississippi River; thence with the meander- 
ings of said river to the east township line of 




Township 8 north. Range 6 east; thence north to 
the northeast corner of Section 1, Township 3 north, 
Range 6 east; thence west with the northern line 
of Township 8 north, Range 6 east, 3 north. Range 
5 east, 3 north. Range 3 east, 3 north, Range 2 
east, 3 north. Range 1 east and 3 north, Range 1 
west, of the fifth principal meridian, to the north- 
west corner of Section 3, in Township 3 north, 
Range 1 west; thence south with the section lines, 
to the southwest corner of Section 34, Township 
2 north, Range 1 west; thence east to the south- 
east corner of Section 36, Township 2 north. Range 
1 west; thence south to the southwest corner of 
Section 31, Township 1, north of Range 1 east, to 
the place of beginning, be and the same is hereby 
formed into a separate and distinct county, to be 
known and designated as the county of Lee, to 
have and to exercise, as a body politic and corpor- 
ate, all the rights, privileges and immunities of a 
separate county. ' ' It was further provided by this 
act that the temporary seat of justice for the new 
county should be located at Mariauna. 

It was also provided that an election should be 
held to elect commissioners, whose duty it should 



-^|r^ 



Aj 



LEE COUNTY. 



507 



be to locate the court house, as nearly as possible 
in conformity with the will of the majority of the 
people. 

A lot of ground near the center of the town 
was purchased and a frame building erected 
thereon, which was used for court purposes by the 
county until the erection of the present handsome 
and commodious public edifice. 

The following are the officers who have served 
the county since its organization. County judges: 
H. N. Hutton, E. L. Black and H. N. Word. 
Clerks: M. H. Wing, F. H. Govan, T. C. Mer- 
win and W. T. Derrick. Sheriffs: W. N. Fur- 
bush, C. H. Banks, E. H. B. Dupuy and V. M. 
Harrington. Treasurers: B. B. Nunnally, D. S. 
Drake, B. M. Govan and Julius Lesser. Owinar 
to its brief existence as a .separate county, the list 
of Lee's public servants is smaller than that of 
adjacent localities. 

At the breaking out of the war the territory 
included in the present county of Lee, having as 
stated been embraced in Phillips, Monroe, St. 
Francis and Crittenden Counties, the part taken 
in that struggle by the people of this section ap- 
pears elsewhere in the present volume. It is only 
necessary to say that about 300 men went from 
here for the Confederate army, and but a small 
porportion ever returned. D. C. Govan, T. C. An- 
derson and B. C. Brasher commanded troops from 
the region hereabouts, and were attached first to 
Hindman's legion, and afterward to the Second 
Arkansas Regiment of Cavalry. 

The political complexion of the county may be 
judged from the vote for President cast in 1888, in 
which Cleveland received 962, Harrison 1,537 and 
Streeter 13 votes. 

The taxable property of the county in 1880 was, 
in round numbers, $1,800,000, which has increased 
until it is now, 1889, $2,410,730, of which $1,723,- 
525 is real and ?6S7,205 is personal property. 
This is hardly a fair criterion by which to judge 
its true wealth, the general rule of assessment 
being only 40 per cent of the actual value of the 
property. The county is practically out of debt, 
with its scrip at par. During the year just passed 
a magnificent court house has been erected, costing 



115,500, for which cash was paid. There is also in 
course of construction a substantial jail, with all 
the modern appliances and conveniences, which 
will cost about $7,000, and the money is in the 
treasury to meet this demand also. In 1880 the 
county shipped about 25,000 ijales of cotton, in- 
creased in 1889 to upward of 40,000 bales. In 
1880 there were 50,000 acres of improved land 
here, but now something over 87,000. 

This county is not a whit behind its sister coun- 
ties in educational facilities. It is divided into 
forty-three school distrjcts, in which are erected 
eighty-one good substantial school-houses, thirty- 
eight for the white children, and forty-three for 
colored. The school population by the last cen- 
sus was 5,838, the amount expended in the con- 
duct of the schools reaching nearly $17,000. 

In the country the principal religious denomi- 
nations represented are the Methodists and Bap- 
tists. Mail}' of the neighborhoods have, in addi- 
tion to their school edifices, neat and roomy 
churches, though in the absence of church build- 
ings proper .school-hoiises are used for worship. A 
commendable and generous rivalry is apparent 
among the different denominations toward the pro- 
motion of good, and the services are well attended. 

The people of this section have indeed made 
rapid and noticeable strides in the advancement of 
education since the war, the adoption of the free 
school system having proven an important factor in 
the general progi-ess and development of the com- 
munity. • 

The early settlers of Lee County were of that 
class who represented true worth and unpretentious 
greatness. Penetrating the wilderness to cai-ve 
out for themselves and their progeny homes, they 
brought with them the same si)irit of tolerance 
that actuated and in.spired their ancestry in found- 
ing this great Republic, many of them being the 
veterans of "Jackson's War."' 

This county was at one time the home of that 
lawless desperado and freebooter, John A. Murrell. 
Here he rendezvoused and sallied forth to prey 
upon the fiat-boat navigators of the Mississippi. 
About one and a half miles northeast of Marianna 
stands the Lone Pine. Beneath its somber, dis- 



9 



mally rattling boughs fi-equently met this outlaw 
chief and his clan of unworthy followers; here in 
council were planned numerous forays, and here 
they divided their illgotten spoils. Not far distant 
burst forth several pure and never- failing springs; 
and the ruins of the old blacksmith shop, where the 
band had their horses shod, with the corks in fi-ont, 
the anvil dust and iron, still remain to mark with 
certainty the spot. 

Among the early settlers of the territory now 
embraced in this county, was John Patterson, who 
died quite recently at the advanced age of eighty- 
six, in a little enclosure, about one and a half miles 
from Marianna. He rests beside sis of his wives 
and twenty of his children, who preceded him to the 
spirit land, and since his death his seventh wife 
has followed him. Among other pioneers were Da- 
vid Wills, a native of Ehode Island; James Wilson, 
of Missouri; Ridley My rich, Owen Myrich, Charles 
Ewen, John Dillard and E. K. James, all of Ten- 
nessee; David Davis, of Kentucky, who came in 
1829; A. G. McDaniel, of Kentucky, who came in 
1824; Green E. Story, of Missouri; Middleton 
Hensley and Washington Hensley, of Indiana; also 
Larkin Meeks. of the same State; Thomas Adams, 
of Kentucky; J. Lee and Hiram Dunn, of Virginia; 
Andrew Dunnski, Obadiah Roberts, John Griffin 
and Absalom Lowrey came prior to 1829; John 
Lynch, Matthew Smith, William Smith and Cyrus 
Lyttle. In 1829 there were not to exceed forty 
families in the county. The most densely settled 
portion was on Cow Bayou. In 1835 seven fam- 
ilies entered from the States of Illinois and In- 
diana, locating west of L'Anguille. In 1852 there 
was a large influx of immigration from the Caro- 
linas, and a steady increase in new-comers existed 
until the breaking out of the war. That circum- 
stance, here as elsewhere, for a time greatly re- 
tarded the settlement of the county. Among those 
who once owned large estates and numerous slaves 
were Col. Walter L. Otey and his brother Robert. 
As the more prominent of the later settlers might 
be mentioned: Frank Smith, Bryant Lynch, R. D. 
Griffith and Judge H. N. Hutton, now an influential 
attorney; John Hudson, one of the first blacksmiths 
to locate in this section; Eli T. Diamond, Berry 



Parker, of Alabama: Alex. Granger, of Kentucky; 
Bascom Bunch, David Weatherly and R. R. Fore- 
man, of North Carolina. 

The first negroes within the present limits of 
the county were brought here by Samuel Bryant 
and Rufin Brown, the former bringing nine and 
the latter six. Among the most noted hunters of 
this section was Larkin Weeks, a recital of whose 
wonderful hairbreadth escapes in his numerous 
encounters with the denizens of the woods would 
furnish material for a thrilling volume. 

The larger proportion of the present population 
of Lee are Tennesseeans. Each of the other 
Southern States has a fair representation, while 
among the thrifty and prosperous are foiind many 
from the Northern States. 

Lee County is situated in the eastern portion 
of the State, bounded on the north by St. Francis 
County. On the east is the Mississippi River, on 
the south the counties of Phillips and Monroe, 
and on the west the counties of St. Francis and 
Monroe. It has a length of about twenty-eight 
miles from east to west, and a width of eighteen 
miles from north to south, and contains some 612 
square miles of as fertile and beautiful land as any 
in the great Mississippi Valley — a section whose 
productions are only limited by its extent. 

The population of the county by the census of 
1880 was 13,288, which has since materially in- 
creased, at present having an estimated population 
of 18,000. It is divided into fifteen political di- 
visions known as townships, named as follows: 
Hampton, Union, Independence, Big Creek, Bear 
Creek, Texas, Spring Creek, Liberty, Walnut, St. 
Francis, Richland, Oak Forest, Fleener, Council 
and Hardy. These townships contain over 700 
farms, averaging 115 acres of improved land per 
farm, and there yet remains in the county 313,000 
acres susceptible of cultivation. The principal 
town and county seat is Marianna, besides which 
are several smaller but thriving commercial centers 
of local import, among which may be mentioned 
Haynes, LaGrange, Moro, Spring Creek and Oak 
Forest. 

The principal streams of the county are the St. 
Francis and the L' Anguille Rivers, the former 



J la 



X: 



M>^ 



LEE COUNTY. 



560 



flowing through in a southeasterly direction, and 
the latter entering near the center of the northern 
portion of the county and flowing in and emptying 
into St. Francis River, about two miles beyond the 
limits of the county. 

The Mississippi River forms the entire eastern 
front, giving the county direct water communica- 
tion with all points in the Mississippi and Ohio 
Valleys. 

The land hereabouts lies in a level plain with 
the exception of Crowley's Ridge which passes 
through the county, entering on the northern 
boundary' near its center and passing out in the 
southeast portion. The general width of this 
ridge is from one and one-half to three and one- 
half miles, with an altitude of from 250 to 325 feet 
above sea level. 

In the southwestern and eastern portions of the 
county are numerous beautiful lakes of pure water 
abounding in the choicest fish. 

Perhaps no other county in the State of equal 
area has a soil which in general productive proper- 
ties ranks above that of this county. The whole 
area is susceptible of cultivation and with the ex- 
ception of the land on Crowley's Ridge is alluvial, 
adapted to all the crops of this latitude which it 
produces in lavish profusion; indeed the husband- 
man has only to put forth but little effort when the 
soil laughs with its burdensome abundance. 

The county is especially adapted to the great 
Southern staple, cotton. Here originated the cele- 
brated world- renowned variety known as the " Tay- 
lor Cotton ' ' which has taken the premium for length 
of staple and firmness of texture at every fair and 
exposition where it has been exhibited, notably at 
the World's Fair at Amsterdam, in Holland. The 
average yield per acre for cotton is from 350 to 
700 pounds. Corn produces from thirty to seven- 
ty-five bushels per acre; small grains have never 
been cultivated to any great extent, but do well here, 
more especially oats and millet. Vegetables such 
as potatoes, cabbage and onions grow in the great- 
est abundance with but little care and cultivation. 
Fruits of all varieties are raised and with few ex- 
ceptions do well. That berries are a sure crop is 
evidenced by the profusion in which they grow in 



an uncultivated state. This county is the home of 
the grape and nowhere else does it thrive better 
nor produce more abundantly, the forests border- 
ing on the rivers being festooned with the luxur- 
ious growth of vines. 

Though game in the estimation of the old set- 
tler may be somewhat scarce, plenty still remains 
throughout the forests and cane brakes of the county, 
and it is no uncommon sight to see the carcass 
of a bear or a saddle of venison l)rought in for ship- 
ment to the markets of the East. Squirrels and 
rabbits everywhere abound; there is but one draw- 
back to the shooting of small game in this coun- 
trj' — its great abundance destroys the zest of the 
sport. 

A question frequently asked, and to Northern 
people perhaps the hardest to satisfactorily solve, is 
this: If your county can produce all you claim, in 
such abundance and so cheaply, why has it been 
so backward in its development? AVhy have its 
resources lain dormant and comparatively un- 
known during this long lapse of years? A reply 
naturally is given that in the first place the system 
of labor here has been different from that of the 
North, and while the brain and inventive genius of 
the latter have for centuries taxed themselves in 
the endeavor to save human muscle, "the contin- 
gency based on labor here did not demand this. 
The average capacity of the negroes of the South to 
manage and comprehend extended only to the 
most primitive agricultural implements, and with 
these they could produce a sufficient amount' of 
cotton and corn to supply the wants and even 
luxuries of the planter. To minerals, fruits, stocks, 
timber and grass, thoy did not care to give atten- 
tion, save in quantities for domestic purposes. 
The war destroying this system of labor, and im- 
poverishing the planter, his power of recupera- 
tion has been slow; yet it would seem mai'velous 
were one not to take into consideration the wonder- 
ful conditions of soil and climate that exist in this 
southland. 

The average temperature of this section is about 
62°, rarely rea.ching 100- in the summer months or 
falling below 42° in the winter. The average rain 
fall is not far from forty-five inches, the rains be- 



y-. 



570 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ing generally seasonable and propitious. There 
has never been known an entire failure of crops in 
the county since its first settlement. Here the soil 
responds kindly and liberally to the husbandman's 
labors, and will yield abundant returns for bis labor. 
A single fountain in the desert is more highly ap- 
preciated than a thousand limpid streams, bursting 
from every hillside in a land more favored. So in 
other countries a single avenue to wealth is crowded 
and pressed with more tenacity than are the hun- 
di-ed open pathways of a land which affords so 
much. Lee County needs further and higher de- 
velopment, every department of business and life 
demanding reinforcement. Its people are gener- 
ous and hospitable, and welcome all from the North, 
South, East and West. The material advancement 
of their county is their ambition. Political affil- 
iations are not a primary consideration, neither 
does denominational prejudice prove a hindrance 
to progress. 

The invitation is to all, come and look at the 
fertile lands of the county, and mingle with its 
people. 

Stock raising is rapidly coming to the front, 
and the general adaptation of the soil to the 
growth of all forage grasses will in the near future 
advance this industry to an important rank. That 
portion of the county known as "Bear Creek Bot- 
tom," in the southeast part, is a veritable par- 
adise for stock. A large growth of clover and 
other fine grasses grow spontaneously and cover 
the entire valley. With a skirt of cane on either 
side, cattle, running at large in this bottom, keep 
fat enough for beef. The valley has the jirotec- 
tion of the high lands of Crowley's Ridge which 
is covered with an immense growth of oak, hick- 
ory, beech and walnut trees, furnishing ample and 
never-failing mast on which hogs thrive and keep 
in good condition the year round. 

The timber of this country is of the finest kind, 
and embraces the different varieties of oak, poplar, 
walnut, gum and ash. There are several fine saw- 
mill plants here, the products of which add mate- 
rially to the wealth of the county. The timber, 
however, has scarcely been touched, three-fourths 
of the county still being virgin forest. 



Marianna, the principal town and trade center, 
of Lee County, and its seat of justice, is beautifully 
situated on the L'Anguille River, at the head of 
steamboat navigation. It is on a level plain with 
sufficient fall for good drainage. The Knobel 
branch of the Iron Mountain Railroad gives the 
town connection north and south with all the great 
railroad systems of the country, and makes it easily 
accessible to the principal markets outside. The 
elevation of the place is twenty-five feet above the 
highest water ever known in the Mississippi Valley. 

Marianna was first settled about forty years 
ago, and perhaps a brief sketch of the origin of its 
location and name may not be out of place in this 
connection. Col. Walter H. Otey, nearly a half 
century ago, purchased of Mr. Harvey Harland, 
familiarly known as "Uncle Harvey," a tract of 
land situated on L' Anguille River, about three miles 
above the site of the present town. When the 
transfer was to be made it was discovered that 
"Uncle Harvey," from some cause, had forgotten 
or neglected to apprise his better half, "Aunt 
Mary Ann," of the proposed sale. She became 
quite indignant and flatly refused to sign the nec- 
essary papers to complete the transfer. After 
every argument and persuasion had been exhausted 
in the fruitless endeavor to indufce the old lady to 
add her signature. Col. Otey struck upon the ex- 
pedient of having Rev. Matt Cox, a gentleman in 
whom Mrs. Harland had the greatest confidence, 
to prevail upon her if possible to do the necessary 
"signing." After his persuasive eloquence had 
proven unsuccessful he was forced to adopt sub- 
terfuge, and suggested that Col. Otey, in consid- 
eration of her signature, should name the city, 
which he proposed founding, for her. This last 
bait was effective, and "Mary Ann" was easily 
changed to Marianna. Marianna No. 1 was aban- 
doned in 1857. In 1858 the firm of Worsham & 
Green of the old town settled and built on the 
present site of the place, the legislature having 
declared the L' Anguille River navigable to this 
point. The land covering the site of the present 
town was owned by Dr. Green. 

The growth of Marianna has kept pace with the 
development of the State, and it is now in a flour- 



3 Vy ' 



^1 



jU 



LEE COUNTY. 



571 



ishing condition, doing as large, if not a larger, bus- 
iness in proportion to population than any other 
town in Arkansas. Its present population exceeds 
1,500. 

The new town was first incorporated August 7, 
1877, and re-incorporated July 5, 1888. Being 
comparatively so young its rapid increase in pop- 
ulation and wealth speaks volumes for the enter- 
prise and pluck of the citizens and the natural 
productiveness of the country surrounding. In 
1869 there were only five families located here, 
numbering twenty -two souls, and only three busi- 
ness houses, with an aggregate trade of 18,000. 
^Vhat a change in twenty years! It would seem 
as though the magician's wand had touched the 
place. The town is well and substantially built, 
having three large brick blocks — two story build- 
ings, and the trade is represented by twenty-five 
or thirty representative establishments, carrying 
stocks of from $3,000 to $40,000, with an annual 
patronage of $500,000. The leading firms are 
Lesser & Bro., Johnson & Grove, Jarratt & Co., 
P. E. Northern. Becker & Co., L. Shane & Co., 
Breckej Bros., general merchants; Fleming & Co. , 
J. E. Stevenson, druggists; L. Benham, Hayes 
& Benthal, T. C. Merwin. family grocers. There 
are also two millinery and dress-making establish- 
ments and numerous restaurants and eating houses; 
a large brick livery stable furnishes as tine turn- 
outs as any in the State. Although the hotel ac- 
commodations would seem ample for a place of this 
size, the Phoenix and the Jones House, both of good 
size, fail to meet the requirements of the traveling 
public, and there is no better opening anywhere 
for a large first class hotel. 

Among other industries are three blacksmith 
and machine shoi)s, one wagon and plow shop with 
steam power, two good steam gins with grist-mill 
attachments, one large saw and planing-mill plant 
with a capital of $40,000. cutting 40,000 feet of 
lumber per day, emi)loying seventy five men and 
adding greatly to the wealth and prosperity of the 
place. 

The legal and medical professions number in 
their ranks some of the most prominent in these 
callings in the State. 



The Index, published weekly, is a newsy, well- 
conducted sho(?t, and its editor, Mr. W. P. Weld, 
is a live citizen in the advocacy of all that materi- 
ally helps to develop his town and county. 

The secret orders are rej)resented by the Ma- 
sonic, L O. O. F., K. of P., K. of H., K. & L. of H. 
and I. O. G. T. , all in a flourishing condition, with 
good memberships. 

This favored town is fully alive to the import- 
ance of religious advancement, and though its 
church buildings are not of the finest, they are neat 
and comfortable, an evidence of the existence of that 
spirit which .stamps the moral character and excel- 
lence of the people. As a church going and church 
loving community it stands to-day on a plane far 
above a projiortionate population in many older 
localities. The Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians 
and Episcopalians each have houses of worship, and 
the Christian Church has an organization and con- 
templates building in the near future, having the 
funds in hand for that purpose. 

The colored people have three church edifices, 
two Baptist and one Methodist. Thoy also have a 
hall and an organized lodge of A. F. & A. M. 

The Lee County Bank is owned and operated 
by Mr. J. Lesser, who is also county treasurer. 
He enjoys to a high degree the confidence and suj)- 
port of the citizens of the county. 

There was .shipped from this point in 1888, 12,- 
000 bales of cotton and several million feet of lum- 
ber. The new court house previously referred to 
and just completed at a cost of $15,500, is a mag- 
nificent pressed brick structure, and being situated 
on a commanding eminence, makes a creditable ap- 
pearance. A new jail costing, when finished, $0,500 
is nenring completion. 

From an educational point of view, literarj' ad- 
vantages are superior. There is located here a 
college and normal institute, conducted by Prof. 
Thomas A. Futrall, who ranks among the best edu- 
cators of the South. 

Haynes, the second town in population and im- 
portance in the county, is situated in the north cen- 
tral portion, on the Knoljel l)rauch of the Iron 
Mountain Railroad, one mile from the St. Francis 
County line and two miles from the L'Anguille 



J^l 



572 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



River, midway between Forrest City and Marianna, 
and about six miles fiom Crowley's Ridge. 

The town has a population of 350, and is one. 
of the most thrifty and progressive of places. Its 
commercial interests are represented by five gener- 
al merchandise, two drug and several mixed stores. 
A hotel is creditably conducted and two blacksmith 
and wagon shojis, one iindertaker and a millinery 
establishment supply needed demands. There are 
several fine brick stores, and others in course of 
construction, one of which, now being put up by 
Hughes & Curtis, will cost 110,000. 

There were shipped fi-om this point in 1888, 
5,000 bales of cotton. The aggregate business of 
the town for the last year is placed at $300,000. 
Also at this point are two steam saw-mills, and 
three steam cotton-gins. 

A fine Baptist church finished, and a Method- 
ist church nearing completion, are well sustained. 
A public hall is in connection with the school- 
house. 

The colored people also have churches and 
school -houses. 



P. H. Adams, a farmer and stock-dealer, was 
born in Lee Coimty, Ark., in 1844, being the son 
of Henry and Nancy (Rolledge) Adams. Henry 
Adams was a native of Kentucky, but of English 
descent, and to his marriage fifteen children were 
born, only three of them now living: P. H., 
Thomas J. and Nancy (the wife of Thomas Kemp, 
a prosperous farmer of this county). Mr. Adams 
died in St. Francis County, in 1862, where he had 
resided for many years. His wife received her 
final summons some years previous. P. H. Adams 
was married to Miss Mary Upton, of Lee County, 
in 1866, and by her became the father of two chil- 
dren (both deceased). Mrs. Adams having died, 
for his second and present wife Mr. Adams chose 
Mrs. Mary J. Glidley, who bore him five children : 
Martha C. (the wife of J. Bowman of this county), 
Allie S., Mary C, Belle E. and Francis R. Mr. 
Adams owns 240 acres of land, with 100 improved, 
giving evidence of a careful and thorough cultiva- 
tion. He is a Mason, and belongs to Baxton 



Lodge, No. 242. In his religious faith he clings 
to the Baptist doctrine, being a member of that 
denomination. Mrs. Adams is a member of the 
Methodist Church, South. She is a native of 
Illinois, and was born in 1844, the daughter of 
Ames and Martha A. Smith. Her parents died in 
1886 and 1887, respectively. 

DeWitt Anderson has been prominently identi- 
fied with the farming interests of Lee County, 
Ai'k. , since 1881, and is now the owner of a tine 
farm comprising 400 acres. He was born in Wil- 
son County, Tenn., in 1848, and is a son of Gen. 
Paulding Anderson and Martha T. (Horde) Ander- 
son, the former of Tennessee and the latter of Vir- 
ginia. She was a relative of the Morehead family, 
of North Carolina, and came with her parents to 
Tennessee when a small girl. She was a member 
of the Baptist Church, and at the time of her 
death, in 1861, was fifty-six years old. Her 
brother, Jesse Horde, was a leading minister of 
the Methodist Church, in Texas. Frank Ander- 
son, the paternal grandfather, was a Virginian, 
and his father and mother were from Scotland, 
and settled in this country at a very early day. 
Paulding Anderson, the father of our subject, was 
one of a large family, and was reared in Tennessee, 
where he became well-known and arose to promi- 
nence in political matters. He held the various 
offices of his county, with the exception of county 
clerk, and was a member of both houses of the 
legislature several terms. He served in the Con- 
federate army, and, after the Federals took posses- 
sion of the State, he went to the South with Gov. 
Harris, and was an active participant in the Rebell- 
ion until 1863, at which time he was captured, 
and, .after being kept a prisoner at Nashville for 
months, was released on parole. In his earlj' life 
he commanded the Central State militia, and dur- 
ing a big rally he commanded 10,000 men, being 
made general at that time. He was very active in 
church and school matters in his youth, and for 
many years was one of the chief props of his 
church. He was finely educated, was a great 
reader, and up to the time of his death, which oc- 
curred in 1882, at the age of seventy-nine years, he 
kept thoroughly posted with the current literature 






LEE COUNTY. 



573 



of the day. He and his wife were blessed in the 
birth of eleven children, nine of whom lived to be 
grown. DeWitt Anderson is the ninth in order of 
birth, and is one of the three who are now living. 
Six of the seven sons served in the Confederate 
army, also two nephews and eight first cousins, 
and only one of the entire lot was killed, Capt. 
Dick Anderson, who lost his life at the battle of 
Murfi-eesboro. None of the rest were even wound- 
ed. DeWitt Anderson commanded a company' the 
lirst three years of the war, being first lieutenant 
of Company K, Fourth Tennessee Cavalry, and 
participated in the battles of Shiloh, the lirst and 
second battles of Murfieesboro, Chickamauga and 
Perryville; was in the Georgia campaign, and was 
taken prisoner near Rome, Ga. , being kept in 
captivity at Johnson's Island for nine months. 
After the surrender he was released and came 
home, again taking up his farming implements. 
He is now one of the prosperous farmers of Arkansas, 
and, as above stated, his home farm consists of 400 
acres, although he owns 6,000 acres in the State, 
a considerable portion of which is rich bottom land. 
This property has all been acquired since coming 
to this State, as he then had no capital whatever, 
but his native energy and pluck. He was married 
in 1868 to Miss Chloe Davis, daughter of James 
Davis, a leading resident of Wilson Covuity, Tenn. , 
but he was called upon to mourn her death in 
1870, her infant daughter dying soon after, at the 
age of six weeks. She was a consistent Christian, 
being a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and was a faithful, loving and helpful wife — so 
much so, that Mr. Anderson has since remained 
faithful to her memory, and is a widower. 
ri Robert J. Bickerstaff is a native of Georgia, in 
which State he remained until thirteen years of 
age, going thence to Chambers County, Ala. After 
a twenty-three years' residence there he came to 
Arkansas, and settled in this county (then a part 
of Monroe), arriving February 26, 1859. Here 
he first engaged in farming, but later carried on 
the mercantile business in Moro, from 1871 to 
1874, since which time he has resumed tilling the 
soil. Mr. Bickerstaff was born in Jasper County 
November 28, 1823, and was a son of Robert and 



Nancy (Roberson) Bickerstaff. Robert Bickerstaff 
was born in the State of Pennsylvania in 1774, but 
removed to Georgia about 1790, where he was mar- 
ried in 1797 or 1798. He was a son of a colonel 
in the Revolutionary War, and he himself was a 
soldier in the Indian War under Gen. Jackson, and 
was killed by the Indians at Fort Henderson in 
May, 1836. Mrs. Bickerstaff was born in Ireland 
in 1778, came to this country at the age of four- 
teen, and died in Georgia in 1834. They were the 
parents of fifteen childi'en, six sons and nine 
daughters; two of the sons only are living, the 
sul)jcct of this sketch, and Pollard B. . a farmer 
of Montgomery County, Ala. Robert J. Bicker- 
staff was married in Alabama, on January 31, 
1848, to Miss Mary Dazier, of the same county as 
himself, she having been born June 28, 1828, as a 
daughter of Woody and Eliza (Compton) Dazier. 
They became the parents of eight children, seven 
sons and one daughter, four of whom are still 
living: Herschel, Robert, Mary L. (wife of John 
H. Sims) and Andrew, all farmers of this county, 
though the latter is also employed in Government 
work. Mr. Bickerstaff enlisted in 1862 in Company 
C, of the Twenty-third Arkansas Infantry, and 
after the reorganization, was in the Trans-Missis- 
sippi Department, serving until the close of the 
war, having been thrice captured but each time 
made his escape. Mr. Bickerstaff owns a 240- acre 
farm, covered with valuable timber, with the excep- 
tion of ninety acres under cultivation, and he also 
owns land in Van Zaudt County, Tex. AlthoBgh 
not taking an active part in politics, Mr. Bickerstaff 
has held the office of justice of the peace for the 
past two years. He has been a member of the 
Masonic order for forty years, and has also be- 
longed to the Missionary Baptist Church the same 
length of time. Mrs. Bickerstaff is connected with 
the same chiu-ch. 

Virgil C. Bigham owes his nativity to Tennes- 
see, though he commenced farming at the age of 
nineteen years in Monroe County, Ark., and has 
been engaged in this occupation to the present. 
He has also carried on the mercantile business 
since November, 1888. Mr. Bigham now owns 
380 acres of land, with eighty acres under cultiva- 



a k^ 



LliC 



574 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



tioii. He was bora December 17, 1835, a son of 
Martin Bigham and Sallie (Breeding) Bigham, 
natives of the State of Tennessee. They were the 
parents of seven children, Virgil C. being the only 
one living. The father died in 1854, ten years 
after the death of his wife. Virgil C. Bigham was 
married in December, 1857, in Monroe County, 
to Miss Rachel Breeding, who died in 1858, leav- 
ing two children, both deceased. He married his 
second wife, formerly Miss Elizabeth Caplinn, of 
this State, in 1863. She became the mother of 
one daughter, also deceased. Mr. Bigham en- 
listed in the Confederate army, in 1862, in Com- 
pany B, of the First Arkansas Battalion (Infantry), 
and took part in several hard fought battles, but 
was mostly on scout duty. He has been post- 
master of Moro since October, 1889. He is well- 
known throughout the township as an honest and 
upright man. 

S. A. Bishop, the subject of this sketch, was 
born in New Berne, N. C, April 11, 1835, his par- 
ents being Samuel and Phcebe (Hilbert) Bishop, 
both of New Berne, N. C. , the latter dying in New 
Berne, N. C. , at the advanced age of eighty-three 
years. S. A. Bishop received a high school edu- 
cation, and at the age of nineteen accepted a posi- 
tion as chief salesman in his brother's furniture 
store at New Berne, where he remained until De- 
cember, 1857, after which he removed to Haywood 
County, Tenn. There on April 13, 1858, he 
was married to Miss Sarah W. Jones, of New 
Berne, N. C, she being the daughter of Dr. Will- 
iam M. and Rouncy Jones, nee Miss Rouney 
Cooper, the two last named of Haywood County, 
Tenn. The result of this union was one daughter 
who, in 1878, married Mr. T. E. Bond, of Browns- 
ville, Tenn., where they now reside. Mrs. Sarah 
W. Bishop died December 24, 1872. On October 
15, 1873, Mr. Bishop was married to Miss Ida 
Peebles, at Brownsville, Tenn., she being the 
daughter of Mr. Robert and Mrs. Ann Peebles. 
The result of this union was four children, viz. : 
Samuel A. (born July 21, 1874), Lucy C. (born 
March 7, 1877), Robert P. (born July 14, 1879), 
and Ann Hilbert (born October 20, 1881). Mrs. Ida 
Bishop died at Marianna, Ark., October 6, 1888, 



and was buried at Brownsville, Tenn. Robert P. 
Bishop died August 3, 1885; the other children are 
living, Samuel being a student of the Christian 
Brothers' College, St. Louis, Mo., and Lucy C. and 
Ann H. are with their aunt, Mrs. Lelia A. Black- 
well, of Dallas, Tex. Mr. Bishop was engaged in 
the mercantile business first in 1865, at Dancyville, 
Tenn., remaining there until the spring of 1872. 
when he removed to Brownsville, Tenn., and con- 
tinued merchandising. In the spring of 1883 he 
removed to Marianna, Ark. , where he did a profit- 
able and prosperous business until 1889, when he 
retired from business and is now engaged in col- 
lecting up his claims and winding up his business 
affairs. He is an example of a successful business 
man, of high social qualities, and is an honorable 
and affable gentleman. 

George W. Bonner, who is one of the most suc- 
cessful farmers in Spring Creek Township, has 
been a resident of this county since 1809. He is 
a native of Tennessee, and the son of Williamson 
and Maria (Reddith) Bonner, originally from Vir- 
ginia and North Carolina, respectively. Mr. Bon- 
ner was a man of considerable education, and for 
a number of years followed the occupation of 
school -teaching, during his latter days being rec- 
ognized as a public man of considerable importance. 
For many years he was an elder in the Presbyterian 
Church. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. 
John Bonner, his father, a Virginian by birth, and 
a farmer and mechanic by occupation, lived to the 
age of eighty years. He participated in the Rev- 
olutionary ^Var. Mrs. Bonner was the daughter 
of Aquilla Reddith, a native of North Carolina, who 
lived in that State until his death, at the age of 
ninety years. The subject of this sketch was bom 
in Wilson County, Tenn., in 1828, but his early 
boyhood was spent in Shelby County, where 
his father had moved in 1832. He learned the 
carpenter's trade in youth, and followed that oc- 
cupation for thirty years, but since that time has 
been engaged in farming. During the Mexican 
War he served seven months in Taylor's division. 
In 1869, moving to Arkansas, Mr. Bonner settled 
in what was then a part of Phillips (now Lee) 
County, and three years later located on the farm 



w. 



LEE COUNTY. 



575 



which he has since occupied. He was luurriod, in 
1854, to Miss Oliva A. F. Mason, who died nine 
years after their marriage, leaving four children, 
one of whom, Williamson E. , only is living. Mr. 
Bonner was later married to Miss Mary E. New- 
som, in 1865, a daughter of David Newsom, of 
Virginia. She was the mother of seven children 
at the time of her death, in 1881, six of whom are 
living: David T., George W., Charles Henry J., 
Carra A., Claudius H. and Fredonia L. He mar- 
ried his third and present wife, Mrs. Elizabeth J. 
Robertson (»iee Tiller), daughter of Benjamin and 
Ann Tiller, natives of Alabama, in 1882. Mr. 
Bonner owns a farm of eighty acres, and has about 
fifty acres under cultivation, giving his attention 
to stock raising to a large extent. Himself and 
wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, to which he has belonged for over forty 
years, and of which he has been a local minister 
for fifteen years. He has also been a member of 
the Masonic fraternity for thirty-nine years. A 
Democrat in politics, he takes an active interest in 
enterprises for the good of the community, to all 
of which he contributes largely, and is considered 
one of the leading farmers of Lee County. 

Francis M. Bowdon is a native of Tennessee, 
and a son of Thomas and Parmelia (Jenkins) Bow- 
don, natives of South Carolina. The father was 
engaged in farming in Western Tennessee for a 
number of years, and moved fi-om there to Lauder- 
dale County, Ala. , when our .subject was a small 
boy, there acting as deputy sheriff. In 1841 he 
went to De Soto County, Miss. , and remained eight 
years, then coming to Arkansas and locating in 
Lee County, where he bought timbered land and 
cleared up a good farm. He was a prominent poli- 
tician of hiscommunit}', holding the office of justice 
of the peace in Mississippi and also in this county. 
He died in Evanston, Ind., while on a trip to Lex- 
ington, Ky. He and wife were members of the 
Baptist Church, and were the parents of eleven 
children, three of whom are still living: Benjamin 
F. (a farmer of Kandolph County. Ark.), Columbia 
(wife of John J. Felton, a farmer of this county) 
and Francis M. The latter, the principal of this 
sketch, and the eldest of those now living, was bom 



in Bedford County, Tenn., on May 23, 1827. Ho 
was married in 1855 to Miss Caroline Elders, a na- 
tive of Mississippi, who died in 1802, leaving four 
children, one son, H. J., being the only one living, 
and who now has charge of his father's farm. 
Mariah Gilbert became his next wife, but died 
three years after without issue. Mr. Bowdon was 
married again to Miss Mollie Arnold, in 1867, who 
was the mother of three children: Ethel B., Fran- 
cis M. and James L. He married Melvina Bert- 
ran, a native of this county, in 1869. Mr. Bow- 
don owns 580 acres in the county, 300 acres in the 
farm on which he lives, 1 50 acres in a good state 
of cultivation and well improved. All this he has 
made himself, by hard work and close economy. 

David W. Boykin, son of Edwin and Elizabeth 
J. Boykin, was born in Smithtield, N. C, in Au 
gust, 1839. He was educated at Trinity College, of 
that State, and enlisted in the Confederate army in 
1862, receiving his discharge in 1865, at Appo- 
mattox Court-House, Va. In September, 1866, he 
removed to Arkansas and settled in Marianna, Lee 
County, then Phillips County, where he was for 
several years employed as book-keeper and sales- 
man in a general dry-goods and groceiy business. 
Mr. Boykin has now been living upon a fine and 
productive farm in Lee County, owned by his 
brother, Edwin A. Boykin, and himself, and is en- 
gaged in general farming and stock-raising. He 
has been twice married; first, to Miss Agnes Snead, 
of Smithfield, N. C. ; next, to Mrs. Joanna M. 
Saunders, of Brownsville, Tenn. Mr. Boykin is 
of Irish descent. 

William S. Bradford, M. D. , prominently iden- 
tified with the professional att'airs of this section, 
owes his nativity to Tennessee, being a son of John 
W. and Emily (Nuckols) Bradford, also originally 
from that State. The Bradfords are an old family, 
and can trace their ancestors back to the time of 
their arrival in the Mayflower. William S. Brad- 
ford, the only sou in a family of three children, was 
born in Hardeman County, Tenn., February 11, 
1859. Ho si)ent his early life on the farm, and at 
the age of sixteen commenced clerking in a store 
in that county, becoming, when eighteen, proprie- 
tor of a grocery, in which business he was engaged 



a h. 



_< 2> 



>?• 



576 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



for two years. During that time lie studied medi- 
cine, and the next year attended a course of lect- 
ures at Vanderbilt College. He subsequently 
turned his attention to traveling, and was employed 
by a publishing company for eighteen months in 
selling their publications through Illinois, Iowa, 
Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee. In the spring of 1882 he went to Parker 
County, Tex., where he was engaged in the prac- 
tice of medicine for a short time. Returning to 
Tennessee, he followed his profession in Hardeman 
County one year, and in the winter of 1883-84 at- 
tended a course of lectures at Vanderbilt College, 
from which he graduated in March, 1S84. He then 
came to Arkansas and located in Lee County, 
where he has since been successfully occupied in 
the duties of his adopted calling. Dr. Bradford 
was married on December 2, 1885, to Miss Ida F. 
Halton, of Nevada County, Ark. They have one 
son, Wiley E. Dr. Bradford has a large and 
lucrative practice, and is highly thought of by the 
citizens of Lee County. He is a member of the 
Knights of Honor, and also of the Lee County 
Medical Association, and of the State Medical So- 
ciety, having represented his county in the spring 
of 1888 at Fort Smith. 

Dr. T. J. Brasher. An undeniable truth is that 
the life of any man, temperately lived, is of great 
benefit to the community in which he resides, when 
all his efforts are directed to advancing its interests, 
and whose career is according to the higher prin- 
ciples of what he conceives to be right, helping 
others and caring for those who are unable to do 
for themselves. Such a man is Dr. Brasher. Born 
in Christian County, Ky., on November 1, 1835, 
he is a son of Alexander and Margaret (Brown) 
Brasher, natives of Kentucky and North Carolina, 
respectively. The father's birth occurred in the 
year 1811, and during life he was engaged in that 
most important occupation to Kentuckians, the 
breeding and rearing of fine blooded hor.ses. Be- 
ing a wide-awake and prominent man, he took an 
active part in politics, and for many years filled the 
offices of probate judge and justice of the peace. 
He belonged to the Christian Church, and was a 
Mason of high degree. To him and wife were born 



a family of seven children, as follows: Alonzo W. 
(a prominent practicing physician of Hopkins 
County, Ky.), Rachel (the widow of Dr. T. A. 
Yarrell, of Kentucky), the immediate subject of 
this sketch, Melissa (wife of Dr. James M. Long, 
of Crofton, Ky.), William A., M. D. (killed at 
the battle of Franklin, Tenn.), Elbridge Gerry (a 
colonel in the Confederate army, who was killed at 
the battle of Shelby ville, Ky. ) and Altazera (wife of 
David Wooldridge, a wealthy ranchman of Oregon). 
T. J. Brasher grew to manhood in Hopkins County, 
of the Blue Grass State, and after receiving a 
thorough practical education in the subordinate 
schools, took a classical course at Georgetown Col- 
lege, and later a medical course in the Eclectic Med- 
ical Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio, which graduated 
him with honors at the age of twenty-one years. 
After practicing his profession in the neighborhood 
of his nativity for about five years, he removed to 
Arkansas, in 1860, and located in Lee County, a 
portion of which at that time belonged to Monroe 
County. He was not long permitted to follow his 
peaceful pursuits, but in 1861 enrolled his services 
for the Confederate cause, and was made a first 
lieutenant in Company D, of Hindman's Legion. 
He participated in the engagements of Shiloh, Per- 
ryville, Franklin, Clarksville, Uniontown, and many 
other hotly contested battles, and in the first and 
two last mentioned actions received severe wounds. 
Because of these injuries he was rendered unfit for 
fiirther active military duty, but on account of his 
recognized ability and worth, was appointed under 
Jefferson Davis, to a position in the secret service 
of the treasury department of the Confederate 
States. This important position he filled with 
credit to himself and honor to the cause, display- 
ing great adaptability to the important duties de- 
volved upon him. The year following the end of 
the great conflict, Dr. Brasher wedded Miss Nan- 
nie L. Edwards, a native of Tennessee, and a 
daughter of Charles A. Edwards. One daughter, 
Kate A. (the wife of James M. Maclin, of the firm 
of P. E. Northern & Co., of Marianna), is the re- 
sult of this union. Since being a resident of Ark- 
ansas, the Doctor has practiced his profession, 
farmed and merchandised, and in a financial way. 



:^ 




Dr.T. J. Brasher, 

iff COUNTY, ARKANSAS. 




-4^ 



LEE COUNTY. 



579 



as well as otherwise, has made his life a success. 
His portrait appropriately graces this volume. In 
addition to his other interests he has found time to 
enter quite actively into literary pursuits, contrib- 
uting freqtiently to all local newspaper.s. He has 
also attained to considerable reputation as a writer 
upon romance, the woodpecker, squirrel, dog, high- 
land terrapin, opossum, etc., these articles being 
widely copied throughout the Southern States. 

Jesse Briley came to Arkansas in the fall of 
1851, first locating in St. Francis County, and 
later in Lee County, being employed as a farm 
hand for seven or eight years. In 1859 he bought 
a quarter section of land, on which he lived until 
the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in 
the Thirteenth Arkansas Infantry, but was soon 
after transferred to the Second Arkansas Cavalry, 
serving in Price's raid through Missouri. After 
the war he returned to his farm, which he found 
badly dilapidated, and was obliged to start from 
the bottom of the ladder, but has been very suc- 
cessful, now owning 700 acres of land, with 400 
acres under cultivation. Besides this he owns a 
house and lot at Haynes, and is a stockholder in 
the Haynes Mercantile Company. Mr. Briley was 
born in North Carolina, in 1834, and was married 
in 1859, to Miss Emma Daniel. They are the 
parents of four childi-en: Sallie, Laniar, Katie and 
Ida. He is a member of the Masonic order, and 
also of the Knights of Honor. He is a Democrat 
in politics, and is well known and highly respected 
as a citizen. 

John A. Brittain is a progressive agriculturist 
and stockman of Union Township, Lee County, 
Ark., but was born in Franklin County, Tenn. , in 
1828, being the eldest of four children born to 
James and Frances (Stoveall) Brittain, who were 
also Tennesseeans. The familj- first came to St. 
Francis County, Ark., in 1845, and here Mr. Brit- 
tain purchased a farm on which a few improve- 
ments had been made, it being situated about one- 
half mile from Forrest City, which was then called 
Mt. Vernon. He lived in this settlement until his 
death April 9, 1849. He had been married twice, 
his first wife being the mother of om- subject, but 
she died in lS3f), and of her four- children three are 

36 



yet living: John A., Susan (wife of Abram Noah, 
resides in Texas) and Frances (the widow of Rufus 
Williams, lives in Tennessee). Benjamin died in 
1881, and his family still reside in Lee County. 
After the death of his first wife Mr. Brittain was 
married, in 1838, to Miss Annie Staples, of Tennes- 
see, and the three children which were bom to 
them are now deceased: Martha A. was the wife 
of Aaron G. McDaniels, and died in 1807, and the 
other two died in infancy. Mrs. Brittain died in 
September, 1844. John A. Brittain remained in 
the county of his birth, acquiring there a fair edu- 
cation, until 1845, when he came to this State with 
his father, and, after assisting him on the farm 
until he was twenty -one years of age, he followed 
clerking for a short while. Since that time he has 
followed the life of a farmer, and in 1851 pur- 
chased a portion of the farm on which he now 
resides, then consisting of forty acres. Very few 
improvements had at that time been made upon 
it, but he has since erected buildings, fences, etc., 
and now has his farm in a splendid condition 
for agricultural purposes. He has added 1 20 acres 
and has eighty acres under the plow. Cotton and 
corn are among his main products, but he also 
gives much of his attention to the propagation of 
stock. He was married in 1849 to Miss Mary Mc- 
Daniel, a native of Arkansas, born in 1835. She 
has lived in three counties in this State, without 
having moved. She was born in Phillips County, 
which afterward became St. Francis County, and 
is now Lee County. She is a daughter of Archi- 
bald G. and Mary (Davis) McDaniel, who were 
born in Kentucky and moved to Arkansas in 1828, 
being among the first settlers of Phillips County, 
Mr. McDaniel being also one of the first postmas- 
ters in this portion of the State, a ])osition he held 
until 1857. He and wife became the parents of 
thirteen children, eleven of whom lived to be over 
fourteen years of age, only two of whom are now 
living: Mary (Mrs. Brittain) and Harriett (the 
widow of Robert Shell). Mrs. McDaniel died in 
1809. An uncle of Mrs. Brittaiu's, John Calvert, 
was one of the first settlers of this region, and was 
a soldier in the War of 1812. Her mother came 
fi-om Kentucky to Arkansas via Memphis, Tenn., 



^«___w. 



4> 



580 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



which at that time was only a camp, said to be one 
of the camps of the noted bandit Murrell. Mr. 
and Mrs. Brittain are the parents of ten children, 
G. B., Robert McD., Mary W., M. L., and Eliza 
A. being the only ones living. A. T. died at the 
age of twenty years, and J. B. when twenty-four 
years of age. In 1864 Mr. Brittain joined the 
Confederate army, becoming a member of Com- 
pany C, Dobbins' Regiment, and was with Gen. 
Price through Missouri, and was in the battles of 
Pilot Knob, Lexington, and in numerous skir- 
mishes. He was paroled in June, 1865, at Witts- 
burg, Ark. He and wife are worthy members of 
society and his wife is a member of the Methodist 
Church. 

William J. Broadley is a son of Samuel W. 
Broadley, a native of Liverpool, England, whose 
father, FeiTell Broadley, also came originally from 
England, being proprietor of the " Fas Hall Spin- 
ning Company;" of the interests of that concern, 
still extensive and profitable, oui' subject is one of 
the heirs. Samuel Broadley came to America in 
1849, a few years after his marriage, and was oc- 
cupied in the mercantile business in the State of 
New York the following year. He then took the 
"gold fever" and went to California, leaving his 
family in New York, and engaged in the mining of 
the precious metal until 1853, when he was killed 
by an accident in a mine in which he was working. 
He was married in Liverpool to Miss Phoebe Cov- 
ington, a native of that country and a daughter of 
Frederick Covington, a merchant, and, at the time 
of his death, at an advanced age, a man of consid- 
erable means. Mrs. Broadley is still living and a 
resident of New Orleans. She also has a brother 
in this country, a member of the firm of Covington 
& Co., of Salt Lake City. Of the children of Mr. 
and Mrs. Broadley, five are still living: Ida (wife 
of Frank S. Snell, a prominent real estate agent 
and broker of Denver, Colo.), Alice M. (wife of a 
Mr. Patton, a merchant of Memphis, Tenn. ), Will- 
iam T. (an attorney of New Orleans), Henry J. 
(who is in the employ of the Government as a chem- 
ist) and William J. (the principal of this sketch). 
The latter was born in Steuben County, N. Y. , in 
1852. After his father's death his mother moved 



fi-om New York, going to several places, and fin- 
ally, in 1862, to Memphis, Tenn., where they lived 
one year; later she became located at New Orleans 
and still lives there. Mr. Broadley learned the 
trade of a machinist when a young man, at which 
he worked in different States, but finally settled in 
Lee County, where he was employed at his chosen 
occupation until 1887. Then he pui'chased his 
present farm, and has since turned his attention 
to farming. He was married, in 1879, to Miss 
Lorena O'Kelley, a daughter of Overton and Mary 
O'Kelley, natives of Alabama and Georgia, re- 
spectively. Mr. and Mrs. Broadley have four 
children: Frederick C, Charles O. , Ida L. and 
William S. (now deceased). Mr. Broadley owns a 
fine farm of 440 acres, with nearly 300 acres under 
cultivation, and is engaged in raising stock. He 
and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist 
Church. He is a Democrat in politics, and is a 
prominent man of Spring Creek Township. He 
belongs to no secret societies, but before entering 
the agricultural list of Lee County, belonged to the 
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. 

George W. Bullard ranks among the leading 
agriculturists of Lee County, and although he was 
born in Tennessee in 1853, he has been a resident 
of Arkansas since he was three years old, at which 
time his father and mother, George T. and Eliza- 
beth (Curts) Bullard, came here from their native 
State of Tennessee. They settled in St. Francis 
County and bought some unimproved land at 15 
and $7 per acre, but rented land the first year of 
his stay. On this farm he resided until his death 
in 1875, and witnessed many changes in the growth 
and prosperity of the county as it was a very wild 
and unsettled region at the time of his locating. 
During the Civil War he suffered much at the 
hands of bushrangers who claimed to belong to the 
Union and Confederate armies, but did not himself 
serve in either army. Seven of his ten children 
lived to be grown and five are living at the present 
time: George W., Mattie J. (wife of John Lind- 
sey), Octavia A. (wife of W. T. Inge), Margaret 
H. (wife of F. C. Danerhougher) and Alice L. The 
mother of these children still resides on the old 
homestead and manages her farm successfully. She 






^ ^jg »>■ 



la. 



LEE COUNTY. 



581 



is, as was Lor husband, a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, and ho was a uiembor of 
Bethel Lodge No. 254, A. F. & A. M. George 
W. Bullard attended the common schools near his 
homo in his youth and in 1870 entered Abornathy's 
School in Montgomery County, Tenn., where he 
acquired a sufiSciently good education to lit him 
for the toils and caves of business life. At the age 
of twenty-one years he commenced the battle of 
life for himself but did not leave home until he was 
married, in 1882, to Miss Ella Davis, she being a 
daughter of J. P. and Mollie (Jackson) Davis, of 
Alabama, who came to Arkansas about 1870. She 
was born in 1865 and is one of two surviving mem- 
bers of their family of three children: Ella, Willie 
and James, the latter being deceased. Mr. Davis 
died in 1879 and Mrs. Davis in 1877, both being 
worthy members of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church, the former also a member of the I. O. 0. 
F. Mr. and Mrs. Bullard have a family of three 
children: George W. (who was born February 11, 
1884, and died August 23, 1886), Daisy Lee (born 
February 1, 1SS6) and Eexiben E. (born October 
21, 1889). Mr. Bidlard owns a fine farm of 240 
acres, of which 175 acres are nicely improved with 
good bi^ildings of all descriptions. He raises an- 
nually from sixty to seventy-five bales of cottoQ, 
besides plenty of com and hay, stock-raising also 
receiving a considerable portion of his attention. 
He is a rising young farmer and in all matters per 
taining to the welfare of the county he is deeply 
interested. He is a member of Bethel Lodge No. 
254, of the A. F. and A. M., and Lodge No. 1861, 
of the K. of H. , at Haynes. His wife is a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

Capt. William H. Clark, of Marianua, Ark., 
was bom in North Carolina in» 1841, and in 1846 
moved with his parents (James and Virginia L. 
(Pinnell) Clark), to Memphis, Tenn., and from 
there, in 1857, to Walnut Bend, Ark., where the 
father purchased land. The latter was born in 
Guilford County, N. C, in 1816, and was a painter 
by trade. This he followed until after he moved to 
Walnut Bend, where he resided up to 1867. when 
he died of yellow fever. He followed merchan- 
dising, and owned some land in Walnut Bend. 



Clark's Landing was named in honor of him, and 
he owned the same. The mother was born in Vir- 
ginia, in 1824, and died in Memphis, Tenn., in 
1854. They were the parents of three children, 
Cajrt. William H. Clark being the eldest; and the 
second, James Preston, was captured in M'alnut 
Bond during the war, and died from a fever con- 
tracted in prison. He was a member of Capt. 
Cowley's company, C. S. A. The youngest cliild 
died when young. Capt. William H. Clark was 
reared and educated in Memphis. He commenced 
steamboating in 1856, as clerk on the steamer 
Katie Frisbee, and followed this in different ca- 
l)acitios until 1861, when he joined the Confeder- 
ate army at Memphis. Previous to this, in 1850, 
he was appointed route agent for the United States 
mail, between Memjihis, Tenn., and Vicksburg, 
Miss. ,and was serving in that capacity when the war 
broke out. He joined the One Hundred Fifty- 
fourth Senior Tennessee Eogiment as private, in 
Company B (Bluff City Greys), was a clerk in 
Adj. -Gen. Bragg's office, of the Army of Tennes- 
see, under command of Gens. Bragg, J. E. John- 
ston and Hood, at department headquarters, and 
served from May, 1863, until the close of the war. 
He participated in the battles of Belmont, Sbiloh, 
Corinth, Richmond (Ky. ) and Perry villo, with his 
company, the Bluff City Greys. During the fight 
at Richmond there wore seventy-five in the com- 
pany, and they captm-ed from 125 to 150 of the 
enemy, and were in front all day. After the battl^ 
nearly all had their clothes torn bj- bullets, but no 
man of the company was wounded. They were 
sharp-shooters of Gen. Preston Smith's brigade. 
Capt. Clark was with the Arujy of Tennessee while 
under the commands of Gons. Braxton Bragg, J. 
E. Johnston, John B. Hood, G. T. Beauregard and 
Dick Taylor, fi-om Murfreesboro, Tenn., to the 
surrender at Greensboro, N. C, serving continu- 
ally in the adjutant-general's office under the dif- 
ferent commanders. After the surrender he re- 
turned to Memphis and followed .steamboating 
until 1876, part of the time being engaged in the 
cotton seed business. He was married in 1866, to 
Miss Maggie Harrison, who was born in Paducah, 
Ky. Her grandfather moved to Christian County, 



V 



^ 



"lA 



582 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Ky. , in 1809 from Virginia, and was one of the 
owners and founders of Paducah. Her grand- 
father and William H. Harrison were first cousins, 
and the subject of this sketch was named for that 
president. Capt. Clark came here in 1876, and 
engaged in the receiving and forwarding business. 
By his marriage he became the father of seven 
children: William H., Jr., Dudley S. , Emma, Mag- 
gie, Benigna, Ruth and Charles Preston. Capt. 
Clark is a member of the Masonic fraternity — Chap- 
ter, Council and Commandery — K. of H. , and K. 
& L. of H. and K. of P. He and wife and all 
the family are members of the Episcopal Church. 
G. F. Clark was born in Guilford County, N. C, 
and was a first cousin of Abraham Clark, a signer 
of the Declaration of Independence, and was of 
Scotch descent. The grandmother on his father's 
side was a Lilly, and a relative of the Lillys of 
Halifax County, Va. The Carringtons, of Cumber- 
land County, were relatives to the wife's father. 

J. P. Curtis belongs to the firm of Hughes & 
Curtis, of Haynes, Ark. , general merchants, the 
former being also engaged in farming. He was 
the fifth of eight children born to William and 
Mary (Porchman) Curtis, natives of North Caro- 
lina and Tennessee, respectively, the former of 
whom came to Arkansas in 1856, and settled in 
what was then St. Francis County, but is now Lee, 
where he improved an excellent farm, on which he 
died in 1878. Of his eight children only two are 
living: Elisabeth (Mrs. Bullard of Lee County) 
and J. P. Curtis. Two children died in infancy, 
and three died between the ages of thirteen and 
twenty-one. A sister, Mary, was the wife of Buck 
Dawson at the time of her death. The mother of 
these children died in 1875, she and her husband 
having been earnest members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, at the time of their 
death. J. P. Curtis was sixteen years of age 
upon his removal to this State, but the most of 
his education was received in Lee County. He 
was in his twenty-first year at the breaking out of 
the late war, and he immediately donned a suit of 
gray clothes, and became a member of Company 
D, Fortieth Tennessee, and was on active duty 
with the Army of Tennessee, until 1S62, when 



he was transferred to the Fifteenth Arkansas In- 
fantry, and served on the east side of the Missis- 
sippi River, until the fall of Port Hudson. He 
was captured at Island No. 10, and was sent to 
Camp Butler, 111., but at the end of six months 
was exchanged at Vicksburg, and rejoined his 
command near that jilace. He surrendered, and 
was paroled at Port Hudson, July 8, 1863, and 
reached home on the 23d day of the same month. 
After remaining at home for eight months, he, in 
1864, joined Col. Dobbins' command, and was 
with Gen. Price on his raid through Missouri, 
participating in a number of engagements in that 
State. He surrendered at Wittsburg, in January, 
1805, and returned to his home, where he com- 
menced to cultivate his father's farm, and con- 
tinued 80 to do until the latter's death. In Feb- 
ruary, 1889, he became a member of the above 
named firm, doing an annual business of about 
$35,000, and in addition to this they also deal in 
cotton, and in the year 1888 ginned 1,300 bales, 
but only ginned about 800 bales last year, on ac- 
count of poor crops. Mr. Curtis was married 
in 1867, to Miss M. C. Castell, of St. Francis 
County, a daughter of Calloway and Isabel (Simp- 
son) Castell, who were among the earl}' settlers of 
the county, and by her has reared a family of five 
children, three dying when small. Those living 
are: Mary (wife of Charles Higginbotham, of this 
county), Walter B. (who is attending school in 
Madisouville, Ky.), William, A. E. and B. E. 
Mr. Curtis belongs to Bethel Lodge No. 2168, of 
the K. of H. 

D. AV. Davis, one of the old settlers of this 
county, and son of David W. Davis, who came to 
this State in 1829, was born in the Old Dominion 
in 1816, and accomyanied his father to Arkansas 
in the above mentioned year, settling where the 
younger Davis is now living. This was at that 
time a wilderness, and there were, in what is now 
Lee County, about forty families on the east side 
of the L' Anguille, and none on the west. In about 
1835 Hardy Williams and brother, Jefferson Ezell, 
and two brothers, and one Mr. Burris, settled west 
of Haynes, in what is now Texas Township. The 
remaining portion of the county was an unbroken 



-71. 



i) ">y ' 



A 



LEE COUNTY. 



583 



wilderness, filled with deer, bear, buffalo and many 
other wild animals. Where Marianna now stands 
there lived at that time two old Poles, Duskiiraski 
and Coluski by name, and just south of them lived 
John Patterson, who was born in Helena in 1800. 
He lived to be eighty years of age. His sister, 
who was born previous to 1800, was the first white 
• child born in Helena. Of all the early settlers of 
the county, Mr. Davis is the only one of the orig- 
inal families who is still living. He was one of 
eleven children born to his parents, five sons and 
six daughters, and is the only one surviving, al- 
though all lived to be grown and reared large 
families, except one sister and D. W. These chil- 
dren were named as follows: Mary (deceased, was 
the wife of A. G. McDaniel, family now resides in 
this and Monroe Coiinty), Solomon (deceased, family 
resides in Illinois), Nancy (deceased, wife of John 
W. Calvert, family deceased), Cornelius (deceased, 
family resides in this county and Arizona), Benja- 
min (deceased, family resides in St. Francis Coun- 
ty), Rebecca (deceased), Rachel (deceased, wife of 
William West, family resides in Kansas), D. W., 
W. H. (deceased, family resides with D. W. Davis, 
except one daughter, Elizabeth, who married G. L. 
Rodgers), Harriet (deceased, wife of T. R. Harris) 
and Eliza (deceased, wife of Bryant Lynch, family 
resides in Lee County, Ark.). David W. Davis, 
Sr. , died in 1837. He was born in 1761, and par- 
ticipated in the Revolutionary War. He was on a 
war ship with Capt. Peterson during the principal 
part of the war, and was with Gen. Wayne in the 
war with the Indians, being wounded in the shoul- 
der in the last engagements. His wife was born 
in 1777, and died in 1801. Our subject, D. W. 
Davis, was educated in the sub-scription schools of 
Kentucky, and after coming to Arkansas received 
instruction from his father, who was an unusually 
good scholar for his day, and a fine mathematician. 
After the death of his father D. W. remained at 
home and took care of his mother. He was not in 
the war himself, but his . family supplied quite a 
number of soldiers for the South. His father held 
the right of pre-emption on the land which he en- 
tered in 1836, there being about 160 acres in the 
original homestead, but to this our subject has 



added 300 acres more, which belongs to him and 
the heirs of W. H. Davis. The Davis family, while 
being among the prominent ones of the county, 
never aspired to office, though one, J. C. Davis, is 
sheriff of St. Francis County. He is a nephew of 
D. W. Davis (subject). While Mr. Davis does not 
seek for official prominence he still manifests con- 
siderable interest in the local elections, and is a 
thorough Democrat. He is a liberal contributor to 
all matters relating to the good of the county, and 
is a man universally respected. Amanda Davis, 
widow of W. H. Davis, and daughter of Noah and 
Mary (Hearty) Reed, natives, respectively, of Mas- 
sachusetts and Kentucky, was one of two children 
born to her parents. The other child, Elizabeth, 
married J. L. Rowland. Previous to her marriage 
to Mr. Reed, Mrs. Reed had married a man by the 
name of Ramage, and by him became the mother 
of two children: Lucinda (deceased, wife of Ben- 
jamin Travis), and James (who resides in Paducah, 
Ky.). Mr. Reed died in 1845, and Mrs. Reed in 
1842. Mrs. Amanda Davis was born in 1833, and 
came with her father to Arkansas when quite small. 
She had very limited educational advantages, and 
at the age of twenty-two years was united in mar- 
riage to George Halbert. The result of this union 
was one child, W. H. , who resides in Haynes. 
Mr. Halbert died December 17, 1856, and in July, 
1858, his widow married W. H. Davis, who died 
November 23, 1883. Mr. and Mrs. Davis were 
the parents of seven childi'en, five now living: 
Richard (died at the age of twenty-five years), T. 
Jefferson (died at the age of fifteen months), Mary 
E., Annie, George B. , William H. and Harriet A. 
Mr. Davis and his brother, D. W., had always re- 
mained together, and the business interests still 
continue as before his death. W. H. Davis had 
been married previous to his union with Mrs. Hal- 
bert, to Miss Sarah J. Boon, and liy her became tht> 
father of five children, only two now living: Mrs. 
Rodgers, of Texas, and David R., who resides iu 
Lee County, Ark. Mrs. Davis is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Robert C. Davis has been a resident of Arkansas 
since a short time after the close of the Civil War, 
in which conflict he took part on the Confederate 



^F 



»^ 



^ 



k. 



f.kl 



584 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



side, enlisting in Company A, of the Twenty- 
seventh Mississippi Infantry, in 1861, when only 
seventeen years of age. After the close of hostil- 
ities he returned to Mississippi, his native State, 
where he remained until 1809, then coming to this 
State and locating in Phillips County, and in 1880 
he came to Lee County and settled upon his present 
farm. Mr. Davis was born in Attala County, 
Miss. , in 1843, being a son of J. G. A. and Eliza- 
beth J. Davis, natives of Illinois and Tennessee, 
respectively. His educational advantages were 
limited to a few months' attendance at the common 
schools in each year. Mr. Davis has been twice 
married; first, in 1866, to Miss Sarah J. Cornish, 
daughter of William and Elizabeth Cornish, na- 
tives of North Carolina and Georgia, respectively. 
Mrs. Davis died in 1871, leaving three children, 
two of whom are still living: Cornish R. and Righ- 
tor C. He was married to his present wife. Miss 
Luivia J. Alexander, in 1872. He owns 580 acres 
of land, 130 acres cleared and in a good state of 
cultivation, with good improvements upon his 
place. Mr. Davis is a Democrat in politics, and 
was appointed postmaster of Lee in 1884, having 
held the office since that time. He and wife are 
members of the Primitive Bajitist Church, in which 
they take an active part. 

W. T. Derrick, well known as the popular 
clerk of the circuit court of Lee County, is a na- 
tive of Alabama, and a son of H. B. and Evaline 
(Beal) Derrick. H. B. Derrick is still living, a 
resident of this county, seventy-one years of age. 
His wife died in 1885, at the age of fifty-eight. 
W. T. Derrick was born in 1842, and came to Lee 
County with his father when a boy. He served 
four years in the Confederate army during the war, 
holding the position of lieutenant in the Army of 
Tennessee, and participated in seventeen differ- 
ent engagements. After the war he returned 
to this county and carried on farming until 1884, 
when he was elected county and circuit clerk, and 
was re-elected in 1886, and again in 1888, filling 
the offices with great credit to himself and satis- 
faction to his fellow-citizens. Mr. Derrick's wife 
was formerly Miss Mary S. Jones, also of Alabama 
origin. They are the parents of two children: 



Maria and Robert L. He is a member of the K. 
of P. and of the K. of H. It is unnecessary to 
add that Mr. Derrick is one of the leading Demo- 
crats of the county, having held prominent offices 
for the past six years. He is also highly esteemed 
not only by those of the same political party, but 
by all good citizens throughout this locality. 

H. B. Derrick, Jr., liveryman, Mariauua, Ark. 
Among the active enterprises of a town like Mar- 
ianna, the business of a livery stable occupies nec- 
essarily an important place, contributing as they 
do to the pleasure, convenience and actual neces- 
sities of the community. Among the most notable 
of this class in Marianna is that conducted by Mr. 
Derrick, which was established at this place in 1873. 
Mr. Derrick was born September 30, 1852, in Ala- 
bama and emigrated with his father from that 
State to Arkansas in 1859. Here he grew to man- 
hood and received his education in the common 
schools, and at Florence and Huntsville, Ala. He 
first engaged in tilling the soil but later entered 
a store as clerk. As above stated, he opened the 
livery business at Marianna in December, 1873, and 
was very successful at this until a snow storm came 
and crushed in his stable. He then rebuilt and in 
1876, as misfortune seemed to cling to him, he had 
his stable destroyed by fire, sustaining a loss of 
about $1,500, and in 1883 the stable was again 
destroyed by fire with a loss much heavier than be- 
fore. Neither disheartened nor discouraged he 
again engaged in the business, built a brick barn 
and now has the best livery business in Eastern 
Arkansas. He also had a farm of 300 acres, after 
having sold some, and is one of the most practical 
business men of the county. He was married first 
in 1876 to Mrs. Ella Campbell, who is deceased. 
The children by this marriage are also deceased. 
Mr. Derrick afterward married Miss Emma Long- 
ley. Mr. Derrick is the son of H. B. , Sr. , and 
Evalyn Beal, the father a native of Alabama, born 
April 10, 1819. He is a farmer by occupation but 
is now living with his son. The latter is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

Eli T. Diamond. Of all the old settlers in Ar- 
kansas there is no one more deserving of a place 
in the history of his State than Eli T. Diamond, 



*^i 



f' 



A^ 



LEE COUNTY. 



585 



who is also a descendant of Revolutionary heroes. 
His grandfather, John Diamond, was a native of 
Ireland and came to America in his boyhood days, 
being one of the first to respond to the call of his 
adopted country, and serving in the war for fi"ee- 
dom imtil its close. He was a member of Gen. 
Marion's famous band in all of its brilliant 
achievements. After the close of the war he re- 
turned to his home in South Carolina, but, being 
surrounded by Tories, and unpleasantly and dan- 
gerously situated, he removed to Georgia and set 
tied on the site of the present city of Milledge- 
ville, once the capital, and where Robert Diamond, 
the father of our subject, was reared, he having 
been born in South Carolina during the stormy 
times of the Revolution. After his marriage Rob- 
ert Diamond removed to Robertson County, Tenn. , 
and then to Illinois, in 1816, under the Territorial 
Government, and settled in Bond County, where 
he died in 1852. He was one of the early settlers 
of that State. Nancy (Rice) Diamond, the mother 
of the principal of this sketch, was a daughter of 
James Rice, an Englishman. She was born in 
Virginia, on the banks of the Potomac River, and 
was there reared and educated, but later removed 
to Georgia, where she met, captured and married 
the father of Eli T. She died in Illinois in 1857, 
having borne eleven children, of whom the subject 
of this sketch is the only survivor. He was born 
in Robertson County, Tenn., April 22, 1807, and 
accompanied his parents to Illinois at the age of 
eight years, where he was brought up and edu- 
cated. At the age of twenty years he went to 
Natchez, Miss., and lived with an uncle. Two 
years later he became employed as an overseer on 
a Mississippi plantation, being engaged in that oc- 
cupation for eight years, when he bought an inter- 
est in a plantation in AN'ashington County, Miss., 
but, putting too much confidence in his partner, he 
was bankrupted. He then moved to Chicot County, 
Ark., in 1S40, where he was employed as overseer 
of a plantation until 1842, at which time he went 
to Desha County, again becoming interested in a 
large plantation. For awhile he succeeded very 
well, but, another financial crash overtaking him, 
he again lost the greater part of the earnings of 



years of labor. He then (in 1844) removed to 
Walnut Bend, on the Mississippi River, in Phillips 
County. Here he lived for twenty-four years, 
clearing up one of the best- improved farms in that 
section of country, owning 700 acres of land, and 
while here he secured a large tract of land in the 
western part of Philli])s (now Loo) County. A large 
negiodebt swallowed up his Walnut Bond property, 
and for the third time he was sent adrift in the finan- 
cial world. He then set out for his wild and unten- 
anted home in the wilderness of Phillips Coimty. 
In 1860 he bought a family of negroes, expecting 
to pay for them when he could sell cotton, as he 
had two crops unsold. When the war came on the 
cotton was burned by the Confederates, and the 
debt accumulated during the war. That struggle 
found him with a good home surrounded by every 
convenience and comfort. In 1862 Mr. Diamond 
brought hands to this section, which was then a 
wilderness, and improved some of his wild land, 
where he now lives, but still retained his home on 
the river. But the ravages of the war and the ac- 
cumulation of debt compelled him to a compromise 
in giving up his river place, when he came west. 
Older in years, and with burdens and misfortunes 
sufficient to have paralyzed many a younger man, 
he began anew the work of malung a home for his 
family, and soon the wilderness blossomed under 
his skill and husbandi-y. But the guns of Sum- 
ter were the death-knell of his high ambitions. 
The war gave freedom to his most valuable prop- 
erty, the negro, and the close of the war fou|id 
him destitute of everything but the shattered re- 
mains of what had once been a magnificent prop- 
erty, and of which there only remains one-quarter 
section of land, on which he now lives with his son 
and his tenants, calmly awaiting the end of a well- 
spent life. Mr. Diamond has been twice married; 
first, in 1840, to Elizabeth Hall, a native of North 
Carolina, who died in 1857. leaving six children, 
three of whom survive: William H., Eli T. and 
Alford S. His second marriage was in February, 
18C8, to Miss Anna Owen, of Phillips County, 
who died in 1870. Mr. Diamond is a Democrat 
in politics, is a memlier of the Masonic order and 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to 



* -0 1 a 



'-^ 



586 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



which he has belonged since twelve years of age. 
He is esteemed by all who know him for his good- 
ness of heart, and for his Christian character in 
every day life. He has kept a diary of public 
events since 1844, noting down all public events. 
There are several large volumes of the work, and 
many are the facts and statements therein con- 
tained, which, in time to come, and even now, are 
very valuable. 

James J. Dozier came originally from Georgia, 
being a son of Woody and Eliza (Compton) Dozier, 
also natives of that State. The senior Dozier was 
born in Warren County in 1804, and his wife four 
years later in Jasper County. They were married 
in 1828, and became the i^arents of ten children, 
seven of whom are still living: Mary C. (wife of 
R. J. BickerstafF, whose biography appears in this 
work), Sallie F. (Mrs. Sutton, of Fon-est City), 
Emily V. (wife of R. P. Danart, a resident of 
Texas), Anna C. (wife of Rev. W. H. Pasley, also 
a resident of Forrest City), James J. , the principal 
of this sketch), Elizabeth (the wife of Andrew C. 
Wood, a farmer of St. Francis County) and An- 
nette E. (widow of William Henderson). James 
J. Dozier was born in Jasper Coimty, Ga. , on July 
1, 1843, but passed his boyhood days in what is 
now Lee Coiinty, Ala. He enlisted in the Confed- 
erate army in July, 1861, in the Thirteenth Reg- 
iment Alabama Volunteers, in which he served 
until the close of the war, serving as a non-com- 
missioned officer. He participated in the battles 
of Seven Pines, the seven days' fight before Rich- 
mond, South Mountain, Antietam, Sharpsburg, 
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, 
at which battle he was wounded by the explosion 
of a shell ; he was also slightly wounded at the bat- 
tle of the Wilderness. He took part in the en- 
gagements of Spottsylvania Court-House, Peters- 
burg, Turkey Ridge, and a number of others, and 
was captured at High Bridge, three days before 
Lee's surrender, being held for three months. He 
ceme to Arkansas in January, 1867, and settled 
near Moro, where he now resides, on a farm of 220 
acres, with about forty acres under cultivation. 
Mr. Dozier rettu-ned to Alabama in 1869, and was 
there married to Miss Olive I. Crabbe, of that 



State, and a daughter of Richard and Matilda 
(Love) Crabbe. Mr. and Mrs. Dozier are the par- 
ents of nine children, seven living: Nina, Charles 
E., Emma, Grover C, James R. , Nora and Mattie. 
Mr. Dozier held the office of deputy sheriff during 
the years from 1880 to 1885. He is a member of 
the County Wheel. 

J. P. Dunham was born in Effingham County, 
111., in 1845, but was reared in Shelby County, and 
up to the breaking out of the late war his time was 
occupied in attending the common schools. He 
dropped his books to join the Federal army and 
protect the grand old stars and stripes, and was a 
member of the First Illinois Cavalry, but at the 
end of one year was transferred to the Trans- 
Mississippi Department, and was on detached serv- 
ice imder Steele, and was with him at the fall of 
Little Rock. He went from there to Pilot Knob, 
and shortly after the close of the war he went to 
Kansas and embarked in the lumber business, and 
also owned and operated a saw-mill on Marie des 
Cygnes River. In 1875 he came to Arkansas and 
settled in Phillijis County, where he operated a 
saw-mill for two and a half years, which enterprise 
did not prove a financial success. From that time 
until 1888 be owned and operated a mill in Lee 
County, his business partner being R. D. Griffis, 
who was connected with him for eleven years, or 
until 1888, after which they sold out to a lumber 
company, and Mr. Dunham has since remained its 
manager. He owns a good house and lot, and 13,000 
acres of land on Spring Creek, and is also in the 
lumber business. He is a Republican, a member 
of the Episcopal Church, and belongs to the A. F. 
& A. M. , being a Knight Templar, and is also a 
member of the Royal Arcanum and the Knights of 
Honor and the Knights and Ladies of Honor. He 
was married while a resident of Kansas, to Miss 
Kate Rouse, by whom he has one child, Capitola. 
He is a son of Hy. and Mary (Ramsey) Dunham, 
the former of whom was born in Tennessee and is 
now a resident of Shelby County, 111. , a farmer by 
occupation. 

William P. Fleming, M. D. Among the names 
which give standing to Marianna and conduce to 
the welfare of society, is that of Dr. Fleming, 



p \ ' 



9 »^ 



-4 9 



LEE COUNTY. 



587 



for he not only dispenses drugs, hut also deals in 
hardware and farniture. He was born in Haywood 
County, Tenn., in 1856, but was reared in Crockett 
County, and received his literary education in 
Dyersburg Institute, of Tennessee, and the Uni- 
versity of Louisville, Ky., graduating fi-om the 
latter institution in March, 1877. He practiced 
medicine at Bell's Depot, Tenn., for three years, 
being also engaged in the drug business, but sold 
out in 1883 and came to Marianna, Ark., where he 
has since confined himself solely to the sale of 
drugs, his partner, Mr. Plummer, having charge 
of the hardware and furniture department. His 
store-room is 120x25 feet, and his stock of drugs 
is valued at about $10,000, and nets him a fair 
annual income. His stock of goods is quite com- 
plete, and it is safe to say that a call for any 
article will be promptly and accurately filled, for 
Dr. Fleming has few equals as a pharmacist. 
He was married in Memphis, Tenn., to Miss May 
Townsend, a daughter of D. H. Townsend, a farm- 
er of that State, and bj- her has the following 
little family: Patrick, Guy and Walter. The 
Doctor is a son of Jacob and Mariah (Turpin) 
Fleming, the former a native of Illinois, reared 
in Tennessee. He is now a retired merchant and 
land owner near Bell' s Depot, Tenn. , and is sixty- 
five years of age. His wife was born in Tennessee, 
and died in 1888, aged fifty years. Anderson 
Turpin, the maternal grandfather, was a Tennes- 
seean by birth. 

M. H. Ford, planter and laud-holder of Inde- 
pendence Township, is one of four children, reared 
by Charles F. and Betty (Hewett) Ford, his birth 
occurring in 1859. Charles Ford, a native of Vir- 
ginia, was born in 1824, of parents who were among 
the F. F. Vs. He passed his younger days in 
Virginia, where he became engaged in the mercan- 
tile business and was recognized as a man of un- 
usual business aptitude. He was married in 1854 
to Betty, daughter of John M. Hewett, of Ken- 
tucky, and to their union the following children 
were born : Minnie (now Mrs. Frank Govan of ^lari- 
anna, and the mother of four children), Charlie 
(married to Miss Jessie Jackson, and resides at 
Marianna and they have three children), M. H. 



(the subject of this sketch) and AVilliam (unmar- 
ried, the deputy clerk of Lee County). Mr. Ford 
immigrated to Arkansas and later on came to Lee 
County, where he purchased a large amount of 
property and became very popular, being considered 
as a public-spirited and progi-essive man, always 
ready to lend his substantial support to anything 
for the growth and eventual good of the county. 
He died in 1807 in Lee County, and his wife fol- 
lowed him aliout five years later. They were mem- 
bers of the Christian Church and highly respected 
by all who knew them. M. H. Ford passed his 
boyhood days in Arkansas, Kentucky and Quincy, 
111. , his education being completed at the Gem City 
Business College of the latter place. Soon after 
he came to Arkansas and in 1881 was appointed 
marshal of Marianna, which position he held with 
creditable distinction for seven years. After re- 
tiring from office he engaged in farming and now 
has about 320 acres of good land on which his resi- 
dence is situated, and in addition to that has over 
1,000 acres, with a total of 600 acres well improved 
and under cultivation. Mr. Ford was married in 
1885 to Miss Carrie Foreman, of Independence 
Township, Lee County, Ark., and to their union 
three children have been born: Twins (deceased) 
and Carrie Louise. Mr. Ford is a Democrat in 
his political views, and in secret societies is a mem- 
ber of the Knights of Pythias (charter member) 
and the Knights of Honor. He is a member of 
the Presbyterian Church, and his wife a communi- 
cant of the Episcopal Church. ' 

Col. John I. Foreman, who was bom in North 
Carolina, in 1829, was one of two children result- 
ing from the union of William S. and Elizabeth E. 
(Williams) Foreman. The father's birth occniTed 
in 1806, in North Carolina, where he became iden- 
tified with the most prominent and wealthy plant- 
ers of Pitt County, also belonging to one of the 
first families of that State. He was married in 
1828, to Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Williams, an 
eminent physician of North Carolina, who served 
as surgeon in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Fore- 
man died in 1836, leaving to a young widow the 
management of his large fortune, which was willed 
without condition to her. She again married, her 



=^V 



^ 



>> 



588 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



second husband being E. B. Freeman, clerk of the 
supreme court of North Carolina for many years. 
Mrs. Freeman having received a large fortune 
from her former husband, turned her attention to 
the education of her two sons, both of them being 
sent to Princeton, N. J. , and graduating from the 
prominent college of that place. She closed her 
eyes to the scenes of this world in 1848. In 1851 
John I. was elected to the legislature, from Pitt 
County, N. C, in which he served two years, and 
had he chose to remain, could have occupied a 
most enviable position in the political field. This, 
however, he did not care to do. Having previ- 
ously paid a visit to Eastern Arkansas, he concluded 
that that was the place for his future home, and 
in 1853 he came to what is now Lee (then Phil- 
lips) County, to join his brother, who had immi- 
grated to the State a year previous, bringing with 
him into the primeval forest a vast number of 
slaves and other property. He had purchased a 
large tract of land, and by the help of the slaves 
soon brought it fi-om its embryo state, to that of 
cultivation. This proj^erty was equally enjoyed 
and shared by the two brothers, where they lived 
in great contentment until the breaking out of 
the war between the States. During that time 
they added much to their wealth, and became 
widely recognized as the most prosperous and 
popular planters in the State. They were known 
far and near for their generosity and support to 
all educational enterprises, and in fact to all 
movements that betokened the good and growth 
of the county. When the war was declared, John 
Foreman believing the South to be right, as a 
leader of the people with whom he lived, raised a 
company of soldiers for the Confederate army, and 
was attached to the Second Arkansas, Govan's 
regiment. Being transferred east of the Missis- 
sippi, he fought in the battle of Perry ville (Ky.), 
and then returned to the Trans-Mississippi Depart- 
ment, where he was attached to Gen. Marsh 
Walker's staff. He was with this command at the 
date of Gen. Walker's death, in a duel with a well- 
known general. After this Mr. Foreman was not 
in active service, and at the closing of hostilities 
he returned home to find that his plantation and 



all his valuable property had been destroyed by the 
ravages of war. Let it not for a moment be sup- 
posed that his great loss overpowered him, for he 
set to work with redoubled courage and a deter- 
mination to succeed, and a few years witnessed the 
recovery of his fortunes, and an addition to his 
property lost. Here in this vicinity he lived for 
mauj' years, occupying a warm place in the hearts 
of the entire community, by whom he was hon- 
ored and revered, as a leading and popular citizen 
of this county. A mean action or an unkind word 
was something perfectly foreign to his loyal and 
generous nature. His death, which occurred in 
1879, was sincerely mourned by all who knew him, 
and his work, which was of a lifetime in doing 
good to man, well deserved its reward in the com- 
mendation, "Well done thou good and faithful 
servant. ' ' Col. Foreman was married in 1855 to 
Miss Arabella Armstrong, of New York City, a 
daughter of William and Martha Armstrong, early 
settlers of that city, where her father died in 1834. 
Her mother then immigrated to Tennessee, and then 
to Arkansas. Mr. and Mrs. Foreman had eight 
children: William H., Robert L. (M. D.), J. L, 
Jr.. E. W., Jane, Arabella, M. K. and Bessie. 

R. R. Foreman, residing in Independence 
Township, was born in North Carolina in 1831, 
being the son of William S. and Elizabeth E. 
(Williams) Foreman. The father was also a native 
of North Carolina, his birth occurring in 1806. 
He followed farming and merchandising with suc- 
cess, and was married in 1828 to Miss Elizabeth, 
daughter of Dr. Robert Williams, of North Caro- 
lina, a very prominent man and surgeon in the 
Revolutionary War, who was residing in the old 
North State at the date of his death. There were 
only two children born to the union of Mr. and 
Mrs. Foreman: R. R. (the subject of this sketch) 
and John. Mr. Foreman died in Pitt County, 
North Carolina, in 1836, respected and esteemed 
by all who knew him. Mrs. Foreman was again 
married, her second choice being E. B. Freeman, 
who was for many years previous to his death, 
and at that date, a clerk of the supreme court of 
North Carolina. Mrs. Freeman died in 1848 in 
her native State. R. R. Foreman received his 



-^-. 



^ 



LEE COUNTY. 



589 



education in the scliools of North Carolina, after- 
ward attending school at Princeton, N. J. In 1852 
he came to Lee (then Phillips) County, and lo- 
cated on a farm about three miles from IMariarma, 
this farm consisting of 3fjO acres, besid(^s a large 
amount of property in another portion. He was 
married in 1853 to Frances C. Williams, a daughter 
of Dr. E. F. Williams, of North Carolina, a prom- 
inent physician who died in that State in 1852. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Foreman two children have been 
bom: Elizabeth L. (born in 18(31) and Mary C. 
(born in 1866, now the wife of M. H. Ford, of 
Lee County). Mr. Foreman is a member of Lodge 
No. 171 of the Masonic order at Marianna, of 
Chapter No. 54, and also a K. of H. For some 
years he was Worshipful Master and a charter 
member of the Blue Lodge, and also High Priest 
of the order. Mr. Foreman and family are mem- 
bers of the Episcopal Church. He is a man who 
takes a great interest in the growth of the county, 
and is lending his substantial support toward gain- 
ing this end, and especially is he interested in 
educational and religious matters, to which he con- 
tributes liberally. 

G. F. Foster, M. D. Noah Foster, a native 
of Tennessee, was born in 1809 and passed his 
younger days in the schools of that State. In 
1833 he moved to Panola County, Miss., where he 
met and married Miss Lodiska Spauldiug, daughter 
of a prominent planter, Gideon Spauldiug. Mr. 
Foster settled in Mississippi, where he and his wife 
are now residing. He has been very successful as 
a farmer, and is now enjoying the fruits of his in- 
dustry, from which he accumulated a large prop- 
erty. He is a Democrat and has always taken an 
active interest in public enterprises. To himself 
and wife a family' of ten children were horn: De- 
lila (now Mrs. Parker, residing in Lonoke County), 
Nancy (Mrs. Ruby, of Lonoke County), Elizabeth 
(deceased), John (dead), Thomas (living in Panola 
County, Mississippi, married and has a family of 
six children), Davis (unmarried and lives in Lee 
County, engaged in the mercantile l)usiness with 
his brother G. F., the subject of this sketch), and 
two children unnamed. G. F. Foster was born in 
Mississippi in 1847, and received a good common- 



school education in the schools of his native State, 
afterward entering the Eclectic Medical College of 
Mississippi, from which he graduated in 1884. 
He then moved to St. Francis County, Ark., where 
he practiced his profession with manifest success. 
In 1887 he embarked in the mercantile business, 
and by his courteous and obliging manners has 
won a liberal patronage from the surrounding 
community. His practice is among the best and 
wealthy class of people, by whom he is recognized 
as an efficient physician, and a credit to the pro- 
fession. He also owns 200 acres of valuable land 
under a thrifty state of cultivation. Dr. Foster 
was married in 1884 to Miss Bradford Watson, a 
daughter of John and Betty Watson. Her parents 
were natives of Mississippi, but moved to Arkansas 
at an early date, about the year 1847 or 1850. 
To Dr. and Mrs. Foster two children have been 
born. The Doctor is a Democrat, and in secret 
societies is identified with the Masonic order, being 
a member of La Grange Lodge No. 108. He is a 
member of and an earnest worker in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church and lends valuable aid to all en- 
terprises for the good of the county. 

Thomas Foster was born within one mile of La 
Grange, the place where he now lives, on August 
19, 1849, and was a son of Golden and Elizabeth 
Foster, natives of Mississippi. Mr. Golden Foster 
moved to Arkansas from Mississippi, and from 
there to Texas, but came back to Arkansas in 1841 . 
where he died twenty years later. He was a large 
planter and acquired some property. He and bis 
wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and wore the parents of twelve children, 
two of whom are still living: Malissa (wife of Rev. 
Thomas Craig, now stationed at Desha, Indepen- 
dence County), and Thomas (the principal of this 
sketch, and the j'oungest in the family). There is 
living also a half-sister to these children. Miss Mat- 
tie Foster, the issue of their father's second mar- 
riage. Thomas Foster had three brothers in the 
Confederate army, one of whom was killed at 
Shiloh, one died from the wounds received at 
Gettysburg, and one while serving in the Indian 
Territory. Soon after the war he commenced work- 
ing to support his mother and sisters, and was em- 



-^ — ^t^ . 



590 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ployed by a Mr. Lownsberj" at a small salar}'. In 
1873 he began farming for himself, and with the 
push and energy, which are his principal character- 
istics, has been very successful as a cotton planter. 
In 1876 he was married to Miss Vienna Hickey, a 
daughter of C. W. and Elizabeth Hickey, of La 
Grange. They are the parents of these chil- 
dren: Frank U., Bettie Lou, Cleola, Thomas, Mattie 
May, Gustavus W., and one deceased. Mr. Fos- 
ter, while not a member of any church, is the son 
of Methodist parents, and his leaning is toward 
that denomination. He is a member of the following 
secret orders: Masons, K. of H. and A. O. U. W. 
Mrs. Foster is a member of the Baptist Church. 

J. T. Friar is a member of the Haynes' Mer- 
cantile Association, and was born within three 
miles of where he now lives, in 1844, being the 
fifth of six children born to J. T. and Perlyxie 
(Burk) Friar, natives of Tennessee, fi'om nearKnox- 
ville. The father removed to Arkansas at an early 
day (about 1830), and in addition to farming also 
dealt in land. After his wife's death, in 1848, he 
married Miss Lucretia Seaborn, by her becoming 
the father of two children. His death occurred in 
1856. His children by his first wife now only num- 
ber two: Narcissus (wife of J. W. Byers) and our 
subject. The two half-brothers are also deceased. 
J. T. Friar was reared and educated in what is now 
Lee County, and at the early age of seventeen 
years entered the Confederate army, being in Capt. 
Dunn's company, known as the "Dead-shot " Com- 
pany from St. Francis County. He served east of 
the Mississippi River for four years, and was in 
the following engagements: Shiloh, Chickamauga, 
Missionary Ridge, and from Dalton to Atlanta, 
Ga. He was also at Jonesboro, Springfield, Frank- 
lin, Nashville, and in numerous skirmishes. He 
surrendered at Greenville, N. C. , and returned 
home. He was wounded by a minie ball in the 
thigh at the battle of Shiloh, and is still troubled 
by his wound. He first began working as a farm 
hand at 120 per month, continuing until 1867, 
when he was married to Mrs. Frances (McDaniel) 
Hughes, a daughter of Arch. McDaniel, but Mr. 
Friar was called upon to mourn her death about 
one year later, she having borne him a child, who 



is also deceased. In 1868 Mr. Friar piirchased 
eighty acres of slightly improved land, and has 
since added 200 acres, making him one of the best 
farms in the county, and in addition to this he 
owns some valuable town property, all of which he 
has made by industry and good management since 
the war. In 1888 he became associated with the 
Haynes' Mercantile Association, which is composed 
of farmers, and does a business of some $30,000. 
Mr. Friar has been careful and painstaking in the 
management of his farm and, indeed, is thorough 
in regard to everything connected with its advance- 
ment, as he is in every business to which he gives 
his attention. In 1869 he was married to Miss 
Martha Tipton, of Tennessee, a daughter of Ben- 
jamin and Mary Tipton, of that State, and hj her 
has had eight children, four of whom are now liv- 
ing: Aggie, Nannie, Custer and J. T. Mr. and 
Mrs. Friar are members of the Baptist Church, 
and Mr. Friar belongs to Bethel Lodge No. 2168, 
K. of H. 

E. F. Friend, miller and ginner, Marianua, Ark. 
This wide-awake and enterprising resident was 
originally from Alabama, where his birth occurred in 
1838, and in that State he reached years of maturity, 
and received his education. He learned the car- 
riage-maker's trade, but when the war broke out 
he cast aside his implements of peace and took up 
the weapons of warfare, enlisting in the Confederate 
service. He participated in the following promi- 
nent battles: Corinth, Shiloh. all the battles of 
Gens. Bragg and Johnston, and during his service 
never received a wound. After the war he re- 
turned to his home, and in 1871 moved to Arkan- 
sas. Previous to this he was married in Alabama 
to Miss Mary E. Gilbert, a native of that State, 
and after this union he moved to Marianna, where 
he worked at his trade for fifteen years, being the 
owner of a regular carriage and wagon shop for 
that length of time. He had a full plant of steam 
machinery for his business, and after the tire had 
but four left. The loss was at least $3,000. After 
this he embarked in the ginning and milling busi- 
ness, and will introduce a full line of rollers for 
grinding by the first of the year 1890. He still 
owns his farm of 320 acres, and is a prosperous 



i iV 



LEE COUNTY. 



591 



and progressive citizen. To his marriage were 
born six children: Anna, Ola, Brent, Julia, Matie 
and Samuel. Mr. Friend is a member of the K. of 
H. and K. & L. of H. , and Royal Arcanum. He 
is the son of David H. and Amanda (Hendi'icks) 
Friend, natives of Virginia and Alabama, respect- 
ively, the father born in 18()() and the mother in 
1812. The father was one of the pioneers of Ala- 
bama, and lived to be about eighty years of age. 
He was a jeweler, a silversmith and a farmer by 
occupation. The mother died at the age of forty-, 
five years. 

Thomas A. Futrall, A. M., principal of the 
Marianna Male and Female Institute, located at 
Marianna, Ark. , is one of the most prominent edu- 
cators in the South. He was born in the " Old 
North State," in 1842, and was educated in the 
best schools of the East, having been at one time a 
pupil of the famous William J. Bingham. About 
the time he finished his academic course, in 1860, 
a war cloud appeared above the horizon, and very 
soon thereafter he joined the Southern army as a 
volunteer, and served with distinction as an ofi&cer 
of Gen. John R. Cooke's North Carolina Brigade 
of the Army of Northern Virginia during the late 
war between the States. He took part in all the 
great battles in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsyl- 
vania, and was paroled with tlie remnant of Gen. 
Lee's army at Appomattox Court House. At the 
close of the war he immigrated to West Tennessee, 
and established a classical and scientific school, 
which soon took rank with the best institutions of 
learning in the country, and gained for him a wide- 
spread reputation as a scholar and an educator, so 
much so, that in 1884 he was tendered his present 
position in the flourishing town of Marianna. 
Prof. Futrall has made this institution one of the 
most thorough and practical schools in the State, 
from which young men and women go out well 
prepared for the active duties of life. Beginning 
the work when comparatively yoimg. Prof. Futrall 
has made teaching the business of his life, and has 
taught successfully for twenty-five consecutive 
years. In 1887, at the Chicago meeting of the 
National Educational Association of the United 
States, he was elected vice-president of the associ- 



ation, and was reelected to the same position in 
Nashville, Tenn., in 1889, and is now, 1890, man- 
ager for the association in the State of Arkansas. 
He is a quiet, courteous, thoroughly posted gentle- 
man, a ripe scholar, and is familiar with the best 
methods of instruction. In 1807 he was married 
to Miss Emma R. Hoadon, of Chatham County, 
N. C. A young family of seven interesting chil- 
dren, four girls and three boys, gather around the 
hearthstone. 

Dr. J. H. Gibson, physician and surgeon. The 
subject of this sketch was bom in Iredell County, 
N. C, in the year 1830. He attended the common 
schools of the neighborhood, and was graduated 
from Davidson College, a literary institution in 
Mecklenburg County, N. C, in the year 1853, after 
which he spent several years in teaching in the 
State of Florida. He then commenced reading 
medicine, and was graduated from the Mcnlical 
University of Georgia, receiving the degree of M. 
D. in the year 1858. Subsequently entering upon 
the practice of his profession in his native State, 
he remained there until shortly before the breaking 
out of the late Civil War, when he came to the 
State of Arkansas, and located in Independence 
County, but the following year he enlisted in the 
Twenty-second Arkansas as surgeon. At the close 
of the war he came to Lee County, and resumed 
the practice of his adopted calling at La Grange, 
where he has since resided, and built up a large 
practice. In 1868 the Doctor was married to Miss 
Eliza Burke, a daughter of Elisha and Elka 
Burke, natives of North Carolina, and who came 
to Arkansas in 1840. Her father represented Phil- 
lips County for a number of years in the State 
legislature. Dr. Gibson and wife are the parents 
of five children: Bolo, Estelle, Burke, Minnie and 
^\'illie. Dr. Gibson is a member of the Presby- 
terian Chm-ch. He also belongs to the Masonic 
fraternity, and is AVorshipful Master of the lodge 
at La Grange. His wife is a member of the Bap- 
tist Church. He is also justice of the peace of 
Richland Township, and one of the leading men 
of the township. 

William Franklin Gill is a son of Nathaniel Y. 
Gill, a native of Tennessee, who made that State 



^ 



® k-. 



^ 9 



^ 



592 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



his home until 1849, when he removed to Missis- 
Rippi, locating near Holly Springs. He was married 
in Tennessee to Miss Susan Bowles, also of that 
State. In 1854 they came to Arkansas, and en- 
gaged in farming on the plantation now owned by 
Mr. N. L. Graves, near Lexa. He was a hard 
working man, and a good manager, and in 1861 
raised the largest crop of cotton per acre of any 
ever grown in Eastern Arkansas. Mr. Gill died in 
December, 1873, at the age of nearly fifty years. 
His wife was called to her long home in the same 
month, when forty- five years old. The paternal 
grandfather of the principal of this sketch, was a 
native of North Carolina, and of Irish descent, and 
moved to Tennessee when a young man, where he 
lived the remainder of his life, following the occii- 
pation of a farmer. William Franklin Gill was 
born near Columbia, Tenn., on January 8, 1846, 
being the eldest in a family of seven children, six 
of whom are living: William F., R. O. (also a 
farmer of this county), Morris (a farmer of Phillips 
County), John Y. (a merchant of Texas), Isaac S. 
(a teacher, also in Texas) and Mary P. (the wife of 
L. G. Howard [see sketch of William T. Howard 
in this work], the partner of our subject in the 
mercantile business in La Grange). In 1862 Will- 
iam F. Gill enlisted in Dobbins' regiment of Con- 
federate Cavalry, in which he served until the close 
of the war, participating in all of the principal 
battles in Price's raid through Missouri, Kansas 
and the Indian Territory. After the close of the 
war, he went on the farm with his father, remain- 
ing with him until his marriage, on November 18, 
1869./'Mr. Gill labored for himself on the farm 
foiyine year,_and then moved to La Grange, enter- 
ing into the mercantile business with his father and 
/iorother, R. O. Gill. This was continued iintil his 
father died, when he and his brother conducted the 
trade until 1881, and then dissolved. Mr. Gill 
then went into business with Mr. L. G. Howard, 
his brother-in-law. They started with a very small 
capital, but their present large business demon- 
strates what can be done by true energy, combined 
with a large stock of common sense, good business 
management and honest dealings. He was mar- 
ried, on November 18, 1869, to Miss Bettie Under- 



wood, a native of Tennessee, who died in March, 

1874, leaving three children, two still living: Mol- 
lie and William Y. Mr. Gill married his second 
and present wife, Rebecca Holland, February 4, 

1875. She was born in the State of South Carolina, 
in 1857, and is the mother of one daughter, Beulah. 
In addition to his store at La Grange, Mr. Gill 
owns 800 acres of tine land, of which 450 acres are 
under cultivation. All this he has made since the 
war. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum, of 
the Knights of Honor and is a prominent Democrat 
of Richland Township. 

Robert O. Gill is one of the prominent resi- 
dents of Haynes, Ark., is a money lender and a 
large real estate owner, having become by his own 
industry the owner of 960 acres of land, with about 
260 acres under cultivation. His property is im- 
proved with good buildings and fences, and besides 
his own comfortable and pleasant home in Haynes, 
he owns another house and lot. He was born in 
Tennessee, in 1847, and is the second of seven 
children born to Nathaniel Y. and Susan A. 
(Bowles) Gill, also native-born citizens of Tennes- 
see. They removed to Phillips County, Ark., in 
1851, and settled twelve miles west of Helena, near 
what is known as Lexa, and there the father was 
manager of a plantation belonging to his uncle, 
Isaac Smith, and afterward worked in the same 
capacity for William Pillow. In 1856 he bought 
a farm west of Helena, known as Hude Park plan- 
tation, but sold out at the end of one year and be- 
came general manager of the plantation belonging 
to Mr. Pillow, remaining with him until the open- 
ing of the war, during which time he farmed on 
what is known as the Grant place. After the war 
was over he bought what is now known as the H. P. 
Rogers' place, and here made his home until 1867, 
when he became the owner of a farm three miles 
west of Haynes for one year, selling it then to Dr. 
Wood, moving in the spring of 1869 to La Grange, 
where he was engaged in the mercantile business 
until his death, December 16, 1873; his death was 
caused by pneumonia. His wife died December 3, 
1873, and both had been members of the Baptist 
Church for a number of years. Six of their seven 
children are now living: W. F. (who is a merchant 



^^^ 



^(V^ 



^t. 9 



^ 



LEE COUNTY. 



593 



at La Grange), Robert O., Maria M. , John Y. (of 
Texas), I. S. (of Texas), and Mary P. (wife of W. 
L. Howard, of La Grange). Robert O. Gill was 
reared and educated in Phillips and Lee Counties. 
He received only the advantages of a common- 
school education in his early youth, the turmoils 
of war placing it beyond the power of his parents to 
send him to higher institutions of learning, bat by 
self- application and much reading he is one of the 
best posted and most intelligent men of the county. 
At the age of twenty -one years, or in 1868, he be- 
gan life for himself as a farmer, but after farming 
on rented land for one year he began merchandis- 
ing in La Grange, his capital stock amounting to 
$600, which ho had earned the previous year. 
Since 1883 he has been a resident of Haynes, and 
until the spring of 1889 followed merchandising, 
but then sold out and has been following his pres- 
ent occupation. He is a man who favors all laud- 
able public enterprises and in his political views is 
a Democrat. Socially he is a member of the K. 
of H. , La Grange Lodge No. 2166, and has held 
nearly all the chairs in the local lodge. In the 
spring of 1875 he was married to Miss Cornelia L. 
Smith, a daughter of G. B. and Susan S. Smith, 
natives of Northern Alabama, who removed to 
Arkansas a few years prior to the late Civil War. 
Mrs. Smith died in 1888. Of the seven children 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Gill, two are now living: 
Alma L. and Robbie. 

Joseph O. Gray. Payton R. Gray, a prominent 
and wealthy planter of Bear Creek Township, was 
born in Livingston County, Ky. , in 1818, being a 
son of Presley Gray, also a Kentuckian l)y birth 
and a tiller of the soil, as was his father, originally 
from Virginia. Presley Gray was a member of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and lived until 
his seventy- second year. His wife, Maria (Hodge) 
Gray, was connected with the Baptist Church. She 
was the mother of seven children, all of whom are 
yet living, five residents of Kentucky, one of Iowa 
and our immediate subject, who has been a citizen 
of this State since 1847. He took charge of the 
old homestead at the age of twenty years, and two 
years later was married to Mrs. Eliza (Dunn) 
Thrailkill, who died a year after, leaving one child, 



which only lived nine months. He then married 
Miss Maria Woods. She died shortly after his 
removal to Mississippi, in 1844, leaving three chil- 
dren, all deceased. He was next married to Mrs. 
Margaret S. Bohanan (nee Dickson), a native of 
Paris, Ky., who died in 1883. They were 
the parents of two children: Blanche (widow 
of John E. Burke, living with her father) and 
Joseph O. (who was born in Coahoma County, 
Miss., in 1848.) His father having been drafted 
for the Confederate service in 1863, our subject 
went as a substitute, and served in Dobbin's regi- 
ment of Confederate cavalry until the close of the 
war, operating in Eastern Arkansas and Missouri, 
and receiving his discharge in January, 1865. He 
was then employed in farming and clerking until 
1872, when he entered into the mercantile business 
at Philips Bayou, in which he has since been en- 
gaged, with the exception of the years 1877-78. 
At that time farming occupied his .attention. Mr. 
Gray married in March, 1875, Miss Mary C. Wilk- 
ins, a native of Lee County, Ark. , and a daughter 
of Maj. Wilkins, an officer in the Confederate army, 
now deceased. They have had one son who is now 
deceased. Mr. Gray carries a stock of al)out $5,000, 
and his annual sales amount to over $40,000. He is 
also extensively occupied in farming, owning a 
half interest in 320 acres of fine land, besides some 
city property, and has the control of over 1,500 
acres of land. Mr. Gray is also the postmaster of 
Philips Bayou, which position he has filled for 
the past eight years. In connection with his other 
interests he is engaged in cotton ginning, operat- 
ing two steam gins and one horse-power cotton- 
gin. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M. His 
wife is a member of the Baptist Church. 

J. W. Greer's farm, comprising 160 acres, is 
one of the best for successful agricultural purposes 
to be found in this part of the county, and the 
manner in which it is conducted is in full keeping 
with the personal characteristics of its owner, a man 
of great energy and determination and of much 
perseverance. He was born in Union County, S. 
C, in 1836, and is a son of J. M. and Sarah A. 
(Sanders) Greer, the former a native of South Car- 
olina and of English-Irish descent. The paternal 



^ 



^^ 



'-^ 



594 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



grandfather, Robert Greer, and his brother, Orpha, 
served in the American Revolution, and the former 
was exiled from Ireland on account of his religious 
views, and after coming to the United States he 
settled iu South Carolina, and there left a large 
number of descendants, several of whom served in 
the War of 1812. J. W. Greer spent his youth in 
his native State, but in 1858 came west and set- 
tled near Helena, Ark., on a farm where he re- 
mained industriously at work until the Rebellion 
came up. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate 
army. Company B, Twenty-third Arkansas, of 
which he was captain, and participated in the fol- 
lowing battles: Corinth and the siege of Fort Hud- 
son, in which engagement he lost his left arm, it 
being shot off by a cannon ball. He was captured 
on July 9, 1863, and was retained a prisoner until 
the close of the war at New Orleans, Fort La Fay- 
ette, Bedloe's Island, Fort McHenry, Fort Dela- 
ware, then to Morris Island. After remaining at 
his old home for a number of years he came to 
Lee County, Ark., in 1878, and here has become 
well known and highly esteemed by all. He has 
been justice of the peace for eight years; is a mem- 
ber of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and 
has always tried to follow the teachings of the 
Golden Rule. He was married in 1885 to Mrs. 
Fannie R. Allen Harris, and by her has one child, 
Sarah F. He was first married to Elizabeth H. 
Patterson, who died leaving one child, Jason H. 

Gen. D. C. Govan was born in Northampton 
County, N. C. , July 4, 1829, and is a son of A. R. 
and M. P. (Jones) Govan, the former of whom was 
born in Orangeburg, N. C. , and was educated in 
South Carolina College at Columbia, some of his 
schoolmates being William C. Preston, George 
McDuff, Langdon C. Chevies, Hugh S. Lagree and 
other men of the South, who afterward became 
noted. After graduating from the above-named 
college he began his career as a planter in Orange- 
burg District, and was elected to Congress from 
there about the year 1825. About 1830 he emi- 
grated with his family westward to Tennessee, and 
there made his home until the removal of the 
Chickasaw Indians from the State of Mississippi, 
when he made that State his permanent abode, his 



death occurring there in 1841, at the age of forty- 
seven years. His wife was born in North Carolina 
in 1801, and by Mr. Govan became the mother of 
a large family of children, her death occurring at 
the age of eighty-seven years. Gen. D. C. Govan 
grew to manhood in Northern Mississippi, and was 
prepared for college by Rev. Francis L. Hawks, 
and graduated from the Columbia (S. C.) College, 
in 1848. There was a military company kept in 
drill at this institution, then the best in the State, 
and of this company Mr. Govan was a member. 
Immediately upon graduating he joined his fellow- 
kinsman, Gen. Ben McCullough, on an expedition 
to California, their company consisting of twenty- 
one men, all of whom, with the exception of two or 
three, were experienced Texan and old Indian 
fighters. They left Mississippi on October 1 and 
traveled through Texas and Mexico north to Mont- 
erey, thence to the seacoast, where they took pas- 
sage on board a vessel bound for the Golden Gate, 
and reached San Francisco late in December. They 
engaged in hunting and trajjping until the next 
spring, and then found that they had accumulated 
sufficient money to engage in mining, which they 
did (with the understanding between our subject 
and Mr. McCullough that they were to share 
equally in the results of their western expedition) 
and fitted out a party to go to the mountains and 
commence operations. Just at this juncture the 
Teri'itorial legislature of California passed a law 
imposing a tax on all foreigners mining in the Ter- 
ritory. California was then divided into two dis- 
tricts and Mr. McCullough received the appoint- 
ment of collector for the Southern District, a 
position which he and Mr. Govan supposed would 
prove fabulously remunerative, and Mr. Govan 
took charge of the mining expedition and went up 
the San Joaquin River. He met with fair success 
in mining, and said that had they not been trying 
to make a competence in a few days, might have 
amassed a fortune. He mined on various rivers 
until he reached the North Fork of the American 
River, when he received a letter from Gen. McCul- 
lough saying that the foreign tax could not be 
collected, and the law was a failure, and requested 
him to meet him in Sacramento, where they would 



-% 



>v 



<s w 



LEE COUNTY. 



595 



prepare for anotlier mining expedition. When 
they reached that place tlie shorill' of the county 
had been killed and a special election was being 
held, whereupon Mr. McCullough became a candi- 
date and was elected. Mr. Govan then sold out 
hi.s mining outfit and became deputy sheriff, the 
former gentleman ofificiating in that capacity from 
October, 1850, to July, 1855, and did the first 
legal execution in the State of California after it 
had been admitted into the Union, hanging three 
men for highway robbery. He returned to hia 
home in Mississippi immediately after retiring from 
the .sheriff's office, Mr. Govan returning at the same 
time. The latter was married in Mississip|)i, in 
December, 1853, to Miss Mary F. Otey, a daughter 
of the Rt. Rev. James Otey, of Mississippi, and 
the following December he came to Arkansas, lo- 
cating in that part of Phillips County, which sub- 
sequently became Lee County. He was a success- 
ful planter until the opening of the war, then began 
raising a company for the Confederate army, which 
afterward became a part of the Second Arkansas 
Regiment, rmder Gen. Hindiuan. They operated 
first in Southeastern Missouri, but were soon 
transferred to the Army of Toniu>sse(\ of which 
they formed the advance under Gen. Albert Sidney 
Johnston. Mr. Govan was appointed lieutenant- 
colonel in October, 1801, and at their nvpu^st acted 
as colonel in the battles of Shiloh, Perryvillo and 
Murfreesboro, after which he was given command 
of a brigade, and acted as brigadier general at 
Chattanooga. Missionary Ridge, Ringgold and other 
[jlaces, receiving his commission after these bat- 
tles. He was all through the Georgia campaign, 
and was in some of the bloodiest tights around At- 
lanta, biit showed through all great intrepidity and 
courage. In the memorable tight on July 22d. ho 
captured the Sixteenth Iowa Regiment with its 
colors, and fractions of other companies. Gen. Mc- 
Pherson was killed in front of his command. After 
almost twenty years had passed away ho still had 
the colors of the Sixteenth Iowa Regiment, and 
about this time entered into a corresj)ondence with 
Gen. Belknap, and upon being invited to attend a 
Federal soldiers' reunion held at Cedar Rapids, 
Iowa, he did so and returned the colors to the Six- 



teenth Iowa which ho had cajitured, and received 
in return a gold-hoadod cane. In the battle of 
Chickamauga, the great-grandson of Thomas Jeff- 
erson was killed in front of Gen. Govan's com- 
mand, ho being Maj. Sidney Collidge, and his 
sword fell into the hands of Gen. Govan. It was 
afterward reca|itnrod, and tliis led to an inquiry 
from Collidge's friends as to his whereabouts, and 
the facts of his death was related to them by Gen. 
Govan. The name of this introjtid general will 
live in the hearts of the Southern people as long as 
they revere the heroes who fought in their service, 
for he was among the bravest of the brave, and 
stood shoulder to shoulder with Gen. P. R. Cle- 
burne, Cheatham and others, as far as bravery and 
ability as a commanilor is concerned. At the close 
of the war he returned to his plantation and here 
has lived a quiet and retired life ever since. Al- 
though ho is very popular and much beloved by 
all, and could easily obtain any oUice he might de- 
sire and which the people of Arkansas coixld con- 
fer ujMjn him, yet he has never boon an aspirant 
for any civil office, and is of a rather retiring dis- 
position, although he possesses the true courtesy 
and polished manners for which the people of the 
South are famous. 

Francis H. Govan, intimately associated with 
the affairs of Lee Connty, as deputy clerk of the 
circuit court, was a niomlier of Morgan's terrible 
band in his raid through Ohio. He was in the 
Confederate army from the beginning of the war 
until its close, tirst in tlie Northern Virginia divie 
ion, in which he served until the seven-days' tight 
around Richmond, when ho was transferred to the 
Westoru divisJDii, romaining in Morgan's cavalry 
until after his Oliio raid. He was subsequently 
appointed aid de-cam]) on tlie staff of his uncle, 
Gen. D. C. Govan, holding that position until the 
cessation of ho.stilities, but spending the latter 
days of th(> war in the hospital on account of a 
wound received at tlie battle of Franklin. After 
his return from the army Mr. Govan attended the 
University of Mississippi, anil in 18<)7 came to 
Arkansas, and located in this county, where he en- 
gaged in merchandising when not holding office. 
He was elected county clerk in 1874, and again in 



596 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



1876, and in 1885 was appointed deputy clerk of 
the circuit court, which office he still occuj)ies. 
He was married in this county in 1875 to Miss 
Minnie Ford, who was born in Kentucky in 1855. 
They are the parents of four children: Bettie H., 
Laura P., Francis H. and Eaton P. Mr. Govan's 
birth occurred in Mississippi in 1846, and he was 
reared at Holly Springs, that State, there receiv- 
ing a common-school education. He is a son of 
E. P. Govan, a native of North Carolina, and of 
Scotch descent, his great-grandfather having been 
born in that country, though he emigrated to the 
United States. His grandfather, of South Caro- 
lina origin, was a member of Congress from that 
State. The father of our subject died in 1882, at 
the age of fifty-five years. His wife was a native 
of Connecticut, and a daughter of Rev. Francis L. 
Hawks, a distinguished Episcopal minister. Mr. 
Govan is a member of the A. F. & A. M., in 
which order he has risen to the rank of Knight 
Templar. He also belongs to the Knights of 
Honor and the Royal Arcanum. He is a man who 
enjoys the continued esteem of his acquaintances, 
and as a county official has discharged the duties 
connected with his office with entire satisfaction to 
all concerned, and the credit of himself. The 
records in his charge are a model of neatness and 
accuracy. 

Ferdinand Louis Gustavus is one of the men 
who escorted Jefferson Davis and his cabinet 
south on their flight from Richmond. He enlisted 
in 1862, in a company of cavalry, which was 
made up and mustered in service at Memphis, 
Tenn., although composed mostly of men from 
Phillips and St. Francis County. He participated 
in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, luka, Atlanta, 
and most of the battles of his division, and was 
in the command of Gen. J. E. Johnston, at the 
time of his surrender in May, 1865. Mr. Gusta- 
vus was born in Winnebago County, Wis., April 
29, 1832, and was the oldest son of John G. and 
Charlotte A. (Koepner) Gustaviis, natives of 
Prussia. Mr. Gustavus was born in 1806, and 
was reared within fifteen miles of Berlin, being 
married in 1830. In 1831 they emigrated to this 
country, and settled in Wisconsin, where they 



lived until their respective deaths, in 1862 and 
1864. Both were members of the Lutheran 
Church, and were the parents of seven children, 
six of whom are living: Ferdinand L., Robert, 
Bertie, Theodore, Maria and Henry. The pater- 
nal grandfather of our subject was a soldier under 
Napoleon, and held the position of lieutenant in 
the Prussian army. Mr. Gustavus commenced 
farming at the age of twenty-two in the State 
of Wisconsin, but moved to Arkansas in 1856, 
where he was engaged as an overseer in Phillips 
County, until his enlistment in the army. After 
his return from the battlefield, he purchased the 
farm on which he still resides. The land is well 
adapted to the growing of cotton, corn, clover, and 
small grain. He was married April 14, 1867, to 
Lucy A. Rives, of Phillips County, where she 
was born January 28, 1848, being a daughter of 
John H.and Jane C. (Bonner) Rives, both deceased. 
They had a family of eight childi'eu, seven of 
whom survive: Mary F. (wife of C. J. McQuien, 
a fai-mer of Lee County), Jane A. (wife of Guss 
Roesher, also of Lee County), John H. , Augusta 
E., Carrie L. , Hattie C. and Frederick L. Mr. 
Gustavus is a leading Democrat, and has served 
his party and the people of his township as justice 
of the peace for the past eight years. He has 
been a member of the school board of this dis- 
trict since 1868. He and wife and four children 
are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. 
He also belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and of 
the Knights of Honor. Mr. Gustavus, having 
farmed in the Northern State.s as well as tlie 
Southern States, is capable of forming a correct 
opinion of both localities in regard to climate, soil, 
and general advantages and disadvantages for 
those who follow farming for an occupation, and 
in his judgment Arkansas can not be excelled. 

Robert E. Hale is a direct descendant of the 
celebrated Chief Justice Matthew Hale of England. 
His parents, Richard C. and Driscilla (Mathews) 
Hale, were natives of Bedford County, Va. The 
former was born in 1798 and when a young man 
moved to Alabama, and afterward to Hardin Coun- 
ty, Tenn. , where he remained about ten years, then 
going to Pulaski County, 111. This was the home 



^^ 



of himself and wife until their death, Mr. Hale dy- 
ing in 1848 and Mrs. Hale in 1884, at the ago of 
ninety years. He started in life as a In'ick mason, 
but during the latter years of his career became a 
prominent contractor and builder, and was an in- 
fluential man in Pulaski County, 111., taking an 
active part in local politics. During the last four 
years of his life he held the office of probate judge. 
He was a son of Richard Hale, whoso birth oc- 
curred in Virginia shortly before the Revolutionary 
War. Mrs. Hale was a daughter of Joseph Crom- 
well Mathews, formerly from South Carolina, who 
was a soldier in the Revolutionary ^Var when a 
young man. He was married in South Carolina 
to Miss Penina Crisj^, afterward removing to Ala- 
bama, then to the States of Tennessee, Kentucky 
and finally back to Texas in 1835, where they re- 
mained until their deaths, which occurred in the 
year 1858 at the ages of ninety-two and ninety- 
four years, respectively. Both were members of 
the Christian Church, in which they took an active 
part. The Mathews family trace their lineage back 
to Oliver Cromwell, who was one of the early an- 
cestors of the family. The principal of this sketch 
was boi-n in Lauderdale County, Ala., in 1824, be- 
ing the third of three sons and three daughters. 
He was married in Pulaski County, 111., in 1848, 
to Miss Susan J. Hawpe, a daught(>r of Judge 
George Hawpe. She was born in Hall (bounty, 
Ga. , in 1830. Mr. and Mrs. Halo became the par- 
ents of twelve children, four of whom are still liv- 
ing: James G., Lillian C. , Joseph O. and William 
M. Mr. Hale made Illinois his liomc until 1S55, 
when he came to Arkansas and located in that por- 
tion of Phillips County, which is now included in 
Lee County. For some years after his adviMit he 
carried on the mercantile and luml)er business at 
JefFersonville. The Mexican War V)reaking out a 
few years before his marriage, he enlisted in Com- 
pany B of the Second Illinois Infantry, in which 
he served as sergeant, having command of his com- 
pany at the battle of Buena Vista. Upon the com- 
mencement of the Civil War he was commissioned 
captain, but did not enter the service. At the time 
of his removal from Pulaski County, Mr. Halo held 
the position of county treasurer, collector and as- 



sessor, and had been postmaster of Haleside for a 
number of years. Since locating here he has served 
as justice of tiie peace for a number of years. He 
is now the owner of over 1,000 acres of land, and 
has about 250 acres under cultivation, all made 
since his arrival in this county, when ho had but 
12.50. Mr. Hale is a member of the A. F. & A. 
M., but has not afl!liat(><l with the order for a num- 
ber of years. He also belongs to the I. O. O. F. , 
and he and wife are connected with the Christian 
Church, taking an active part in religious move- 
ments. 

D. Hammond, |>roprietor of the Phojnix Hotel 
of Marianna, Ark., was born in Rochester, N. Y., 
November 3, 1S40, and, like the majority of the 
natives of the ''Empire State," he is enterpris- 
ing in his views, is industrious and the soul of 
honor. After remaining in his native State and 
attending the common schools until he attained his 
twentieth year, h(^ went to Missouri and worked as 
an engineer on the North Missouri Railroad for 
four years. When the war broke out he was run- 
ning a Government train, and was captured by 
Price just west of Mexico, Mo., and was taken to 
Northeastern Arkansas, where he was paroled upon 
taking the oath not to aid tho North during the 
remainder of the war. From Arkansas Mr. Ham- 
mond went to Nashville, Tenn., thence to Jackson, 
Mich., where he began working on the Michigan 
Central Railroad as an engineer between Detroit 
and Jackson, continuing two years. Ho was mar- 
ried to Miss Lucretia Blodgett, in Eaton Rapiils. 
Mich., she being a native of that place, and after 
ward went on the road selling steam fire-engines 
for (;ia]>p & Jones, of Hudson, N. Y. He fol- 
lowed this business some live j'ears, and in Octo- 
ber, 1871, during the great Chicago fire, he was on 
his way to St. Paul. Miim., to exhibit an engine, 
and was at Michigan City when the news of the 

' fire reached him. He immediately went with his 
engine to the scene of the lire, and for four niglits 

! and three days never left his post, but did all in 
his power to assist in subduing tho flames. He 
afterward took his engine to St. I'aul. where he 
sold it, also two others, notwithstanding the fact 
that he had to encounter much competition. Ho 



^ 



^i 



-4>?' 



598 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



finally Ipft the road and began working with an 
engine in the tire department of Greenville, Mich., 
the city paying him $150 per month and furnishing 
him with a house, fuel and gas. At the end of 
one year he went to Fort Scott, Kan. , and made 
his home for five years at that point. Here he put 
up a 100-battery steam-boiler, and ran it until it 
was moved to Marianna, Ark., on February 17, 
1889. He put up the present engine in Marianna 
and managed it until a short time since, when he 
turned it over to his son, and became the proprietor 
of the Phcenix Hotel, in which he has made many 
needed changes and improvements. He and wife 
have two children: Luther and Maud. He is a 
Democrat, and belongs to the Brotherhood of Lo- 
comotive Engineers. His parents, S. and Clarin- 
da (Howe) Hammond, were born in Clarendon, Vt. , 
in 1799 and New York, in 1811, respectively. The 
father was a farmer, and immigrated to Missouri, 
locating at St. Charles, where he died in 1881, 
his wife dying one year later. Of their family of 
two sons and three daughters, all are living. 

William L. Harper, physician and surgeon, 
Clifton, Ark. Dr. Harper is recognized through- 
out the county as a friend and laborer in the cause 
and advancement of the medical fraternity. He is 
a native of Georgia, his birth occurring in Gilmer 
County in 1864, and received his primary educa- 
tion in that State. At the age of nineteen years 
he entered the Medical College at Atlanta, gradu- 
ating fi'om that institution in his twenty-first year. 
He first commenced his practice in his native 
county, removing from there to Arkansas in 1886, 
and settled where he now lives. He enjoys a 
large and lucrative practice, which is gradually in- 
creasing, and a bright future is opening before 
him. He is a genial and generous gentleman, lib- 
eral in his ideas, a protector of the rights of, a 
strong promoter of the welfare of, and in deep 
sympathy with, humanity. He is a member of the 
Knights of Pythias at Marianna, Ark. The Doc- 
tor is the third of ten children, the result of the 
union of Lindsey and Margaret (Osborn) Harper, 
natives of Georgia. Lindsey Harper was a promi- 
nent farmer of his coiinty and was a soldier in the 
late war. Retui-ning home after his service he 



found himself financially ruined, but since then, 
by close attention to business, and by economy, he 
has succeeded in accumulating a comfortable com- 
petency. He and wife still reside in Georgia, and 
both are members of the Baptist Church. Of the 
ten children born to their union, eight are yet liv- 
ing and all reside in Georgia with the exception of 
Dr. William L. The maternal grandparents are 
both yet living, the grandfather at the age of 
eighty- four years and the grandmother at the age 
of eighty years. The former has been a minister 
in the Baptist Church for a number of years and 
has followed agricultural pursuits all his life. The 
paternal grandparents died during the war. The 
grandfather was taken from his house and shot by 
bushrangers, as were several other old and vener- 
able men in the neighborhood, for the simple rea 
son that they did not wish to part with all their 
property. 

V. M. Harrington enjoys enviable prominence 
as the faithful sheriff of Lee County. A native of 
Delaware, he lived there until eighteen years of 
age, attending the common schools of the county 
of his birth, but having from his childhood im- 
bibed a love of the South and Southern people, at 
an early age he moved to Mississippi, locating at 
Jackson, where he was employed as a clerk in a 
store until the breaking out of the war. Then he 
was given a position in the Confederate service at 
Brookhaven, Miss., and afterward was made quar- 
termaster-sergeant in a Confederate camp. Though 
devoted to the South, he was at heart a Union 
man, and was unwilling to fight voluntarily against 
his country, so, after a long tramp and when nearly 
exhausted by hunger and fatigue, he reached the 
Federal lines. The Union officers tried to induce 
him to give them information in regard to their 
enemy's forces, location, etc., but having been 
employed by the Southern people and having lived 
among them, 'he refused to act the part of a spy. 
After the war he was again engaged as clerk. A 
Mr. Miller becoming intimately acquainted with 
him and interested in his welfare, furnished him 
with the necessary capital to enter into the mer- 
cantile business for himself. A wholesale house 
also offered to supply him with goods for carrying 






i ^V 



IS J>^ 



-i s 



LEE COUNTY. 



5'J9 



on a business of many thonsand dollars, both of 
which offers he accepted, devoting Lis jitl-entioii to 
commercial pursuits in Tennessee until 1871, at 
which time he sold out and removed Arkansas, lo- 
cating at Palestine, St. Francis County. There he 
resumed the mercantile business, but soon moved 
to Marianna, where he went into the same occupa- 
tion, carrying it on until 1886, the time of his 
election as sheriff of the county. He was re- 
elected in 1888. Mr. Harrington's wife was for- 
merly Miss Georgia A. Wood, and she is now the 
mother of three children: Samuel, V. M. and 
James W. Mr. Harrington was born in Kent 
County, Del., in 1842, and was a son of Samuel 
and Sallie A. (Moore) Harrington. The collections 
of the county revenues made by Mr. Harrington 
as sherifp and collector of the county of the cur- 
rent year will aggregate 99 per cent. The lowest 
he has ever reached is 97i per cent. 

John W. Hayes, M. D., was born in Pittsboro, 
N. C, June 4, 1848, at which place he received his 
early education. He was afterward a student of the 
Hillsboro Military Academy, and then attended 
Davidson College, North Carolina, being in the 
Classical Department. In the third year of the Civil 
War he enlisted in the Confederate army, where 
he remained until the close, serving in the cavalry 
department. Company F, Thirteenth North Caro- 
lina Battalion. After peace had been declared Mr. 
Hayes went to Jackson, Teun., and studied medi- 
cine under his uncle. Dr. J. G. Womack, one year, 
following which he attended a course of lectures 
at the University of Louisville, Kj'. , and the follow- 
ing year at the Washington University, graduating 
the next spring. Subsequently he commenced 
practicing medicine at Denmark, Tenn., was lo- 
cated there seven years, and in 1877 came to Ar- 
kansas, settling at Marianna, where he has been 
since engaged in attending to the calls of his 
adopted profession. Dr. Hayes is a son of Dr. W. 
A. Hayes and Jennette Womack Hayes. Ho was 
married to Miss Lou Moore, of Brownsville, Tenn., 
October 9, 1872. Dr. Hayes was one of the or- 
ganizers of the Lee County Medical Association, 
which is one of the best in the State. He was elected 
State Jledieal Examiner of the K. of H. , in Octo- 



ber, 1884, and re-elected to fill the same consecu- 
tively for several years. Ho took a full course at the 
New York Polyclinic, in 1886; is a member of the 
Arkansas State Society and the American IMedical 
Association. He has a brother also a physician, W. 
G. Hayes, M. D. , of Bowie, Texas. Dr. Hayes and 
wife are the parents of two children living: Jean- 
nette (a student at Batesville, Ark., College), and 
John W., Jr. 

Ennes M. Henley first saw the light pf day in 
Massac County, 111., on January 28, 1832, and is 
the son of William and Malinda (Smith) Henley, 
natives of Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively. 
They were married in Illinois in 1828, and were 
the parents of twelve children, seven now living: 
Ennes M. , Matilda (widow of Kennard Steward, of 
Lee County), John (a farmer of Illinois), Elijah (a 
lawyer, of Marianna and also postmaster of that 
city), Rebecca (the widow of Nicholas Phelps), 
Isaac (a farmer residing in Missouri), Mary (widow 
of Henry Lynn), Louisa (the wife of Simon Pierce). 
Mr. Henley died in Illinois, in the seventy-fifth 
year of his life, his wife having died one year pre- 
vious. Ennes M. was reared in Illinois and re- 
ceived such advantages for an education as the 
primitive schools of the period would admit, ac- 
cepting, when twenty years of age, the position of 
watchman on the steamer St. Francis, running on 
the St. Francis River. Later he worked on the 
Mississippi River on various boats. He settled in 
Monroe County, Ark., in 1859, and engaged ]fx 
farming, and this has been bis occupation ever 
since. He now owns an excellent farm in the 
western portion of Lee County, consisting of 240 
acres, 100 of it being in a high state of cultivation. 
The princii)al i)roducts are corn and cotton, and clo- 
ver and the grasses to some extent, and he is ijuite 
successful also in raising all kinds of stock. He 
owns a steam cotton-gin and grist mill, valued at 
$1,000, a comfortable residence with modern im- 
provements and conveniences lieing among his late 
additions. Mr. Henley was married in Monroe 
County December 23, 1858, to Miss Louisa F. 
Settles, of Giles County, Tenn. She was born in 
1831, being the daughter of S. P. and Mary J. 
(Cunningham) Settles. Mr. Settles, a native of 



600 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Virginia, and of Irish descent, died in Arkansas in 
1854. Mrs. Settles closed her eyes to the scenes 
of this world in 1872. To Mr. and Mrs. Henley's 
marriage eight childi-en have been born : William 
F., James L., Andy S., Charley W. (residing in 
Brinlcley), Mary M., Josephus B., Jason L. and 
Ennes W. William F. died in 1880. Mr. Henley 
served in the Civil War, enlisting in 1802 in Com- 
pany C, Capt. John Foreman's Second Arkansas 
Infantry Volunteei-s, which was afterward Gen. 
Go van's command. He participated in the battles 
of I-'erryville, Missionary Eidge, Franklin, Nash- 
ville and many others of minor importance. He was 
mustered out of service at the surrender in 1865. 
Hon. John Marshall Hewitt (deceased), of Mari- 
anna. Ark., was bom in Frankfort, Ky., July 22, 
1841, and was a son of John Marshall Hewitt, of 
that city, an eminent lawyer and for many years 
judge of the circuit court at Frankfort. Our sub- 
ject received a classical education in the schools of 
his native city in his youth, but before he had at- 
tained his majority the Civil War broke out, and 
the following lines in regard to it are given in his 
own words : ' ' The war was a bitter experience for 
me, for my father had two sons in the Union army 
and two sons in the Confederate, also one son-in-law 
on each side. All my old schoolmates and asso- 
ciates, as well as relatives in Kentiicky, were about 
equally divided in sympathy, and one of my 
brothers was killed at Fort Donelson, on the Con- 
federate side." Mr. Hewitt was a member of 
the Kentucky State militia when the war broke 
out, and in 1861 he joined the Federal army as 
adjutant of the Second Kentucky Cavalry, and was 
attached to the staff of Gen. Rousseau as assistant 
acting adjutant-general. He participated in the 
battle of Shiloh, and was captured by Gen. John 
Morgan, while the latter was on his first raid in 
Kentucky, but in the night he succeeded in efFect- 
ing his escape, and returned to his command. 
After the war he returned to his home in Kentucky, 
and was admitted to the bar by the court of appeals, 
in 1865, and the following year ho immigrated to 
St. Francis County, Ark., and engaged in cotton- 
planting. In 1873, when Lee County was formed, 
ho moved to Marianna and resumed the practice of 



his profession, continuing this in connection with 
planting until his death. Although a Federal sol 
dier, he was all his life an active Democrat, and 
although he came to Ai'kansas at a time when he 
could have had any office, or could have grown 
rich by affiliating with the Republican party, he 
would not do so, but stuck to his principles and 
party, unscathed by the political cyclone that 
swept Arkansas. He labored zealously for the ad- 
vancement of the material interests of the State, 
and his fellow-citizens honored him for his efforts. 
He has been an active leader of his party, and was 
elected by the Democratic State Convention to the 
National Democratic Convention, which met at St. 
Louis, Mo., in 1876. lu 1880 he was chosen to 
reijresent Lee County in the State legislature, and 
was elected speaker p7-o tern. In 1882 he was re- 
elected, and was chairman of the judiciary commit- 
tee. In 1884 he was again sent to the legislature, 
and during the session of 1885 he was chairman of 
the committee of circuit and justice courts. In 
1886 he was elected to his fourth term in the legis- 
lature, and was elected speaker of the house, and 
the Democratic State Convention, which met at 
the State capital in 1886, elected him president of 
the same. In January, 1886, he became president 
of the State Bar Association, but just as he had 
surmounted all primary obstacles, and could have 
grasped the highest honors of the State, his career 
was cut short by the hand of death February 29, 
1887, his demise resulting from cancer of the 
tongue. Being a prominent member of the Ma 
sonic fraternity, his brother Masons kept his body 
in their hall for three days, that all might have an 
opportunity of paying due honor to his remains. 
His remains were taken to Memphis, Tonn., by the 
Commandery of Marianna, and at that city were 
met by the Commandery of Little Rock, and he 
was buried with the highest honors of his order, 
in Elmwood Cemetery. Determination was a 
marked trait of his character, and so was Christian 
fortitude and charity. Cut down in the meridian 
of manhood, at a time when it seemed possible for 
him to accomplish so much, his death was deeply 
lamented by all. Kentucky has given to Lee 
County many estimable citizens, but she has con- 



r 



LEE COUNTY. 



(501 



tributed none more highly respected or more wor- 
thy of respect, love and venei'atiou than was Mr. 
Hewitt. He was married to Miss Sallio Howard, 
of Memphis, Tenn. , and leaves her with one son to 
care for: John M. , Jr. Mrs. Hewitt is a daugh- 
ter of Wardlaw and Mary (Polk) Howard, tlu) 
father a Virginian, who immigrated to Tennessee, 
and was an opulent commission merchant prior to 
the war, and was the owner of vast property in 
Memphis. He was an arch secessionist, and had 
such unbounded faith in the Confederacy that he 
sold the whole of Howard row in Memphis for Con- 
federate money, which, of course, resulted in total 
loss. After the war he languished with broken 
spirits around the cotton exchange, but did not again 
enter active business life, and death claimed him 
in 1871. Mr. Hewitt's mother was born in Boli- 
var, Tenn., and was a daughter of AVilliam Polk, 
an uncle of President Polk. The Howards were 
an old English family, five brothers having come to 
America and participated in the Revolutionary 
"War. All but one died or were killed, and he is 
the origin of the family in this country. One of 
these brothers donated the square on which Wash- 
ington Monument now stands in Baltimore, Md. 
The grandmother of Mr. Hewitt was a sister of 
Uncle Ned Blackburn, of Kentucky, the father of 
Dr. Luke Blackburn, and Hon. J. C. Blackburn. 
J. A. Holbert is one of the leading farmers 
and stock raisers of Lee Coimty, Ark. , and here 
his birth occurred in 1843, he being the second 
child born to James M. and Antoinette (McDaniel) 
Holbert, who were born in Kentucky and Arkan- 
sas, respectively, the former's birth occurring in 
1809, and the Litter's in 1825. The father re- 
moved to this State in 1815, and after making his 
home here until 1849, he went to Mississippi and 
died opposite to where Helena, Ark. is. Our subject 
and his brother, A. J., who lives in Arizona, and 
is the sheriff of Maricojia County, are the only chil- 
cb-en born to their parents, and the mother died on 
November 29, 1843. James M. Holbert was mar- 
ried a second time in 1845, his wife being Mary 
McDaniel, a daughter of Archibald McDaniel, and 
one child, Antoinette, blessed this union, she being 
now the wife of N. B. Pumell, and resides in Pike 



County, Aik. After the death of Mr. Holbert his 
widow married a Mr. Hughes, and died during 
the war. J. A. Holbert received his education 
and rearing in St. Francis County, Ark., but at 
the ago of seventeen years he cb'opped farm work 
and liooks to enter the Confederate army, enlisting 
in Company G, Thirteenth Arkansas Infantry, 
under Col. Tappin, and served east of the Missis- 
sippi llivor for four years, being a participant in 
the following engagements: Belmont, Shiloh, Cor- 
inth, Knoxville, llichmond (Ky. ), Bardstown, 
Perryville, Atlanta and Jonosboro, where he was 
wounded and captured. He succeeded in effecting 
his escape after being retained only about twenty - 
four hours, and ho afterward came west and joined 
Capt. Coats' company, under Gen. Marmaduke, 
and operated in Arkansas. After surrendering he 
was given his freedom, and returned homo and be- 
gan farming on his grandfather's plantation. 
Prior to the war he had owned quite a large area 
of land, and a number of slaves, and his father 
owned nearly 100 slaves. The former carried the 
mail from Wittsburg to Helena, a distance of over 
seventy miles (there being only foui' postoffices 
on the route), through a heavy cane brake all 
the way. Although the country was very wild 
and unsettled at that time, Mr. Holbert says he 
never carried a pistol or a gun, and was never mo- 
lested, either by the wild animals or Indians. He 
now has one of the finest farms in the county, com- 
prising 200 acres of land, and has about 100 acres 
imder cultivation, on which is a splendid fi-ame r* 
idence and outbuildings. He was married in 
1809 to Miss C. L. Hannah, of this county, a 
daughter of John and Penelpia (Lynch) Hannah, 
natives of Ireland and Arkansas, respectively, and 
by her became the father of eight children, four 
of whom are living: Leo, J. J., Bell and Blanche. 
One child died at the age of five years and three 
in infancy. 

Joseph K. Hopkins is a native of Lee County, 
whither his parents had come two years before his 
birth. He attended the common schools of this 
locality until the death of his father (when he was 
sixteen years of age), when he commenced farming 
for himself. Mr. Hopkins was born in 1851, be- 



A^ 



fk 



602 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ing the son of Ai-clii>)ald and Martlia (O'Neal) Hop- 
kins, natives of North Carolina and Alabama, re- 
spectively. Archibald Hopkins removed from the 
State of his birth to Greene County, Ala. , when 
twenty years of age, and in 1849 to Arkansas, lo- 
cating in this county, where he was engaged in 
farming until called from earth, in 1867, at the 
age of tiftyone. His wife died when the principal 
of this sketch was a child. Both were members of 
the Baptist Church. After her death Mr. Hopkins 
married Miss Lou Purcell, of Woodruff County, 
who is now deceased. He was a successful farmer 
during life, but lost heavily by the war. He was 
the father of three children by his first marriage, 
two of whom are still living: William A. (also a 
farmer of this county) and Joseph K. (our subject). 
The latter was married, in 1869, to Mrs. Emma 
(Burrows) Poole, a daughter of Peter Burrows and 
widow of William Poole. They have one son, 
Joseph B. , who is at present helping his father in 
the store. Mr. Hopkins engaged in the mercantile 
business in 1876, and although starting with a 
small capital he has, by close economy and good 
business management, built up a satisfactory trade, 
and has the largest patronage of any store in this 
section of the township. He also owns one of the 
most extensive farms hereabouts, and in addition 
the control of a number of other tine farms. Al- 
thou^gh not an active politician, Mr. Hopkins is 
one of the leading Democrats in all campaign 
work. Mrs. Hopkins is a member of the Mission- 
ary Baptist Church. 

J. P. Houston is a farmer and stock raiser of 
Richland Township, Lee County, Ark., and was 
born in what is now Lee County (then Phillips) 
in 1851, being the second child born to James M. 
and Mary J. (Simpson) Houston. The parents 
settled in Arkansas in 1846, and in Richland Town- 
ship the same year, and here he purchased land to 
the extent of 160 acres, all of which was heavily 
timbered. He was a public-spirited citizen, a 
Democrat in his political views, and at the time of 
his death, in 1857, he was in full communion with 
the Methodist Episcoi)al Church. He was a son of 
Ross Houston, a Virginian, and was a second cousin 
of Gen. Sam Houston, of Texas. He and wife. 



who was born in the "Blue Grass State," were 
married in Alabama in 1845, and became the par- 
ents of three childieu: Mary A. (now Mrs. Coffey, 
of St. Francis County, Ark.), J. P. and Thomas 
R. (who died in the State of Arkansas in 1884). 
Mrs. Houston is still living, and makes her home 
with her son, J. P. She is a member of the Metho- 
dist Church, and is a true Christian in every respect. 
J. P. Houston's early life was spent at farm labor 
and while thus engaged he learned lessons of in- 
dustry and economy, which have stood him in good 
stead in later years. A portion of his early edu- 
cation was acquired in the schools of Middle Ten- 
nessee, and after attaining his twentieth year he 
started out in life for himself, and has since given 
his attention to farming, and is now residing on 
the old homestead, which comprises 320 acres, of 
which 230 are under cultivation. In 1886 he was 
united in marriage to Miss Tennie Hickman, a 
daughter of Nelson and Alabama (Moore) Hickman, 
who were Kentuckians, both of whom died in Ala- 
bama, the former's death occurring in 1862, and 
the latter's in 1867. Mr. Houston has always been 
a Democrat in his political views, and is interested 
in all matters relating to the welfare of the county 
in which he has so long made his home. He is a 
liberal patron of schools and chinches, and is al- 
ways found ready to assist the poor and afflicted. 
He and his wife have two children: Thomas Ross 
(born in 1886), and Anna May (born in 1888). 

Hon. William L. Howard is a native of Lee 
County, and has always made this locality his 
home. Consequently he is well known and the 
respect accorded him is as wide as his acquaint- 
ance. His father, desiring to give his children a 
thorough education, William was sent to neighbor- 
hood common schools until the war, after which a 
private tutor was employed, who prepared him for 
college. Ho then entered Burrett College in Van 
Buren County, Tenn., where he took a full course. 
In 1874, the year of his father's death, he took 
charge of the old homestead, near La Grange, on 
which he was born on December 23, 1849, as a son 
of Robert W. and Malinda (Harris) Howard, 
natives of Virginia and Kentucky, respectively. 
Robert W. Howard was born in 1814, Ijeing a son 



» "V'" 



^ 



a w. 



r^ 



LEE COUNTY. 



003 



of CLristopher Howard, also a Vir<i;inian by birth, 
who died in Kentucky. He was a small l)oy when 
his father moved to the Blue Grass State, in which 
he was reared on a farm, remaininir there until 
1840, when he came to Arkansas and located in 
what was then Phillips County, on the St. Francis 
River. After giving his attention to rafting tim- 
ber to New Orleans for the followiiif^ two years, 
he purchased the plantation on which he spent the 
remainder of his life, dying on March 11, 1874. 
Mrs. Howard was born in 1824, and is still living 
on the old homestead. Both were meml)ers of the 
Baptist Chui'ch, and the parents of nine children, 
six of whom survive, all residents of Richland 
Township, this county: Virginia F. (at home with 
her mother), William L. (the principal of this 
sketch), L. G. (a merchant of La (Jrauge, and a 
partner of William F. Gill, whose biography ap- 
pears in this work), Addie (wife of N. D. Ramey), 
E. J. (now justice of the peace of this township) 
and Robert W. (at home). William L. Howard 
was married on January Ifi, 1875, to Miss Emma 
L. Crook, who was born in White County, Tenn., 
in 1850, and died in February, 1884, leaving four 
children, three now living: Ida B. , Robert E. and 
Sallie H. He married his second and jiresent wife. 
Miss Maggie Broyles, a relative of his fir.st wife, 
and a native of the same county, January 14, 1886. 
They have a family of two children, Ethel Lee and 
William C. Mr. Howard has always taken a lead- 
ing part in the politics of this county, and is one 
of its prominent Democrats. He \yas elected cor- 
oner in 1878, and served two years; was afterward 
elected justice of the peace, and tilled that office 
the same length of time. He was then a candi 
date before the Democratic Nominating Convention 
in 1886 for sheriff, but was defeated. In 1888 he 
was elected to represent Lee County in the State 
legislature, which office he still acceptably holds. 
Mr. Howard, while not in public life, has followed 
agricultural pursuits for a livelihood, and owns a 
farm of 'd'2.0 acres of as tine land as can be found in 
Lee County, besides an interest in the old home- 
stead, consisting of 480 acres. He is a member of 
the Baptist Church, and Mrs. Howard belongs to 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, as did his first 



wife. Mr. Howard is also a member of the Royal 
Arcanum. 

Hon. H. N. Huttou, representative from Lee 
County, and who has been engaged in the practice 
of law in .Arkansas for over twenty nine years, is a 
graduate of t\w Lebanon Law School, and a very 
able attorney. Born in Franklin County, Tenn., in 
1835, he is a son of John and Margaret (David.'-on) 
Hutton, of Virginia and North (Carolina origin, re- 
spectivelj-. He received his literary education at 
Union University, Murfreesboro, Tenn., in which 
he took a full classical course, being a thorough 
scholar in Latin, Greek, and French, and from this 
institution was graduated on June 13, 1853. He 
then entered the Lebanon Law School, graduating 
in June, 1855, with the highest honors of his 
class. Mr. Hutton commenced practice at Slielby- 
ville, Tenn., and in 1860 came to Arkansas, lo- 
cating in this count}', and practicing at Helena. 
In 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate army, 
serving one year as adjutant-general on Gen. D. C. 
Govan' s staff. He then resigned his commission on 
account of poor health, and returned home. When 
the first court was organized at Helena, after tlic 
war, he was made prosecuting attorney, and at the 
expiration of his term of office, resumed regular 
law practice, in which he was engaged luitil 1874, 
when he was appointed to till the vacancy of judge 
of the circuit court, caused by the death of the 
former incumbent. Judge Fox. The office not 
being in his own district, he declined to accept the 
jiosition until having tirst communicated with tBe 
members of that circuit to see if his service would 
prove acceptable. Having received a favorable re- 
ply, he was installed in the office, and served until 
the expiration of the unexpired term. Judge Hut- 
ton removed to Arkansas before Lee County was 
formed, and when the <juestion of the organization 
of a new county was sufficiently agitated, he was 
elected to draft the bill for the formation of the 
same to be presented to the legislature. He tirst 
drew up a l)ill for that purpose, calling the proposed 
county Coolidge, but it was defeated. He next 
drew up another, taking for a name Woodford, 
which was also defeated l>y the senate. He then 
revised the bill, substituting the name Lee, which 



J^ 



604 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



was preseutecl during the latter part of the session, 
and it passed the lower house in a few momonts 
with great enthusiasm, and being sent to the senate 
also passed that body. On January 0, 1857, Mr. 
Huttou was married to Miss Cillie M. Mottley, a 
native of Tennessee, and a graduate of the Abbie 
Institute. They are the parents of four children: 
H. N., Jr., Walter S., J. T. and Herbert. Mr. 
Hutton, or Judge Hutton, as he is familiarly 
called, has devoted his time to hard study during 
life, and has developed a wonderful memory. In 
bis extensive practice he never takes notes of the 
evidence, relying wholly on that faculty, which 
never fails him. He is justly considered one of 
Lee's substantial and woi'thy citizens. 

A. Jastrawor, dealer in dry goods, groceries and 
diugs at White Hall, is a native of Prussia, being 
a son of Mark and Rose (Cohn) Jastrawer, also na- 
tives of that country. The former died when the 
principal of this sketch was a small boy, and his 
wife in 1875. Our subject was born in 1832 and 
was married in Prussia about 1803, to Miss Ester 
Cohn, also of that country, and who became the 
mother of two children, both now deceased. Mr. 
Jastrawer learned the shoemaker's trade while in 
his native country, at which he worked for a num- 
ber of years. Emigrating to America aboiit 1869 
he landed at New York City, where he remained, 
working at his chosen calling for about one year. 
He then went to Memphis, Tenn., and three years 
later came to Forrest City, where he was engaged 
in the same business for several years, subsequently 
removing to Lee County. He first started in the 
mercantile business in different parts of this 
county, and in 1883 located at White Hall, where 
he has since been occupied in general merchandis- 
ing, with excellent success, having acquired con- 
siderable property. He is the owner of 1,000 acres 
of land, of which half is under cultivation, and is 
enjoying a patronage of about $25,000 annually. 
Mr. Jastrawer is a member of the K. of H. and of 
two Jewish and German Lodges. 

J. L. Jenkins, farmer, Haynes, Ark. On Sep- 
tember 15, 1851, in Johnson County, Tenn., there 
was born to William and Sarah M. (Russel) Jen- 
kins a son, who is taken as the subject of this 



sketch. William Jenkins was born in South Caro- 
lina in 1805, thence removing, in 1833, to Johnson 
County, Tenn. Leaving that State in 1857 he 
went to Dent County, Mo. , where he remained the 
balance of his life, his death occurring July 27, 
1871. He was too old to participate in the late 
war, but this did not prevent him from being har- 
rassed by bushrangers. By his marriage to Miss 
Russel he became the father of ten childi-en, only 
two now living: Sophronia J. (wife of J. D. 
Crabtree, resides in Golden City, Mo.,) and J. L. 
(who was the youngest of the family. The mother 
was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church and died February 28, 1800. The paternal 
grandfather was an early settler of Tennessee, and 
was in one of the early wars. J. L. Jenkins passed 
his boyhood days in Dent County, Mo., received 
the benefit of a common-school education, and at 
the age of eighteen years commenced for himself 
in Dent County, where he farmed for some time on 
rented land. In 1872 he moved to St. Francis 
County, Ark. , and worked for wages on a farm for 
two years, after which (in 1878) he purchased a 
portion of his present place, forty acres. To this 
he has since added 160 acres, and has fifty-five 
acres under improvement. Besides this his wife 
has sixty acres of an undivided farm of 120 acres, 
on which Mr. Jenkins now resides. He was mar- 
ried in 1876 to Miss Annie E. Stanfield, a native of 
Lee County and the daughter of Clark and Jane 
(Myrick) Stanfield, natives, respectively, of Ala- 
bama and Arkansas. The Myrick family were 
among the early settlers of Arkansas, having made 
their appearance here as early as 1820 or 1825, 
and were prominently identified with the early set- 
tlement of the coimtry. Mr. and Mrs. Stanfield 
were the parents of four children, two now living: 
Mrs. Jenkins (the eldest) and J. M. (who resides 
with Mr. Jenkins). Mr. Stanfield died in 1883 
and Mrs. Stanfield in 1876, the former a member 
of the A. F. & A. M. To the union of Mr. and 
Mrs. Jenkins were born five children: P. J. (de- 
ceased), Willie A., Nora L., Hattie M. (deceased) 
and Joseph B. Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and 
are liberal contributors and supporters of all lauda- 



" •f*' i 



-A 2> 



LEE COUNTY. 



005 



ble enterprises, particularly those pertaining to re- 
ligious anil educational mattors. Mr. Joiikiiis is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, Cannon Loilgu 
No. 254, and is also a member of the Knights of 
Honor, Lodge No. 2 108. 

Samuel L. Johnson has workeil at farm labor 
since a young boy, his fatlier having died when 
he was but two years of age, and the mother when 
the son was eighteen years old. At the age of 
tifteen he was employed as a farm hand in Monroe 
County, but shortly after started to learn the trad(» 
of blacksmithing, soon returning to farm labor, at 
which he was employed until he bought a farm 
of his own. He now owns 280 acres of fine farm- 
ing land in Lee County, with half of it under cul- 
tivation. Mr. Johnson was born in Monroe County 
January 4, 1850, his parents, Hardin and Eliza 
beth (Davis) Johnson, being natives of Mississippi 
and South Carolina, respectively. They removed 
from Mississippi to Arkansas in 1842, and located 
in Monroe County on a farm, on which Mr. John- 
son lived until his death in 1852. Two years later 
Mrs. Johnson married James Ganl)(<rry, and sur- 
vived until 1868. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson had a 
family of four children, three of whom are still 
living: Julia (wife of William Moy, a farm(*r of 
Monroe County), Thomas B. (a resident of Illinois), 
and Samuel L. (the principal of this sketch). The 
latter was married March 20, 1880, to Miss Nan- 
nie Ruscoo, of Alabama birth, who lived only two 
years after her marriage, leaving two childi-en, 
one of whom, Laura E., still survives. He was 
married to his second and present wife, Mary A. 
JeEFcoat, a native of this State, April 4, 1883. 
She was a daughter of William K. and Nancy J. 
(Fisher) Jeffcoat, both now deceased. By this 
marriage there was born one child, Bessie V. Mr. 
Johnson is a Democrat, and takes an active inter- 
est in the success of his party. He and wife are 
leading members of the Presbyterian Church, and 
live upright Christian lives. 

John M. Johnson. The estate which Mr. John- 
son now cultivates and owns, comprises 500 acres, 
of which 300 are under cultivation, and it is well 
adapted to the purposes of general farming. In 
his operation he displays those sterling principles 



so characteristic of those of Virginian nativity, of 
which industry and wise and judicious manage- 
ment are among the chief. He was born in llussidl 
County, October 23, 1857, and is a son of Jacob 
Johnson, who was born in CaiToU County, Va., in 
1830, his wife, Malinda Foster, being also a native 
of that State, Ijorn in 1832. Their marriage took 
place in 1847, and to their union a family of seven 
children were born, of whom John M. is the fourth. 
Only three of this family are now living, and all 
reside in Lee County: Benjamin F. (who married 
Ida L. lliner), Nannie (who married H. E. Sapp) 
and Jacob. The father was a man of piiblic spirit 
and took an interest in all worthy public enter- 
prises wherever he lived. He served in the Con- 
federate army during 1861-62, but in the latter 
year returned home and died of small-pox. He 
was a farmer by occupation, and at the time of his 
death owned a good farm of 200 acres. His widow 
survives him, and resides in Lee County, Ark., 
with her daughter. John M. Johnson received his 
education in the schools of Sulphur Springs, Va. , 
but in 1877 concluded to seek his fortune in the 
West, and immigrated with his mother to Arkansas, 
locating in Lee County, where, in 1881, he began 
business for himself. He has a well-improved and 
well stocked farm, and his management shows a 
thorough knowledge of the business. 

S. D. Johnston is a member of that well known 
general mercantile firm of Johnston & Grove, of 
Marianua, Ark., which has existed under the pres- 
ent title since 1881, having previously been J«fr- 
ratt, Rodgors & Co., and Johnston, Foreman & 
Co. These two firms were really one and the busi- 
ness of both houses was koi)t in one set of books 
and as one firm. Later, the firm name was changed 
to Johnston, Rodgers & Co. , and Johnston, Fore- 
man & Co., and finally to Johnston & Grove. 
Their establishment is among the leading ones in 
Eastern Arkansa.s, and they occupy one of the main 
business houses in Marianna, having regularly in 
their employ seven men, besides assisting in the 
work themselves. The main room is 27x125 feet, 
the large stock of goods occupying parts of two 
other fioors, and ranging from $15,000 to ^20.0(X). 
Their highest annual sale, made in 1879, amounted 



® w. 



606 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



to $140,000, but of late years have aggregated 
from $75,000 to $85,000. They also own two 
farms. Mr. Johnston is a Kentuckian by birth, 
born in 1849. He was reared to manhood in his 
native State and after acquiring a fair education 
in the common schools supplemented this by a 
course in college at Columbia, Ky., and in 1872 
took a complete course in Leddin's Business Col- 
lege, Memphis, Tenn., graduating therefrom in 
October, 1872. Immediately after ho came to 
Marianna and for some time acted as book-keeper 
for the mercantile firm of Jarratt & Rodgers. serv- 
ing them in this capacity until 1877. Also during 
this time from 1884 he had a half interest in the 
mercantile firm of Johnston & Foreman, in Mari- 
anna, keeping the books and attending to the 
financial part of the business. When the two 
firms consolidated, the styles being then changed 
to Jarratt, Rodgers & Co. and Johnston, Fore- 
man & Co. , he was an equal partner in both 
houses. Unlike the majority of the young men 
of the present day he judiciously saved his money 
and in the investment of the same he has shown 
excellent judgment, and in every respect de- 
serves the reputation he has acquired as a success- 
ful business man. He not only owns a one-half 
interest in the mercantile firm, but also some of the 
most valuable property in the city, consisting of a 
two story brick store building, a valuable residence 
and other real estate in the business portion. He 
is an active worker for the ujiljuilding of the town 
and county, and has done much to assist in elimi- 
nating the whisky tiaffic from Marianna. He is 
the fire insurance agent of Marianna, representing 
eight of the best fire insurance companies; is an 
active member and official of the Methodist Church 
and the Royal Arcanum, a K. of H. , a K. & L. of 
H. , a commissioner of accounts for Lee County, 
and also belongs to the I. O. G. T. He was mar- 
ried in 1875 at Austin, Miss., to Miss Mollie F. 
Grove, and by her has two children living: Mary 
E. and Sarah A. He was married the second time 
at Brownsville, Tenn., to Miss Nita Mann, his 
present wife, and by her has one child: Willie 
Webster. J. B. Grove, the junior member of the 
above-named firm, was born in West Tennessee in 



1849, and made his home in that State several 
years as salesman in a dry-goods store until about 
twenty years ago, when he came to Marianna, Ark. , 
and acted as book-keeper and salesman for J. E. 
Wood in a general mercantile business until 1876. 
Wood failing in business he accepted a position as 
salesman for Jarratt & Rodgers, and in 1877 be- 
came a partner in the firms of Jarratt, Rodgers & 
Co. and Johnston, Foreman & Co. , now Johnston 
& Grove. He is an excellent man of business, 
shrewd, honest and capable, and, like Mr. John- 
ston, has made all his money in Lee County. He 
is unmarried. 

H. M. Jones, recognized as one of the well-to- 
do and enterprising farmers and stock raisers of In- 
dependence Township, was born in Limestone 
County, Ala. His father, Kimbrough Jones, was 
also a native of Alabama, and was married in 1846, 
to Evaline ^Veatherford, who bore him eight chil- 
dren: Sally (Mrs. J. P. Farrel, of Marianna), 
Betty (Mrs. Beauchamp, now dead), Margaret (the 
wife of J. D. Brown, of Marianna), Fannie (now 
the wife of Mr. Beauchamp, of Marianna), Emma 
(deceased), S. W. , Dixie (Mrs. Harden) and H. 
M. (the subject of this sketch). Mr. Jones was 
a successful farmer, and in 1808 moved to Arkan- 
sas, settling in Loo County, where his death oc- 
curred two years later. Airs. Jones is now living 
with her children in Marianna, and is a member of 
many years' standing of the Methodist Church. 
Mr. Jones settled the land owned by his father 
and which is now operated by him. After the 
father's death he assumed charge of his mother's 
family and the management of her estate, where 
his intuitive sense and excellent business qualifica- 
tions were given a wide scope. His farm consists 
of 100 acres of valuable land, with eighty acres un- 
der cultivation, and bears evidence of careful and 
unceasing attention. In his political belief he is a 
Democrat. 

Hiram C. Kellam, not unknown throughout 
this region, commenced life for himself at the age 
of thirteen, being employed as a farm hand, but on 
the death of his father, two years later, he served 
an apprenticeship with a leading blacksmith of 
his native county (Davis County, Ky. ), and became 



«^ « 



@ fc-. 



LEE COUNTY. 



GOT 



a finished workman. Aftor working at bis trado 
in Illinois, he came to Arkansas and located at 
More, Lee County (then Monroe County), where 
ho followed his adoptod callinj^ for some time. 
Afterward he purchased a farm, and has since fol- 
lowed that occiipation. He was born September 
4, 18ul, being a son of Elisha J. and Lucinda 
(Kelley) Kellam, also Kentuckians by birth. E. 
J. Kellam was a minister of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, South, and also carried on farming. 
During the war he was taken by the Federals and 
carried to Indiana, on account of his Southern 
principles and sympathy with the Confederate 
cause and died in that State in March, IcSGG. His 
wife died in 1862 at the age of fifty-two years. 
They were the parents of eight children, two of 
whom only are now living, the jji'incipal of this 
sketch, and Albert J., a fanner residing in the 
State of Texas. Mr. Kellam was married on Feb- 
ruary 27, 1876, to Miss Julia I. Boykiu, of Johnson, 
County, N. C. , and a daughter of Elmore and Jane 
E. (Jones) Boykin, originally from Virginia and 
North Carolina, respectively, both of whom are 
deceased, the former dying in 1867 and the latter 
in 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Kellam have a family of 
five children; Albert B., Hiram C, Lucinda, David 
H. , and William L. and one deceased. Mr. Kel- 
lam owns a farm of 120 acres, with about sixty 
acres under cultivation, which he devotes princi- 
pally to the raising of stock, having a large num- 
ber of cattle, horses and hogs. He also owns and 
operates a large steam grist mill and cotton-gin, 
erected at a cost of about $1,500. He is a strong 
Democrat and takes an active interest in politics.and 
has held the office of deputy shorifT of the county 
for the past twelve years. He is a member of 
the K. of P. and of the Masonic order, and bo 
longs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
of which his wife is also a member. 

John Lee, farmer and blacksmith, of Hardy 
Township, is a native of Indiana, and a son of 
Jonathan and Deborah (Britian) Lee. Jonathan 
Lee was born in Mercer County, Ky. , in 17i);3. 
in which State he lived until after his marriage, 
learning the trade of blacksmith ing. Soon after 
his marriiige he removed to Washington County, 



Ind., and when the principal of this sketch was 
about one year old, went to Jackson County, where 
he died on July 10, 1862. He was a son of Will- 
iam Leo, of Irish descent, and a cooper and farmer 
by occupation. He was a native of Mercer County, 
Ky., and died in Washington County, Ind. Mrs. 
Loo came originally from We.st Virginia and died 
in Jackson County, Ind., in 1867, at the ago of 
seventy-four. She was a member of the Baptist 
Church, as was also hor husband, being a daughter 
of Samuel Britain, a native of Virginia, who died 
in Washington County, Ind., at the age of ninety- 
seven. John Lee was the youngest son in a family 
of eight children, four of whom are still living, the 
eldest son, Samuel, two daughters, and our sub- 
ject. The latter was born in Washington County, 
Ind., in 1832. He was married in 1851, to Ludia 
Chilcott, who was born in Jackson County. Ind.. 
in 1825. Hor parents were John and Eachol 
(Robertson) Chilcott, the former a native of Vir- 
ginia, removed to Jackson County, Ind., where ho 
was married and made his home the rest of his life, 
dying in 1848. He was a son of Eli Chilcott, of 
Pennsylvania, who removed to Virginia after his 
nuirriage, and died in Hardy County, that State. 
Mrs. Chilcott was also of Virginia l)irth, and died 
in 1835. She was a daughter of Blaze and Han- 
nah (Hutchinson) Kobertson. Mr. Kobertson was 
born in England, the son of an Engli.sh nobleman. 
He left home at the age of seventeen and came to 
America against his parents' wishes, and, having 
no money, though possessed of a good education, 
he contracted the wages which he would receive 
for his duties as a teacher, his chosen calling, for 
seven years, to pay his passage to the United States; 
after four years' service he was released from his 
contract. He then settled in Virginia, where 1m' 
made his home the balance of his life. His wife, 
after the death of her husband, moved to Indiana, 
whore she died. Thoy were the jiarents of a large 
family of children, who were among the pioneer 
families of Jackson County, Ind. One of the 
daughters married a Mr. Hamilton, the first repri> 
sentative from that county, in the State legisla- 
ture. Mr. and Mi-s. Lee had five children, two 
sons and three daughters, all of whom survive: 



' -^ s 



it 



608 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



i 



Jonathan R. (a resident of Phillips Cotiaty), Han- 
nah E. (wife of S. B. Eaks), Lydia A. (wife of W. 
B. Jones), Sarah M. (wifo of C. T. Payne) and 
William Samuel. Mr. Lee enlisted in January, 
1865, in Company C of the One Hundred and 
Forty-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in which 
he served until the close of the war. He lived 
in Jackson County, Ind. , until 1870, when he 
came to Arkansas and settled in what is now Lee 
County. Two years later he settled on his present 
farm, consisting of half a section of land, of which 
sixty-five acres are under a high state of cultiva- 
tion, and all made since coming to this State. He 
is a ]>rominent Democrat and takes an interest in 
the political affairs of the day. He and his wife 
are members of the Christian Church. 

Julius Lesser, treasurer of Lee County, was 
born in Prussia in 1853, and emigrated to Amer- 
ica in 1867, locating first in Memphis, Tenn., where 
he was emploj'od as a clerk. In 1870 he came to 
Arkansas, and was employed in that occupation at 
Forrest City until 1875, then entering into business 
for himself at Marianna. In 1884 he sold out his 
store, and became engaged in the banking busi- 
ness, which he still continues. Shortly after dis- 
posing of his mercantile interest he boiight it back, 
and associated with his brother as partner, the lat- 
ter now having the management of the store. Mr. 
Lesser gives his attention to his banking business 
and official duties. He has held, with great satis- 
faction, the ofiice of county treasurer for five con- 
secutive years, having served first by appointment 
to fill an unexpired term, and afterward being 
elected. He and his brother enjoy a large patron- 
age in their store, handling sixty per cent of all 
the cotton grown in the neighborhood, which they 
ship direct to the spinners, and not to commission 
men, as is the general custom. Mr. Lesser is a 
stockholder and director in the First National 
Bank of Helena, also a stockholder in another bank 
of that city, and one in Memphis, Tenn., and, in 
addition, is a stockholder in a large lumber com- 
pany. He was mairied to IMiss Lenora Raphaels, 
by which marriage two children were born: Harry 
and Blanche. Mr. Lesser is also largely interested 
in real estate in the city, owning several business 



blocks, including the one in which his bank is 
situated, and pays taxes on $35,000 to 140,000 
worth of real estate. He participates actively in 
promoting all public enterprises; is a member of 
the Masonic order, in which he has taken the de- 
gree of Royal Arch Mason, and is also a member 
of the Knights of Honor. 

John Carrol Lynch was born on a farm which 
was then in St. Francis County, now a part of Lee 
County, in 1848, being a son Byant Lynch, who 
was l)oru in this State in 1818, and Eliza (Davis) 
Ljnch, of Kentucky origin, l)orn in 1825. The 
jjrincipal of this sketch has spent his whole life in 
this county, but as his help was needed on his 
father's farm, his educational advantages in youth 
were very limited. He was man-ied, in 1873, to 
Miss Lou A. Rogers, who was the mother of two 
daughters, one, Annie L. , still living. Mr. Lynch 
owns 1,400 acres of land, 700 acres of which are 
cleared and a large part of it under cultivation. 
He raises very little cotton, Ijut devotes most of 
his time and labor to the raising of stock, which 
he finds more profitable. He is a life-long Demo 
crat and uses all means in his power to advance 
the interests of his party. He is a member of the 
Masonic order. His wife belongs to the Baptist 
Church. Mr. Lynch is one of the prominent and 
well-known men of Lee County. He has never had 
a sick day in ten years, nor taken a dose of medi- 
cine in that time, and during the last ten years he 
has increased in weight from 156 to 254 ])ounds. 

Capt. George Marchbanks, planter, Marianna, 
Ark. Of that sturdy and independent class, the 
farmers of Arkansas, none are possessed of more 
genuine merit and a stronger character than he 
whose name stands at the head of this sketch. He 
has risen to a more than ordinary degree of success 
in his calling, and wherever known, he is conceded 
to be an energetic and progressive tiller of the soil, 
imbued with all those qualities of go-ahead-ative 
ness which have characterized his ancestors. He 
owes his nativity to Middle Tennessee, where his 
birth occurred on May 25, 1839, and is the son of 
Judge A. J. Marchbanks, of "Warren County, Teini. 
The father was a well-educated gentleman, had 
read law and was a legal practitioner all his life. 



V 



His father educated him and then disinherited him, 
and seut him forth to fight his owu way in life. 
He was circuit judge of his district for more than 
thirty years, and was occupying that position at 
the breaking out of the war. Ho was kept a pris- 
oner at Gamp Chase, Oliio, dnring this eventful 
period, and when peace was declared he was offered 
the position of judge again. He died in the fall 
or winter of 1866. The mother was born in Mc- 
Minnville, Tenn., and was a daughter of George 
and Elizabeth (Kenion) Savage. She died at the 
age of twenty-nine years, leaving five children. 
Capt. George Marchbanks attained his growth in 
Tennessee, and was sent as a cadet to West Point, 
to the Federal Military School. He was appointed 
by old Col. Savage, while the latter was in Con- 
gress, and remained at the school until the break- 
ing out of the war. On April 1, 1861, he went 
South, and entered the Sixteenth Tennessee Regi- 
ment as adjutant. He was in the regular Confed- 
erate service, commanded a company, and served 
with the Sixteenth one year as first lieutenant. He 
was on Gen. Bragg' s staff until late in 1S02, and 
commanded Company K, in the Twenty-fifth Ten- 
nessee. After the campaign he was on Gen. John- 
ston's staff for some time, and was also on Gen. 
Bragg' s staff for a year. He was with Maj. -Gen. 
B. Johnston in Virginia, was at Drury's Bluff and 
at the siege of Petersburg. After that camj)aigu 
ho was sent with his command up around Rich- 
mond, and subsequently to AVheeler's command. 
Later he came to Tennessee on a furlough, and 
was captured there, and remained in prison until 
the close of the war. After this he engsiged in 
agricultural pursuits until 1870, when he came to 
what was then Phillips (now Lee) County, and 
there has tilled the soil ever since. He was a 
member of the legislature in 1881 and 1882. In 
1883 he married Mrs. Freeman, whose maiden 
name was Julia Sterdivant. Mr. JIarchbanks is 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Ho 
is the owner of 1,500 acres of land, and is also the 
owner of consideral>le town propertj'. 

George J. Mathews. Among the enterprising 
and prospering farmers and stock raisers of Lee 
County, none are more worthy of mention than 



George J. Mathews. He is a son of Burol and 
Piney (Whittakor) Mathews, and was born in Pitt 
County, N. C, December 24, 1820. Biuel Math- 
ews was a native of North Carolina, and followed 
the occupation of farming all his life. He was 
married in that State in 1818, to Miss Whittakor, 
and to their union six children were born, two now 
living: George J. and Roderick. Those deceased 
are: Richard F., William Miza A., Henry and one 
unnamed. Both Mr. Mathews and wife are dead. 
George J. Mathews first began to " paddle his owu 
canoe" at the age of eighteen, accepting a position 
as overseer on a largo plantation. Ho was mar- 
ried in 1841 to Miss ^Mary Crawford, of JIartin 
County, N. C, who bore him four children, one 
living: George R. Mary A., P. A., and Elisha 
are deceased. Mrs. Mathews died in 1858, a mom 
bor of many years standing in the Methodist 
Omrch. Mr. IMathews was married in 1862 to 
Mrs. Lydia Brooks, the widow of Amsley Brooks. 
She is a daughter of Franklin and Lydia Maye, of 
Tenne.ssee, and was born in 1827. To the mar- 
riage of Mr. and Mrs. Mathews four children have 
been given: Marietta (the wife of Allen Wall), 
Kelson O. , Epson J. and William F. (deceased). 
Mr. Mathows immigrated to Arkansas from North 
Carolina in 1852, settling in St. Francis County. 
He now owns 160 acres of good land, with 1 15 im- 
proved, the principal crop being corn and cotton. 
He has acted as marshal of St. Francis County for 
the past twelve years and has served as justice of 
the peace for six years. He is a member of the 
Methodist Church, having joined that denomina- 
tion over twenty years ago. Politically he is a 
Democrat. Mrs. Mathews is a Baptist in her 
religious belief, and belongs to that church. 

T. C. Merwin is a successful general mercliant 
of Marianna, Ark., and is an example of the success 
attending hard work and honest dealing. He was 
born in Louisville, Ky., December 25, 1845, and 
is a son of A. W. and Anna L. (Chartres) Merwin, 
the fornu-r of whom died when our sul)joct w«.s 
small. He was a carriage dealer in Louisville, and 
died there in 1852, followed l)y his wife in 1S64, 
her death occurring in the State of Mississippi. 
Of six children born to them, four lived to be 



\"k 



a k^ 



-' — ^ 



610 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



grown, bnt T. C. Merwin is the only one now liv- 
ing. He and his mother moved to Mississippi in 
1860, and were residing near Austin at the time of 
the latter' s death. Mr. Merwin was educated at 
South Hanover College, Kentucky, and when the 
war broke out he joined the Confederate forces and 
was a member of Maj. Corley's cavalry. Shortly 
after he was discharged on account of physical dis- 
ability, but about six weeks later he joined another 
command, the company being raised by Capt. Nail, 
of Missouri, and with this he remained until the 
close of the war, serving in the capacity of lieuten- 
ant, and operating in Missouri and Arkansas. On 
October 19, 1804, he and his men were captured 
by a force of Federals under McNeal, and the fol- 
lowing morning one of his men was hanged by Mc- 
Neal, at Lexington, Mo. They remained captives 
of war until June 18, 1865. After the war he be- 
gan farming in Arkansas, and for eleven years con- 
tinued to till the soil along the Mississippi River. 
After moving to Marianna he served as collector of 
taxes for two years, and was then elected circuit 
court clerk, and ex officio clerk of all other courts, 
serving by re-election until 1884. In the fall of 
1885 he was appointed clerk of the State land 
office at Little Rock, and was installed in January, 
1886, and held the position until November 1, 
1889. He then resigned, and returned to Mari- 
anna, and opened his present establishment, which 
is proving a paying investment. He is a Demo- 
crat, a Royal Arch Mason, a K. of L., a member 
of the K. & L. of H. , and also belongs to the R. A. 
He was married December 20, 1 874, to Miss Laura 
Campbell, who was born in Woodford County, Ky. , 
in 1852, and died June 18, 1877, leaving one child, 
Olie. His second wife was a Miss Emmie Govan, 
a niece of Gen. D. C. Govan, and a daughter of 
E. P. Govan, the latter a prominent planter before 
the war. Mr. Merwin and his present wife have 
had three children: Mary, Govan (who died in 
1844, aged two years) and Willie. The family 
worship in the Episcopal Church. 

Jonas Miller owns a fine farm of 240 acres in 
Hampton County, also a steam grist-mill and cot- 
ton-gin at Moro, Lee County. He is a native of 
North Carolina and a son of Moses and Roily 



(Cross) Miller, also originally of that State. Mr. 
and Mrs. Miller made North Carolina their home 
until 1853, when they removed to Mississipi^i, and 
two years later came to Arkansas, locating in Mon- 
roe County. The father was a very successful 
farmer, always having something to sell, and not 
owing any man, and was well known and highly 
respected throughout the community until his 
death, in 1880, twenty-three years after the death 
of his wife. They were members of the Missionary 
Baptist Church and had a family of eight children, 
three still living: Carrie (wife of I. W. Burrows, 
of Woodniff County), Polly (wife of .John Boyer, 
also of Woodruff County) and Jonas. The subject 
of this sketch was born in Cape Barrow County on 
July 15, 1845, and began life for himself as a farm- 
er and miller at the age of twenty. He was mar- 
ried in March, 1873, to Miss Martha E. Breeding, 
daughter of AVesley and Mary (Brooks) Breeding. 
They are the parents of eight children, five still 
living: William, John, Elizabeth, Kate and Cricket. 
Mr. Miller has about 100 acres under cultivation, 
in cotton and corn principally, but is now turning 
his attention to stock raising, and consequently 
raising more grasses and grain. He has held the 
office of deputy sheriff and constable, both of 
which he filled with credit to himself and with per 
feet satisfaction to the citizens of the community. 

William T. Moore, who is well known among 
the citizens of Richland Township, came originally 
from Alabama and is a son of Lewis and Willie 
(Riel) Moore, natives of Georgia and Alabama, re- 
spectively. Mr. Moore was of English descent, 
and moved to Alabama when a young man, where 
he was married, making that his home until 1838. 
Removing to Mississippi, he purchased a large 
plantation in Chickasaw County, and at the time 
of his death, in 1866, at the age of sixty-two years, 
was the wealthiest man, but one, in the county. 
His wife died in 1862, at the age of fifty-two years. 
She was the mother of eleven children, the follow- 
ing of whom now survive: Elizabeth (wife of B. F. 
Fitzpatrick, of Mobile, Ala.), John P. (a prom- 
inent merchant and real estate dealer, of Helena), 
Mary Ann (deceased, wife of Dr. J. P. Rockatt, 
of Mississippi), S. C. (a farmer of Chickasa.w 



'-K^ 



LEE COUNTY. 



Oil 



County, Miss.), C. C. (a fai-iner and merchant of 
Houston, Miss.), Jamos B. (a farmor of Pickens 
County, Ala.), Cora F. (wife of S. C. Pippen, of 
Helena), Dora (now Mrs. Bass, also of Helena), 
J. H. (who was killed at the battle of Gettysburg 
and was captain of Company H of the Eleventh 
Mississippi Infantry), and William T. (our sub- 
ject). The latter, the third child of this family, 
was born in Greene County, Ala., on September 
23, 1835; and remained home with his father until 
a short time before the war, when ho commenced 
farming for himself. la 1802 he enlisted in the 
Confederate army, in the Forty-first Mississippi 
Infantry, in which he served until the close of the 
war, being present at the surrender at Appomattox 
Court House. After the war he returned to his 
home in Mississippi and engaged in farming, and 
in 1878 came to Arkansas, locating in Phillips 
County, where he was occupied in agricultural 
pursuits for a short time; subsequently he moved 
to La Grange. He was married in 1855 to Miss 
Lucy J. Buckingham, who was born near Oko- 
lona, Miss., in 1841. They were the parents of 
six children, four still living: John T. (who is in 
the mercantile business with his father), Mary 
(wife of J. B. Foster, agent and operator at Har- 
per, Mo., for the Iron Mountain Railroad), Lulu 
B. (wife of Thomas M. Jack, surveyor and civil 
engineer at Helena), and George C. (at liome). 
Mr. and Mrs. Moore are members of the Mission- 
ary Baptist Church, in which they take an active 
part. 

James H. New traces his ancestry back to 
Revolutionary times, his grandfather, William 
New, having been a soldier in that war, in which 
he served as a member of Marion's famous legion. 
The great grandsire, William New, came to this 
country in 1703, settling on the Chickasaw River, 
in Virginia. He had two sons, John and William. 
^^'illiam and his two sons were also in the Revo- 
lutionary War, the former being colonel of Lee's 
dragoons. He was wounded on Roanoke River, 
while pursuing Lord Cornwallis, and died from 
the effects of that injury. William, pere, was in 
the War of 1812, and his two sons, John and Will- 
iam, were in the battle near Baltimore, Md. 

38 



James H. is also a descendant, on his mother's 
side, of Je.s8e Loo. His parents were James and 
Mary M. (Blankenship) New, Virginians by birth. 
James New, Sr. , was born in Halifax County, on 
July 4, 1805, and was of English and Irish extrac- 
tion. He was married in November, 1833, shortly 
after which he removed to Georgia, and remained 
one year, then going to Leiuderdale County, Miss., 
where he lived until his death, on September 7, 
1864. They were the parents of four children: 
Saleta A. (wife of John H. Anderson, of Illinois), 
Mary M. (widow of Irvin Mcliovy), John R. (a 
farmer of Lee County) and James H. (our suljjoct). 
The latter, the next to the eldest, was born in 
Lauderdale County, Miss., on August 14, 1839. 
He commenced farming for himself at the age of 
twenty-two, and in 1869 came to Arkansas, and lo 
cated on his present farm, which was then in Phil- 
lips County (now in Lee), composed of 100 acres 
of land, seventy acres being under a good state of 
cultivation. Mr. New was married in August, 
1805, to Emily Clayton, also a native of Missis- 
sippi, who died in December, 1884, after having 
borne ten children, six still living: William U. , 
Pattie L. (wife of J. A. Smith, a farmer of this 
county), James J., John R., Rebecca C. and 
Walter T. Mr. New enlisted in the secret service 
of the United States, in November, 1862, and was 
a member and non commissioned officer of the 
First Mississippi Mounted Riflemen. He served 
until the close of the war, participating in tl^ 
battles of Chickasaw Bluff. Harrisburg, and a 
number of others. He is a conservative Demo 
crat, and a member of the Agricultnral Wheel 
and Farmer's Secret Alliance. Ho is also ruling 
elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of 
which he has been a member eighteen years. 

Rev. L. K. Obenchain, pastor of the Baptist 
Church of Haynes, was born in Botetourt County, 
Va. , on January 23, 1S41, being a son of Peter M. 
01)enchaiu, also of that county, and of (4orman 
descent. He was reared on a farm in his native 
county, and received a good education in the com- 
mon schools, later attending Roanoke C'ollege, and 
also Alleghany College, in Greenbrier County, Va. 
Ho was tirst located, after entering the ministry, in 



t 



2i_ 



012 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



the mountains of Rock Bridge County, having been 
ordained at Mill Creek Church, where he remained 
three years. Coming to Arkansas in 1869, he was 
occupied in jireaching at Phillips Bayou, and also 
taught school for three years, the following three 
years serving at FoiTest Chapel. He next had 
charge of the Salem Chiirch, of Phillips County, and 
of the churches at Marvel, Barton and Trenton for 
seven years. Mr. Obenchain later moved to La 
Grange, and had charge of that church, and also 
of the one at Phillips Bayou, where he had before 
been located. He came to Haynes, in January, 
1S88, and has since resided here, being the pastor 
of the Baptist Church at this place, and also at Oak 
Grove. He was married on the second Sunday of 
June, 1862, to Miss Sarah A. Baker, a daughter 
of Henry Baker, of Botetourt County, Va. They 
became the parents of five children, three of whom 
are still living: Bettie (wife of W. H. Ward, of 
Marvel), Edward B. and Ella D. Mr. Obenchain 
is a Democrat in politics, and is a member of the 
Masonic order, and of the Knights of Honor. His 
life has been devoted to the service of his Master, 
and no man in the county is more highly respected 
or honored, and by the purity of his life, and the 
example he sets, he is well worthy the confidence 
and respect which are placed in him. 

R. B. Owen, a prosperous farmer of Richland 
TownshijJ, Lee County, is a native of Alabama, 
and was born in 1833, being the fifth in a family 
of nine children given to Richardson and Tobitha 
(Allin) Owen. Their names are as follows: Tobi- 
tha, Henry R., Edward T., Sarah H., R. B., Mary 
F., Susan E., Anna E. and Thomas Grant. Rich- 
ardson Owen was born in North Carolina in 1790, 
and in 1820 was married to Tobitha, a daughter of 
Grant Allen, of Tennessee. Mr. Owen afterward 
settled in Alabama, where he engaged in farm- 
ing, and was also a minister of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church and a doctor, having practiced medi- 
cine for some years previous to his death. Coming 
to Arkansas in 1851, he settled in Lee County, 
Richland Township, where he purchased 500 acres 
of valuable land. He was a public-spirited and 
progressive man, lending his support and influence 
to all public enterprises. In politics he was an 



old line Whig. R. B. Owen moved to Arkansas 
with his parents, and in 1862 enlisted in Capt. 
Anderson's company of Johnson regiment. He 
was soon after exchanged to Company C, Sixth 
Mississippi Infantry, and was a non-commissioned 
officer, serving as an ordnance-sergeant. He par- 
ticipated in the battles of Prairie Grove, Helena, 
Jenkins' Ferry and many others of minor import- 
ance. After the war Mr. Owen returned to Ar- 
kansas, settling in Loe County and resuming his 
occupation of farming,, where he has since re- 
mained. He owns 310 acres of land, with 200 
under cultivation. He was married in I860 to 
Martha E. Sellers, a daughter of AVilliam B. and 
Mahala J. (Estes) Sellers, natives of Tennessee, 
but who immigrated to Mississippi, and then to 
Arkansas in 1847, settling in Lee County. Mr. 
Sellers died in 1858, and his wife in 1868. They 
were the parents of five children: William, Martha, 
Mary, Vianna and one deceased in infancy. To 
Mr. Owen's marriage five children have been born: 
Virginia D. (died in 1861), Helena (now Mrs. 
Walter Rainey, residing in Mississippi), Leila A. , 
Mattie M. and an infant. In secret organizations 
Mr. Owen is identified with the Knights of Honor. 
He takes a great interest in all public improve- 
ments, and is especially interested in schools, in 
which he can see vast advancement and progress. 
C. A. Otey, attorney-at-law of Marianna, is a 
native of Madison County, Ala. , and spent his early 
boyhood days in the southern part of the State, 
but the death of his father necessitated his return 
to his native county, where he remained for some 
time, while preparing himself for entering the mili 
tary school at La Grange. He attended that in- 
stitution only a short time, as the Civil War broke 
out shortly after his entering college, when he im- 
mediately joined the Confederate army, enlisting 
in the Fourth Alabama Infantry, which was at- 
tached to Johnston's division of Confederate States 
troops and Bee's brigade. The Fourth Alaliama 
distinguished themselves at the first general en- 
gagement, but it is to be regretted that they lost 
their gallant commander. Col. Jones, who sacra- 
ficed his own life as well as many of his command 
to save the day. Gen. Bee, after Jones had fallen, 






/J'S — »^ 



^ 



LEE COUNTY. 



013 



came up, and saying, "Fourth Alabama! I have 
seen your gallant, fighting from yonder hill, and 
your ranks mowed thin while you held your posi- 
tion against fourfold odds! Follow me; Jackson 
has arrived, and he stands like a 'stone wall.' 
Let us go to his relief." So Jackson received the 
immortal soubriquet of Stonewall, while Bee was 
leading the Fourth Alabama in that charge, and 
he who knighted him, the immortal Bee, fell shot 
through the heart a few moments afterward. The 
Fourth Alabama erected a monument on the spot. 
The false accusation that Gen. Boe was intoxicated, 
which was the cause of his reckless bravery, is ex- 
plained by our subject by the fact that he was seen 
to drink repeatedly from a flask during the engage- 
ment, but which he knows contained water, as he 
himself tilled it for him at a spring. Mr. Ottw 
was wounded at the battle of Gaines' Mill by a 
bullet, breaking his arm, which laid him up for 
about three months; rejoining his regiment at 
the battle of Antietam, he was captured at the bat- 
tle of Lookout Mountain, and was a prisoner for 
one year, before being exchanged. At the close of 
the war he came to Arkansas and located at Helena, 
where he commenced the study of law, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1871, and later admitted to 
practice law before the Supreme Court. He then 
commenced the practice of law at Helena, and was 
shortly after elected prosecuting attorney, having 
filled the office of city attorney two terms. He 
was editor of a daily and weekly newspaper during 
two campaigns, from 187 1 to 187'J, and was in the 
legislature in 1887. Having become largely inter- 
ested in real estate in this county, he moved to 
Marianna in 1888, where he has since lived. He now 
owns 4.000 acres of land, including a large planta- 
tion, on which is situated a general supply store, a 
saw mill and steam cotton gin, all under his general 
supervision. Mr. Otey was a .son of Christ()i)her 
and Emily (Smith) Otey, natives of Virginia and 
North Carolina, respectively. He was married in 
the State of Arkansas to Miss Kate McAnulty, a 
native of this county. Mr. Otey is well known and 
highly spoken of by all who are acquainted with 
him. 

J. H. Parnell, of Marianna, Ark. . was born in 



Southern Alabama, July 4, 1837, and is a son of 
John and Temperance Jane (Avery) Parnell, the 
former having l)een l)orn in Putnam County, Ga., 
in 1800, and died in February, 1889, a farmer by 
occupation. He was a Whig in polities, was strong! v 
opposed to secession, and served for some time in 
the capacity of magistrate. At the time of his death 
he weighed 225 pounds. His wife was born in 
South Carolina, and wlien young was taken to Ala- 
bama, where she grew to womanhood and met and 
married Mr. Parnell. She died alxmt 1850, having 
l)Orne a family of sixteen children, only the four 
oldest and the four youngest being now alive. 
Five sons were in tlie Confederate army, ^M. \V. 
Parnell being a lieutenant under Gen. Price; 
Thomas J. was in the cavalry under Hood, Elijah 
being under Hood in the infantry, and was killed at 
Chickamauga; Daniel was in Jeff Davis's artillery 
and tired the last cannon at the battle of Bull Run, 
was taken prisoner to Elmira, N. Y., and after 
being paroled, died on his way home, his death 
being caused by exposure. Henry was in Forrest's 
army, and after procuring a furhmgh, came home, 
where he died of measles. All th(> brothers in law 
returned safe fi-om the war. J. H. Parnell grew 
to manhood near Selma, Ala., and in his youth ac 
(piired a good English I'ducation. He farmed un- 
til the close of the war, then engaged in merchan- 
dising at Jacksonville, where he remained until 
1809, when he immigrated to Osceola, Jliss. , and 
followed the same occupation there until 1882, at 
which time he came to Marianna, and until recentJJ^ 
was a merchant there also. For the last six mouths 
he has been occupied in the hotel business, which is 
proving fairly remunerative. He owns .some good 
property in the city and sixty acres of farming 
land, which is said to he quite valuable. Mr. Par- 
nell is a Democrat, a JIason and a member of the 
A. O. U. W. His wife, who was Miss MoUie llig- 
ney, was born in Marianna, Ark., in 1808, and is a 
daughter of Hy. and Cynthia (Wel)h) lligney, who 
were former residents of Huntsville. .\la., the fa- 
ther a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. 
The paternal great grandfather of Mr. Parnell was 
l)orn in England, and came to America many years 
prior to the American Revolution, his sou, the 



^ 



<8 k. 



-k_ 



614 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



grandfather of our subject participating in that 
struggle. 

Thomas G. Phillips, mayor of Haynes, came 
to Arkansas in 1855, and located in Lee County, 
where he was engaged in farming until the war. 
He enlisted in August, 1801, in the Thirteenth 
Arkansas Infantry, being appointed orderly ser- 
geant of Company G, and participated in the bat- 
tles of Belmont, Shiloh (where he was slightly 
wounded), Mnrfreesboro, Liberty Gap, Chicka 
mauga. Missionary Ridge, and all of the principal 
battles of the Georgia campaign. He was severely 
wounded at Atlanta, was afterward elected second 
lieutenant, and rejoined his regiment just before 
the surrender. After the war Mr. Phillips re- 
turned to his farm, which he had purchased pre- 
vious to entering the army, consisting of 327 acres 
of land. In 1879 he entered into the mercantile 
l)Usiness. He carries a stock of goods invoicing 
about $2,500, and his annual sales will amount to 
18,000 per year. He also owns the farm pur- 
chased before the war and, too, other property, in 
all 767 acres, with nearly 100 acres under cultiva- 
tion. He has been twice married; first, to Miss 
Antonette Hustus, who died in 1879, leaving two 
children: MoUie (deceased) and Emma M. (still 
living). His second marriage was in 1885 to Mrs. 
Thompson, who died in 1887. Mr. Phillips was 
born in Indiana, May 21, 1832, as a son of Joseph 
and Sallie Phillips, natives of North Carolina and 
Ohio, respectively. They were the parents of 
eight children, all of whom survive and five of 
them are residents of Arkansas. Mr. Thomas 
Phillips is a strong Democrat. He has held the 
ofiice of justice of the peace of his township, and 
on the incorporation of Haynes, was elected mayor, 
which office he still holds. He is a member of 
the Masonic order, and of the Knights of Honor, 
and belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. 

George W. Pittman. Of that sturdy and inde- 
pendent class, the farmers of Arkansas, none are 
possessed of more sterling principles than he 
whose name heads this sketch, and as a merchant 
he has not his superior in the county as far as 
intelligent management, honesty of purpose and 



energy are concerned. He is a Georgian, born Feb- 
ruary 16, 1849, and is a son of James K. Pittman, 
also of that State, who was born, reared and mar- 
ried there, the last event being to Miss Bettie A. 
Nash. Of a family of ten children given to them, 
five are now living: John C, James G., Jesse "\V., 
Mary J. (wife of Thomas J. Pinkston and the 
mother of seven children) and Mattie B. (who is 
the wife of A. S. Sears and is the mother of four 
children). Mr. Pittman was a farmer by occupa- 
tion, and in this calling became quite wealthy, be- 
ing the owner of 1,700 acres of valuable and pro- 
ductive land at the time of his death, which oc- 
curred in 1868. He was always interested in the 
local politics of the community in which he resided, 
and also furthered the building of churches and 
schools with his purse as well as by his influence, 
and was ever considered one of the leading and 
public-spirited men of the county. His wife's 
death followed his, January 12, 1887, she having 
been an earnest Christian lady and a member of 
the Baptist Church. George W. Pittman, our im- 
mediate biographical subject, inherits English 
blood from his mother, and his early education was 
received in the schools near Georgetown, Ga. In 
1874 he immigrated to Mississippi, and at the end 
of two years went to Louisiana, a year later return- 
ing to Mississippi. Since May, 1882, lie has been 
a resident of Arkansas, and has successfully fol- 
lowed the occupations of farming and merchandis- 
ing, and where he was then worth $800, he is now 
worth ten times as much. 

Maj. E. D. Ragland is the son of Dr. Nathaniel 
and Elizabeth (Love) Ragland, his birth occurring 
in Shelby County, Tenn., in 1834. Dr. Ragland, 
a native of Virginia, was born in 1793, and served 
in the War of 1812. He attended the Philadelphia 
Medical College, and upon commencing the prac- 
tice of his chosen profession, in 1818, selected 
Louisville, Ky., asthetield of his labors. He was 
married in 1816 to Elizabeth, daughter of Mathew 
Love. To their union seven children were born, 
E. D., the subject of this sketch, being the sixth 
in order of birth. Their names were: James B. , 
Louisa M. (now Mrs. Dr. B. D. Anderson of Texas), 
Dr. Nathaniel (who died in 1870 in De Vall's Bluff, 



r 



/Js — »- 



,k 



LEE COUNTY. 



015 



and was a sei-cjeaat in Price's regiment), Mary E. 
(now Mrs. Rembert, rcsidinj:; in MciupliiK, Tenn.), 
Sarah V. (Mrs. Dunlap of Mompliis, Tonn.), and 
Samuel W. (died in 1801 leaving a family.) His 
wife is the daughter of Avan Huntsman, a former 
Congressman of Tennessee. Dr. Nathaniel Kag- 
laud (father of our su1)joct) died in 1859, and his 
wife in 1878. They were menil)ers of the Pres- 
byterian Church, to which the former lent his 
hearty support and valuable influence. He was a 
man of great public spirit, and many improvements 
of early days in his city stand as monuments to his 
memory and liberality. He had the name of being 
the proprietor of the first drug store ever estab- 
lished in Memphis, and died very wealthy, his 
estate alone being valued at $294,000. Maj. E. 
D. Ragland passed bis boyhood days in Shelby 
County and graduated from the University at 
Lebanon, Tenn. He was married in 1857 to Cor- 
nelia Mottley, daughter of B. F. and Martha 
(Doak) Mottley. Mr. Mottley was State repre- 
sentative of Tennessee for years, and died in 1847, 
his wife only surviving him three }'ears. Mr. Kag- 
land entered the army in 1802 as major in the 
Memphis Light Dragoons, attached to the Seventh 
Tennessee Cavalry and served three years. In 

1804 he was taken prisoner of war and held eleven 
months, making his escape April 19, 1805. He 
participated in most of the juincipal engagements, 
and by his kindness and thoughtfulness to his men 
won from them their life-long respect and esteem. 
Maj. Ragland is indeed a generous man, never 
being behind in contributing to any worthy pur- 
pose, but his liberality does not end there, for 
many benevolent acts never reach the ears of the 
outside world, though his generous deeds are recog- 
nized by the happy recipient of bis bounteous gifts. 
Major Ragland settled in Phillips County, Ark., in 

1805 being occupied in the independent profession 
of farming in that locality until 1809, at which 
time he moved to his present home in Richland 
Township. He owns 100 acres of land, all culti- 
vated and stocked with the various superior grades 
necessary to successfully operate a farm of that 
size. He is a Mason, being a member of La 
Grange Lodge, No. 108, and also belongs to the 



Chapter at Marianiia. The city council recognize 
in him an elTicient and influential member. The 
Major and Mrs. Ragland are members of the 
Methodist Church at ISIarianna, Ark. He is in- 
terested in all enterprises for the development or 
promotion of the county, and has witnessed the 
growth of Marianna from a place that could only 
boast of one store to its present prosperous pro 
portions. 

T. J. Robinson, M. D., received a good com- 
mon-school education in Tennessee, his native 
State, and spent two years in the study of medi- 
cine at home, after which he took a course of lec- 
tures at Nashville. He was attending Medical 
College at the breaking out of the war, but, with 
the true spirit of patriotism, enlisted in the Con- 
federate army, serving part of the time in the hos- 
pital, though mostly engaged in active duty as a 
private. After the close of the war he gave his at- 
tention to farming for four years. He then entered 
the medical college at Louisville, Ky., and was 
graduated from that institution in the winter of 
1808-69, after which, returning to Hardeman 
County, he practiced for fifteen years. Dr. Robin- 
son later went to Texas, but within three months 
following ho came to Arkansas and located at 
Marianna, Lee County, in 1883. Since that time 
he has built up a large practice. Dr. Robinson 
was born in Hardeman County, Tenn., in 1841. 
as a son of Jonas and Elizalteth (Chisum) Rob- 
inson, natives of the same State. Jonas Robinson 
was born in 1800, and died at the age of fifty- 
three. His wife is still living in Hardeman County, 
at the age of seventy-six years. The subject of 
this sketch was married in Tennessee to Miss Nan- 
nie Chisum, i)y which union were born three chil- 
dren: John C. (a student of the University of 
Louisville, Medical De])artment), Mary Wood and 
Pearl (his only daughters, aged, respectively, fif- 
teen and four years, are his pets). The Doctor is 
a member of the Lee County Medical Society, of 
the Knights of Honor, and belongs to the Christian 
Church. 

Capt. James \S . iiodgers received a high school 
education in his native State of South Carolina, 
preparatorj' to entering the military academy at 



^ 



616 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 






West Point, to which his father wished to send 
him, l)tit havin<^ chosen a mercantile life rather 
than that of a military nature he engaged in mer- 
chandising at Byhalia, Miss., where he opened a 
stock of general merchandise, and was also pro- 
prietor of a blacksmith and wagon shop. At the 
breaking out of the war he joined the first troops 
oiganized in his county, Company D, of the Ninth 
Mississippi Infantry, and the first year served at 
Warrington, near Pensacola, Fla. He received his 
discharge within the year on account of sickness, 
and returned home, but as soon as able organized 
Company E, Thirty-fourth Mississippi Infantry, 
which he commanded until the close of the war. 
He jaarticipated in the battles of Perryville, Mur- 
freesboro, Dalton, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge 
and on to Atlanta, and then went back with Hood, 
but was taken sick and sent to the hospital at Co- 
lumbus, Miss. After his recovery he was placed 
in command of 600 men, and started to join Gen. 
Johnston's army in North Carolina, but receiving 
word of the surrender he paroled his men at Meri- 
dian, returned home, and again resumed his busi- 
ness. Upon remaining two years he came to Ar- 
kansas, and located in what is now Walnut Bend 
Township, Lee County, where he has since lived. 
Capt. Kodgers was born in Lawrence District, S. 
C, in 1834, being a son of Hon. James S. and 
Emily N. (Ware) Rodgers, also natives of that 
State. James S. Rodgers was a well-to-do farmer 
and a prominent citizen of his locality, and held 
the office of sheriff of Lawrence District for several 
years, and later for several terms was representa- 
tive from that district to the State legislature. He 
served under Gen. Jackson in one of the early 
wars, and was a son of John Rodgers, a soldier in 
the Revolutionary \7ar, and of Scotch Irish de- 
scent. Mr. Rodgers was a member of the A. F. & 
A. M., and his death, which occurred in 1866, was 
much regretted by all who knew him. He was at 
that time a resident of Marshall County, Miss. , to 
which he had removed in 1849. Mrs. Rodgers was 
a daughter of Gen. Edwin Ware, a merchant of 
Ablteville District, S. C. , and a soldier in the Revo- 
lutionary War. She was a member of the Baptist 
Church, and died in 1862, leaving twelve childi-en, 



five sons and seven daughters, four of whom are 
still living: James W. (the principal of this sketch), 
Amanda (now Mrs. Du Puy), Albert S. and Flora 
(now Mrs. Myers). Mr. Rodgers was married in 
1872 to Miss Ella Newman, daughter of Augustus 
and Sallie Newman, who removed from Bolivar 
County, Miss., to this county in 1868, and both of 
whom are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers 
are the parents of eight children, five surviving, 
all sons. Mr. Rodgers has lived on his present 
farm since 1886, and has it well improved. It 
consisted of 640 acres, with over 400 acres under 
cultivation. Mrs. Rodgers is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, to which her hus- 
band is a liberal contributor, strongly advocating 
Sunday-school work. 

Henry Preston Rodgers. In chronicling the 
names of the prominent citizens of Lee County, 
that of Henry Preston Rodgers is accorded an en- 
viable position. He is the son of Ebenezer and 
Parmelia (Jackson) Rodgers, his birth occurring 
in Madison County, 111., in March, 1844. Eben- 
ezer Rodgers was a native of Wales, born in 1790, 
and in 1820 he came to America, locating in How- 
ard County, Mo., where two years later he was 
united in marriage with Miss Jackson. During 
their residence in that State three children were 
given them, but in 1839 they moved to Illinois, 
where seven children were reared, making a family 
of ten born to their union. Mrs. Parmelia Rodgers, 
of English descent, first saw the light of day in 
Kentucky, in 1805, and after a long and consistent 
Christian life as a devoted wife and mother, she 
passed to her eternal rest, on Wednesday, March 
28, 1882, at the age of seventy-seven years. Mr. 
Rodgers, Sr. , though of Welsh parentage, was of 
English birth, and in 1818, being prompted by 
missionary zeal, came to America, locating in Ken- 
tucky, which presented a wide field for his labors. 
His was a grand and noble work, and his efforts 
for the advancement of Christianity and education 
have left imprints for good that will remain through 
time and eternity. In 1823, five years after his 
arrival in the United States, he organized a Baptist 
Church, in Capt. John Jackson's neighborhood, 
and subsequently became its pastor. Capt. Jack- 



>v 



A± 



LEE COUNTY. 



01-; 



son, the fathor of Mrs. Rodgers, was l)y occupation 
a farmer, but entered the War of 1812, command- 
ing a company of volunteers (Kentucky). In 1834 
Rev. Mr. Rodgers moved with his family to Madi- 
son County, 111. , where he presided for a period of 
two years as pastor of the Baptist Church. At the 
expiration of that time he left the pastorate and 
devoted his time to missionary and association 
efforts throughout the State. After a long and 
well-spent life, he passed away, at his home in 
Upper Alton, 111., at the age of sixty four years. 
Henry Preston Rodgers, the subject of this sketch, 
received the rudiments of his education in the sub- 
scription schools of Madison County, 111., and 
matriculated in the ShurtlifF College in 1861, com- 
pleting the junior year in 1863. In September, 
1863, he entered the scientific department of the 
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), and comjjletod 
his education one year later. After leaving Ann 
Arbor Mr. Rodgers went to Memphis, but soon 
located in Bolivar, Tenn., where he engaged in 
merchandising. Finding that venture to be un- 
successful, however, he closed out his business, and 
accepted a position as salesman with a large and 
prominent firm, which he filled with credit and 
satisfaction. In 1870 he came to Arkansas, select- 
ing Marianna as his place of abode, and again em- 
barked in the mercantile business, his efforts being 
liberally rewarded. For ten years he was recog- 
nized as one of the most enterprising and progi-es- 
sive of Marianna' s citizens, only retiring from 
business at that time to devote his attention to 
[)hiuting. He now owns 6,000 acres of as tine farm 
land as can be found in Arkansas, and 1,200 of 
this are in a high state of cultivation, the principal 
crops being com and cotton. The soil in favorable 
seasons yields about one bale of cotton to the acre. 
The year 1877 witnessed Mr. Rodgers' marriage 
to Miss Mary Virginia Upshaw, a native of Arkan- 
sas, and a daughter of James It. and Bettie W. 
(Epps) Upshaw. To their union two children wore 
born: Henry Preston, Jr. (born June 10, 1878), 
and Mary Lucile (born December 24, 187'.)). Mrs. 
Rodgers died in 1887, a lady of great culture and 
refinement, and a favorite among her wide circle 
of friends and acquaintances. In politics Mr. 



Rodgers is a Democrat, and in 1883 be received 
the election to the State legislature, being re-elected 
in 1884. He holds a membership in the Episcopal 
Church, as did also his estimable wife. That he is 
popular is proven beyond a doubt, by the respect 
and confidence reposed in him l)y the entire peoj)le. 
Albert S. Rodgers took part in many of the im 
portant and hard fought battles of the Civil M'ar, 
prominent among which were the engagements at 
Perryville, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, 
Murfreesboro, Atlanta, Jonosboro, Dalton, Chicka 
mauga, Franklin and a number of others. He was 
wounded in the former and last three battles, and 
was taken prisoner at the last named, being confined 
in a Federal hospital for three months. Upon his 
recovery he was taken to Camp Chase, Ohio, whore 
he was held until shortly after the surrender of 
Lee, when he was released on parole and returned 
home. There he engaged in farming until 1868. 
Coming to Arkansas he located in Lee County, and 
opened up a farm at A\'alnut Bond. Mr. Rodgers 
was born in Lawrence County, S. C, in 1844, and 
is a sou of James S. and Emily R. Rodgers, both 
natives of that State. He was reared in Marshall 
County, Miss., where his father moved when be 
was three years of age, and which he made bis 
home until his enli.stmcnt, when only seventeen 
years of age, in Company E, of the Thirty-fourth 
Mississippi Infantry. He was married in 1880 to 
Miss Scott M. Davidson, a daughter of A. W. and 
Susan E. (Camthes) Davidson. They are the j)a- 
rents of two children: Alma M. and Emma S. in 
connection with farming and stock raising Mr. 
Rodgers is engaged in the general mercantile busi- 
ness, and carries a stock of some $2,000, enjoying 
a large patronage. He is a prominent Democrat, 
and has held the position of deputy clerk of Lee 
County, and was justice of the peace for si.\ years, 
but at the present time is not occupied in an oBi- 
cial capacity. He is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity and of the Knights of Honor, and is a 
liberal patron to all public enterjtrises. Mrs. 
Rodgers is a member of the Presbyterian Ctiurcli. 
James S. Rodgers, the father of our sul)ject, was 
born in South Carolina in 1791, and lived to the 
ripe old age of seventy-five years. He was a soldier 



AK 



^ s> 



618 



fflSTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



in the War of 1812, and was a jirominent man of 
his county, holding the office of sheriff for several 
years. He owned a large plantation and at the 
breaking out of the war was the possessor of sixty 
slaves. In his family were twelve children, five 
sons and seven daughters. Saxon Rodgers, his 
father, was of South Carolina nativity, and a farm- 
er of considerable means and influence. Mrs. 
Rodgers, the mother of Albert S. , was a daughter 
of Edmund Ware, a Virginian by birth, and a gen- 
eral in the Revolutionary War. 

John L. Rowland, who stands high in the ag- 
ricultural ranks of Lee County, came originally 
from Tennessee, being a son of John B. and Eliz- 
abeth (Thomas) Rowland. The father was a son 
of Birch and Mary Rowland, natives of North Car- 
olina, both of whom lived to be over sixty years of 
age. They were the parents of four sons: Will- 
iam (a mechanic and a master of his trade), George, 
David (both successful farmers and well-to do) and 
John B. The latter moved to St. Francis County 
in 1834, where he was engaged in farming, but a 
few years later came to Lee County. He was mar- 
ried before entering this State (then a Territory), to 
Miss Elizabeth Thomas, daughter of Lewis and 
Margaret Thomas, of South Carolina and Tennes- 
see origin, respectively. Lewis Thomas was a 
soldier in the War of 1812, and gained distinction 
by his bravery, living to the age of sixty-five. 
John L. Rowland was born in Montgomery County, 
Tenn., in 1829, and was therefore five years of age 
when his parents moved to Arkansas. He was 
reared on his father's farm, and as the territory 
was at that time veiy thinly settled, and school- 
houses were few and far between, his educational 
advantages were very limited. He commenced 
farming for himself when twenty years old in this 
county, and in 1857 was married to Susan E. Reed, 
daughter of Noah and Mary (Hurley) Reed, natives 
of Massachusetts and Kentucky, respectively. 
Noah Reed was born in 1797; his wife died at the 
age of forty. Mr. and Mrs. Rowland have four 
children: llosephine (deceased), Ardella (deceased), 
Jessie L. and Mary. Mr. Rowland enli.sted in the 
Confederate army in 1862, in Company B, of 
Holmes' regiment, in which he served throughout 



the war, participating in the battles of Cotton 
Plant, Helena and some others, but was princij)al 
ly engaged in skirmishing. After the war ho re- 
turned home and resumed farming, and although 
he lost nearly all he had during that unhappy 
period, by hard work and close economy, together 
with good business management, he has accumu- 
lated considerable property, and now owns a fine 
farm of 540 acres, with 250 acres under cultivation. 
He has also a large amount of stock, to which 
industry he turns his attention, in preference to the 
more general occupation of cotton raising. Mr. 
Rowland is a Democrat in politics, is a member of 
the Masonic order, and of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, to which his wife also belongs, they 
taking an active part in religious enterprises. He 
is a liberal contributor to all enterprises for the 
good of the community. 

John W. Russell, who stands foremost among 
the farmers of Lee County, Ark. , is a native of 
Alabama and a son of Alexander Russell, also of 
that State, and who was born about 1809. He 
was of Scotch descent, and was a farmer, tanner 
and shoemaker. In 1828 Miss Rebecca Ann Cart- 
wright became his wife, a daughter of John and 
Polly Cartwright, both originally from Alabama, 
and of Irish descent. She was born in Madison 
County, that State, in 1815, and died in 1882, 
three years after the death of her husband. They 
were the parents of nine children, five sons and 
four daughters; three of these are known to be 
living: Joseph, Eveline (now Mrs. Holly of Ala- 
bama), and John W. The subject of this sketch 
was born in Limestone County, Ala., December 10, 
1831, and remained in that county until his mar- 
riage, having charge of his father's farm. He has 
been married four times; first, in 1855, to Miss 
Louisa Breeding, a native of Morgan County, who 
died in 1877, leaving seven children, three still 
surviving: Samuel R., Otis P. and William W., 
all engaged in farming in this county. Mr. Rus- 
sell was next married May 10, 1879, to Miss Susan 
BickerstafF, also of Alabama, who died in 1883. 
His third marriage was in 1884 to Miss Dora 
Smith, also of the same State. She lived a year 
after her marriage, leaving one child, which died 



^^ 



IK^ 



^ 



LEE COUNTY. 



019 



;i short time after its mother. His fourth aud 
present wife was Mrs. Mary A. Archy, widow of 
Rufus Archy, of Tennessee, to whom he was mar- 
ried in October, 1886. Mr. Kussell l^rllisted in 
the Confederate service, in 1804, in Malone's bat 
talion, in Johnston's army, and served until the 
close of the war. Coining to Arkansas in 1873, 
he located in this county and purchased the farm 
on which he still resides, now one of the finest in 
Lee County, consisting of 2 1 acres, with 1 50 acres 
under cultivation. He is also engaged in the mill- 
ing business and cotton ginning. Mr. Russell is 
a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. His wife belongs to the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

Hartwell Scruggs, holding a prominent place 
among the enterprising and wealthy farmers of 
Richland Township, is a native of Tennessee, and 
was born in 1824, beiog the second in a family of 
three children, resulting from the union of Hart- 
well and Lucy (Howell) Scruggs. Hartwell Scruggs 
was bom in 1800, in the Old Dominion. He moved 
to Tennessee, and there married about the year 1 820, 
making it his home for many years, and giving his 
children such advantages for an education as could 
be obtained at that time. His son, Louis H., died 
in 1859, leaving a wife and two children; John, died 
in 1800, a wife and one child surviving to mourn his 
loss. Mr. Hartwell, Sr., moved from Tennessee 
to Lee County, Ark., in 1844, and settled on the 
St. Francis River, where he resided at the date of 
his death in 1845. Mrs. Scruggs died in the same 
year. Mr. Scruggs was a Democrat in his politi- 
cal views, and in religious faith, a Baptist. Hart- 
well, the subject of this sketch, passed his younger 
days in Tennessee, and came with his father to 
Arkansas in 1844. Two years later he embarked 
in rafting on the Mississippi River, following this 
occupation for eight years, after which he went to 
farming on the St. Francis River. In 1863 he 
enlisted in Dobbins' Regiment of Arkansas Cav- 
alry, soon being taken prisoner of war, and was 
not released until 1865. In 1868 he settled in 
Richland Township, purchasing a farm of 200 
acres, 100 acres now under cultivation. With the 
improvements that he made this farm is second to 



none in the county, and the impression to the cas- 
ual observer, or pfisser-by, is that thrift and pros- 
])erity predominate. Mi'. Scruggs was united in 
marriage with Miss Amanda Morgan in the year 
1847, and by her became the fatherof si.K children: 
Martha A., Hartwell, Cortez, Howell, Helen aud 
Louis. !Mrs. Scruggs died in 1861, and for his 
second wife Mr. Scruggs chose Rebecca Moore, of 
Virginia, who died in 1870, leaving two children: 
Clara and Anna. Mr. Scruggs was married in 
1871 to Miss Harriet E. Haydon, a daughter of 
Waller and Sarah F. (Nelson) Haydon, originally 
from Virginia and Kentucky, respectively. By this 
marriage they have had eight children: Libourn 
R., Lucian (deceased), Horace B. (deceased), Car- 
rie L. and Cora L. (twins — Cora is dead). Black- 
stone F., Edna E. and Rhuney R. Mr. Scruggs 
is a man who has traveled a great deal, and who 
has seen life in all its different phases. He is 
a member of Lodge No. 108, of the Masonic order 
at La Grange, Lee County, and has been school 
director in his district for years. He takes an ac- 
tive interest iu those movements tending to the 
good of the county, lending by his valuable sup- 
port and iuHuence especially to the advancement 
of education. He comments with pardonable pride 
on the development and growth of the county since 
he has resided here, and many of its enterprises 
will stand as monuments of his generous support, 
and interest manifested therein. 

Richard D. Shackelford. One among the many 
prosperous and prominent farmers of Lee County 
is Richard D. Shackelford, who was born of honor- 
able pai-entage at Murfreesboro. Tenn. , on Feliru- 
ary 1(), 1826. He is a son of John L. and Sarah 
A. (Chisenhall) Shackelford. John L. Shackelford 
came upon the scene of action in Virginia, on 
August 12, 1796; he was a mechanic by occupation, 
an old-time Whig in jiolitics, and a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and as a jiious and 
devout man, was much loved and respect<'d by 
those who knew him. He was a Scotchman by 
l>irth, and came to this country when young, during 
the War of 1812, taking an active part, aud doing 
valiant duty as a soldier. He was saccessful in 
life, and at the time of his death, which occurred 



e k. 



_J 9 



4^ 



620 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



on August 20, 1863, had considerable property. 
His wife, to wLoin be was married May 26, 1816, 
was also born in the Old Dominion, and was the 
mother of ten children, two sons and eight daugh- 
ters, four of whom are still living: Katharine 
(widow of Rev. John Roberts), Tabitha (widow 
of William Williford), Rebecca (widow of John 
Walthall), and Richard D., the principal of this 
sketch. The latter was reared in Marengo County, 
Ala., where his father had removed when the son 
was two years of age. As that portion of the 
State at that time was comparatively an unsettled 
country, his education was of a very limited char- 
acter. He began farming for himself at the age of 
twenty-one, and in 1847 removed to Arkansas, 
settling in PhOlips County, about thirty miles 
northwest of Helena, which was at that time 
an uninhabited wilderness. After remaining there 
seven years, he removed to Woodruff County, con- 
tinuing until 1862, at which time he joined the 
Confederate army, in Company G, of Dobbins' 
regiment, and served up to the close of the war. 
He then returned to his family in Woodi'uff County, 
but soon removed to his present location, where he 
has since been engaged as a farmer and mechanic. 
Mr. Shackelford has been tvpice married; first, to 
Miss Belvida Tully, in 1850, who died fifteen years 
later, having been the mother of seven children, 
six still living: Alice (now Mrs. Brown, of this 
county), Thomas E. (a farmer of Pulaski County), 
Mary (now Mrs. Marshall, of Ft. Smith), William 
R. (also a farmer of Pulaski County), Lucy (now 
Mrs. Ferguson, of Lee County) and Louis L. (a 
farmer of Pulaski County). He was then married 
in December of that year to Mrs. Mary E. Wilks 
(nee Brown)', a daughter of John and Mary Brown, 
and a native of Mississippi. They had seven chil- 
dren, two of whom survive: Zula (now Mrs. 
McAlexander, a mechanic of Brinkley, Ark.), and 
Nannie, at home. Mr. Shackelford is a Democrat 
in politics, and a member of the Christian Chm-ch, 
as is also his wife, in which they take an active 
part, always being ready to give their time and 
means to worthy church and religious enterprises. 
James A. Sims is a native of Mississij)pi, and a 
son of John and Isabella (Johnson) Sims, natives 



of Virginia and North Carolina, respectively. 
John Sims was a blacksmith by trade, and was 
also engaged in farming. He died in 1831, pre- 
ceded by his wife (who was a daughter of Gilbert 
Johnson, a native of South Carolina) some five 
years. They were the parents of nine children, 
eight sons and one daughter: Samuel A., John P., 
"William B., James A. (the principal of this sketch), 
Gilbert G., Benjamin M., Ernest W., David D. 
and Mary A. (wife of John W. Walker, of Warren 
County, Miss.). The places of residence of the 
brothers are not known. James A. Sims was 
liorn in Warren County, Miss , near Vicksburg, on 
February 5, 1817. On account of the country be- 
ing then but thinly settled, his early advantages 
for an education were very limited. He commenced 
farming for himself at the age of seventeen, and in 
1849 came to Arkansas, purchasing a farm in Lee 
County, which was at that time a part of Monroe 
County. Two years later he sold his farm, and 
removed to Clark County, where he remained thir- 
teen years, soon returning and purchasing his pres- 
ent farm, then within the lines of St. Francis 
County. Mr. Sims was married, in 1851, to Miss 
Augusta C. Davis, a native of Phillips County, 
and a daughter of Thomas J. and Elvira (Mullen) 
Davis, both of whom are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. 
Sims are the parents of ten children, five sons 
and five daughters; seven of these are still living: 
JohnH. , Louisa J., Florence I., William A., Rob- 
ert E. Lee, Edward M. and Donnie D. Mr. Sims 
onlLsted in the Confederate service in the summer 
of 1864, in the Arkansas Home Guards, in which 
he served until the close of the war. He and his 
wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, 
to which they have belonged for over thirty years. 
Mr. Sims is a strong, uncompromising Democrat. 

Mrs. Louisa F. (Noles) Slaughter, the widow 
of Dr. Stanton Slaughter, was born in Maury 
County, Tenn., November 27, 1837. Dr. Stanton 
Slaughter, a native of South Carolina, was born in 
1820, being a son of Arthur and Jane Slaughter, 
of Virginia. Ho received a liberal education, 
graduating from the New Orleans (La.) Medical 
College in 1846, and afterward settled in Missis-' 
sippi, choosing this as the field of his labors, but 



-^ 



->^ 



A^ 



LEE COUNTY. 



P.'JI 



subsequently immigrated to Arkansas, and located 
in Phillij)s County iu 1851. He was immediately 
recognized as an efficient and conscientious physi- 
cian, and rapidly gained an enviable position, both 
as a son of iEsculapius and a citizen. He was 
married in 1851 to Miss Mary Pollard, of Missis- 
sippi, who only lived one year. He was again 
married, his second wife being Miss Louisa F. 
Noles, a daughter of Allen J. and Eliza Noles. 
Mr. Noles was a native of Maury County, Tonn., 
and was born in 1807. He was a farmer and con- 
tractor and served as sheriff of Lewis County, 
Tenn., for many years. In 1829 he was married 
to Elizabeth Batmon, of Maury County, her birth 
occurring in 1809. They were the parents of 
eleven children, six sons and five daughters, four 
now living: Louisa F., Sarah E. (widow of B. M. 
Marbeau), James B. and Kosena (wife of Bruce 
Kirk, now residing in Texas). Mr. Noles died in 
1887, and his wife in 1803. To Dr. and Mrs. 
Slaughter a family of ten children were given, 
seven sons and three daughters, five now living. 
Dr. Slaughter died in Briukley, this State, January 
2G, 1885. He was a courteous and highly-cultured 
gentleman, well worthy the respect and esteem 
shown him by his wide circle of friends and ac- 
(juaiutauces. Mrs. Slaughter owns 100 acres of ex- 
cellent farm land, with over 100 acres under a suc- 
cessful state of cultivation. She is a bright, in- 
telligent lady, and though by no means a mascu- 
line woman, manages her estate and business in a 
highly commondal>le manner, that iiiigbt well be 
copied by many of the sterner sex. 

G. F. Smith has been a resident of Arkansas 
since 1800, when ho located in what was then a 
part of St. Francis County, but which now forms 
a portion of Lee County, and was one of the first 
men to advocate this county's formation. Born in 
Itutherford County, Tonn., on December 15, 1819, 
he was a son of William and Kebecca (Webb) 
Smith, natives of North Carolina and Tennessee, 
respectively. William Smith mov(>d to Tennessee 
when a young man, where he worked at his trade, 
as a gunsmith, and also engaged in farming. He 
was a soldier in the War of 18 13, and was present 
at the battle of New OHeans. To himself and wife 



ten children were born, five sons and five daugh- 
ters, two of whom only are living: G. F. and Jas- 
per N. (a farmer of Hardeman County, Tenn.). 
G. F. Smith commenced farming for himself at 
the age of nineteen, and four years later removed 
to Hardeman County, where he was engaged in 
the same occupation until his removal to Arkansas. 
He first purchased 1,000 acres of land for $4,800; 
now he owns 3,000 acres in the western part of 
Lee County, and has some 700 acres under culti 
vation, which he devotes principally to cotton and 
corn. He also owns a steam grist-mill, sawmill 
and cotton gin, with a capacity of eight bales per 
day, which were erected at a cost of $3,000. Mr. 
Smith was married in Tennessee, in 1838, to Miss 
Elizabeth Bell, a daughter of Samuel Bell, of that 
county; she died in about 1840, leaving two chil- 
dren, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. Smith 
was married on January 17, 1843, to Miss A. J. 
Smith, also of Tennessee origin, who passed away 
in 1878, having been the mother of one son; the 
latter died in 1853. His third and present wife. 
Miss V. M. Granger, was a daughter of A. H. and 
Mary Granger, and a native of Phillips County, 
Ark. They are the parents of four children : George 
F., Melvine, Philip J. and Stephen C. They are 
members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 
Mr. Smith belongs to the Masonic order. 

John H. Spivey first saw the light of day in 
Alabama, and after spending nine or ten years of 
his life in that State, ho moved to Tennessee, re- 
maining there about foiu' years; the balance oMiis 
boyhood days were passed in Mississippi. He was 
reared on his father's farm, but received a good 
education in the common schools of the conimu 
nity iu which he lived, and when grown served an 
apprenticeship as a mechanic, but has followed 
farming nearly all of his life. He was born on 
Ajjril 8, 1821, to the union of Temple and Charity 
(Hicks) Spivey. The former's l)irth occurred in 
Moore County, N. C. , on September 22, 1 794. He 
emigrated to Alabama in 1818 and was married 
in June, 1820, remaining in that State some ten 
years, when he wont to Hardeman County, Tenn. 
Four years later he removed to the Chickasaw Na 
tion in Mississippi, which was then occupied by 



'^' 



^ 9 



^ 



622 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



tbe Indians, and now forms a part of Tippah 
County. In 1S-4U he went with his wife to Texas, 
in which State they spent the balance of their lives. 
Mr. Spivey was a millwright and farmer by occu- 
pation, and at the time of his death, in 1877, was 
possessed of considerable property. Mrs. Spivey 
was born on October 17, 1802, in North Carolina, 
and died in 1S78. They were members of the 
Baptist Church, and had a family of sixteen chil- 
dren, nine sons and seven daughters, eight of 
whom are still living. John H., the principal of 
this sketch, removed to Monroe (now Lee) County, 
Ark., in November, 1863, and was engaged in 
farming until 1872, when he entered the ranks of 
the merchants of this county, though he still cur- 
ries on farming. In 1862 he enlisted in the Con- 
federate army as a member of Blythe's battalion, 
and i)articipated in a number of l)attles and skir- 
mishes, being wounded at the battle of Beaver 
Dam Bayou, by a shot through the right arm. This 
disal)lt'd him so that he was disqualified from active 
duty. He was at that time a lieutenant of his com- 
pany. Mr. Spivey was married in November, 1845, 
in Hardeman County, Tenn., to Miss Martha A. 
Howard, of Madison County, Ala., and daughter of 
George and Penelope (Moore) Howard, of North 
Carolina nativity. She was born on November 17, 
1824, and is the mother of nine children, six sons 
and three daughters, five of whom survive: Mary 
E. (wife of John Ward, of Lee County), William 
A. (also a farmer of Lee County), Andrew T. (a 
farmer of Lincoln County, Tenn.), Luada (now 
Mrs. BickerofF) and Thaddeus F. (also of this 
county. Mr. Spivey is a stanch Democrat, and 
was elected justice of the peace in 1874, which 
position he held six years; he has also been a no- 
tary public for eight years. He was appointed 
postmaster of Moro in 1882, and discharged the 
duties of that position until November of the past 
year. He is an unaffiliated member of the Ma- 
sonic order, in which he has taken the Royal Arch 
degree, and is a member of the County Grange; 
he also belongs to the Missionary Baptist Church, 
as does his wife. 

Jacob A. Sullivan's boyhood was spent on his 
father's farm in Tennessee, and the war breaking 



out dvu'ing his school days his education was inter- 
rupted, and he was obliged to work at farm labor, 
when he should have been receiving instructions 
in the common English branches. He began 
farming at the age of twenty-two, and has fol 
lowed that occupation all his life. Born in Tipton 
County, Tenn., in 1847, Mr. Sullivan moved to 
Lee County in 1876, where he engaged in farming, 
in 1881 opening up a store. He carries a -stock of 
general merchandise invoicing altout 15,000, and 
enjoys a good trade. He was married in 1869 to 
Miss Mary F. Wooten, daughter of Cannon S. and 
Helen Wooten. They are the parents of nine 
children, six still living: James R., Isaac R., 
Charles C. , Jacob S., Hugh, Mary A. and Fred. 
Isaac Sullivan, the father of the principal of this 
sketch, was born in Sumner County, Tenn., in 
1814, and yet survives. His twin brother, Jacob 
Sullivan, so closely resembles him that it is nearly 
impossible to distinguish them. They are both 
farmers by occupation. They have an older 
brother, Nathan, who was a prominent Methodist 
minister. Jacob A. Sullivan owns a farm of 160 
acres of land, with 100 acres under cultivation. 

Andrew J. Thompson. Foremost among the 
leading farmers of Lee County, and well known 
throughout Phillips and Lee Counties, is Andrew 
J. Thompson, who has been a resident in this State 
since 1840, and a citizen of Lee County since 1881. 
Born in Garrard County, Ky. , on December 12, 
1828, he is a son of Davis and Gabraella (Dunn) 
Thompson, natives of West Virginia and Kentucky, 
respectively. Davis Thompson moved to the Blue 
Grass State with his parents when a child, and re- 
mained there until 1836, when he came to Arkan- 
sas, having been appointed land agent by Presi- 
dent Jackson, for the State of Arkansas. Locating 
at Helena he moved his family four years later, 
and held the position referred to until elected to 
the State legislature in 1840. He was also one of 
the commissioners appointed to re-establish the 
line between Arkansas and Missouri. In 1846 he 
enlisted for the Mexican War, starting out as a 
private, but was soon promoted to the command of 
his company, and was commissar}' of his regiment. 
After the close of the war ho was elected sheriff of 



9 ^y 



LEE COUNTY. 



023 



Phillips County, in which capacity he served four 
years. Mr. Thompson thcni retired from active 
life, and died in 185U. Ho was a son of Arthur 
Thompson, of Scotch and Irish descent, who died 
in Kentucky about 1820. Mrs. Thompson was a 
daughter of Benjamin Dunn, and was horn in 
Baltimore, Md. Her father was a soldier in the 
lievolutionary War. Of their large family of chil- 
dren four are still living: Josephine (now Mrs. 
Hargravis, a resident of Helena), Helen (wife of 
Judge Hanks, of Helena), one daughter (now Mrs. 
C. L. Moore, also of that city) and Andrew J. (the 
subject of this sketch and the eldest of those liv- 
ing). The latter was reared and educated in Hel- 
ena, remaining there until the war. After Gen. 
Curtis had taken Helena, Mr. Thompson passed 
the Federal lines and joined the Confederate army, 
enlisting in Dobbins' regiment, in which he was 
afterward promoted to second lieutenant. In De- 
cember of that year (1802) he was captured by a 
party of the Fourteenth Illinois Cavalry and taken 
to Helena and then to Memphis, Tenn., where, 
through the influence of Senator Sebastin, he was 
given his freedom for a time, but was soon sent 
North and confined at Camp Chase, in Ohio, and 
then to Fort Delaware, and was held a prisoner 
until exchanged at Johnson's Island in December, 
1864. After the war, returning to Helena, he was 
engaged in farming for twelve years, later ran a 
steam ferry, and for two years was occupied in 
operating a large steam cotton-gin at Helena. In 
1881 he came to this county and purchased a farm 
on which he still lives, and has now 1,01)0 acres of 
land, with nearly 700 acres under cultivation, all 
made since the war by hard work and good busi- 
ness management. He at one time also owned a 
half interest in the Helena Oil Mills. Ur. Thomp- 
son was married in July, 1805, to Miss Eliza Jones, 
a native of Limestone County, Ala., and who died 
in 1808, leaving one son, Arthur Thomi)son, now 
book-keeper and general superintendent in D. H. 
Grebe's oil mills at Helena. His second wife, to 
whom he was married in 1870, was formerly Miss 
Sallie E. Crenshaw, also of Limestone County, 
Ala., and who died in 1880. leaving one daughter, 
Jessie F., at home. Mr. Thompson is a Democrat, 



and a leader in the political movements of his 
township. 

John J. Thompson was born in Bedford County, 
Tenn., January 25, 1823, and is the son of Samuel 
C. and Itebecca (Doty) Thompson. Samuel Tliomj) 
son, a native of Virginia, was born in 1801, an<l 
married in Tennessee, about the year 1820, Miss 
Doty, who was born in Tennessee in 1803. They 
were the parents of ten children, of whom tho.se 
living are: John J., Ilebecca A. and Mary E. ; 
those deceased are: William, Isaac D., Enoch G., 
Lucy, Henry, Nancy D. and Thomas. Mr. Thomp- 
son died in Hardeman County, Tenn., in 1802, and 
his wife in 1875. John J. received but limited 
advantages for schooling, the educational facilities 
at the period of his boyhood being far from satis- 
factory. At the age of twenty-one he began life 
on his own responsibility, selecting farming as his 
occupation, which, together with the mechanic's 
trade, has principally occupied him. Coming to 
Arkansas in 1801, he settled in Phillips County, 
near where he now resides in Lee County. He 
owns eighty acres of land with fifty in cultivation, 
the principal products being corn and cotton; he is 
also engaged to some extent in the raising of cattle 
and hogs. Mr. Thompson was married in Harde- 
man County, Tenn. , on March 24, 1 840, to Miss 
Mary It. Clift, a native of that State and county, 
and a daughter of Barney B. and Helsie Clift. 
Mrs. Thompson died in Lee County, October 23, 
1880, having borne seven children: John H. (Bap- 
tist minister of Sfwingfield, Mo.), William T.^(a 
farmer of Lee County, Ark.) and Franklin P., 
Martha E., James B., Charles R. and one infant 
dead. Mr. Thompson served as justice of the 
peace for one year, and has been a member of the 
school l)oard for two years. In secret organiza 
tions he is connected with the Agricultural Wheel. 

Joseph S. Thompson came originally from 
Hardeman County, Tenn., being a son of Thomas 
Thompson, a native of Orange County, N. C, 
who died in 1830. The latter was a soldier in the 
War of 1812, and took part in some of the most 
important engagements of the war, including the 
battle of New Orleans. Ho was a farmer and 
blacksmith by occupation. Joseph S., the princi- 






® w_ 



u^ 



024 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



[lal of this sketch, was reared in his native county 
until after grown to manhood. Ho did not have 
the advantages for obtaining an education which 
his children now enjoy, as Hardeman County was 
at that time but thinly settled, and there was no 
school-house or church in his neighborhood. He 
l)egan farming for himself at the age of twenty- 
one, and in 1858 came to Arkansas and purchased 
a farm near Marianna, not moving his family here 
until the following year. He was tirst married, in 
1840, to Miss Nancy Allen, of North Carolina, 
who died in 1801, leaving three chiklren, Ellen 
(the wife of John Lovejoy, a farmer of Lee Coun- 
ty) being the only survivor; Thomas was killed 
by an accidental fall from a tree, and Sarah (now 
deceased) was the wife of Leander Johnson. Mr. 
Thompson was afterward married in Woodruff 
County, about 1803, to Mrs. Mary McLean (nee 
Crawford), widow of William J. McLean, and a 
daughter of William Crawford. She died in 1874, 
having borne two children: Minnie (wife of Ed- 
ward Gillen Waters, a farmer of this county) and 
William J. His third and present wife, Mrs. 
Susan Green, a native of Mississippi, was the 
daughter of William and Betsey (Coley) Dough- 
(<rty. They are the parents of one son, Joseph 
Ritter. Mr. Thompson now owns a farm of 100 
acres, with 100 acres under cultivation. He and 
wife are members of the Christian Church, in 
which they take an active part. 

Phillip H. Underwood has been a resident of 
Lee County since four years of age. He commenced 
farming for himself at the death of his father, on the 
old homestead, which occu)>ation he has followed 
nincA\ that time. He was married, in 1873, to Miss 
Sallie Bennett, a daughter of Thomas B. and Betty 
(McCloudon) Bennett, natives of North Carolina 
and (Georgia, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Under- 
wood are the parents of six children: Phillip O., 
Delia, Ola, Robert, Jettie and Honor. Mr. Un- 
derwood was born in Maury County, Tenn., in 
1848, being a son of Edward and Mary Under- 
wood, originally from North Carolina and Tennes- 
see, respectively. The father of our subject was 
born in 1809, and was one of a family of six chil- 
dren; he died at the age of fifty-nine, having been 



a successful farmer in Tennessee, to which State 
he removed when a young man. There he made 
his home until 1852, when he came to Arkansas, 
and located in this county, dying here in 180S. 
Mr. Underwood owns a farm of 107 acres, of which 
he has forty-five acres under cultivation. His 
principal croji is cotton, but he is also engaged in 
stock raising on a small scale. He is a Democrat 
in politics, and is a prominent man of Lee County. 
His wife is of the Primitive Baptist faith. 

Dr. William Bennett WalJi'ip is a native of 
Mississippi, his birth occurring in De Soto County 
(near Belmont), ]N[arch 9, 1840. His father, S. G. 
Waldrip, of North Carolina, was born in 1818, and 
at an early age was apprenticed to a brick-mason, 
in which trade ho became very proficient, in con- 
nection with farming, the latter being his princi[>al 
occupation through life. He was married to Miss 
Martha J. Smart, of Mississippi, and by her became 
the father of five children, four now living: James 
M. (a resident farmer and brick-layer of Tate Coun- 
ty, Miss.), William B. (our subject), Henry L. (of 
Tate County, Miss.), Elizabeth J. (widow of Ned 
Casey, now Mrs. John Gray, residing in Wheetley), 
Mary F. (Mrs. H(>nderson Freeman, died in 1885). 
Mr. Waldi'ip removed to Arkansas in 1874 and 
settled in St. Francis County, where he passed 
away in 1885. He was a member of the Masonic 
order, and in political views was a Whig until the 
death of that party, after which he became a 
Democrat. In his religious belief he was a Baptist, 
being a member of the Primitive Baptist Church. 
Mrs. Waldrip died in Wheetley, Ark., in 1883, 
having passed her sixty-seventh birthday. Will 
iam B. Waldrip was reared in Mississippi, where 
he obtained a liberal common school education, and 
in 1809 l)egan the study of his chosen profession, 
that of medicine — first, under the able instruction 
of Dr. J. M. Richro, and afterward attending the 
Medical Institute at Cincinnati, where he was 
graduated witli high honors in the class of 1870. 
He firs^t began to alleviate the sufferings of human- 
ity in Marshall County, Miss., but one year lat(U' 
moved to Arkansas, locating in Monroe (now Lee) 
County in the town of Wheetley. Here he rapidly 
gained the confidence and respect of his fellow 



-■5 S 



f- 



4^ 



LEE COUNTY. 



025 



citizens, both as an efllcient physician anil friend. 
Some years later he moved to his present location, 
which is situated six mih^s southeast of Wheetley, 
and though here but a few years many improve- 
ments that owe their existence to his presence 
show him to be a man of enterprise and progress. 
In connection with his practice ho is engaged in 
farming and stock raising, in which he has been 
unusually successful. He owns 1,000 acres of 
valuable land with 240 under cultivation, and the 
general appearance of his farm and its ap[)oint- 
monts is of thrift and prosperity. The Doctor was 
married in Monroe County, August 31, 1871, to 
Ada, daughter of Peter W. and Martha W.(Bladoii) 
Hollaran, of Alabama. Mrs. Waldrip died in 1882, 
having become the mother of four (children, one 
now living, Frederick E. Dr. Waldrip was again 
married on September 20, 1888, to Miss Katie 
Henley, of Illinois, and the daughter of Elijah 
and Emma (Crutchfield) Henley (residents of 
Marianna). Dr. Waldrip is a Master Mason and 
in politics a Democrat. He is liberal and charit- 
able, contributing to all worthy enterprises, as 
far as his limited time and means will permit. 

Enoch W. Wall is a native of Alal)ama, and a 
son of Enoch G. and Elizabeth J. (Chapman) 
Wall, originally from Georgia and Alabama, re- 
spectively. They were married in the latter State 
in 1853, and in 1865 removed to Arkansas, settling 
in Phillips County, where his wife died the follow- 
ing year, leaving three children, two still living: 
Enoch W. (the principal of this sketch) and Will- 
iam A. (a prominent farmer of this county). Mr. 
Wall was married a second time, by this union 
there being six children, three of whom survive: 
Judge J., Ada G. and Eula G. Mr. Wall was a 
decided Democrat, a member of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church, in which he took an active 
part, and also belonged to the Masonic order. He 
was a farmer by occupation, and was comfortably 
well off at the time of his death, which occurred in 
1880, at the age of forty seven years. Enoch W. 
Wall was born in Russell County, Ala., May 29, 
185-1, and was reared from the age of twelve, in 
Phillips County, Ark. He began life for himself 
at the age of twenty two years as a farmer in Lee 



County, which was a part of Phillips County, 
where he now owns a fine farm of 340 acres, with 
over half under cultivation, lying in the heart of 
the "Arkansas Cotton Bolt;" this yields him a 
largo income from year to year. In 1880 and 1881 
he was engaged in the mercantile business at Oak 
Forest, in coimectiou with farming, but preferring 
agricultural life to that of a merchant, ho sold out 
his store in 1881, and has since that time devoted 
himself exclusively to tilling the soil, in which, al 
though having his share of losses and disappoint- 
ments, he has been very successful. His pleasant 
homo in this rich country is a full reward for the 
labor and care spent in its aC(iuiremout. Mr. Wall 
was married December 19, 1877, to Miss Lizzie D. 
Coleman, a native of the same State as himself, 
and a daughter of David and Viola F. Coleman, 
also of Alabama. They are the parents of three 
children: Enoch D., Orl)y G. and Laura V. Mr. 
Wall is a leading Democrat of the county, and 
holds the office of justice of the peace of his town- 
ship, having served in tliis capacity for a number 
of years. His official duties he discharges with 
satisfaction to the citizens and with credit to him- 
self. He is also president of the school board, and 
here also has won the respect and regard of his 
fellow men. 

William A. Wall is a son of Enoch G. Wall, 
one of the [)ioneers of Lee County, who is now 
departed from this world, and who will be long 
remembered l)y the older citizens of the comniu 
nity. Enoch G. Wall was born in Georgia in 1838, 
and was married at the age of twenty to Miss 
ElizaVieth J. Chapman, a native of Alal)ama, to 
which State he had removed a few years previous. 
There he made his homo until 1865, when he,re- 
moved to Arkansas, and settled in Phillips County, 
where his wife died the nest year. She was the 
mother of three children, two of whom still live: 
Enoch W. (a well-known farmer of this county, 
whose biography precedes this) and William A. 
By a subsequent marriage six children were born, 
and three of these are living: Judge J., Ada G. 
and Enla G. Mr. M'all was actively interested in 
the political affairs of this county, being an ont- 
spoken Democrat. He was a member of the Cum 



n- 



J^l 



l^ 



626 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



berland Presbyterian Church, and a Master Mason ; 
was well-known throngbont the community, and 
was highly respected, and owned a good farm, 
which was well improved. He was in comfortable 
circumstances at the time of his death, in 1880. 
The subject of this article was born in Barbour 
County, Ala., on April 9, 1856, but has been a 
resident of this State since nine years of age, de- 
voting himself to the occupation of farming since 
old enough to handle a plow. He commenced 
farming for himself at the age of twenty-one, and 
has been very successful, now owning 200 acres of 
land, with half of it under cultivation, and which 
is well improved and stocked, and devoted princi- 
pally to the raising of cotton. Mr. Wall was mar- 
ried on November 26, 1882, to Miss Mary Etta 
Mathews, of St. Francis County, and a daughter 
of George J. and Lydia (May) Mathews, who now 
reside in Lee County. Mrs. Wall was born on 
July 4, 1863. They have had a family of three 
children, two of whom are still living: Fannie P. 
and Lydia J. The second child, Green, died in 
1886. Mr. Wall is a leading Democrat in Texas 
Township, and is recognized throughout this part 
of the county as a hard-working, industrious man. 
William A. Walton. William H. Walton, a 
native of North Carolina, was born in 1808. He 
was married in 1836 to Mary A. Wynn, also of 
North Carolina origin, and by her l)ecame the 
father of nine children: William A. (the subject of 
this sketch), Susan H. (widow of John H. 
Moore, residing in Oak Forest, Leo County), Lucy 
M. (wife of J. Carr), T. (a farmer and residing 
in Texas), John R., Annie (deceased wife of R. 
R. Baddors), Nancy Z. (Mrs. John B. Grove, de- 
ceased), Nicholas J. and Catherine. Mr. Walton 
died in Lee County, Ark., in 1876, his wife passing 
away in Phillips County in 1863. William A. 
Walton was reared in North Carolina until reaching 
the age of fifteen, at which time he came with his 
parents to Arkansas. He received as good an edu- 
cation as could be obtained in the common schools 
and academies about his home, and when twenty- 
six years old he began life on his own responsibil- 
ity, choosing farming as his occupation. He now 
owns one of the best and most picturesque farms 



in the western part of Lee County, consisting of 
200 acres of land, with 115 under cultivation and 
well adapted to the growing of corn and cotton, 
which are the principal crops. He raises grasses 
and clover to some extent, and is quite extensively 
engaged in the development of stock. He has a 
steam gin and grist-mill valued at $1,500, and the 
general impression formed of the many improve- 
ments about the farm is that thrift and industry are 
characteristics predominating with the owner. He 
enlisted in May, 1861, in Company F, Capt. D. 
C. Govan's Second Arkansas Infantry Volunteer 
Cavalry, participating in the battles of Mumfords- 
ville, Shiloh, Perryville, Stone River and Murfrees- 
boro. He received a wound from a minie ball at 
the battle of Shiloh, and was also wounded at 
Murfreesboro by grape-shot, this entering his 
shoulder, which disabled him permanently. He 
was captured while in the hospital at Murfreesboro 
and taken to Louisville and then to Camp Butler, 
afterward being exchanged at City Point, Miss. , 
where he remained until the close of the war. 
After the close of hostilities Mr. Walton resumed 
his agricultural pursuits, and a fair degree of suc- 
cess has attended his efforts, and prosperity now 
rules supreme. He was married in Phillips County, 
November 2, 1868, to Miss Nancy C. Boykin, a na- 
tive of North Carolina, l)orn February 12, 1852, 
and a daughter of Edwin and Jane Boykin. Nine 
children have blessed their union: Florence B., 
Charles, Mary E., John R., Edwin, and Frank D., 
Kismick, Carl and Paul, dead. Mr. Walton is a 
member of the Methodist ChTirch, and served as 
justice of the peace of Texas Township for two 
years. He has also been a member of the school 
district, and is a man that takes great interest 
in all enterprises to which he lends his able sirp- 
port and influence. 

John C. ^Vard, merchant and farmer, Haynes, 
Ark. This prominent business man and success- 
ful agriculturist is a native of Lee County, Ark., 
his birth occurring on October 2, 1866, and is the 
first child born to the union of Lafayette and Fan- 
nie (Adams) Ward, the father a native of Kentucky 
and the mother of Georgia. Lafayette Wai'd is 
one of the oldest physicians of this county now 



-^ 



>y 



^." — ^ 






LEE. COUNTY. 



027 



living, coming herein 1857 and settling in Phillips 
County (now Lee County) where his pruotico ex- 
tended over a vast territory. H(v a(^cnmulated (juito 
a nice fortune, and this he is at present enjoying. 
He was a soldier in the Mexican AVar and was also 
in the late war, being army Kurg(>on of his regiment 
for a year or so. He entered service in the Mex- 
ican War at the age of fifteen years, was under 
Gen. Taylor in the First Kentucky Infantry and 
served during the entire time. He has been twice 
married; first, in 1851 to Miss Koxana Robards, of 
Louisville, Ky. , and l)y her Ijeoame the father of 
three children, all deceased. Tlie wife died in 
1802 or 1863, and in 1804 Dr. Ward married Miss 
Adams, who bore him three children, all deceased 
except John C. Ward. The mother was a member 
of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and died 
in 1872. Dr. Ward is a member of Uw Catholic 
Church and of Irish parentage. John C. Ward 
was educated in the free schools of Lee County, 
and at the age of thirteen years (entered the Catho 
lie School on Washington Street, where he remained 
for one term. He then entered Miss Hattie Eunice's 
select school on Poplar Street, remained there but 
one term and then, in 1882, he attended school at 
Newton for some time. After this he entered the 
Lexington Commercial School, graduating from the 
same in 1886, and then returned home, where he 
began working for R. O. Gill. He continued with 
him for one year and in 1888 bought an interest 
in the business, and in 1889 succeeded him. Mr. 
Ward has been unusually successful in all his en- 
terprises and does an annual business of $25,000. 
He and his father own about 4,500 acres of land 
with 550 acres under cultivation, on which are pro- 
duced about 350 bales of cotton yearly. J. C. 
Ward selected for his companion in life Miss Ida 
Neolies, of Collierville, Tenn., and was united in 
marriage to her on November 4, 1889. Mr. Ward 
is a member of the Catholic Church, is a member 
of the K. of H., and is one of the leading young 
business men of Haynes. He contriljutes liberally 
to all worthy enterprises and is one of the promis- 
ing young men of the county. 

J. il. Weatherly, farmer, INIarianna, Ark. 
The subject of this sketch needs no introduction 

39 



to the people of Lee County, for a long residence 
here and above all a career of usefulness and prom- 
inence, have given him a wide spread acquaintance. 
He was originally from Maury County, Tenn., 
where he was born in 1838, and is the son of David 
and Sallie -J. (Taylor) Weatherly, the father a na- 
tive of North Carolina and the mother of Tennessee. 
David Weatherly came* with his parents to Tennes- 
see when an infant, and settled with tljem in Maury 
County. After growing up ho followed the occupa- 
tion of farming in Tennessee until 1852, when he 
came to l'liilli|)s County (now Lee County) and 
settled close to where La Grange now is. He 
came here in the employ of Gen. Pillow and con- 
tinued in his emi)loy until 1857, when he pur- 
chased a farm and commenced tilling the soil, re- 
maining thus engaged until his death, which oc- 
curred in 1889, at Haynes, where he had been liv- 
ing for some time. He was over seventy-nine 
years of age at the time of his death. Mrs. 
Weatherly died in 1862. Mr. Weatherly was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
was a member of the Masonic fraternity. After 
the death of his wife Mr. Weatherly married, in 
1868, Mrs. Sellers, who departed this life in 1872. 
Mr. Weatherly was then married to Mrs. Turner 
and became the father of two children, both de- 
ceased. His last wife survives him and resides in 
Haynes. J. M. Weatherly' s school days were 
sf)ent in Maury County, Tenn., and he came to 
this State with his father in 1852, remaining with 
him until his twenty-first year. In 1857 he ft- 
turned to Tennessee and attended school at Colum- 
bia for two years. He afterward returned to Ar- 
kansas, taught school and commenced the study of 
law at Helena, Ark., under Adams & Hanks, em- 
inent attorneys of Helena at that period. About 
this time the war broke out and his legal expecta- 
tions were doomed for the time being. He joined 
the Confederate army in 1861, was one of the men 
who formed the company known as Hindman's 
legion, but was afterward attached to the Second 
Arkansas. He was a member of Company F, and 
served on the east side of the Misssisaippi River 
until after the evacuation of Corinth, when he was 
discharged on account of ill health. While on 



"7* 



628 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



that side of the river he was not engaged in any 
battles and after returning to Helena, Aik., he 
could not remain there but enlisted in Company F, 
of Dobbins' regiment, of which he was appointed 
sergeant. From that he was promoted to lieuten- 
ant, and surrendered the company as first lieuten- 
ant at Wittsburg in 1865. He was in Gen. Price's 
raid through Missouri. After the war Mr. Weath- 
erly returned home and engaged in school teach- 
ing, which occupation he continued for a short 
time. In 1869 he embarked in the mercantile 
business at Spring Creek, but only remained there 
until 1877, when he sold out and went to Pales- 
tine, St. Francis County, where he carried on 
farming and merchandising. He remained there 
until about 1880, when he moved his mill and gin 
machinery to Marianua, known as Ringville, where 
he has since been occupied in ginning, farming, 
and has also followed merchandising until the last 
year, when he sold out. He owns \Q0 acres of 
land with eighty acres under cultivation, and his av- 
erage ginning yearly yields about fiOO bales. Mr. 
Weatherly has been twice married; first, to Miss 
Mattie Harvey in 1873, and the fruits of this union 
were two children: Edgar and John H. Mrs. 
Weatherly died in the winter of 1877. She was a 
much respected and esteemed member of the Bap- 
tist Church. In 1884 Mr. Weatherly married 
Miss Bettie Moye, who bore him two children: 
Emma R. and Bettie. Mrs. Weatherly died in 
March, 1888, at Hot Springs, whither Mr. Weather- 
ly had gone for the benefit of his health, her health 
having always been unusually good. She lived 
but three weeks after arriving there. Mr. Weath- 
erly is one of the public-spirited men of this sec- 
tion, and favors all public improvements. 

Lee Webster, one of the most extensive mer- 
chants and farmers of Lee County, is a native of 
Mississippi, and a son of James and Jane (Bank- 
head) Webster, who came primarily from Tennes- 
see and North Carolina, respectively. Mr. Web- 
ster was a mechanic by occupation, and was reared 
in Mississippi, to which State his father had re- 
moved when he was a small boy. He was a man 
of some education, and was highly thought of by 
all who knew him. He died near Mount Pleasant, 



Miss., at the age of sixty-five. He was a son of 
Walter Webster, a native of Tennessee, also a 
farmer by occupation, who, at the time of his 
death, at the age of ninety, was possessed of con- 
siderable property. Mrs. Webster was born in 
1820 and died in 1871. She was the daughter of 
Thomas Bankhoad, of Ireland originally, who came 
over to this country when seventeen years of age, 
and engaged in farming in South Carolina, where 
he died at the age of eighty years. The subject of 
this sketch was born in Marshall County, Miss., in 
1849. He started in life as deputy sheriff of his 
native county, in 1868, which office he filled for 
several years. Then removing to De Soto County, 
he was occupied in trading on the Mississippi 
River until 1879, at which time he came to Lee 
County, and embarked in the mercantile business, 
and also in farming, both of which he still carries 
on. He is now the owner of four half sections of 
land, and has 800 acres under cultivation, devoted 
to the raising of cotton, of which he produces from 
1,000 to 1,200 bales per annum. He opened up 
his store of general merchandise in 1879, with a 
capital of 11,400. The stock now averages over 
$6,000, and his ' annual sales have aggregated 
$35,000, though a more correct estimate would be 
$50,000 for the past year. He also owns and oper- 
ates a steam grist-mill and cotton gin, of fifteen 
bales capacity per day. Mr. Webster was mar- 
ried, in 1871, to Miss Alice GrufPe, who was born 
in Kentucky, in 1855. They had one son which 
died in infancy, and they have since taken sev- 
eral orphan children to rear, for whom he has 
made provisions in his will as though they were 
his own. The subject of this sketch being quite a 
young boy at the breaking out of the war never 
enlisted, but took part in several skirmishes near 
his home. He is a stanch Democrat in jwlitics, 
and takes an active part in political work of his 
county. He has been a member of the board of 
supervisors for some time. 

W. P. Weld, editor of the Marianna Index, 
was born in Cape Girardeau County, Mo., April 
8, 1862. At the death of his mother, in Septem- 
ber, 1875, the family was broken up, and after a 
two years' stay with relatives in Ohio, he came to 



LEE COUNTY. 



mu 



this county and located. In 1882 he went to Indi- 
ana and attended the Valparaiso Normal School, 
horn which he graduated in 1S83. Ho then re- 
turned here and was employed as book-keeper until 
ISSn, when he was appointed deputy sb(>rifT, in 
charge v>f the office and collecting department, 
which position he held until he purchased the 
Index, started by John Thomas in 1874. It i.s a 
Democratic pajser and th(! only newsjiaper pub- 
lished in this county. Mr. Weld was married in 
Batesville, Ark., to Miss Annie Granade, a native 
of this State, and only daughter of Rev. H. M. 
and Mrs. Anna Granade. They ar(! the parents 
of one diild, Jean Powell. Mr. Weld was a .son of 
Ludovicus Weld, who was born in Vermont in 
January, 1802, and who came to Missouri late in 
the 50' s, and who was a l)rother oi Theodore 
D. Weld, the noted Abolitionist. H»! came to Ar- 
kansas, in 1879, to live with his children, and died 
in Woodruff County, in 1885, at the age of eighty- 
three years. His wife, the mother of our sul)ject, 
was Miss Jane Porter, who was born in Ohio, in 
1826, and was the mother of three children. Mr. 
Weld is a member of the Presbyterian Church, 
and belongs to the Royal Arcanum, Knights of 
Honor, Knights and Ladies of Honor and the I. 
O. G. T. 

Jesse A. Wilkes, ex-assessor of Lee County, 
Ark., was born in Yalobusha County, Miss., in 
1837, and in 1855 came to Arkansas, and located 
in Spring Creek Township, soon after entering the 
Arkansas Christian College, at Fayetteville, which 
institution he was attending at the lireaking out 
of the late war. He immediately joined the Con- 
federate army, and after partici]iating in the bat- 
tle of Oak Hill his company was disliaiidcd and 
joined the Army of Tennessee, he being a member 
of Comjiany I, Ballentine's regiment, and was at 
the battle of Atlanta. He was chosen as one of 
Capt. Harvey's scouts, and served in that capacity 
for abt)ut eighteen months. The close of the war 
found him at Atlanta, and fiom there he returned 
to Arkansas, making the journey on horseliack, 
having gone there on horseback. He and his 
brother then formed a partnership, and for two 
years were engaged in the cotton traflic at Mem- 



phis, Tenn., and in Arkansas, but upon the death 
of his brother Mr. Wilkes returned to Arkansas to 
settle up their business hero, l)ut found thiugsr in 
such a bad condition that it took him some time to 
adjust matters satisfactorily. Since tliat time he 
has followed various callings, and acted in various 
business capacities, but is now giving his attention 
to fai-ming, I)eing the owner of some excellent land 
in Si)ring Creek Township, and in other places in 
the county. In 1885 he was elected county asses- 
sor, and h(>ld the [uxsition two years. In 1882 he 
married Mrs. Mary E. Pascal, who is a member 
of the Christian Church. Eight Wilkes brothers 
came from England to the United States at a very 
early day and settled in Virginia, and now have 
descendants in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, 
Texas and Missouri. The father of our subject 
was a farmer, and both he and wife died when 
Jesse A. was a child. The latter had one brother 
and one sister, both dead. 

James A. Williams, M. D. , who enjoys the 
largest practice of any physician in Haynes, was 
reared on a farm in St. Clair County, Ala., where 
he received a common school education, later pass 
ing his time on a farm in Lee County, Miss. At 
the age of nineteen he was appointed deputy sher- 
iff of Lee County, which position he held one year. 
He then entered the agricultural schools of Ponto- 
toc, Miss., where he remained eighteen months, 
and was subsequently emjiloyed l)y CViiUm & Hoyle, 
druggists, of Tupelo, one year. Diu'ing this time 
he studied medicine, and after leaving the drug 
store attended a course of lectures at Vanderbill 
University, at Nashville. In 1881 he came to St. 
Francis Comity and practiced with Dr. Zuber two 
years, then returning to the Medical College at 
Nashville, from which he graduated in 1883. Fol- 
lowing this, Dr. Williams returiie<l to St. Francis 
County, and in 1888 came to Haynes, where he has 
since been actively and successfully engaged in the 
practice of his [)rofession. He was liorn in St. 
Clair County, Ala., February 12, 1857, and is a son 
of 11. M. and Cordelia (Dill) Williams, also na- 
tives of that State. U. M. Williams enli.sted in the 
Confederate army in 18()l, in (he Tenth Alal>ania 
Infantry, in which In- held tlie position of tirst 



-» V 



<a w. 



-< 9 



630 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



lieutenant., afterward being transferred to the cav- 
alry service and serving as captain of bis company. 
His wife died previous to his enlistment. Our sub- 
ject was married in September, 1882, to Miss Julia 
Thompson, a daughter of James Thompson, treas- 
urer of St. Francis County. They are the parents 
of three children: James Roger, Vivian and Ale- 
meth. In politics the Doctor is a Democrat, and 
he is a member of the Baptist Church and of the 
Knights of Honor. He also belongs to the Lee 
and St. Francis Counties Medical Association. He 
is well known throughout this locality, notwith- 
standing the fact that he is comparatively a new- 
comer. 

Rev. Nathaniel L. Willson is a native of North 
Carolina, and a son of John G. and Sophia (Nor- 
fleet) Willson, who also came from that State. J. 
G. Willson was born in Franklin County in 1782, 
and was married in September, -1818, his death 
occurring in Marshall County, Miss., in 1874, aged 
ninety-two years. His father was a native of 
North Carolina, and died at the age of fifty-eight, 
and his grandfather, of Ireland, came to this 
country in the early part of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, and took part in the Revolutionary War. 
The father of Mrs. Willson was of Scotland birth, 
a soldier in the Revolutionary War, being seventy- 
six years of age at the time of his decease. 
She was fifty-eight years old when called away 
from earth. Nathaniel L. Willson, the only one 
living of a family of eight children, was born in 
Person County, March 12, 182 , and remained 
there until fifteen years of age, at which time he 
removed to Marshall County, Miss., with his par- 
ents. He was engaged in managing his father's 
farm, and was employed in surveying a greater 
part of his time, after which he learned the tan- 
ner's and saddlery trade, following these occupa- 
tions during the war and until his stock was des- 
troyed by the Federal army. Since that period he 
has devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits, in 
connection with his ministerial duties. He was or- 
dained as a minister of the Missionary Baptist 
Church in 1801, of which he has been a member 
since 1840. Removing to Arkansas in 1886, Mr. 
Willson purchased his present farm of 100 acres, | 



situated within a short distance of More, Lee Coun- 
ty, of which he has sixty acres under cultivation, de- 
voted principally to the raising of horses and eat 
tie. He was married in DeSoto County, Miss., in 
1857, to Miss Nannie E. Jones, a native of Sontli 
Carolina, and daughter of William and Rachel 
Jones. She died April 10, 1884, leaving eight 
children, five sons and three daughters, six of 
whom are still living: Priscilla M. (wife of James 
H. Carmichael, a farmer of De Soto County), 
Lafayette A. (a farmer of this county), Ethelbert 
W. (also engaged in farming in this county), Nan- 
nie E. (widow of A. J. Biggerstaff, of this county), 
John Bunyan and Berea B. Mr. Willson married 
his second and present wife, Mrs. Sarah E. llol)- 
bins (wee Elmore), a native of Mississippi, and a 
daughter of Levi and Elizabeth (Bullin) Elmore, 
October 11, 1887. She is also a member of the 
Missionary Baptist Church, which she joined when 
thirteen years old. Mr. Willson was initiated into 
th» Masonic order in 1855, and has taken the 
Royal Arch degree. Mrs. Willson married Lee 
A. Robbins, in July, 1801, a native of Tennessee, 
who died in Lee County, Ark., in December, 
1883, leaving three children, two living: Thomas 
L. and Shem R. Robbins. Their grandfather, 
Thomas Robbins, was a native of South Carolina. 
John R. Wood, planter, Marianna. This prom- 
inent agriculturist of Lee County, Ark., owes his 
nativity to Hardeman County, Tenn., where his 
birth occurred November 7, 1835, and is the son 
of Dr. George Wood, who was born in Albemarle 
County, Va. Dr. Wood received his education in 
the University of Virginia, and graduated from 
the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. 
He then went to Hardeman County, Tenn., priic- 
ticed in Hickory Valley for eight or ten years, and 
there married the mother of our subject, Eliza 
Harkens, who bore him six children. On account 
of failing health, he gave up his practice and en- 
gaged in cultivating the soil, continuing at this 
for ten years, when his health had so improved 
that he moved to Searcy, Hardeman County, and 
resumed the j)ractice of medicine. He there gave 
his children all good common school educations. 
In 1853 he and his brother bought a plantation in 






LEE COUNTY. 



631 



this county, and ho abandoned his practice and 
moved to Arkansas in 1809. He sold tbo place on 
whicli Marianna now stands to liis brotlu>r. and in 
January, 1870, when bo camo out he bought an- 
other farm, then in St. Francis (now Lee) County. 
Here he died in 1872, at the age of seventy-one 
years. He remained at his home in Tennessee dur- 
ing the war, but was a Union man. John R.Wood 
attended school in Bolivar and Jackson, Tenn., fin- 
ishing his education in West Tennessee College, at 
Jackson. He wished to become a civil engineer, 
and after working two years at this his father had 
him give up the profession. In 1859 he engaged 
in merchandising with J. A. Jarrett, father of J.R. 
Jarrett, of Marianna, and continued at this business 
until the breaking out of the war. He then enlisted 
in the Confederate Army of Tennessee, was commis- 
sioned captain, but notliking the position resigned. 
He returned home, and there joined Gen. Forrest's 
regiment as a private, participating in the battles 
of Shilob and Corinth, and fell back with the army 
to Tupelo, Miss. There his health failed him, and 



he hired a substitute. He then went to Columbus, 
Miss., and entered the commissary department, as 
an agent to buy corn and b('i>f, etc. He remained 
six mouths, when, his health still continuing bad, 
he went home and remained on his father's planta- 
tion, in Hardeman County, for twelve months. 
He then went to Memphis, and clerked in a whole- 
sale grocery and cotton house, until the close of 
the war, when he returned to Hardeman County. 
He farmed during 1867, 1868 and 1809, and in 
1870 moved to Lee County, Ark. , with his father, 
remaining with him until after the hitter's death, 
since which time he has carried on the farm. He 
was married in 1860 to Miss Paulina Guy, a na- 
tive of Hardeman County, Tenn.. and the fruits of 
this union have been five children: George, Lucy 
(wife of Mr. Millett), Paulina, Fannie and Mary W. 
After the death of his first wife Mr. Wood married, 
in Arkansas, Miss Mary Pugh, a native of Greene 
County, who bore him five children, two now liv- 
ing, Samuel and Thomas; those deceased were 
named John li. , Eliza and Jane. 










@ i^ 



^ s 



>^ 



632 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



II XXII. 



» > ♦ < * 



Akkansas County— Uoundary and Arka— Valuation— TorocjuAPiiiOAL rKEsKNTATioN— Si>iiings and 
Mounds— Eaely Settlement— Names of Pioneers— Population— During Wak Times— Bench 
and Bar— Prominent Cases— Interesting IIlstorical Uecouds— Territorial Offi- 
cers—Cities, Towns, etc.— Church Organization.s— Transportation Facil- 
ities—County Papers— Municipal Townships and Postoffices— . 
Resoukces—Schools— Biographical Memoirs. 



O, tliose blessed times of old, witli their chivalry and stale! 
I love to read their chronicles, which such brave deeds relate; 
I love to sing their ancient rhymes, to hear their legends told, 
But, heaven be thanked — I live not in those blessed times of old. 



-Brown. 




'HE early bouadaries of Ar- 
IvHDsas County were de- 
fined as follows: "All that 
portion of the territory 
bounded north by the south 
lin(^ of the county of New 
]Madri<l, east by the main 
channel of the Mississippi River, 
south by the 33d ° of north lati- 
tude, or the northern boundary 
line of the State of Louisiana, 
westwardly by the western bound- 
ary line (if the Osage purchase, 
.jUnd by a line to commence upon 
the River Arkansas, where the 
lioiindary line of the Osage pur- 
chase intersects the same, thence in 
a direct line to the main source of the Wachita, 
thence south to the northern boundary line of the 
State of Louisiana, or 33d" of north latitude, 
shall compose a county, and be called and known 
by the name of the county of Arkansas. ' ' This bill, 
creating this county, was passed Decemb(>r 31, 1813. 
The county at one time covered the whole 



State, but new counties being formed from time 
to time, it has been reduced to its present l^ound- 
aries, which are as follows: 

On the north by Lonoke and Prairie Counties, 
on the oast l)y Monroe, Phillips and Desha Coun- 
ties, White River being the dividing line, on the 
south by Desha and Jefferson Counties, the Ar- 
kansas River, the dividing line between Desha and 
Arkansas Counties, and Bayou Meto River, be- 
tween Jefferson and Arkansas Counties, for aljout 
one half the distance, and there Jefferson County 
is the boundary. Bayou Meto being wholly inside 
Arkansas County. 

The county has an area of about 000 square 
miles, or 5'J(),000 square acres, and of this amount 
507,974 is subject to taxation, 30,440 acres being 
school land, and 57,587 acres being United States 
and State lauds. The school. United States and 
State land is all exempt. The taxable land in th(» 
county is assessed at §1,178,850, an average rate of 
$2.32 an acre, and when it is taken into considera- 
tion, that $171, 550 is town lots, it makes the valua- 
tion still lower. Also $131,210 to the Texas & St. 
Louis Railroad. 



— s 



•4h. 



AEKANSAS COUNTY. 



G33 



The town property is divided as follows: Stutt- 
gart, $105,450; De Witt, 134; 820; St. Charles, 
$15,970; Goldman, §11,880; Crockett's Bluff, $2,- 
410; Arkansas Post, $1,020. Total, $171,550. 

The personal property is divided as follows: 
4,350 horses, valued at $176,300; 24,407 cattle, 
valued at $183,790; 1,270 mules and asses, valued 
at $73,329; 2,029 sheep, valued at $3,070; 18,970 
hogs, valued at $27,144; 51,092 all kinds of do- 
mestic animals valued at $463,033; all other kinds 
of personal property valued at -$498, 450, making a 
total of all personal property valued at $902,113. 
Total of all real property, $1,178,850 — a grand 
total of $2,140,963 representing the taxable wealth 
of the county. 

The surface is comparatively level, being one 
long rolling swell after another; just rolling enough 
to give good drainage, yet not so much so as to 
wash after it is put into cultivation. There is not 
a foot of land in the entire county that is not sus- 
ceptible of cultivation. With an altitude at no 
place but little over 100 feet above high-water 
mark on the Arkansas, White and Mississippi 
Rivers, a gradual incline from the rivers, rises 
above the bottoms, so imperceptible as to be 
scarcely distingiiishable. The line between the 
river bottoms and the upland is not strongly 
marked, as in most cases. A relief map would 
present a picture, wherein the timber and prairi(> 
would be the only distinctive feature. Eight down 
the center runs Grand Prairie for forty miles, and 
is from ten to fifteen miles wide, crossed by nu- 
merous strips of timber, and having groves or 
islands of this dotted about here and there. Tlie 
largest of these is Big Island, with an area of about 
4,000 acres; the smallest. Young's Island, covering 
only about 160 acres. The one lying nearest the 
northern line of the county, and just east of Stutt- 
gart, is called Lost Island; two miles south is 
Maple Island, and Big Island is one mile west of 
Maple; four miles south of Big Island is Mud 
Island, and five miles south of Mud Island is An 
gelico. Besides Grand Prairie there are several 
other smaller areas of grass land. la the eastern 
part of the county is White Biver Prairie, ten miles 
long and four miles wide. Lying just west of 



White River Prairie is La Gruo, four miles long 
and one and a half wide; Halleys two miles long 
and one half wide, near La Grue. These are all 
skirting along White River, and are but a few miles 
away from it. Sassafras Prairie setting in about 
five miles north of De Witt is two and one-half miles 
east and west, and two miles north and south. In 
the o.\treme southeastern corner of the county is 
Little Prairie, right between the Arkansas and 
White Rivers, being ten miles long and one and 
one- half miles wide; Cash Prairie, an arm of Grand 
Prairie, making off lietween Big and Little La 
Grue. La Grue Springs, ten miles southeast of 
De Witt, is quite a notal)le i)lace, and its waters 
are said to be a sure remedy for malaria. Essies 
Springs has very cold water, and is favorably lo- 
cated, both for fishing and hunting, and is a resort 
of no little local celebrity, as in the summer and 
fall it is not unusual for fifty or seventy-five fam- 
ilies to camp there at one time and remain for sev- 
eral weeks. 

To the disciple of Izak ^N'alton the streams of 
Arkansas County would have a wonderful fascina- 
tion, as in their season fish of many varieties are 
easily caught. 

Formerly wild game of all kinds abounded, and 
the earlier settlers depended as much or more on 
the rifle for supplies for the smoke-house as they 
did upon domestic animals. In fact, the numbers 
of wild animals, and the boldness they displayed 
in their depredations, made it no easy matter to 
raise pigs and lambs. Nor were the fur-bearing 
animals without numerous representatives, and 
this was no small source of income. Deer, bear, 
panther, wolves, wildcats, catamounts, beaver, otter, 
fox, 'coon, 'possum, mink, squirrels and rabbits 
were very numerous, and oven now the bolder and 
more adventurous hunter can, by penetrating into 
the swami)s, find game that will well repay him for 
his time and labor. 

The feathered tribe had many re])resi'ntatives, 
turkey, prairie chicken, quail and the wood pigeon 
on the land, wild geese, brants, swan, crane and 
ducks and plover furnishing sport in the lagoons 
and bayous. Even now, in their season, the sport^i 
man need not come home empty handed, who seeks 



H'k- 



' i\ 



634 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



the wild fowl in their haunts. Besides the game 
birds, there are crows, hawks, owls, blackbirds, 
meadow-larks and, chiefest of all, the Southern 
mocking-bird. The game disappears as civiliza- 
tion encroaches on its haunts, but there are yet 
sequestered places where the slyest is to bo found. 

A group of well-known mounds is situated on 
the farm of Napoleon Menard, eight miles south- 
east of the village of Arkansas Post. The largest 
mound is 965 feet in circumference at the top and 
considerably larger at the base, and is some sixty 
feet in altitude, its slopes being covered with trees 
and bushes. This has been dug into quite exten- 
sively, and it has been thought useless to explore 
further. There is connected with this mound, by 
a ridge of earth, 300 feet long and twenty feet 
in diameter, a small circular mound, fifteen feet 
high and forty-five feet in diameter, in which are 
a number of houses, bearing evidence of having 
been occupied. Near the middle of the connect- 
ing ridge, a layer of burnt clay, 5,006 feet in 
diameter, was found. At one side a large quan- 
tity of fragments of earthen vessels were discov- 
ered, comprising a number of earthen bowls of 
various sizes, quite new looking, and of a type of 
ware quite distinct from that found in the fields 
and graves of same locality. Restorations of quite 
a number have been made, and the collection proves 
to be quite interesting. The collector argues from 
the position of the fragmentary vessels, that they 
had been placed by their owners upon the roots of 
the houses, which had been destroyed by fire. 
Surrounding the Menard Mound is a field of twenty 
acres, which appears at one time to have been the 
site of a large number of dwellings, for at a depth 
of from one to two feet layers of burned clay are 
found. This field seems to have been one vast cem- 
etery, the remains of skeletons being found in great 
numbers. 

Pottery is found in abundance, and as a rule 
is found near the heads of the dead; but no or- 
naments nor instruments are to be found. The 
plowing of the fields has destroyed many earthen 
vessels, as the interments were near the surface. 
Noticeable is it that the pottery found with the re- 
mains is of a character quite distinct from that of 



the mound. It is of the class common in these 
regions. 

In other portions of the county are mounds of 
various sizes and altitudes, some of them contain- 
ing fragments of pottery, while in others are found 
bones, etc., but the Menard Mound, described 
above, is the most conspicuous one in regard to 
the race of men who erected them. 

Among the early settlers was one A. B. K. Thet- 
ford, who also filled the office of sheriff of the 
county at one time. Thetford's ferry takes its 
name from him. At the time of his death he was 
living in Arkansas County, on the north side of 
Arkansas River, but this same house was, at an 
earlier date, on the south side of the river. The 
bed and current shifting left him on the north 
side. Some of his descendants are yet living in 
the adjoining counties. 

The first civil government of Arkansas was lo- 
cated at Arkansas Post, as, in 1804, James B. 
Maney was appointed civil Governor, and resided 
there. He was followed by Stephen Warrel, and 
he by Robert W. Osborn, who administered the 
government till 1812; the Territory of Missouri be- 
ing then established her authority extended over 
Arkansas. By an act of Congress approved in 
June, 1814, C. Jouette was appointed judge of 
Missouri Territory, his jurisdiction extending to 
the District of Ai'kansas. He resided at Arkansas 
Post and presided over a court held at that place. 

The first settlers of Arkansas County were 
French, who settled near the Post of Arkansas. 
They were an enterprising and energetic people, 
mostly engaged in trade. Many of them accumu- 
lated fortunes, and their descendants now form an 
estimable class of society. The next in order were 
pioneer settlers from Kentucky and Tennessee, or 
their immediate descendants, a brave, self-reliant 
and independent people, many of them too fond of 
adventure and the chase to make permanent loca- 
tions or valuable improvements. 

They had penetrated the country beyond, and 
in advance of organized government, or, if within 
it, were too far from the officers of the law and the 
courts to be reached by legal process. Yet, reso- 
lutely determined to suj)press crime and preserve 



9 1^ 




good order, they had, l)y comiuon consent,, rules of 
government by which crime was summarily pun- 
ished and contracts enforced. The [)aymont of a 
debt was a matter of honor, and to their credit, bo 
it said, the instances whore contracts were violated 
were rare. No one felt absolved from his contract 
to pay, who had money or property, or could pro 
cure either. 

Another phase of history and one worthy of note 
is, that all acts of crime and violence that were 
committed, and which were but too common among 
an uncultivated, bold and self-reliant people, were 
almost invariably open, defiant and under the in- 
fluence of passion and resentment resulting from 
real or supposed wrongs. There is not a single 
instance of assassination, of robbery or of burg- 
lary, to be found on the Territorial records. The 
first settlers were miles apart, and generally along 
the streams, yet the prairies bad a few located on 
their borders, and when necessity required, the 
cabin doors were temporarily closed by a latch or 
a pin. and the household goods were left for days 
and even weeks without molestation. In simimer 
months, when at home, they slept with doors and 
windows (if they were fortunate enough to have 
any) wide ojion, in perf(!ct security. A frank, 
honest and generous jseople, hospitable to a fault 
(a characteristic of their successors to-day), like 
the Scotch Highlanders they felt 

" That guidaucf, auU food, ami rest and tire. 
In vain the stranger must never require." 

There were also among them gentlemen of the 
learned professions, merchants and traders, some 
of whom were educated and of refined manuers, 
and all of them hospitable and social. 

As found upon the records, dating back to 
1804, these names appear: John W. Honey, Henry 
Cassidy, Rnfus Easton, Benjamin Fooy, Joseph 
Stillwell, Harold Stillwell, An.lrew Fagot, Perly 
Wallis, James B. Waterson, Daniel Mooney and 
Patrick Cassidy. Later, Richmond Peeler, who 
came to the State in 1810. 

Two brothers, Benjamin S. and Rowland Hal- 
ler, came from Kentucky. Benjamin was judge of 
the county probate courts, and up to middle life 
was an infidel, but when about fifty years old was 



converted and began preaching. Ho was remarka- 
ble for his sound conjmon sense. From the life he 
led he commanded the respect, esti'em and confi- 
dence of the peoj)]!', and at his death was mourned 
truly and deeply. Another character somewhat 
noted was Julian M. P. J. De Visart, Count l)e 
Boicarme, a Belgian, who came to Arkansas early 
in the 30'k and settled within a few miles of where 
De Witt now is; here he died in 1852. His life 
was something of a mystery. Frederick Noteribe, 
who lived in and al)out Arkimsas Post in the 40' s, 
was the most prominent man in the count}'. He 
came to Arkansas somewhere from 1815 to 1818, 
and had been a soldier under Napoleon. He died 
in New Orleans of cholera in 1849. Prior to the 
advent of Notcrib g came Charles Bogy, a native of 
Kaskaskia, 111., who came with the Federal troops 
to take possession of Arkansas Post in the name of 
the United States in 1804. He was a man of Her- 
culean projiortions and wonderful pliysical endur- 
ance. The Michel! brothers, from New Madrid, 
and Louis L. Refeld were well known in the early 
history of the count}', and after its organization 
the latter was one of the representatives. John 
Laquer was another. 

Terrence Farn^lly, an Irishman, came from 
Pittsburg early in the 80' s. He was in tlie sher- 
iff's office, was probate and county judge, a mem 
ber of the Territorial legislature, a member of the 
constitutional convention of 18:{0, a Whig in poli- 
tics (thus rendered antagonistic to the Pope), Gov- 
ernor of Arkansas (appointed by Jackson), a Ann 
of commanding appearance, strongly marked Irish 
features, and having a rich brogue. He was for 
years the leader of his [larty in politics. A man 
of sterling integrity, he commaniled the resi)ect 
and confidence of the people to a marked degree. 

The settlements hero, as elsewhere in the earlier 
days, were made along the streams, and, as late 
as 1845, were miles apart. There was one at 
Point De Luce, another on Big La (true, William 
Crockett at Crockett's BlutT. on While River: 
David Adams at Adams' Bluff; Severn Pepper at 
Preston Bluff, then called Pepper's Bluff; on 
Bayou Meto lived the Barkmans, Woods and Rob- 
erts; on Mill Bayou, Benjamin Wilson, Youngs, 



636 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Roby and Rodgers; in the southeastern part of the 
county were Walton, Ragan, Gordon, McCoy, 
Dunne, Barkers, Cobb and Evans, and of all these 
John R. Walton is the only one now living, who in 
1845 had a family. 

John A. Miirrell's gang had more than one 
rendezvous in the county, but the Regulators, or- 
ganized for self- protection, succeeded in ridding 
it of them. 

P'rom 1846 the country began to settle rap- 
idly, especially between De Witt and AVhite River. 
Perhaps this can best be shown by the census re- 
ports from 1810 to 1889: Population 1810, 1,062; 
1820,1,260; 1830, 1,426; 1840,1,346; 1850,3,245; 
1860, 8,844; 1870, 8,268; 1880, 8,038; 1889, 
11,640 (4,000 of whom are negroes). 

In 1871 Arkansas County lost, perhaps, one- 
third of her population by two river townships be- 
ing cut ofP to form a portion of Lincoln County. 

The war put a stop to all material growth, and 
then came the dark days, when the people had 
nothing but the land and their hands to depend 
upon for a living. In 1867 the general destitntion 
of the citizens, occasioned by poor crops, caused 
an expedient to be tried to procure food and pro- 
visions. There was issued by the county court, 
with the consent of the people, $5,000 in county 
script witli which to buy food, and John C. Quer- 
termous was selected to negotiate the issue. Fail- 
ing in Louisville, Ky., he went to St. Louis, Mo., 
and there James H. Lucas took u[) the "promise 
to pay," and Mr. Quertermous came back with a 
sufficient amount to tide the folk over the hardest 
times Arkansas Connty ever experienced. But 
$2,000 of the $5,000 was all that was ever used. 
Needless is it to add that the debt was paid in full. 
This is the nearest approach to a bonded debt the 
county ever had. During the reconstruction jteriod, 
from 1868 to 1874, the county financial affairs were 
in a very bad state. Taxes now are low. General 
and county tax is levied at the rate of 5 mills; State 
tax, 5 mills; general State purposes, 2 mills; sink- 
ing fund, 1 mill and for common schools, 2 mills. 
The school districts vote a special tax ranging 
from 2| to 5 mills. 

Subjoined is the financial statement of the 



county from October 1, 1888, to October 1, 1889: 
Amount of revenue, $13,085.65; total expendi- 
tures, $12,013.24; balance, $1,072.41. There is 
no county debt, and county scrip is at par. 

At the breaking out of the war and before the 
State had seceded, many of her bravest and best 
citizens were not secessionists, but when the ques- 
tion of allegiance to the State and to the general 
Government was so placed that each man had to de- 
cide for one or the other, the State was paramount; 
and Arkansas County claims the divided honors of 
having raised the first company in the State. At 
any rate. Col. Robert H. Crockett, with 125 men, 
marched to Little Rock, and there made one com- 
pany of the First Arkansas Regiment that went to 
Virginia under Gen. (then Col.) Fagan. Also 
Capt. David B. Quertermous organized a company 
that won honor and glory in the same regiment. 
Charles C. Goodden raised a company that was in 
the Trans-Mississippi Department. Capt. Samuel 
C Smith raised another company that remained in 
Arkansas for awhile, but was afterward trans- 
ferred across the river. Capt. Felix Robertson, 
later on, organized another company. 

Loyal to their convictions, as one man they 
shouldered arms for the cause they advocated, and 
many of them died u{)on the field of battle, their 
blood eternal monuments to the bravery and valor 
of the men of Arkansas County. The first battle 
fought on the soil of the county was at St. Charles, 
on White River, on June 17, 1802. When that 
place was captured by the Federals, Col. Fitch 
in command of the Federals and Capt. Dunnington 
of the Confederates, there were but seventy-five 
Confederates in service and they were poorly armed; 
they had eight killed and wounded and ten were 
taken prisoners. The Federal loss was much greater. 
A cannon ball struck one the pipes of the steamier 
Mound City. The boiler exploded and out of 185 
men on board, 180 were either killed or wounded. 

In Januarj', 1863, a force of 5,000 men were 
sent up White River as a counter-movement to at- 
tract attention from Arkansas Post, the point 
against which the main expedition was directed. 
They passed on iip White River beyond St. Charles, 
leaving Capt. Williams there in command. On 



*?F 



v> 



ARKANSAS COUNTY. 



637 



the retiu'ii of tlio main commiind down the river, 
the officers and mon of the gnuboat wore so infuri- 
ated at the fate of the crew of the ill-fated Mound 
City (claiming the Confederates kilk'd many of 
them while in the water) that the town was tired and 
com^sletely destroyed. It is but dne to state that 
the land force did their best to stop the wanton de- 
struction, but to no purpose. 

The most important l)attle of the war in Arkan- 
sas was at Arkansas Post, which resulted in the 
surrender of that place, under distressing condi- 
tions to the Confederates, and after a resistance 
that reflected the greatest credit upon men and 
officers. The story is best told in the official re- 
port of Gen. Churchill, as follows: 

Battle of Arkansas Post. Gen. Sherman com- 
manding Federals; Gen. Thomas H. Churchill 
Confederates. Federal force estimated at 50,000, 
the Confederate at 7,000; 3,000 only effective mon. 
Total killed, wounded and missing, of Federals, 
1,846; Confederates, sixty killed, seventy-five or 
eighty wounded. 

Copy of official report of Brig. Gen. Thomas J. 
Churchill, Confederate States army, comiuaii<liug 
lower Arkansas and White Rivers: 

Richmond, Va., May 7. lS(>;i. 
Gen. S. Cooper, Adjutant ami In.yieclor General. Rich- 
mond, Va., 

deiieral: Not lieing in i-oinmunication with Lieut.- 
Gen. Hohiie8, conmKuuling thcTrans-Mississi|>pi Depart- 
ment, I heiewitli forward for your consideration my 
report of the actions of tlie lOlli and lltliof .January last, 
at Arkansas Post. 

I have the honor to be. General, very respectfully 
your obedient servant, T. J. CnuuciiiLi,. 

/Iriy.-Gen. conid'y Lower Arkansas and While Rivers. 
l{iciiMOND, Va., May G. IWiH. 

(u/ienil: On tlie morning of the !)lh of .January, I 
was informed by my pickets.stationed at the mouth of the 
cut-off that the enemy with his gunlioats. followed by 
his Heel of seventy or eighty transports, were passing into 
the Arkansas River. It now became evident that their 
object was to attack the Arkansas Post. I immediately 
made every arrangement to meet him, and ordered out 
the whole force under my command, numbering about 
3.000 eflective men, to take position in some lower 
trenches, about one and oue-quarler tniles below the fort. 
The Second Brigade, under Col. Deshler, and the Third, 
under Col. Dunninglon, occupied the works, while the 
First Brigade, under Col. Garland, was held in reserve. 1 



Three companies of cavalry, under Capts. Dcnson, Nutt 
and Richardson, were sent in advance to watch the move- 
ments of the enemy. During the night the enemy eflecl- 
ed a lauding two miles below, on the north side of the 
river. The following day, about 9 o'clock, the gunboats 
commenced moving up the river and opened lire on our 
position. Having but one battery of field pieces, of si.v 
and twelve pounders, I did not return their fire. It was 
here that I expected the co-operation of the guns of the 
fort, but owing to some defect in the powder, they were 
scarcely able to throw a shell below the trenches, much 
less the tleet. About 2 o'clock, P. M., discovering that 
I was being flanked by a large body of cavalry and artil- 
lery, I thought it advisable to fall back under cover of the 
guns of the fort, to an inner line of intrenchinents. The 
enemy advanced cautiously, and as they approached our 
lines were most signally repulsed. They made no further 
attempt that evening to charge our works, and I employed 
the balance of the time, till next morning, in strengthen- 
ing my position and completing my intrenchments. Dis- 
covering that a body of the enemy had occu])ied siune 
caliins in our old intrenchments. I ordered Col. R. I. 
Mills, with his regiment, to drive them from their posi- 
tion, which he did most successfully, capturing several 
prisoners. .lust before dark Admiral Porter moved up 
with several of his ironclads to test the metal of our fort. 
Col. Dunnington, who commanded the fort, was ready in 
an instant to receive him. The tire opened, and tlie fight 
Lasted nearly two hours, and finally the gunboats were 
compelled to fall back in a crippled condition. Our loss 
was slight; that of the enemy much heavier. During the 
night I received a telegrapliic dispatch from you. ordering 
me "to hold out till help arrived or all dead," winch 
Older was communicated to the brigade commanders with 
instructions to see it carried out in spirit and letter. Next 
morning I made every disposition of my forces to meet 
the enemy in the desperate contlict which was soon to 
follow. 

Col. Deshler with his brigade, with the regiimjpt of 
Col. Dawson attached, commanded by liicut.-Col. Hutch- 
inson, occupieil the extreme left; Col. Garland with his 
brigade with his right resting on the fort, while Col. 
Dunnington commanded the river defenses. It was near 
I',' o'clock before the enemy got fully into position, when 
he commenced moving upon iiiy lines simultaneously by 
land and water. Four ironclads opened upon the fort, 
which respoiKled in gallant style. After a continuous 
lire of three hours thi'V suieeeded in silencing every gun 
except one small sixpounder Parrolt gun, whicli was on 
the land side. Two boats pas.sed up and opened a cross- 
fire upon the fort and our lines. Still we maintained the 
struggle. Their attack by laud was less successful. On 
the right they were reptilsed twice in attempting to storm 
our works, and on the left were driven back with great 
slaughter in no less than eight different charges. To 
defend this entire line of rille-pits, I had but one battery 






of small field jiiecos, undor command of Capt. Ilart, to 
•whom great credit is due for the successful manner in 
wliich they were handled, contending as they did with 
some fifty pieces in his front. The fort had now been 
silenced about an hour, most of the field pieces had been 
disabled, still the Are raged furiously along the entire line, 
and that gallant band of Texans and Arkansaus having 
nothing now to rely on save their muskets and bayonets, 
still disdained to yield to the overpowering foe of 50,000 
men, who were pressing upon them from almost every 
direction. Just at this moment, to my great surprise, 
several white flags were displayed in the Twenty-fourth 
Itcgiment, Texas Dismounted Cavalry, First Brigade, and 
before they could be suppressed the enemy took advant- 
age of them, crowded upon my lines, and not being pre- 
vented by the brigade commander from crossing, as was 
his duty, I was forced to the humiliating necessity of sur- 
rendering the balance of my command. 

My great hope was to keep them in check until night, and 
then if reinforcements did not reach me, cut my way out. 
No stigma should rest upon the troops. It was no fault of 
theirs. Tliey fought with a desperation and courage yet 
unsurpassed in this war, and I hope and trust that the 
traitor will yet be discovered, brought to justice, and 
suffer the full penalty of the law. My thanks are due to 
Cols. Anderson and Gillispie for the prompt measures 
taken to prevent the raisingof the white flag in their reg- 
iments. In the Second Brigade, commanded by the gal- 
lant Deshler, it was never displayed. I had ordered Col. 
E. E. Portlock, commanding at ,St. Charles, to hasten to 
my relief with what troops he could spare. Capt. Alf 
Johnston reached the post on Saturday night, and took 
part in the action on the; llth. Col. Portlock made at the 
head of 190 men of his regiment of infantry, the unprec- 
edented marcli of forty miles in twenty-four hours— and 
succeeded in entering our lines amidst a heavy tire from 
the enemy on his flanks. He was just on the eve of 
bringing his men into action when the surrender took 
place. In no battle of the war has the disparity of forces 
been so unequal. The enemies force was full .'50,000, 
while ours did not exceed 3,000, and yet for two days did 
we signally repulse and hold in check that immense body 
of the enemy. My loss will not exceed sixty killed and 
seventy five or eighty wounded. The loss of the enemy 
was from 1 ,500 to 2,000 killed and wounded. To the mem- 
bers of my staff, Maj. J. K. P. Campbell, chief commis- 
sary: Dr. C. H. Smith, chief surgeon; Cai)l. B. S. John- 
ston, adjutant-general; Capt. B. F. Blackburn, inspector- 
general; Capt. J. J. Gaines, chief of artillery; Capt. J. M. 
Rose, ordnance officer; Capt. R. H. Fitzhugh, engineer 
corps; Capt. A. J. Little, signal corps; Lieut. A. H. Se- 
vier, aide de-camp; Capts. Farr and Smith, volunteer aides, 
and Mr. J. E. McGuire, my thanks are due for many val- 
uable services rendered me upon the battlefield. As for 
individual acts of gallantry I will make more full mention 
hereafter. I herewith inclose for vour consideration the 



reports of Cols. Garland and Deshler; that of Col. Dun- 
nington I have as yet been unable to obtain. I have the 
honor to be, General, very respectfully. 

Your Obedient Servant, 
T. J. CiiuRcniLL. 
Brig Gen. comd'g Lotrer Arkiinsa« and White Rivers. 

As there is a diversity of opinion concerning 
Gen. Churchill's conduct on the occasion of the 
surrender, it is important to state that Col. Desh- 
ler's report corroborates Gen. Churchill's. The 
correspondence here given shows the result of an 
investigation conducted by Lieut. -Gen. Holmes: 

May 9, 1863. 
JiespectfuUi/ submitted to the President: 

The strange circumstances causing the capture of Ar- 
kansas Post demand investigation. I recommend a court 
of inquiry, and that meanwhile. Cols. Garland and Wilkes, 
and. I incline to think. Gen. Churchill likewise, should be 
relieved from their present commands over the men sur- 
rendered. J. A. Seddon, Secretary af War. 

Returned to secretary of war for consideration in 
connection witli further information which he may have 
received. J. Davis. 

July 13, 1863. 
File, to await such further information. 

J. A. Seddon, Secretary of War. 

[Indorsement on copy forwarded through department 
headquarters.] 

Headquarters Arkansas Department. 

Little Rock, June 8, 1863. 

It is impossible to imagine better conduct on the part 
of officers and men, and it is a matter of rejoicing with me 
that my hasty order was rendered nugatory before the 
brave Churchill was reduced to the ultima ratio, cutting 
his way through such immense odds. It never occurred 
to me when the order was issued that such an overpow- 
ering command would be devoted to an end so trivial. 

Respectfully forwarded to the adjutant and inspector- 
general. Tnos. H. Holmes, Lieutenant- Qeiural. 

Col. Wilkes was the officer who first showed a 
white flag. The Federals land forces co-operated 
with about fifteen gunboats, besides about eighty 
transports; the gunboats were the De Kalb, Cin- 
cinnati, Louisville, Monarch, Clyde, Ratler, Lex- 
ington and Blackhawk. 

The courts convene as follows: Coianty court, 
first Monday in January, April, July and Oct()l>er 
of each year; probate court, third Monday in Jan- 
uary, April, July and October; common pleas, 
fourth Monday in January, April, July and Octo- 



V 



ber; circuit court, second Mondiiy in September 
and March. 

The coiinty is in the Eleventh judicial district 
and the Second congressional. John M. Elliott, 
of Pine Bluff, is the circuit judge. 

In De Witt are five practicing attorneys, Hon. 
W. H. HalliBurton, James A. Gibson, E. L. 
Johnston, Robert P. Holt and John F. Park; at 
Stuttgart, Crockett & Wilcox, Morse & Hall and 
K. E. Puryear. 

The first case tried in an Arkansas court of 
which any record was kept, is one known as The 
United States vs. Thomas Dickinson, January, 
1820 — indictment for rape determined before 
Andrew Scott, judge of the superior court held in 
Arkansas County. This was an indictment for 
rape committed on the person of Sally Hall, to 
which the defendant pleaded not guilty- There 
was a trial by jury, composed of Richmond Peeler, 
Charles Roberts, Manuel Roderigen, John Jordo- 
las, Jacques Gocio, Stephen Vasseau, Nathas Vas- 
seau, Michael Petterson, John Pertua, IManuel 
Pertua, Pierre Mitchell and Attica Nodall, who, 
after hearing the evidence and argument of coun- 
sel, retired to form their verdict, and returned the 
following: " We, the jury, find the defendant guilty 
of rape, in manner and form as charged in the in- 
dictment alleged." The counsel in defense moved 
an arrest of judgment for the following reasons: 

1. It does not appear by the indictment that 
the same was found by the grand jurors of the 
United States. 2. No place is mentioned in the 
indictment where the offense was committed, nor 
is it mentioned in what year it was committed. 
3. The assault and rape are not positively and 
directly charged in the indictment. 4. It is not 
stated to have been committed with force and arms. 
5. It is not stated to have been feloniously com- 
mitted. I). It is not alleged in the indictment 
that Sally Hall was in the peace of God and the 
United States, when the offense is alleged to have 
been committed. 

Four other reasons were given, but the court 
overruled the motion, and said that some of the 
reasons urged in arrest of judgment were not 
sustained by the record; that others were not 



proper grounds in aiTest of judgment, and that 
some had not been [)resented at the proper time, 
nor in the proper manner, if good at all. 

The prisoner being asked if he had any reason 
why sentence should not be pronounced against 
him on the verdict of the jury, said, that he ol) 
jected to any sentence because he was advised that 
the indictment did not properly charge any com- 
mission of felony. The court disregarded his ol)jec- 
tion, and sentenced him to suffer the penalty of the 
law in such cases made and provided, on Febniary 
15, 1820, between 10 o'clock A. M. and 8 o'clock 
P. M. of that day. A motion was made for a writ of 
error, coram nobis, but the motion was overruled. 
Joshua Norvell, prosecuting attorney for the 
United States; Jasin Chamberlain, Henry Cassidy, 
Ale.\ander S. Walker and Perly Wallis for the 
prisoner. The sentence was not executed, the pris- 
oner having been pardoned by James Miller, Gov- 
ernor of Arkansas Territory. 

John Honey was commissioned judge of pro 
bate court, also judge of the several courts, and 
treasurer of the District of Arkansas in 1808. Ben- 
jamin Fooy was commissioned a justice of the peace, 
October 13, 1808; August 21, 1808, he was commis- 
sioned a judge of the courts of common pleas and 
quarter sessions. Joseph Stillwoll on the same 
day was commissioned a judge of the court of com- 
mon pleas and quarter sessions. August 23, 1808, 
Harold Stillwell was commissioned sheriff for the 
district of Arkansas. August 20, 1808. Francis Vau 
gine was commissioned presiding judge of the ofturt 
of common pleas and quarter sessions. August 28, 
1808, Andrew Fagot was commissioned a justice of 
the peace, notary public and corouor. December 17, 
1S08, Perly Wallis was commissioned deputy at- 
torney general for the District of Arkansas, by John 
Scott, attorney general of the District of Arkansas. 
November 11.1 809, James B. Waterman was com- 
missioned recorder of the District of Arkansas l)y 
Frederick Bates, acting governor of the Territory of 
Louisiana, also clerk of the common pleas and quar- 
ter sessions. Waterman was alsi) commissioned 
judge of probate and to administer the oaths of oUico. 
September 27, 1810, Benjamin Howard commis- 
sioned Patrick Caesidy recorder, juilge of probate. 



<i' & 



<S w 






640 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



clerk of court of common pleas and to administer 
the oath of office. November 13, 1809, John St. 
Clair was commissioned justice of the peace, by 
Fred. Bates. Jiily 23, 1811, by Benjamin Howard, 
Gov. Samuel Treat appointed justice of the peace. 
July 23, 1811, Samuel Moseby, Henry Cassidy and 
James Scull were appointed judges of the courts of 
common pleas and quarter sessions; and the same 
day James Scull was appointed captain of the Ar- 
kansas Battalion. July 25, Curtis Milbourn was 
appointed coroner, by Benjamin Howard. 

January 4, 1814, William Clark, Governor of 
the Territory of Missouri, appointed Francois De 
Vaugine and Samuel Moseby judges of the coiirts 
of common pleas and quarter sessions, and Janu- 
ary 5, 1814, Joseph Stillwell received a like ap- 
pointment. January 4, 1814, Daniel Mooney was 
appointed sheriff by the same man. July 15, 1814, 
John Dodge was acting as clerk and exofficio re- 
corder. 

The following are copies of several important 
historical records taken from the old Territorial 

books: 

In the judge of pro- 
bate's office, Monday, the 
Teruitort op LotiLsiANA. ) „„ twelfth day of Decem- 

__ ber, in the year of our 

Lord one thousand eight 
liundred and eight. 
It being the day appointed by my notice, set up in 
my offif-e in pursuance of the provisions of a law passed 
by the legislature of this Tcnitory, entitled an act di- 
recting the probate of wills and the descent of intestates, 
real estates and the distribution of their personal estates, 
and for other purposes therein mentioned, 

I, .John W. Honey, judge of probate for the District 
of Arkansas, attending in my office in the town of Arkan- 
sas, in pursuance of the above-mentioned notice for the 
purpose of attending to all such business which might be 
brought before me as judge of probate aforesaid. Ko 
business appearing to-day, 1 adjourn until to-morrow 
morning, 10 o'clock. ,TonN W. Honey. 

Tuesday, December 13, 1.S08. 
Having adjourned to this day with an e.xpeclation of 
business, but no business appearing, I adjourn aine die. 
John W. Honey, J. P., D. A. 

The sixth day of 

Teruitoky op Louisiana, | June, in the year of our 

DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS. ' Lord onc thousand eight 

hundred and eleven. 
I, Andre Fagot, Esquire, a justice of the peace for the 



^Test. 



District of Arkansas, do hereby certify, that there person- 
ally appeared before me Elislia Welborn and Anne Eraser, 
who were by me lawfully joined together in the holy 
bonds of matrimony, agreeable to the jirovisions of the 
laws of this Territorj' in such cases made and provided. 

In te.stimonj- whereof I have hereunto set my baud 
and seal on the date al)ove written. Anuhe Faoot. 

John WEiiSTEU, ~| 
Dan Eraser, 
Si.MEON Jennings, 
Jacob Stanley. J 
Keceived the above certificate on llie <>th, and recorded 
on the 16th of June, 1811. • P. Cassidv, CM-. 

On the same day, by the same man, were mar- 
ried Louis Bogy and Frances, widow of James B. 
Waterman. June 19 Andre Fagot married Mar- 
tin Huckingtou and Elizabeth Trimble. June 19, 
same man, David Huckington and Sarah Farril. 
July 1, 1811, William Findley and Polly Gray, 
married by Francois Vaugine. July 12, 1811, 
Nathaniel Bassett and Trisshena Speak married. 
July 14, 1811, William Dunn and E. Hampton; 
also John Ashej' and Massey Keene. September 8, 
1811, John Hendry and Lovina Armstead married. 

Then dating from April 13, 1812, to March 3, 
1814, twelve more couples. 

Peter Lefever was the first man to take advan- 
tage of the law concerning insolvent debtors, and 
to place his property in the hands of the sheriff, 
to be sold for the benefit of his creditors, on March 
1, 1810. 

Commission, John Honey, recorder No. 1, Merriweth- 
cr Lewis, tTOvernor and commander-in-chief of the Terri- 
tory of Louisiana, to all who shall see these presents 
greeting; Know ye that reposing special trust and con- 
fidence in the integrity, abilities and diligence of John 
Honey, Esquire, I do appoint him recorder of the Dis- 
trict of Arkansas and empower him to discharge the 
duties of said office according to law; to have aud to hold 
the said office with all the powers, privileges and emolu- 
ments to the same of right appertaining during the pleas- 
ure of the Governor of the Territory for the time being. 

In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the 
Territory to be hereunto affl,\ed. Given under my hand 
at St. Lonis, the twenty-third (23) day of August in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight 
and of the Independence of the United States, the 
thirty-third. 

(Signed.) Merriwetubr Lewis, 

(rorei'iio)' of Louisiana. 
ISeai,.] 

(Signed.) Frederick Bates, 

Secretary of the State of Louisiana. 



I • 



V 



^I<?_ 



4±^ 



ARKANSAS COUNTY. 



641 



On the back of said commission is t.lio follow- 
ing certificate: 

Teruitory of Louisiana, ss. 

Personally appeared before me tlie subscriber iluly 
eomniissioiieil to ailiiiiiiister oallis of oflicc, eillier District 
or Territorial, Jobn Honey, who took the oath to sup- 
port the Constitution of the United States, also an oath 
to faillifully discharge all duties required of him as re- 
corder of the District of Arkansas. Given under my hand, 
this 9th day of October, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and eight. 

(Signed) Bern Pkatte. 

Received the above commission for record the 9th day 
of October, one thousand eight hundred and eight, and 
recorded the same November '22, A. D., one thousand 
eight hundred and eight. In the thirty-third year of the 
Independence of the United Slates. 

.John W. Honey, Recorder. 

Other commissions are all the same stylo and 
wording. 

This indenture, made tliis flftli day of June, in the 
year of our Lord one tliousand eight liundred and four, 
between Catharine Pertuis, widow of Anthony Pinau, of 
the Post of Arkansaw, of the one part, and Maj. Tliomas 
Napier, of the State of Georgia, of the other part, wit- 
nesseth, that the said Catharine Pertuis, for and in con- 
sideration of the just and full sum of $110, good and law- 
ful money, to her in hand paid, at or before the sealing 
and delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof is 
hereby acknowledged, hath granted, bargained and sold, 
and by the.se presents doth grant, bargain and sell unto 
the said Maj. Thomas Napier, a certain tract or parcel of 
land, situate, lying and being a little above the month of 
the River St. Francis, adjoining lands of Sylvanus Phil- 
lips and Joseph Stillwell, containing 640 acres, to the 
only proper use, benefit and behoof of the said Maj. 
Thomas Napier, his heirs and a.ssigns forever, and the 
said Catharine Pertuis, doth hereby warrant and forever 
defend the above-described tract of land against all per- 
sons claiming the same or any part thereof. 

In witness whereof the said Catharine Pertuis hath 
hereunto set her hand and seal the day and year above 
written. 
In presence of Catharinex Pertois, [seal. | 

Wiu.iam Ciiisolm, Vd. Antonie Pinau, 

Andue Fagot. Marque. 

A true copy, Acluiouledged before me on 

James V,. Many. the 5tli June, 1H04. 

James B. Many. 

In the Constitutional Convention of 1830, Ar- 
kansas County was represented by Bush rod W. 
Lee, and Arkansas and Jefferson Counties by T. 
FaiTelly. The one of 1861, by James L. Totten; 



of 18(58, by John McClure and J. H. Hutchinson; 
of 1874, by J. A. Gibson. 

The first Territorial legislature, composed of 
the Governor iind supreme judges, was held at the 
Post of Arkansas from July 28 to August 3, 1819. 
Speaker, Charles Jonitte; clerk, George W. Scott; 
Kobert Critti'nd(*n, iieting Governor; Charles Jo- 
nitte, liobert Letcher and Andrew Scott, judges of 
supreme court. A special Territorial legishiture 
wiis held at Arkansas I'ost February 7 to Februiiry 
24, 1820. This session was convened by the Ter- 
ritorial Governor under the law which passed the 
Congress of the United States March 2, 1819, 
forming Ai'kansas Territory, which is properly the 
first real Territorial Assembly of Ai-kansas. A spe- 
cial session of the General Assembly of Arkansas 
was held at the Post of Ai-kansas October 2 to Oc- 
tober 25, 1820. Arkansas County was represented 
by Sylvanus Phillips in the council, and W. B. R. 
Horner and W. O. Allen in the lower house. The 
session from October 1 to October 24, 1821, Neil 
McLaiie, council; October 6 to October 31, 1823, 
council, Andrew Latting; rei^resentative, Terrance 
Farrelly; October 3 to No vender 3, 1825, council, 
B. Harrington; representative, William Montgom- 
ery. Fifth legislature: Terrance Farrelly. in coun- 
cil; representative, W. Montgomery. Sixth Terri- 
torial legislature: Council, Terrance Farrelly; 
representative, A\'illiam Montgomery. Seventh: 
Council, Terrance Farrelly ; representative, Harold 
Stillwell. Eighth: Council, Terrance Farrelly; 
representative, Harold Stillwell. Ninth: Tin- 
journals of this legislature are not to be found. 
First State legislature: Senate, S. C. Roane; rep- 
resentatives, James Maxwell and James Smith. 
Second: Senate, J. Smith; representatives, S. V. 
R. Ryan, J. Maxwell. Third: Senate, J. Smith; 
representative, B. L. Haller. Fourth: Senate, 
J. Yell; representative, Richmond Peeler. Fifth: 
Senate, J. Yell; representative, Harris Cross. 
Sixth: Senate, li. C. Byrd; rex^resentative, Harris 
Cross. Seventh: Senate, li. C. Byrd; representa- 
tive, Lewis Redfeld. Eighth: Senate, N. B. Bur- 
row; representative, A. H. Ferguson. Ninth: 
Senate, N. B. Burrow; representative, A. H. Fer- 
guson. Tenth: A. H. Ferguson, Senate; repre- 



rt- 



L^ 



642 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



sentative, Samuel Mitchell. Eleventh: Senate, A. 
H. Ferguson; representative, Samuel Mitchell. 
Twelfth: Senate, Thomas Fletcher; representative, 
Samuel Mitchell. Thirteenth: Thomas Fletcher, 
president of Senate; representative, John T. Gib- 
son. Fourteenth: Senate, Thomas Fletcher, who 
became acting Governor; representative, S. R. 
Richardson. Fifteenth: Senate, J. C. Mills; rep- 
resentative, G. C. Gressen. Special Confederate 
legislature: Senate, Thomas Fletcher, president of 
Senate; representative not given. Sixteenth: Sen- 
ate, W. M. Galloway; representative, E. G. Abbott. 
Seventeenth: Senate, A. Hemmingway; represen- 
tatives, W. S. McCoullough and T. M. Gibson. 
Eighteenth: Senate, A. Hemmingway; representa- 
tives, Arkansas and Prairie Counties, by E. R. 
Wiley, George H. Joslyn, B. C. Morgan, A. O. 
Epsy. Nineteenth: Senate, P. C. Dooley; repre- 
sentatives, Arkansas, Prairie and Lincoln, by M. 
M. Erwin, J. E. Preston, J. P. Eagle, D. J. Hinds. 
Twentieth: Senate, "William Black; representative, 
R. C. Chaney. Twenty-lirst: Senate, A. H. Fer- 
guson; representative, Robert C. Chaney. Twen- 
ty-second: Senate, A. H. Ferguson; representa- 
tive, C. B. Brinkley. Twenty-third: Senate, Lecil 
Bobo; representative, R. C. Chaney. Twenty- 
fourth: Senate, Lecil Bobo; representative, A. D. 
Mathews. Twenty-fifth: Senate, Robert H. Crock- 
ett; representative, W. H. HalliBurton. Twenty- 
sixth: Senate, Thirteenth District, R. H. Crockett; 
representative, W. H. HalliBurton. 

The following were the olficers of Arkansas 
County from 1819 to 1890: 

From 1819 to 1821, Eli I. Lewis, clerk; Henry 
Scull, sheriff; O. H. Thomas, coroner. From 1821 
to 1823, Eli I. Lewis, clerk; Henry Scull, sheriff; 
T. Farrelly, coroner. From 1823 to 1825, Eli I. 
Lewis, clerk; James Hamilton, sheriff; Lewis Bogy, 
coroner. From 1825 to 1827, Eli I. Lewis, clerk; 
A. B. K. Thetford, sheriff; Lewis Bogy, coroner. 
From 1827 to 1829, Eli I. Lewis, clerk; A. B. K. 
Thetford, sheriff. From 1829 to 1830, A. B. K. 
Thetford, sheriff; Robert Fultony, coroner. From 
1830 to 1832, T. Farrelly,* judge; Hewes Scull, 

♦There was no county judge up to this time. The 
office was filled l>y a board of three comraisaioiiers. 



i clerk; A. B. K. Thetford, sheriff. William Rainey, 
coroner; James Maxwell, surveyor. From 1832 to 
1833, Hewes Scull, clerk; A. B. K. Thetford, sher- 
iff; William Rainey, coroner; James Maxwell, sur- 
veyor. From 1833 to 1835, James H. Lucas, judge; 
John Maxwell, clerk; A. B. K. Thetford, sheriff; 
W. B. Summers, coroner; James Maxwell, sur- 
veyor. From 1835 to 1836, Benjamin L. Haller, 
judge; John Maxwell, clerk; William Price, sher- 
iff; 'W. B. Summers, coroner; James Maxwell, 
surveyor. From 1836 to 1838, Benjamin L. Hal- 
ler, judge; D. G. W. Leavitt, clerk; Henry Mc- 
Kenzie, sheriff; John Taylor, treasurer; W. B. 
Summers, coroner; Lewis Dixon, surveyor. From 
1838 to 1840, Benjamin L. Haller, judge; George 
W. Stokes, clerk; John W. Pullen, sheriff; John 
Taylor^ treasurer; Hugh C. Henton, coroner; John 
M. Shultz, surveyor. From 1840 to 1842, David 
Maxwell, judge, George W. Stokes, clerk; John 
L. Jones, sheriff'; John Taylor, treasurer; R. D. 
Armstrong, coroner; John M. Shultz, surveyor. 
From 1842 to 1844, Benjamin L. Haller, judge; 
G. W. S. Cross, clerk; John L. Jones, sheriff; 
John Taylor, treasurer; John C. Walton, coroner; 
John M. Shultz, surveyor. From 1844 to 1846, 
John M. Shultz, judge; G. W. S. Cross, clerk; 
John L. Jones, sheriff; Lewis Redfield, treasurer; 
John M. Shultz, surveyor. From 1846 to 1848, 
T. HalliBiu-ton, judge; G. W. S. Cross, clerk; 
John L. Jones, sheriff; Lewis Redfield, treasurer; 
Charles C. Young, coroner; Thomas HalliBurton, 
surveyor. From 1848 to 1850, John T. Hamilton, 
judge; G. W. S. Cross, clerk; John L. Jones, 
sheriff; B. L. Haller, treasurer. Lot L. Haines, 
coroner; Adam McCool, surveyor. From 1850 to 
1852, John T. Hamilton, judge; W. H. Halli 
Burton, clerk; John L. Jones, sheriff; B. L. Hal- 
ler, treasTirer; John Larkey, coroner; Thomas 
HalliBurton, surveyor. From 1852 to 1854, T. T. 
Morrison, judge; William Redfield, clerk; J. T. 
Hamilton, sheriff; B. L. Haller, treasurer: Edward 
Syncoe, coroner; Adam McCool, surveyor. From 
1854 to 1856, T. T. Morrison, judge; Zera S. 
Altom, clerk; P. S. Cross, sheriff; B. L. Haller, 
treasurer; J. E. McGraws, coroner; James Kirk- 
Patrick, surveyor. From 1856 to 1858, T. T. 



*iu 




JC^^ ^.Q)c.£^ %^ 



AU G U STA, 
WOODRUFF COUNTY ARtlfiNSflS. 



Morrison, judge; J. G. Querterinons, clork; G. 
W. S. Cross, shoriff; John AN'. Lowo, ti'oasurer; 
Jeremiah Haines, coroner; Melton D. No7-ton, sur- 
veyor. From 1858 to 1860, T. T. Morrison, judge; 
Jolin P. Taylor, clerk; Jose])li H Maxwell, sherifF; 
John W. Lowe, treasurer; H. McCianghey, cor- 
oner; J. T. Clark, surveyor. From 1800 to 1862, 
Felix G. Allen, judge; Joseph H. Maxwell, clerk; 
H. K. Stephens, sheriff; John W. Lowe, treasui'er; 
John P. Taylor, coroner; James S. Cowan, sur- 
veyor. From 1802 to 1804, A. H. Almond, judge; 
Joseph H. Maxwell, clerk; D. S. Morris, sheriff; 
H. G. Ramsour, treasurer; J. D. Strother, coroner; 
A. H. Stillwell, surveyor; A. J. Almond, assessor. 
From 1864 to 1866, R. K. Gamble, judge; Joseph 
H. Maxwell, clerk; R. C. Martin, sheriff; P. G. 
Tyler, treasurer; M. Kennedy, coroner; ^\'. Quar- 
termouse, surveyor; Ward Davis, assessor. From 
1860 to 1808, A. H. Almond, judge; W. F. Gib- 
son, clerk; R. C. Martin, sheriff; P. G. Tyler, 
treasiirer; J. W. McKeuen, coroner; A. G. With- 
ers, surveyor; J. M. Price, assessor. From 1808 
to 1870, B. C. Hubbard, judge; E. R. Wiley, 
clerk; Joseph H. Maxwell, sheriff'; Michael Holt, 
treasurer; I. F. Chesher, coroner; William R. 
Lear, surveyor; J. P. Hubbard, assessor. From 
1870 to 1872, Alex C. Wiley, clerk; Joseph H. 
Maxwell, sheriff; Michael Holt, treasurer; E. P. G. 
Tackett, surveyor; J. W. Johnson, assessor. From 
1872 to 1874, E. P. G. Tackett, clerk; E. R. Wiley, 
sheriff; Samuel McCarthy, treasurer; L. S. Fields, 
coi'oner; J. Webster, surve3'or; J. W. Johnson, 
assessor. From 1874 to 1876, Richard Gamble, 
judge; B. F. Quertermous, clerk; William Still- 
well, sheriff; A. B. Crawford, treasurer; Dixon 
Adams, coroner; E. J. Connelly, surveyor; Jesse 
Bass, assessor. Form 1876 to 1878, R. K. Gamble, 
judge; B. F. Quertermous, clerk; William Still- 
well, sheriff; A. B. Crawford, treasurer; John F. 
Brice, coroner; E. J. Connelly, surveyor; Charles 
L. Jansen, assessor. From 1878 to 1880, A. S. 
Hinson, judge; A. D. Matthews, clerk; B. N. 
Word, sheriff; Charles A. Johnson, treasurer; 
James Henderson, coroner; E. P. G. Tackett, sur- 
veyor; Charles L. Jansen, assessor. From 1880 
to 1882, James H. Merritt, judge; J. J. McEvoy, 



clerk; B. N. ^\'ord, sheriff; Robert Scanland, 
treasurer; James Wolf, coroner; C. F. Moore, sur- 
veyor; Charles L. Jansen, assessor. From 1882 
to 1884, James H. Merritt, judge; J. J. McEvoy, 
clerk; L. C. Smith, sheriff; Robert Scanland, treas- 
urer; J. H. Freeman, coroner; C, F. Moore, sur- 
veyor; John H. Boll, assessor. From 1884 to 
1886, James H. Merritt, judge; Ben N. Word, 
clerk; L. C. Smith, sheriff; Robert Scanland, 
treasiirer; L. J. Haywood, coroner; C. F. Moore, 
surveyor,- C. L. Jansen, assessor. From 1886 to 
1888, James H. Merritt, judge; Ben N. Word, 
clerk; L. C. Smith, sheriff; J. P. Poynter, treas- 
urer; W. R. Hagler, surveyor; J. G. Johnson, 
assessor. From 1888 to 1890, James H. Merritt, 
judge; A. D. Matthews, clerk; Phin M. Black, 
sheriff; J. P. Poynter, treasurer; J. B. Rosevelt, 
surveyor; J. G. Johnson, assessor. 

In 1881, in riding over the prairie, the observer 
would have little! thought that, during the past year 
(1889) there could have arisen such a city as now 
graces Grand Prairie — Stuttgart. At that time 
neither signs nor indications of a town were in 
sight, the postoffice being located a mile north of 
the town site. But late in the fall of that year a 
corps of surveyors passed over this territorj', driv- 
ing stakes. In May of 1882, they came back and 
located the road ; the postoffice had been removed 
to the house of I. N. Harper, who had planned to 
build a town on his farm. His scheme took prac- 
tical shape, however, and early in 1882 the town 
was platted and named. Its growth for a few years 
was slow; at the end of the first year one small 
store building comprised the city. The pioneer 
merchant and owner of this store was a Mr. Bort- 
field. The growth up to 1866 was steady, the 
j)opulation at that time being about 300 people. 
In three years it has grown till now it will nuni 
ber 1,200 souls, and is the metropolis of Grand 
Prairie, lying at the junction of the Kansas City 
& New Orleans and the Grand Prairie Railroads, 
both now in rapid progress of construction. 

The citizens of the town are from Iowa, Mis- 
souri, Illinois and ^lichigan; also many native 
Southern folk. There are not u dozen negro fam- 
ilies to be found in the citj' limits, a certain tract 



J^ 



646 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



being set apart for their occupancy in the outskirts. 
Five churches hohl regular service: the Methodist, 
Christian, Baptist, Mennonites and German Lu- 
theran; two more buildings are novy being erected. 
A good graded puVilic school, with a principal and 
three assistants, trains the rising generation; and 
in the south part of the town is a spacious college 
building which was opened October 1, 1889, and 
under the able management of Prof. Jones is rap- 
idly gaining an enviable reputation, and the patron- 
age it receives speaks of great success. A bank 
has recently been opened under the management 
of T. H. Leslie. Two other large brick blocks are 
rapidly nearing completion, and the town is surely 
taking on an air of solidity. The brick and tile 
factory can scarcely supply the demand, although 
its capacity is nearly 2,000,000 brick yearly. A 
large saw-mill and three himl>cr yards furnish all 
that is desirable in the way of building material 
to the town, and to the farmers who are rapidly 
settling upon the prairies adjoining. Every de- 
partment of the mercantile business is represented 
by stocks ranging from $600 to |20,000. A Build- 
ine & Loan Association has been ortiauized. A 
Masonic Lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; also the Odd Fel- 
lows; three hotels, livery stables, etc. The resi- 
dences are new and tastefully arranged, being 
mostly cottages. The people are social and cour- 
teous, and intelligent. Last year over 375 car- 
loads of hay were shipped from here, besides 2, 500 
bales of cotton and a few loads of fat cattle and 
hogs. Memphis, Cairo and Pine Bluff are the 
principal objective shipping points. 

De Witt, the county seat, is the second town of 
importance in the- county; is located near the 
center of the county. Charles W. Belnap, Leroy 
Montgomery and Di-. John M. Moreman were 
elected commissioners to locate the county seat, 
in 1858 W. H. HalliBurton, acting as their agent, 
bought the land. The following year the town 
was laid off, and in September, 1855, a log court 
house was finished and the records removed from 
Arkansas Post to the new town, which has been 
christened De Witt. A little incident in regard 
to the naming of this town is given: The com- 
missioners being unable to agree on a name played 



a game of " seven up "to decide on whom the honor 
of selecting a name should fall. Leroy Montgom- 
ery won, and to him belongs the honor, as he gave 
the name for De Witt Clinton, of New York. 

This was the fir.st court house ever erected in 
the county; probate and county court were held in 
the new house in October of 1855. 

The November term of circuit court was ad 
jonrned till the next regular term on account of in 
sufficient accommodations and inclement weather. 
Daring the war several buildings were burned and 
the town was almost deserted. The present popu- 
lation is about 200. Its business is represented 
by three general merchandise stores, one grocery 
and one drug store. There are two church build- 
ings belonging to the Methodists and Baptists. 

The present court house was built in 1862, at 
a cost of $14,000; clerk's and sheriff's offices and 
jury rooms on the ground floor, with the court 
room above. 

The })ublic school building is a pleasantly lo 
cated three-room building, in a modern style of 
architecture. Under the control of Prof. Ciaw 
ford, it is one of the liest schools in the State, has 
a high school department and many students out- 
side of the regular district attend. 

St. Charles, the main town and shipping point 
for the eastern p<irt of the county, is pleasantly Id 
cated on a bluff overlooking White River, and is 
the second town, from a commercial stundjioint; 
it shipped 3,500 bales of cotton last year. 

Arkansas Post is a little village standing on 
the north bank of the Arkansas River. The pass 
ing of a steamboat, now and then, breaks the mo 
notony of the daily happenings, and tlie casual ob 
server can see naught to remind him that at one 
time three- fourths of all the people in the Arkansas 
River Valley were living in and abont tliat spot ; 
that it has been the capital city of the Territory of 
Arkansas; that it was settled three years ere Phila- 
delphia was founded; that for fifty years it was the 
county seat of Arkansas County; that the armies of 
the great Rebellion contended fiercely for its pos- 
session, and thel)0()mof the cannon has echoed and 
reverberated about her. Yet such is the case; from 
a thriving capital to a prosperous town is not so 



i) "fy ' 



_> 9 



L> 



ARKANSAS COUNTY. 



647 



great a stop, but from a town to a tumliliHl down, 
deserted village only demonstrates the remorseless 
march of time. Arkansas Post is to-day hut a small 
shipping point on the Arkansas River. 

As this county has advanced with her sister 
counties in material welfare, so have the morals of 
her jjeople been as well cared for by the different 
church organizations. The Methodists and Bap- 
tists are the strongest in number as w(»ll as the 
oldest, although the Christians and Presbyterians 
have miiuy members. 

Good church buildings dot the landscape all 
over the county, and in the towns and villages the 
spires mark the places of worship, as the? deep 
toned bells sound the hour. 

There are between thirty-five and forty church 
buildings in the county, valued at about $20,000. 
Sunday-schools are held in many of th(>m each 
Sabbath morning. 

It is proof of the efficacy of the church teach- 
ing that here are to be found manj' of that tnier, 
higher type of Christian people, with malice toward 
none and charity for all. 

So strong is the love for law and good citizens, 
and for fear that the smallest possible incentive for 
crime might exist, the saloons were banished sev- 
eral years ago, and the scenes and incidents accom- 
panj'ing the rum traffic were also Ijanished with 
the saloons. 

White River on the east of the county, with a 
frontage of over forty miles on a direct line, affords 
excellent shipping opportunities for that part of 
the county. St. Charles, Crockett's Bluff, Mount 
Adams and Casco are all on this river, and from 
them most of the surplus is shipped, and supplies 
landed. 

On the Arkansas River, Arkansas Post is the 
shipping point for the southern part of the county. 
Bayou Meto River is navigable in times of high 
water. 

Of railroads, the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas 
is, for about sixteen miles in the county, running 
northeast and southwest across the northwestern 
corner. The towns it touches are Stuttgart, Gold- 
man and Payer, and at Stuttgart, the Kansas & 
New Orleans crosses the St. Louis, Arkansas & 



Texas Railroad, and extends almost the entire 
length of the county. The Grand Prairie, con- 
necting with the other two roads, now being con- 
structe<l. extends from Stuttgart to Arkansas Post. 

The public highways are kept up in good shape, 
and traverse the coiuity in every direction. 

Arkansas County boasts of the honor of ])ub 
lishing the first newspaper ever published in the 
State, for in 181!) the Arkansas Gazette made her 
first issue from Arkansas Post, and its publication 
was continued there till 1820, when it was taken 
to Little Rock. From that time until 1862, 
when the Chronicle came out, there was no paper 
published in the county; then the Elector in 1868, 
and in 1871 two papers at De Witt, the Sentinel 
and the De M'itt Democrat. 

In 1873 the Enterprise echoed the voice of the ' 
populace. Following that Col. Crockett published 
the (ileaner. About the same time the Arkansas 
County Democrat had a brief life. Then came the 
Arkansas Post, and in 1884 J. P. Poynter began 
to publish the De ^\'itt Gazette, which enterprise 
he has made a success, and the paper is now recog- 
nized as the official organ of the Democratic party 
of the county. The Grand Prairie Journal, a 
newsy little paper, puldished by Clint. L. Price, 
at Stuttgart, is devoted to the interests of the town 
and the adjacent country. 

There are twelve municipal townships in the 
county: LaGrne, Prairie, Koaton, Crockett, Point 
De Luce, Morris, Stanley, Mill Bayou, McFaU, 
Bayou Meto, Chester and Arkansas. 

The postofficps are located as follows: in LaGrne 
Township, De Witt (tli(^ county seat); Prairie Town- 
ship, two, St. Charles and Ethel; Keaton Town- 
ship, five, Bermuda, Mt. .\dams, Cassco, Violet 
and Sassafras; Point De Luce, one, De Luce; 
Morris, two, Goldman and Hynum; Mill Bayou, 
Long Point. Prairieville and Olena; McFall, one, 
Stuttgart; Bayou Meto, two, Bayou Meto and 
Hagler; Chester, two, Tichnor and Booty; Arkan- 
sas, two, Stanley and Arkansas Post. 

Of the whole surface of the county there is but 
very little waste land, and all is susceptible of cul- 
tivation, barring part of the two townships in the 
southeastern corner of the county, and they are as 



, 4^ — ^ 



648 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



tint' land, and would be jiist as valuable as any 
alonfr the Arkansas River, were they not. subject 
to overflow. Alwut one-half the surface of the 
whole county is covered with a growth of fine, 
hard timber, consisting of white burr, black, red, 
pin, water, post, Spanish and cow oaks; chincapin 
oak; white and black hickory; pecan, cypress, Cot- 
tonwood, elm, sweet and black gum, soft maple, 
hackberry, sycamore, basswood, ash, some few 
beech and poplar and wild cherry. The value of 
these timber lands, as the railroads open np easy 
transportation, is hard to overestimate, and the 
lumber interests of the county are as yet practi- 
cally undeveloped. Yet there are several large 
lumlier plants located here, besides which several 
companies have been organized, and own large 
tracts of land. 

The other half of the county is covered with 
prairie grass, that grows higher than the stock that 
feeds upon it. Now where does the raising of 
stock pay larger returns for the money invested 
than those on the prairies of Arkansas County? 
The winters are mild; the numerous glades and 
bayous furnish an abundance of water; a few weeks' 
work will put np hay enough to carry them over the 
winter mouths; stock is seldom fed over two or three 
months. Man}' of the best farmers are devoting 
their time solely to raising mules, horses, cattle and 
sheep. The lands along the Arkansas River, Bayou 
Meto and parts of White River is the cotton growing 
district, which produces from one to one and a-half 
l)ales per acre; corn from forty to sixty bushels; 
oats about the same; millet, clover and cultivated 
grasses make good crops. Out on the uplands and 
prairie not so much attention is given to cotton, 
yet even there it is a good crop, yielding from 
one-half to three quarters of a bale per acre; corn on 
the prairie, from fifteen to forty bushels, greatly 
owing to the manner in which it is cultivated; oats 
make from forty to sixty bushels; millet, two to 
three tons per acre. All over the county apples, 
peaches, pears, plums, figs, quinces, strawberries, 
raspberries, gooseberries and grapes find their na- 
tive home. Every, and all varieties of vegetable 
and garden stuffs grow to perfection, and melons 
are unsurpassed by any climate in the world. 



Of the wild fruits and shrubs the red and black 
haw, hazel, elder, shumac, both black and wliite, 
wild plums of different varieties, blackberries, dew 
berries, strawben-ies, growing on the prairies; win- 
ter huckleberries, wild grapes of different kinds; 
the Muscadine, a large grape, growing singly, or in 
clusters of fi'om three to four, having a thick skin, 
very palatable when cooked, and three varieties of 
summer grapes, somewhat smaller than the Con 
cord, and then the winter grapes that ripen after 
the frost. The cutting and shipping of the prairie 
hay is one of the leading industries of the citizens 
adjacent to the railroads and the river shipping 
points. This is one of the few counties of the 
State in which the impi'oving of the native stock 
has been attempted, by crossing upon thorough 
bred sires. The results havel)een truly gratifying 
and are plainly seen in the improved grade of their 
stock. 

Of the navigable streams, the Arkansas River 
is the largest, and flows along the southern bound 
ary line, while along the whole eastern border is 
White River. Emptying into White River about 
eleven miles north of the southern boundary line 
is Big LaGrue, which has its source in Prairie 
County, and crosses the northern line of Arkansas 
County a little east of the center. Little La 
Grue, a tributary of the larger stream of the same 
name, rises about five miles northeast of Stutt- 
gart, has a general southeast direction, flows thirty 
miles through the county. 

INlill Bayou rises about twelve miles southeast 
of Stuttgart, having a general course of southeast 
and empties into Bayoii Meto, twenty miles from 
its source. 

The largest and most important stream that 
has its course within the county is Bayou Meto, 
which comes in from the west near the north line, 
where for about twenty miles it is wholly inside, and 
from that on is the line between this and Jefferson 
Counties. The streams are all bordered l)y a 
magnificent growth of hardwood timber. 

The summary of the county examiner's report, 
1888, for the schools of Arkansas County is as fol 
lows: White children, 2,703; colored, 1,450; total, 
4,159. Enrollment, wWte, 717; colored, 281; total, 



^l 



sT 



^w 



'JUS. Number of districts, 45; number of districts 
reporting enrollment, IS; nnml)er of districtM vot- 
ing tax, 8; number of t(>acLt'rs employed, 4EJ; num- 
ber of scbool-liouses, no re])ort; value of school- 
houses, uo report; numl)er of institutes held, 1; 
number of teachers attending, 8. 

The institute at DeWitt, only in j)()iut of num- 
bers, however, was a failure. There were eight 
teachers and three directt)rH present. The cause 
of such a small attendance api)ears to have been 
the usual one in such cases, indi (Terence upon the 
part of the county examiner. Information is that 
the county examiner of Arkansas County had failed 
to notify his directors as to the time and place of 
holding the institute, before my arrival there. 
The press of De Witt knew nothing of the matter, 
and, of course, did not notify the public in time. 

Statement of number and salaries of teachers, 
year ending June 80, 1888. Number employed: 
males, 30; females, IT); total, 45. Average monthly 
salaries: Grade numljor 1, males, 145.00, females, 
$35.00; grade number 2, males, $30.00, females, 
$27.50; grade number 3, males, $25.00, females, 
$20.00. 

Statement of revenue raised for the support of 
common schools, as shown by the report of the 
county treasurer, year ending June 30, 1888: 
Amount on hand July 1, 1887, $4,457.87; com- 
mon school fund, $3,105.05; district tax, $7,198. - 
32; poll tax, $2,085.04; total, $16,006.88. 

Revenues expended for support of common 
schools, and the balance on hand, year ending 
June 30, 1888: Teachers' salaries, $5,831.30; 
jiurchase of houses or sites, 1340.60; buildings and 
rej)airing, $1,1 12.V(0; purchasing apparatus, $157.- 
85; total, $7,442.71; total amounts unexpended, 
$9,464.17. 

Besides this, there is as much, if not more, 
money spent for subscrij)tion schools, for in many 
districts private schools are continued more months 
of the year than are the pul)lic schools. One 
private enterprise, a college, located in the south- 
ern part of Stuttgart, is under the direction and 
control of Prof. Jones, assisted bj' an able corj)s of 
teachers; the building is large and commodious, 
and was opened for the tirst time in October, 1889. 



Jacob Alexander, book-keeper in the large dry- 
goods establishment of J. J. Woolfolk, of St. 
Charles, is a native of the Key Stone State, and 
a son of Jacob and Margaret (Moon) Alexander, 
both of whom came originally from the Emerald 
Isle to this country when young. They were mar 
ried in Pennsylvania, and engaged in farming in 
Lancaster County until 1840, then removing to 
Ohio, which was their place of residence three 
years; later they went to Indiana. In 1857 Jacob 
Alexander came to Arkansas. In IHliO, going to 
Independence, Missouri, ho remained until the war 
broke out, when he joined the Federal array, being 
employed as .scout tlirongli(5ut the war. He was 
l)orn in 1837, and while in Indiana was ai>prenticed 
to a carpenter, and learned the trade. After the 
war he worked at his trade in Memphis, Tenn., 
until 1867, at that time coming to Arkansas and 
embarked in farming. In 1871 Mr. Alexander 
located at St. Charles, and was emi)loyed as clerk 
by the Farmers' Supply Company one year, after 
ward entering, the employ of Mr. Woolfolk, where 
he is still engaged. He married Miss Mary (lun- 
nell, a native of Mississippi. They are the parents 
of seven children, two of whom are living: Leoua 
and Belle. Mrs. Alexander is a member of the 
Baptist Church. Mr. Alexander is a member of 
t.he Masonic order, and is the present Master of 
the lodge. He is a Republican in polities, and 
was nominated for sheriff in the last campaign. 
He has had a notary public's commission for seven 
or eight years, and is the owner of some projier^, 
besides which he has an interest in the store where 
he is employed. 

Ahvain M. Almond, one of the oldest settlers of 
Arkansas County, is a native of Tennessee, in which 
State he remained until twenty-eight years of age. 
He was married there to Martha Mnrpliey, of Mis . 
sissippi birth, and in 1857 came to Arkansas, locat 
ing in this county, where he rented land until the 
war. Mrs. Almond died in 1S8S, at the age of 
fifty-six yoai"s, having been the mother of eleven 
childi'en, seven of whom survive: James, Sallie, 
William, Mollie, Mattie, Lou and Thomas. Mr. 
Almond's second wife was Mrs. Sallie Martin 
{nee Hewett), a daughter of Caleli Hewett, who J 



t 



.£. 



050 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



came to Arkansas in 1851. They are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Clmrcli (as was also the 
first wife), in which he is one of the stewards. He 
has a fine farm, with 100 acres under cultivation. 
Mr. Almond was born in Franklin County, Tenn., 
in 1819, as a son of James and Jane (Martin) 
Almond, natives of North Carolina and Tennessee, 
respectively. James Almond moved to Tennes- 
see when about seventeen years of age with his 
mother, his father having died when he was young, 
and engaged in farming in Franklin County. There 
he remained until 1845, when he removed his family 
to Mississippi, and six years later to Arkansas, set- 
tling on the same section of land which the prin- 
cipal of this sketch occupies, and where he died in 
January, 1857, at the age of sixty years. His wife 
died in 1887, when eighty-seven years old. They 
were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and were the parents of ten children, three of whom 
are living: John, Jonathan and Alwain M., oar 
subject. 

Jonathan N. Almond owes his tativity to Mis- 
sissippi, whore he passed his youth *^ud early man- 
hood up to the age of twenty-two years. Coming 
thence to Arkansas, he has since made this State 
his home, with the exception of two years spent in 
Texas, in 1863 and 1865. He bought his present 
place in 1853, but was not married until 1861, 
when he was united in the bonds of matrimony 
with Martha A. Burnett, a native of Arkansas, and 
daughter of Lemuel F. Burnett, of Pennsylvania 
origin. Mr. Almond was born in Franklin County, 
Miss., in 1831, the son of James and Jane (Martin) 
Almond, natives of North Carolina. They moved 
to Tennessee in their younger days, and in 1853 
to Arkansas, locating in this county, where the 
father was engaged in his occupation as tanner 
until his death, in 1857, at the 'age of sixiy years. 
His wife was born June 11, 1799, and died in De- 
cember, 1887. They were members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, and were the parents of 
ten childi'en. Six of the sons served in the Confed- 
erate army, and only two of them came out alive. 
Mr. and Mrs. Almond have a family of live chil- 
dren. He owns a tine farm of about 100 acres, 
under cultivation, on which he lives and also has 



other land throughout the county, all made by 
hard work since coming to this county. He is a 
Democrat in politics and a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, as is his wife. 

P. M. Black, the well-known and faithful sher- 
ifTof Arkansas County, came originally from Peoria 
County, 111., being a son of Thomas and Isabella 
(Brunson) Black. Thomas Black was born in 
Pennsylvania, and is a distant relative of John C. 
Black, of the United States Pension Office. He 
was a son of Michael Black, also of that State, and 
of German descent. Moving to Illinois when 
Thomas was a boy he located eighteen miles north 
of Peoria, where he owned a large farm and where 
he died at an old age. Thomas Black was the 
youngest of seven children, four still living. He 
remained in Illinois until 1864, when he went to 
Iowa and engaged in farming in Dallas County, 
then becoming occupied in the real estate business 
at Des Moines, Polk County, for five years. On 
May 15, 1874, he came to this county and still 
makes his home here. His wife died in 1881, at 
the age of tifty years, and had borne ten children, 
six of whom survive. Phiueas M. Black was bom 
January 7, 1855, was married in 1876 to Miss Car- 
rie Stillwell, a native of this county, and a daughter 
of Asher and Carolina (Maxwell) Stillwell. Mr. 
Black started in business after his marriage with 
nothing but determination and a strong will power 
to rely on, bat has been pro.sperous in all of his 
undertakings. Ho was elected sherifF in 1888 and 
still holds the position, serving in an acceptable 
manner. He is also engaged in stock raising. Mr. 
and Mrs. Black are the parents of two children: 
Hattie O. and Lester A. Mr. Black is a member 
of the I. O. O. F. and is a stanch Democrat. 

Rev. George Adam Buerkle and family, of 
Stuttgart, Ark., trace their ancestry back to the 
year 1372 to the Earl of Buerkle, whose coat-of- 
arms is still on exhibition. Rev. G. Adam Buer- 
kle, was born in Platlenhardt, Germany, January 
25, 1825, and he was there married to Barbara 
Roth, who was born at the same place on May 23, 
1823, and by her became the father of the follow 
ing family: Carolina M. (born March 25, 1848, in 
Plattenhardt, married to Rev. S. Poppin), Maria 



^. 



) >y 



ARKANSAS COUNTY. 



651 



11. (bora iu Ann Arbor, Mich., July 14, 1853, and 
is tho wifo of Rov. F. Jcldon), Elizji li. (also born 
iu Ann Arbor, July 4, 1854, iiuil is i\n^ wife of lli>v. 
J. M. Johanssen), Christina (also was born in Ann 
Arl)or, Docouibor, 20, 1850), Emanuel L. (born iu 
Lansing, Mich,, Novombor IG, 185U), Adam ¥. 
(was born in Lansing, May 20, 1861), Carl W. and 
M. Luther (twins, born in Lan.siug February 14, 
1863), Paul J. and M. Paulina (twins, born in 
Lansing March 17, 1865), Herman A. (horn in 
Lansing March 31, 1867), and A. B. Clara (born 
in Woodville, Ohio, August 6, 1860). M. Pau- 
lina is tho wife of Robert Harper. Rev. G. Adam 
Buerkle was educated at Esslingen, Wurtemborg. 
Germany, and was married during the year 1S47, 
and in 1852 emigrated to the United States, and 
after spending one year in Lancaster County, 
Penn. , he moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., and four 
years later to Lansing, where he made his home for 
ten years. He then spent twelve years at Wood- 
ville, near Toledo, Ohio, and on October 6, 1870, 
landed in Arkansas with his family. During 
1876-77 he was president and visitor of the Evan- 
gelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio, and during 1878 
he organized a colony and brought them to Grand 
Prairie, Ark., and caused a postoffico to be estab- 
lished, which was named after his former homo in 
Germany — Stuttgart. He was postmaster at this 
point, with E. L. Buerkle as assistant. He has 
spared no pains nor expense to promote the ad- 
vancement of the town and vicinity. When the St. 
Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railroad was being built 
the company seemed to have a prejudice against 
Stuttgart and would not stop their mail trains, but 
Mr. Buerkle prom[)tly moved his postoffice to the 
lailroad and erected a small house, which was the 
first house erected in the now town of Stuttgart. 
Owing to his age ho turned the postoffice over to 
his assistant, who also became railroad and express 
agent at that place, and, notwithstanding the fact 
that his compensation was a mere pittance, he re- 
mained faithfully at his post and the afore-men- 
tioned brothers now compose the well-known firm 
of Buerkle Bros., they being also the leading mem- 
bers of the Stuttgart German Brass Baud; the band 
is more commonly known as Buerkle Brothers' 



Brass Band. Rttv. Buerkle, like the majority of 
Germans, is »Miergetic and (>nter|>rising and in his 
calling has (tarried out these principles. He owns 
several thousand acres of land in Stuttgart and 
vicinity. He has been a minister of theGos|)el for 
ovt<r thirty four years and is still a worker for the 
Master, preaching every Sunday, and although bis 
congregation is small, it'is steadily growing. 

Hon. Robert C. Chanoy deserves prominent 
mention in the present volume as one of Arkansas 
County's representative citizens. His fath(«r. Rev. 
J. H. Chaney, was l)oru in the State of Mississippi 
iu 1805, in which locality he was reared and edu- 
cated, there l)eing married to Sarah B. Chambliss, 
on July 27, 1827. She was born on Christmas 
day, 1807, also in Mississippi, and was a daughter 
of Peter and Jlary Chambliss. Shortly after liis 
marriage Mr. Chaney moved to Louisiana, and in 
1860 came to Arkansas, whore ho was engaged in 
his work of preaching the Gospel, being a local 
minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Ho 
was the principal organizer of the Hallas Chapel 
Church, in this county. He had been connected 
with tho Methodist Church for forty years at the 
time of his death, in 1864. His wife who still 
survives him lives with the suliject of this sketch, 
and is now in her eighty second year. They were 
the parents of twelve children, seven of whom are 
living: Robert C, Sarah A., Mary F.. William 
W., Emma K., Adaline B. and Mattie B. Kol)ert 
C. Chaney was born in Louisiana on January 15, 
1832. He was married in that State Novemljii' 
22, 1855, to Miss Caroline Dubose, of Louisiana 
birth, born on November 3, 1837, and who died in 
January, 1869, leaving nine children, four of 
whom survive: Holcomb D., Rosa F. (who mar- 
ried H. M. Dubose), Robert C, Jr., and Eugene 
R. On August 17, 1872, Mr. Chaney was married 
a second time to Miss Corone Hiuman, also origin- 
ally from the Creole State. She was called away 
from earth on October 7, 1889, leaving seven chil- 
dren, all living: Lee M., Ethel C, Ernest L., 
Beulah I. , Rife P. , Lucile B. and Horace P. Mr. 
Chaney owns 2,000 acres of land, of which 200 
acres are under cultivation. He is also engaged in 
the mercantile business at Stanley, and though 



^ 



^ wj^>' 



652 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



J 



starting with about a 12,000 stock, he has by honest 
dealings and good management built up a large 
trade, enjoying a patronage of $ir),O0<) per year. 
He is a prominent man in the politics of Arkansas 
County, and represented his county in the State 
legislature three terms, from 1874 to 1882. Be- 
sides this he has held the office of associate county 
judge, and has been postmaster of Stanley for the 
past six years. He is a member of the Masonic 
order, and belongs to the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, of which both of his wives were members. 
Frank B. Childers is the son of John P. Child- 
ers, a native of Virginia, who was taken to Ken- 
tucky by his parents when but a young boy, 
where he was reared and educated, thei-e being 
married to Catharine Amant, also of that State. 
She died in 1832, leaving twelve children, and five 
of them are still living: Pryor W., Thomas H. , 
Philip Gr., Harmond and Frank B., the principal 
of this sketch. Mr. Childer's second wife, Eliza 
Asbury, was also a Virginian by birth. Their only 
child died in infancy. They were members of 
the Christian Church, and Mr. Childers was one 
of the leading men in the organization of the first 
church at Morgan, Ky. He did not take a very 
prominent part in politics, but was elected coroner, 
which position he held for several years. Frank 
B. Childers, the principal of this sketch, was born 
in the State of Kentucky, April 1, 1831, and came 
to Arkansas in December, 1865. His earthly pos- 
sessions on entering consisted of the clothes which 
he wore and a shotgun. He now owns 360 acres 
of land, forty acres being under cultivation, with 
good buildings and stock. He was married No- 
vember 9, 1871, to Miss Josephine Maxwell, of 
this State, who died September 25, 1879, having 
been the mother of one child, which died in infancy. 
Mr. Childers was next married to Lillie Halley, 
originally from Kentucky. She passed away No- 
vember 10, 1885, having borne one daughter, 
Josephine W. On January 15, 1888, Mr. Childers 
was married to Mattie Rains, born in Gentry 
County, Mo., March 18, 1859. He did not take 
part in the late war, but was captured by the Fed- 
erals while at home, in 1862, and carried to Ohio, 
where he was held until December of that year. 



George W. Conine, who is actively and suc- 
cessfully engaged in merchandising, carries a stock 
of goods invoicing about $3,000 in his store at Ar- 
kansas Post. He was the second son of a family of 
seven children born to Richard and Jaue (Beau) 
Conine, natives of Georgia and Louisiana, respect- 
ively. The father was born about 1808, of Irish' 
descent. Going to Louisiana when a young man, 
he was there married, about 1838, and made his 
home the rest of his life, and at his death, in 1850, 
was one of the well-to-do planters of that State. 
Owing to unjust management of the estate, his 
widow and children were thrown upon their daily 
labor for sustenance. His wife died in 1858. She 
was a daughter of Rev. Christopher Bean, an Eng- 
lishman by birth, who passed away in Louisiana, in 
1852. George W. Conine was born in Carroll Par- 
ish, La., in 1844. He began making his own way 
in the world at the early age of seven years, being 
employed by Mr. Eviu George (a wealthy farm- 
er of that vicinity) to drive a team for his gin; 
afterward by James McNeal in the same coiumun 
ity. At the age of fourteen he was emjiloyed as 
mail-carrier from Monroe to Lake Providence, La. 
In 1862 he joined the Carroll Dragoons of Louis- 
iana Cavalry and was afterward transferred to 
FoiTest's cavalry. He participated in the battles 
of Franklin, Vicksburg, the siege of Atlanta, Holly 
Springs and a number of hard fought battles. He 
was at home on furlough at the time of the sur- 
render. He then engaged in farming in Louisiana 
until 1867, when he came to Arkansas, locating at 
Arkansas Post. He was married in 1872 to Miss 
Caroline Rogers, a native of this county and a 
daughter of one of the early settlers. She died in 
1879, leaving two children: Willie D. and Johuie 
W. Conine. Mr. Conine was then married to Miss 
Ruby Conine, a cousin of our subject, her father. 
Rev. Brittain Conine, being a brother of Richard 
Conine. She was born in the State of Alabama at 
Camp Hill where her mother, Jane Herren, died 
about 1854 and where her father, Rev. Brittain 
Conine, now resides and is a merchant of that place 
of forty or lifty years' standing, now being in his 
eightieth year. Ruby Conine is the mother of two 
children: Oscar and Hattie. Hattie died August 



>[V^ 



ARKANSAS COUNTY. 



(')53 



25, 1889, aged three years, one month and thirteen 
days. Sleep thou in Jesus, little Hattie, till He 
bids thee arise. Mr. Conine continued farming 
until 1881, when he engaged in the mercantile 
business with his sister, Mrs. Mary A. Fogee, and 
since her death, in 1887, has contimied th(! busi- 
ness himself, the lirm l)oiug known as G. W. and 
B. B. Conine. He also owns about 1,000 acres of 
land in different tracts in this county, of which 
about 'iOO acres are under cultivation. He is a 
strong Democrat and a highly respected citizen. 
His wife is a member of the Methodist Kpiscopal 
Church. 

David O. Crump, an influential farmer and 
stock raiser of Crockett Townshi[), is a native of 
Tennessee, and a son of Leaton and Martha E. 
(Oats) Crump, natives of Tennessee and Alabama, 
respectively. The father was born in Williamson 
County, Tenn., in 1821, and removed to Alabama 
when a young man. Soon after his marriage he 
settled in Memphis, where his wife died in 1S55. 
(She was born near Huntsville about 182(5). The 
following year he came to Arkansas, and located 
almost in the woods, near Crockett's ]51iiff, where 
he improved a good farm, and where he still re 
sides, living with his second wife. He was one of 
the early settlers of this county, and has been 
])rominent as a citizen, having held the office of 
justice of the peace most of the time during his 
location here. He served aliout two years in the 
Confederate army during the war, in Capt. William 
M. Mayo's company, and was in Price's raid through 
Missouri as quartermaster. He was captured at 
home, and was imprisoned at St. Charles just at 
the close of the war. He has been a meml)er of 
the A. ¥. & A. M. for several years, and was con- 
nected with the County Grange. David O. Crunjp, 
the only child living of his parent's family, was 
born near Memjjhis, Tenn., in 1858, and was 
reared and educated in this county from the age of 
three years. He was married on January 6, 1880, 
to Miss Mary L. Gamble, daughter of Richard 
and Mary M. (Herring) Gamble, originally from 
Pennsylvania and Georgia, respectively. They 
were married in Mississippi in 1861, subsequently 
removing to Arkansas County, Ark., where the 



father died in 1880, and his wife in Mississippi 
(while on a visit) in 1870. Mr. (lamble was a 
prominent merchant for many years, also serving 
as county an<l probate judge of this county some 
time. Ho was, l)esides justice of the peace, at the 
time of his death. shi])ping and receiving agent at 
Crockett's Bluff. Mrs. Crump was born in Aber 
deen. Miss. Since the war |)eriod Mr. Crum|) has 
lived on a j)art of the old homestead, now having 
a farm of 420 acres, with about 225 acres under 
cultivation, mostly the result of his own efforts. 
Good improvements in the way of buildings, etc., 
adorn the place. He is a prominent Democrat, 
having voted for Tildeu in 1870. He is engaged 
quite extensively at this time in stock raising, and 
at present has sixty head of cattle, sixteen horses 
and mules, and fifty head of hogs. He and wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcoi)al Church. 
Leaton Crump's father died when the son was a 
boy; the grandfather of David O. , Samuel Oates, 
died in Memphis, though a resident of Alabama at 
that time. 

G. W. Davidson is a native of Alabama, and is 
a .son of Milus and So|)hrina (Carpenter) David 
son, who were of Tennessee and Mississippi birth, 
respectively. Milus Davidson went to Alabama 
when a boy, and remained there until 1801-52, 
when he came to this county, here remaining until 
his death in 1872, at the age of fifty-two years. 
When the war broke out he joined the Confederate 
army, and served in Price's raid through Missouri, 
being captured by the Federals, though soon afler 
he made his escape. Mrs. Davidson died in 1885 
at the age of fifty years. Of their family of chil 
dren two are still living: Melissa (now the widow 
of J. B. Butler, dee.-ased), and G. W. The latter, 
the eldest child, was born in Lawrence County, 
Ala., in 1845, and was reared in this county, hav- 
ing come here with his parents when aliout six or 
seven years old. He commenced farming for hiuj- 
self at the age of twenty one, and in 1871 bought 
his present farm, erecting in 188(5 the mill and 
gin which he still owns and operates. Mr. David- 
son is a Repiiblican in politics, and a member of 
the County Wheel, and was nominated l)y the Re 
publicans and Wheelers as sheriff of the county. 



jjs__j^ 



G54 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



His wife was formerly Sallie E. Butler, a native 
of Mississippi. They are the parents of four ebil- 
(iron: William M. , Anna C. , George W. and Guy. 
Mr. unci Mrs. Davidson are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcojjal Church, South. Mr. Davidson 
was postmaster of St. Charles from 1872 to 1875. 
He is one of the leading farmers and millers in the 
community, and a highly respected citizen. 

William F. Ferguson is the son of Hon. Austin 
H. Ferguson, a native of Virginia, who moved, 
when a young man, to Morgan County, Ala., there 
being married to Miss Catharine Walker. A few 
years later ho went to Marshall County, Miss., 
where his wife died in 1840. In 1849, coming to 
Arkansas, he located in this county, and the fol 
lowing year was elected representative to the State 
legislature from Arkansas, Jefferson and Desha 
Counties, serving with such distinction that he was 
re-elected in 1851 and 1856. Subsequently he was 
chosen State senator from his district, composed 
of the, counties of Arkansas and Monroe, which 
position he held for four years. His death oc- 
curred in 1884, at the age of seventy-two years. 
Ho was a member of the A. F. & A. M. , and a 
strong Democrat in politics. William Ferguson, 
Sr., his father, who was of Irish descent, died 
in Texas, at the age of eighty two, when the prin- 
cipal of this sketch was a small boy. William F. 
Ferguson first saw the light of day in Lawrence 
County, Ala., in 1830, and is the only child living 
of his parents' family. In 1862 he joined the 
Confederate army, becoming a member of what 
was first known as Clay's company, and after the 
reorganization, as Wheat's battalion, but was after- 
ward transferred to Gen. Fagan's escort, and 
served as courier until the close of the war. Mr. 
Ferguson was married, in 1860, to Miss Hally, a 
daughter of Crede P. and Mary Hally, who was 
born in Fayette Coixnty, Tenn. After the war he 
engaged in farming, has since followed it, and now 
owns 040 acres of land, with about 200 acres under 
cultivation. Mr. Ferguson is an outspoken Dem- 
ocrat, and belongs to the Masonic fraternity. 

Caj)t. Leroy Ferrell, retired steamboatman and 
stock raiser, is a native of Tennessee, and a son of 
David C. and Celia (Boren) Ferrell, natives of 



North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. Mr. 
Ferrell went to Tennessee when a young man, 
where he was married and made his home until 
1825, then removing to Gallatin County, 111. In 
1836 he came to Arkansas, and located in the wilds 
of Arkansas County, eight miles from Arkansas 
Post, then the capital of the Territory. The 
country at that time was full of bears, deer, pan- 
thers, wolves, etc., with a few Indians as pioneer 
inhabitants. The swamps were covered with cane- 
brakes, which grew to the height of a house, and so 
dense that it was almost impossiI)le for one to pass 
through. Here Mr. Ferrell improved one of the 
finest farms in that region, but it was eventually 
washed away by the river. He was a blacksmith 
by trade, at which he worked in connection with 
farming and hunting, the latter occupying a largo 
part of his time. He served in the War of 1812 
under Gen. Jackson, as blacksmith, and died in 
1858, when over seventy-six years of age. His 
wife had preceded him three years. Mr. and Mrs. 
Ferrell were the parents of nine children, Leroy 
Ferrell being the third one, and the only one 
living. He was born in Maury County, Tenn., in 
1822, and has resided in this county since fourteen 
years of age. In 1842 Mr. Ferrell and an associ- 
ate chartered a steamboat, which they ran about 
one year; since that time he has been engaged 
in boating on the Mississip])i for about thirty-five 
i years. Since settling in this county he has been 
interested in farming and stock raising, and in the 
mercantile business to some extent. He was mar- 
ried, in 1850, to Miss Eleanor Smith, a native of 
Indiana, who died in 1868, leaving four children; 
one of these (Thomas B. F.) only is living. He 
was born in Dosha County in 1851, and was edu- 
cated at the common schools, and later in the 
Business College at Memphis, Tenn., from which he 
graduated in 1870. He then commenced business 
for himself at New Gascony, Jefferson County, 
continuing until 1880, when he came to Arkansas 
Post. Here he has since carried on merchandis- 
ing, and also owns and operates a large cotton- 
gin. At the present time Mr. Ferrell and his 
father own about 8,000 acres of land. During 
the war he was repeatedly urged by his friends 



h Xj 



^1 



ARKANSAS COUNTY. 



G5D 



to join the Confederate iirmy, l)ut although born 
anil rcannl in the South, he refused to take up arms 
against his country. This position he firmly main 
taiued until the close of the war, remaining at 
home and providing for his family and lliose whose 
supporters were in the Confederate army. Caj)t. 
Ferrell, although nearly seventy years of age, is of 
strong l)odily health and vigt)r (save a slight afflic- 
tion of rheumatism), is of pleasant adtb-ess, and a 
good talker. 

James A. Gibson, of the firm of Gibson & Holt, 
the leading attorneys of DeWitt, is one of the l)est- 
known men of Arkansas County. Ho was reared 
and educated in Breckinridge County, Ky., his na- 
tive State, and received a thorough connnon-sehool 
education, and, at the age of twenty entered the 
St. Mary's College, near Lebanon, Ky. , but was 
obliged to give up his studies on account of his 
health. He then engaged in farming, and in 1861 
came to Arkansas, locating in this county, where 
he engaged in farming until 1804. Returning to 
Kentucky, in 1867 he came l)ack to this county 
and, locating in DeWitt, commenced studying law. 
Ho was admitted to the bar the following year autl 
has since been occupied in the practice of his pro- 
fession, in which he has been very successful. He 
is one of the leading Democrats of this county and 
has served his party in a number of conventions 
and delegations. He was a member of the Con- 
stitutional Convention of 1874, has been a delegate 
to the State Democratic Conventions since 1872, 
was elect(>d alternate delegate to the National 
Democratic Conventions held at (jincinnati and 
Chicago, and has been for the past throe years, and 
is at present, a member of the State (central com- 
mittee. In 1881 he was a member of the Electoral 
College, and voted for Hancock and English, having 
been elected the year [>revious. Mr. Gibson was 
born in Breckinridge County, Ky., in 1837, and 
was a son of Hamilton and Letitia (Gilliland) Gib- 
son, also natives of Kentucky. They were the par- 
ents of three children: William F. (a resident of 
Austin, Ark.), John T. (deceased) and James A., 
the princi])al of this sketch, who was married while 
ill Kentucky, to Miss Hester Vertreese, a native of 
Missouri, but who was reared in Kentucky. They 



an* the parents of nine children: William H. (a 
graduate of the Tiouisville University (jf Medicine, 
of Kentucky), Sallie (now Jlrs. Crockett), Albert, 
Blanche, John, Nannie, Benton, Claude and Tee. 
Mr. Gibson has been engaged in the mercantile 
business until a few years ago, since when ho has 
devoted all his time to his profession. He entered 
into i)artnerHhip with Rol)ert 1'. Holt in 1882. 
They have an extensive real estate l)usiness in con- 
nection with their law practice, and have now on 
hand over 100,000 acres of fine lands for sale. Mr. 
and Mrs. Gibson are members of the Baptist 
Church, in which they take an active part. He is 
a member of the Masonic order, in which he has 
taken the Royal Arch and Council degrees, and is 
also a member of the I. O. O. F. and has been Grand 
Master of the State and Grand Representative of 
the Sovereign Grand Lodge. 

A. J. Gunnell was the eldest son in a family of 
ten children born to Benjamin and t!aroline (Ayers) 
Gunnell, natives of Virginia and South Carolina, 
respectively. They were married in Jefferson 
County, Ala., in 1828, and in 1885 36 moved to 
Tippah County, Miss. The father was a l>lack- 
smith by trade and was a soldier in the War of 
1812, dying in 1852, at the age of sixty live years; 
his wife passed away in 1885, at the age of seventy- 
seven. He was a son of Nicholas Gunnell, a Vir- 
ginian by birth, and a soldier in the Revolutionary 
War, who died in (ieorgia, at the age of ninety- 
eight. The father of Caroline Ayers, William 
Ayers, was born in South Carolina, and died rfrar 
the place where Birmingham, Ala., now stands. 
He was of Irish descent. A. J. Gunnell first saw 
th(» light in Jefferson County, Ala., in 1820, being 
reared on a farm, and while never having had an 
opportunity to attend school, he has improved his 
spare moments an<l is a well nvid man. In 1853 
he came to Arkansas and located on the farm on 
which he still makes his home, consisting of 400 
acres; at that time it was wild land covered with 
timber, I)ut now 120 acres are under cultivation. 
In April. 1S()1. Mr. Gunnell joined the Confeder- 
ate army, as a nu'inljer of the First Arkansas lu-^- 
fautry, in which he served until the l)attle of Shi- 
loh, when he was wounded and received liis 



f 



« k. 



^ s> 



^ 



656 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



discbarge and returned home. After his recovery 
lie joined Coiupany E of the Thirty-first Arkansas 
Infantry. Ho was made first lieutenant, and served 
until June, 1865, participating in some of the hard- 
i>st fought battles of the war. After the war he 
returned home to find all of his property destroyed 
and left nearly without a home. He was married 
in September of the same year to Miss Amanda 
Luekolt, daughter of John L. and Mary Luckett, 
originally from Kentucky and Tennessee, respec- 
tively; .she was liorn in Mississippi. They are the 
parents of six children: Katie (now Mrs. Jones), 
Benjamin T., John Nicholas, Wiufield D., Callie 
and Emma. When Mr. Guunell came to this 
county it was impossible to raise hogs on account 
of the wolves and bears. The country was full of 
j'anie of all kinds. He is now one of the leading 
men of this commiinity and a member of the Meth- 
odi.st Episcopal Church, as are also his wife and 
two eldest children. 

Jacob H. Hagler owes his nativity to Tennessee, 
being the son of Elcania and Martha (Sthudeed) 
Hagler, natives, respectively, of Tennessee and 
Kentucky. The father was a tailor by occui)ation, 
and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
After his death, which occurred in 1844, his wife 
immigrated to Arkansas with her children and lo- 
cated in this county, where she lived until her de- 
mise, in 1864. They were the parents of eleven 
cliildren, only two of whom are living: Robert (a 
resident of Howard County), and Jacob H. (our 
subject). The latter was born in Henry County, 
Tenn., September 13, 1835. He was reared prin- 
cipally in this county, and was married February 
24, 1859, to Miss Louisa Slaughter, of this State, 
a daughter of James and Elizabeth Slaughter. 
They have had six children: Mary J. (deceased), 
William J. (deceased), John L. , Joseph E. (de- 
ceased), James E. , and Marcas N. (deceased). 
The two sons living, John L. and James E., re- 
side at home and are helping their father on the 
farm. Mr. Hagler entered the Confederate ser- 
vice in 1862, and participated in Price's raid 
through Missouri, taking part in a number of 
hard fought battles; he was wounded at Swan 
Lake by a ball passing through his wrist; was also 



taken sick at Pilot Knoli and then received his dis- 
charge, after which he returned home and en- 
gaged in farming. This occupation he has since 
followed. He owns 1,000 acres of land, of which 
there are nearly 200 acres under cultivation, all ac- 
quired by his own industry and economy, as he 
started out in life with only 175. He and wifi^ 
are members of the Baptist Church, and take an 
active part in the affairs of that denomination. 

Col. William H. HalliBurton is a good ex 
ample of what can be accomplished in life, when 
thorough determination to succeed is coupled with 
energy, perseverance and close application in the 
direction chosen. His early educational advant 
ages were of a very meager description, and during 
a period of eight years he received but seven 
months 'schooling, but l)ecoming desirous of im- 
proving himself, he began devoting all his spare 
moments to studying and reading, and soon be- 
came a thoroughly posted yoimg man, and (juite 
familiar with the ' ' world of books. ' ' He was 
married while a resident of Benton County, Tenn. , 
to Elizabeth C. Altom, a native of Greenville, S. 
C. , and to them a family of seven children were 
born, two of whom are now living: Gulnare (wife 
of Dr. James B. Garrison, of Texas) and John. 
The mother of these children died August 20, 
1848, at the Arkansas Post, Ark. , where they had 
settled April 14, 1845, and for some months Mr. 
HalliBurton was engaged in teaching school, l)e- 
coming thereby well and favorably known. In 
the spring of 1847 he was appointed to the office 
of deputy sheriff, and held the position until No- 
vember of the same year, when he was appointed 
deputy clerk, and held the two offices from No 
vember, 1847, to December, 1850. During these 
years he frequently issued process in the name of 
the clerk, and went out and executed the same in 
the name of the sheriff. In the year 1850 he was 
elected clerk of the circuit court, and served one 
term of two years. He was sworn in as deputy 
sheriff at the April term, 1847, of the Arkansas 
County circuit court, and has been present, par- 
ticipating in the proceedings of each term of th(< 
circiiit court of said county since, excepting the 
March terms of 1885, 1887 and 1889, when he was 



9 "V 



ARKANSAS COUNTY. 



f5r.7 



in attondance on the logislature of the State. Ho 
was elected to represent Arkansas County in the 
State legislature in 1885, and was reelected in 
1S87 and 1889. In 1887 he was appointed deputy 
treasurer and special agent for the State to go to 
Washington, D. C. , to settle a disputed debt be- 
tween the State of Arkansas and the United States. 
He was elected colonel of the One Hundred and 
Thirteenth Regiment of Tennessee Militia, in 
1838. During the Rebellion he was appointed 
chief collector of Confederate States war tax for 
the State of Arkansas by the president of the 
Confederacy, but did not take an active part in 
the war. His second wife was Hannah Jacobs, 
who was born in Wellsburg, Brooke County, Va., 
and to them were born five children, three of whom 
are now living: Jennie (wife of David Rasure),Kate 
(wife of Harry Greer) and Lucinda (at home). 
Mr. HalliBurton is now living with his third wife, 
who was a Mrs. Mary S. (Belknap) Patrick, a 
native of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and he is a 
Baptist. He began the study of law when he was 
a young man, and in 1847 was licensed to prac- 
tice, and was admitted to the bar in 1852. He 
has been a practicing lawyer of De Witt since 
1857, and has always been considered a leading 
uu-mber of the legal fraternity. From 1800 to 
1S()2, he resided in Little Rock, but has since 
made his home in De Witt. He was born in 
Stewart County, Tenn., November 4, ISUI, and is 
a son of Thomas and Lucinda (Herndon) Halli- 
Burton, natives, respectively, of North and South 
Carolina. The father inherited Scotch blood fiom 
his parents, and when about nine years of age, was 
tak(ui by them to Tennessee, and from that time 
until 1834 he resided in Humi)hreys County. He 
was the seventh son and eleventh child of his 
father's family, and his marriage took place in 
Tennessee. He moved to Arkansas in 1845, and 
located in Arkansas County, where he followed 
merchandising until his death in 185V), at the age 
of sixty-three years. He was a member of the 
Baptist Church, and was very active in political 
affairs of the communities in which he resided, 
and while in Tennessee, was county court clerk of 



Benton County, and after coming to Arkansas, held 
the offices of justice of the peace, county surveyor 
and county and prol>at(( judge. He was a Ma.ster 
Mason. His wife died in Hunjphreys County, 
Tenn., in the spring of 1834, having home a 
family of eight children, of whom W. H. was the 
eldest, and is the only one now living. Mr. Halli- 
Burton was married a second time, and of seven 
children born to this marriage, two are living: 
Mrs. Lucinda Mock, of Louisiana, and David N. , 
of Dardanello, Ark. The paternal grandparents 
were born in Virginia, l)ut wor(» early residents of 
Tennessee, and in 1834 removed to Henderson 
County, and made their liome with a son. Here 
the grandmother died in her eightieth year, and 
the grandfather and his son soon after moved to 
Mississippi, in which State his demise oecuiTed in 
1841, he l)eing ninety-one years of age. This 
old couple soon after their marriage liad an orphan 
boy liound to them, and reared a family of thir- 
teen childriMi, and besides this they reared seven 
of their gramlchildren to maturity, making in all 
twenty-one children, whom they brought up. Out 
of the twenty-one, twenty had families before the 
death of the grandparents, and the youngest of 
the twenty-one had attained his majority before 
the grandmother's death. 

Nathan M. Henderson has always been inter- 
ested in the welfare of the county of Arkansas, 
having been born here in 1 848, and has ever been 
occupied in tilling the soil, and the manner in 
which he has acquired his present property den<Ai's 
him to be an energetic and successful agriculturist. 
He is a .son of James L. and Nancy C. (Ilenshaw) 
Henderson, the former a native of Georgia, born In 
1825, their union taking place in the State of Mis- 
sissippi in 1844. In 1840 they removed from Mis 
sissippi to Arkansas, and entered some 301) acres 
of land, but sold this |)roperty in 1858, and en- 
tered 3()0 acres more, which he also improved and 
of which he devoted a considerable portion to the 
raising of stock. He served in the Southern army 
during the Rebellion, and was on active duty from 
1804 to the tinal surrender in 1SC5. He was a 
Mason, a member of the Cuml)erland Presliyterian 
Church, and died in 1807. His wife, who was born 



:^ 



<s w_ 



^ 



658 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



in Tennessee in 1831, is a memlior of the Bajitist 
Church, and has been a widow for twenty-two years, 
residing on the old homestead. Their union was 
blessed in the birth of six sons and three daughters, 
only six of this family now living: Nathan M., 
Nelson H., James E., John O., Samuel A. and 
Nancy E. (the wife of W. F. Byers). Nathan M. 
Henderson was married to Miss Ruthie L. Mc- 
Adams, of Arkansas, in 1869, but she left him a 
widower, in 1875, with two children to care for: 
Jaines M. and Thomas J. Mr. Henderson's sec- 
ond marriage was consummated in 1877, his wife 
being Miss Seleta J. Bunyard, of Arkansas County, 
and their family now consists of three children: 
Alonzo J., Ruthie L. and Samuel M. Mr. Hen- 
derson was called upon to mourn the death of his 
second wife in 1888, she having been Jin earnest 
member of the Baptist Church. He married his 
present wife, Mrs. Mary C. Hanford, in 1888, she 
being also a member of the Baptist Church and the 
widow of Christopher Hanford. Mr. Henderson 
owns 325 acres of land, well furnished with excel- 
lent buildings, and a fine apple and peach orchard, 
and besides attending to the duties of his farm ho 
is also engaged in operating a grist-mill and a 
horse power cotton-gin. He is a deacon in the 
Baptist Church. 

P. N. Howell, during the war, joined Company 
K of Col. Dick Pin.son's regiment, in 1861, in the 
Mississippi Cavalry, serving in General Forrest's 
command. He took part in the battles of Shiloh, 
Corinth, Vicksburg and a number of others, and 
was ca[)tured at Vicksburg in 1863, lieing taken 
on board of a boat bound for the Northern pris- 
ons, but escaping, he rejoined his command. 
After the war he (nigaged in the grocery Ijusiness 
at Memphis, and in 1868 was married to Miss 
Martha E. Wadsworth, daughter of W. P. and 
Julia C. Wadsworth, natives of North and South 
Carolina, respectively. In 1878 Mr. Howell went 
to Marshall County, Miss., where he remained until 
1881, the time of his removal to Arkansas. Lo- 
cating in this county, he embarked in farming on 
his present farm of 160 acres, about three miles 
from Crockett's Bluff, where he has about sixty- 
five acres under cultivation. His wife died in 



1 876, and in 1 88 1 he married his second and jiresent 
companion, Miss E. L. Jansen, daughter of Rev. 
Lewis Jansen, an Episcopal minister of Louisville, 
Ky. Mr. Howell is a Democrat in politics, and 
he and wife are members of the Methodist Epis- 
coj)al Church. He was born in Anson County, N. C. , 
in 1835, as the son of Abner and Phelie B. (In- 
gram) Howell. Abner Howell came originally from 
North Carolina. His father, Samuel Howell, who 
was born in Georgia, was of Scotch descent. Mr. 
Howell moved to Alabama in 1858, where he died 
in 1876, his wife surviving him two years. 

Abner L. Huffman. From this brief and in- 
complete view of the life -record of Mr. Huffman 
will be seen that his life has not been uselessly nor 
idly spent, for from his earliest youth he has been 
familiar with the details of farm work. He was 
born in Caldwell County, N. C, September 12, 
1851, and is a son of Samuel and Henrietta (Payne) 
Huffman, natives of South and North Carolina, 
born December 1, 1824, and December 23, 182it, 
respectively. Their marriage resulted in the birth 
of three sons and six daughters, all of whom are 
living with the exception of one. Those living are 
Marion L. , Abner, Mary (wife of A. T. Young), 
Sarah (wife of VV. W. Duncan), John B. , Laura 
(wife of H. C. Synco), Annie E. and Amanda E. 
Samuel Huffman immigrated from North Carolina 
to Missouri in 1852, settling in Hickory County, 
where he lived until 1803, moving then to Cal 
loway County, where his death occurred December 
1, 1870, his occupation through life having been 
that of farming and tanning. In 1876 his widow 
removed to Arkansas, and died there April 7, of 
the following year, having for many years been an 
earnest and consistent member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. Abner Huffman was appointed 
postmaster of Hyuum under Cleveland's adminis- 
tration, and still holds this position. He has been 
justice of the peace for the past five years, and is 
a man who has a host of warm friends. He owns 
eighty acres of good land, well improved with gotxl 
buildings, fences and orchards. 

Thomas H. Hutchinson, a druggist of De Witt, 
and also engaged in stock raising and farming, is 
a native of Canada. He started in the woj-ld for 



\> "*v' 



.^ 9 



ARKANSAS COUNTY. 



r55U 



himself at the ,ige of eii^hteon, having a few 
thousand dollars loft to him by his grandfather, 
which he invested in vessel property on the lakes, 
and was engaged in the trading business for five 
years. Subsequently he lost all his money and 
property. After winding up his interests he had 
just money enough to take him to Arkansas, where 
ho worked oiit by the day and month until 1873, 
then entering a homestead, keeping " bach " alone. 
In 1887 he married Miss Edith Fowler, of Ohio, 
daughter of F. F. and Mary E. Fowler, natives of 
Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. Mrs. Hutch- 
inson died in 1878, after which Mr. Hutchinson 
married Bessie A. Fowler, a sister of his first wife. 
They are the parents of two childrcMi: Mabel and 
Howard F. Mr. Hutchinson was born in Ontario, 
Canada, in 1843, and was a graduate of Jones' 
Commercial College, London, Out. His parents 
were Alexander B. and Sarah Ann (Titus) Hutch- 
inson. Alexander Hutchinson was born in Canada 
Went, in 1810, and Sarah A., his wife, in Nova 
Scotia, in 1824, the latter going to Canada with 
her parents at the age of eleven years. Alexander 
B. Hutchinson spent his life u{>()ii the farm he lirst 
settled, and died in 1886. They were members of 
the Baptist Church, and the parents of eleven 
children, four of whom are deceased. Thomas H. 
Hutchinson has two tine farms of 600 acres, stocked 
with over 300 head of cattle, besides horses and 
mules; 250 acres are in cultivation. He is a mem- 
ber of the I. O. O. F. and Masonic fraternities, 
and resides upon his farm, four miles from the 
county seat of Arkansas County. 

Edward Lambert Johnson, attorney at law of 
Do Witt, is a native of Mississi{)pi, and a son of 
Hon. Edward and Lucinda (Dickey) Johnson, 
wliose birthplaces were in North Carolina and Ala- 
bama, respectively. In 1861 th(>y came to Arkan- 
sas, and located in Arkansas Comity, where Mr. 
Johnson died July 4, 1879, at the age of seventy. 
He was of Scotch parentage, his father having 
come from Scotland to this country, and settled in 
North Carolina. Mrs. John.son was born in Hunts- 
ville, Ala., in 1815, and died in March, 1885. Her 
father, James Dickey, was of Irish descent, born 
in South Carolina; he died in Alabama. Mr. 



and Mrs. Johnson were the parents of nine chil- 
dren, Edward L. ))eing the fiftli. Born in Choc- 
taw County, Miss., in 1845), in the latter part of 
1804 he enlisted in the Eighth Mississippi Cavalry, 
and served six months. Aft(u- the close of the war 
ho returned to Arkansas, and at the age of nine 
teen commenced publishing the Arkansas Elector, 
at DeWitt, which he continued nearly two years. 
He then entered upon the study of law, in 1870 
was admitted to the bar, htuI in 1S77 was admittcjd 
to practice law in the supreme court. He wa.s 
married in the Centennial year to Miss Kate Quer- 
termous, a daughter of John G. and Cynthia A. 
Quertermous, natives of Kentucky and Arkansas, 
respectively. Since thiit time Mr. Johnson has 
devoted his time to the practice of his profession, 
having become one of the heading lawyers of this 
part of the State. 

John W. Lemon. Samuel Lemon, the grand- 
father of the ]>rincipal of this sketch, was one of 
the early settlers of Arkansas County. His son, 
Alexander M., was born in tliis county in 1820, 
and lived here all of his life, engaged in farming. 
He served through the Civil War, in the Confed- 
erate service, and was in the infantry under Capt. 
Jones, from Arkansas County, though during the 
last two years of the struggle he l)elonged to an 
independent scouting company of cavalry, in which 
he remained until the cessation of hostilities. He 
returned to this county after the war, l>ut died the 
following year. His wife was Miss Clayton, a 
daughter of John S. Clayton, a wheelwright jAd 
carpenter, who was drowned in the Mississippi 
some time before the war. Mi"8. Lemon is still 
living, and is about sevontj' oiu> yeftrs of age, hav 
ing reared a family of six children. John W. 
Lemon was born in Arkansas Township, in IM'i. 
and received vcuy little education in youth, not 
having an opportunity of attending school. He 
joined the Confederate service daring the last year 
of the civil strife, and served in Gen. Price's raid. 
Being at home on a sixty-days' furlough, shortly 
before peace was declared, he was captured by tin' 
Federals, and held at St. Charles about one month, 
until the close of the war. In 1800 he married 
Mary J. liounsavill, a daughter of 'William Kouns- 



Af 



*^ 



060 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



avill. They are ths parents of six children, three 
sons and three daughters. In 1875 he bought a 
farm in Bayou Meto Township, where he still owns 
a stock ranch, in 1880 removiug to De Witt, for the 
purpose of giving his children better educational 
facilities. He started out a poor man, but now 
owns 700 acres of land in difPerent farms, a good 
house, and ten acres in De Witt, and is an extensive 
stock raiser, buying and shipping from ten to 
twelve car loads of cattle to market annually. He 
has seen the complete develojiment of this county, 
having lived here for forty-three years, and has 
helped liberally in its development. 

Maj. M. M. Massey, a native of Tennessee, is 
the son of Isaac H. and Elizabeth (Crockett) Mas- 
soy, wiio were liorn in South Carolina and Tennes- 
see, respectively. Isaac Massey moved to Tennes- 
see from South Carolina with his parents when a 
l)oy of six years, and afterward made that State 
his home, dying on the farm upon which his father 
located, in 1843, at the age of forty-three years. 
He was an active meml)er of and an elder in the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. His wife was 
related to Davy Crockett. She was born in 1801 
and died in the same year as her husband. Of 
their family of eight children our subject is the 
eldest and the only one now living. He was born 
in Humphreys County, Tenn., August 25, 1820, 
and was reared and married in that county. In 
March, 1843, Miss Elizabeth Murphrey of the same 
locality )>ecamo his wife. After remaining in Ten- 
nessee until 1871 they moved to Arkansas. Mr. 
Massey joined the Confederate army in September, 
1861, and was elected lieutenant of the light artil 
lery starting out. He was wounded at Fort Dou- 
elson, and was then assigned to fort duty and was 
made major of artillery, but was again in the field 
at the battle of Corinth, before having fully recov- 
ered from his wound, and afterward participated 
in a number of hard-fought Itattles. On his re- 
turn to Humphreys County, Tenn., he was elected 
sheriff, which office he held with distinction for a 
number of years. His wife died two years after 
coming to Arkansas County, leaving six children, 
three of whom survive. Maj. Massey was married 
to his ])resent wife, Mrs. Susan Smith (nee Bell), 



also of Tennessee, in 1876. They have two chil- 
dren. The Major owns over l,(tOO acres of land, 
partially imder cultivation, and which he has well 
stocked. He is a member of the Masonic order, 
and of the I. O. O. F. Mrs. Massey is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

George F. Mattmiller came originally from Ger- 
many to America with his parents in February, 1846, 
and located in Fayette County, Tenn. , where he re- 
ceived a common school education. In 1S61 he en 
listed in the Confederate army. Company A of the 
Thirteenth Tennessee Infantry; was taken prisoner 
in the first hard battle, at Belmont, Mo. , and re 
moved to Cairo, 111., soon being exchanged, after 
which be rejoined his regiment and served until 
the close of the war. Going to Cape Girardeau 
County, Mo., he was first engaged in teaching 
school and next in working in a saw-mill, where he 
continued until 1870. He then sought a home in 
Arkansas, where he was married five years later to 
Miss Ophelia Stillwell, a native of this State, and 
a daughter of Asher and Josephine Stillwell. Mr. 
Mattmiller was born in Baden, Germany, on July 
24, 1843, being a son of J. G. and Christina (Ham- 
merschmidt) IMattmiller. J. G. Mattmiller was 
born on August 28, 1814, and emigrated to this 
country in 1846, settling in Tennessee. After de- 
voting himself to farming there until 1870, he lo- 
cated a farm on the Arkansas River, near Arkansas 
Post, Ark., where he remained until his death, in 
December, 1883. His wife died in 1862, having 
been the mother of nine children, four of whom 
are living: George F., Christina (now Mrs. Rink- 
lin), Joseph and Henry C. On coming to Arkan- 
sas Mr. Mattmiller, the subject of this sketch, had 
only 16. He now owns about 700 acres of land, 
with 100 acres under cultivation, and has a good 
cotton gin, and is estimated to be worth about 
$6,000. He has no children of his own, but has 
adopted three orphan children. Himself and wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

John R. Maxwell is a native of Arkansas Coun- 
ty, of which he has always been a resident, with 
the exception of eight years spent in the city of 
Cincinnati, from 1851 to 1858, where he was en- 
gaged in mechanical pursuits. In 1858 he re- 



-% «> 



f- 



tnrned home and the same year was appointed 
deputy sheriff, discharging the duties of that po- 
sition until the breaking out of the war. Enlist- 
ing in June, 1861, in the Arkansas State troops, 
he served four months and immediately enlisted in 
the Confederate army, where he continued until 
the close of the war, a part of the time being on 
detached duty. He was elected second lieutenant 
in 1802, and afterward elected to captain, and par- 
ticipated in the battles of Wilson's Creek, Shiloh, 
Prairie Grove, Jenkins' Ferry and several other 
hard-fought engagements and a number of skir- 
mishes. After the war Mr. Maxwell returned to 
this county and engaged in farming the first year, 
since which time he has been occupicnl in the mer- 
cantile l)usiness. He was born in Arkansas Post, 
on November 27, 1829, being the son of James 
and Elenor (Bringle) Maxwell, natives of North 
Carolina and Arkansas, respectively. Joseph Max- 
well, the grandfather of the princi])al of this sketch, 
liv(^d in Indiana, and died at the battle of Tipj)e- 
canoe, in the War of 1812. He was the father of 
the following children: William, John, James, 
Nimrod, David, Mary (now Mrs. Berry), and Anna. 
All of the sons came to Arkansas at different 
periods, between 1818 and 1887. James and John 
were interested for a numljer of years in trading 
with the Indians along the Arkansas and White 
liivers. James, the father of John R., located at 
Arkansas Post in 1824-25, at which time he was 
married, and subsequently worked at his trade of 
gun smithing. He was a well-educated man, and 
held several Government positions, being Govern- 
ment surveyor at the time of his death, in 1838. 
His wife died in 1880, at the age of seventy years. 
They were the parents of six children, two still 
living: John R. (our subject) and Cynthia Ann 
(widow of John G. Quertermous, of New Mexico). 
Joseph, one of the sons (now deceased), held the 
positit)n of sheriff at the breaking out of the war, 
and was afterward elected county clerk, which office 
h.' tilled at the time of his death, in 1872. Capt. 
Maxwell was married in 1809 to Miss Ann Querter- 
mous, a native of Kentucky. They .ire the parents 
of two daughters, Vallenia and Ella. Capt. Max- 
well is a strong Democrat and a leading merchant 

41 



of De Witt, and is recognized as one of the most 
influential men of this locality, being widely known 
and highly esteemed. 

Walter F. Meachara is one of the progi-essive 
general merchants of Arkansas County, Ark., and 
by his superior management, good business ability 
and efficiency, has done not a little to advance the 
reputation the county enjoys as a commercial cen- 
ter. He was born in Anson County, N. C. , Sep- 
tember 10, 1851, and is a descendant of Jeremiah 
Meacham, who was also a native of North Caro- 
lina, born in 1809. The latter was one of "the 
horny handed sons of toil," and was of Scotch- 
Irish extraction. Upon reaching manhood ho was 
married to Miss Maness, of North Carolina, and 
by her became the father of ten children, six of 
whom are now living: Walter F., Case, AVilliam 
R., Mary E. (wif(» of K. M. Hasty, of North Car- 
olina), Elizabeth (wife of J. T. Redfem, of Thomas 
County, Ga.) and Jane (the wife of P. C. Davis, of 
Southwest Georgia). Jeremiah Meacham died in 
Anson County, Ga., in 1805, having been an earn- 
est and consistent member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, as was his wife, who died in 1854. 
Walter F. Meacham began his own career at the 
age of eighteen years, and was first engaged in 
farming in his native State, continuing there until 
1870, when he immigrated to Georgia, Bartow 
County, and followed the same occupation for eight 
years. He then concluded to [)ush on farther 
westward, and came to Arkansas, locating in Lee 
County, where he Vniilt a largo store room ailfd 
engaged in the mercantile i)usiness, and also man- 
aged a livery barn with success. He now carries 
a stock of goods valned at about $6,000, and as he 
controls a large trade, his annual sales amount to 
some $36,000. His brother, Jesse C, was his 
business partner for a number of years, and was 
married to Miss Georgia A. Simms, of {ieorcia. 
in 1873, becoming by her the father of five chil- 
dren, three now living: Jerry, Arthur and Lillie. 
Jesse C. Meacham died in 1886, and his wife in 
1884, she being a memlier of the Baptist Church 
at the time of her death. 

.Judge James H. Merritt came to Arkansas in 
1857 and entered a small tract of land in this conn- 



662 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ty, hut soon after moved to De Witt, when he was 
appointed deputy sheriff, also engaging in the 
mercantile business. In 1862 he was elected col- 
lector of revenue and census taker of Arkansas 
County. Having been thrown fi'om a horse and 
injured, he was unable to join the Confederate 
troops during the war, which were organized in 
this county, but in 1804 he became a member of 
Hawthorne's regiment, and was engaged in the 
commissary department. In 1873 he resumed 
merchandising, devoting his whole attention to 
that occupation until the fall of 1 880, when he was 
elected county judge, a position that he still occu- 
pies. He is yet occupied in the mercantile busi- 
ness and carries one of the largest stocks of goods 
in the place. James H. Merritt was born in South 
Carolina in 1831, being the son of Allen and Mary 
(Willson) Merritt, natives of that State, as were 
also their parents. They removed to Alabama in 
1834 and located in Fayette County, where the 
father was engaged in farming, and in 1844 went 
to Mississippi. Judge Merritt was married in 
1859, to Miss Charlotte H. Stephen, of Indiana 
birth, daughter of Henry K. Stephen. The latter, 
a native of Eastern Tennessee, came to this county 
when Mrs. Merritt was a girl, and held a number 
of county offices; he was sheriff a number of years, 
and died in this county in 1881. Mr. and Mrs. 
Merritt have had eleven childi'en, seven of whom 
are still living: William A., Sallie (now Mrs. Bar- 
nett), Joseph, Ella, Ange E., James H. arjd Mag- 
gie M. Mr. Merritt and wife belong to the Baptist 
Church, which they helped to organize, and are the 
only original members of that church now living. 
He is a member of the Masonic order and of the I. 
O. O. F., in which he takes an active part, and at 
the time of the organization of the County Grange 
was elected manager of their store. He is one of 
the most influential and popiilar men in De Witt. 
John W. Miller is not unknown to the many 
residents of this locality. His father, John Miller, 
Sr., was born in Prussia in 1805, and there learned 
the carpenter's trade, coming to this country in 
1830, and settling in Marshall County, Miss., 
where he was engaged in farming and in working 
at his trade. He was there married to Nancy 



Neal, who was born in Mississippi in 1815. Re- 
moving to Arkansas in 1850 Mr. Miller located in 
this county, where he lived until his death, in 
1888. His wife .still survives and makes her home 
with her daughter Mrs. Elizabeth Deberry. They 
were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and had a family of eight children, five of whom 
are living: Elizabeth (now Mrs. Deberry), Martha 
A. (now Mrs. Dillard), Francis Allen, George H. 
and John W. The latter, the next to the eldest 
child, was born in 1844. He commenced farming 
at the age of twenty-one, and is now the owner of 
half a section of land, 200 acres of which are under 
cultivation. He married Miss Mary Wallace, a 
native of New York State. They are the parents 
of the following children: Frances (wife of Will- 
iam Aldman), Jennie (now Mrs. Seamon), Alice 
(now Mrs. Allen), Josephine, Willie, Ellen, Sallie 
and Lucy. Mr. Miller is a Democrat in politics, 
and is one of the leading men of the township. 

John S. Montgomery, by virtue of his long resi- 
dence in Arkansas County and his popular associa- 
tion with its affairs, deserves prominent mention 
in the present volume. Leroy Montgomery, his 
father, came to Arkansas in 1846, and settled in 
the wilds of Arkansas County at a time when there 
were but few settlers and when the woods echoed 
with the cries of bears, deer, wildcats, panthers, 
etc. He was a hard-working man, and cleared np 
a large farm. In 1853, in company with Col. 
Charles Belknap and Dr. J. A. Moorman, he was 
appointed a commissioner to locate and name the 
county seat of Arkansas County. After deciding 
on the present site of De Witt for the new seat of 
justice they decided to play "seven up" to see 
who should name it, and the lot falling to Mr. 
Montgomery, he called it De Witt, in honor of ex- 
Gov. DeWitt Clinton, of New York. Mr. Mont- 
gomery died in 1865 and his wife in 1878. They 
were the parents of seven children, namely: 
Marion, L. D., A. J., J. S., R. L., L. and M. R., 
only two of whom are now living, R. L. and J. S. 
Montgomery. J. S. Montgomery married a Miss 
Martha A. Pryor, daughter of Isaac and Martha 
A. Pryor. They are the parents of three children, 
one son and two daughtei's. Mr. Montgomery has 



spent all liia life on the farm that he still occupies, 
a part of which is the old place cleared up by his 
father, consisting of ri20 acres, 160 acres of which 
are under cultivation. He also owns a cotton-gin 
and corn mill (run by horsepower up to 1883, but 
since that time by steam-power). He is a Demo- 
crat in politics, and cast his first presidential vote 
for Horace Greeley in 1872. His eldest lirother, 
Marion, was in the Confederate army, and in the 
last battle in Virginia, said, "I am going to send 
some of the blue home." A few moments later he 
was killed. John S. Montgomery is now living in 
the house biiilt by his father in 1847. 

Samuel A. Morgan is a native of Missi.ssippi 
and is a son of Charles H. and Elenor A. ((ialaher) 
Morgan, also originally from that State. Mr. 
Morgan was a farmer of Mississippi, and in 1853 
or 1854 removed to Arkansas, settling near St. 
Charles, where he died the following year. His 
wife died October 16, 1878, at the ag(> of fifty. She 
was married after her fir.st husband's death to the 
Hon. A. H. Almond, who died in 1868. He was 
County and prol)ate judge of Arkansas (^ouiity for 
a number of years under Democratic rule. There 
was one child by this union, which died at the age 
of eight years. Her last husband was a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal ('hurcii. South, to 
which she also belonged. Samuel A. is the eldest 
and the only one living of three sons. James W. 
Morgan, his brother, died at the age of twenty live, 
just in the bloom of manhood. The other two, 
Samuel A. and J. W. , were born in Marshall Coun- 
ty, Miss., in 1849 and 1852, respectively, but have 
lived in this county since four and five years of 
age. Samuel A. was married in 1870 to Miss A. 
E. Burnet, a daughter of Lemuel E. Burnet, one of 
the oldest settlers in this county. He was born in 
New Jersey in 1810, but was reared in Pennsyl- 
vania and Ohio. He was apprenticed to a gun- 
smith a few years before he became of age, and 
worked at the trade until twenty-one years old. 
In 1885 he came to Arkansas, remaining iu Little 
liock one year, thence going to Desha County, 
where he worked at his trade until he became blind 
and could not attend to his work. He married 
•lane E. Goose, a native of Tennessee and a daugh- 



ter of John Coose. Mr. and Mrs. Burnet were the 
par<>nts of fifteen children, five of whom are still 
living. Mr. Morgan bought his present place in 
1878, and moved on it in 1881. He and his wife 
are members of the Methodist Ei)iscopal Church, 
South, and are the parents of seven children, of 
whom four are living. He is a prominent Demo- 
crat and a highly respected citizen. 

itichard H. Parker has been a resident of Ar 
kansas since eighteen years of age, having settled 
in this county during the war, while home on a fur 
lough. He is a son of Kiehard and Irena (Brown) 
Parker, natives of Georgia. They removed to Ala- 
liama when our subject was a small boy, and set- 
tled in Russell County, where they engaged in 
farming, remaining there until 1857, the time of 
starting for Arkansas. After coming overland, by 
wagon, a journey taking eight weeks, they lo- 
cated in Monroe County, on the west fork of Bif 
Creek, whore they entered land, and where the 
father lived until his death in 1863, his wife dying 
one year before. He was a soldier in the Indian 
Wars of 1835-36, and he and his wife were mem 
bers of the Baptist Church. They had a family 
of nine children, six of whom are living. Richard 
H. Parker was Iwrn in Talbot County, Ga. , in 
1839. In 1860 he commenced farming for him- 
self, but the war breaking out he joined the Con 
federate army in 1861, enlisting in a cavalry com 
pauy. Three months later they were dismounted 
and joined Col. Matlock's regiment, serving in 
Price's raid through IMissouri. He was captured 
in August. 1864, while home on a furlough, and 
sent to Memphis, Tenn., but liaving taken the oath 
of allegiance, was released and returned home. 
He was struck by a piece of shell at the liattle of 
Helena, in the right leg, bnt was not seriously 
wounded. Returning to this county after his re 
lease, he was without property, and had four 
brothers and sisters to care for, and what he now 
possesses has l)een made since the war. Mr. 
Parker married Miss Susan Gardner, a native of 
Mississippi, and daughter of George \V. and Stacy 
(Bounds) Gardner, of Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. 
Parker are the parents of eight children, seven 
still living: Robert F. , James R., Francis J., Cal- 



G64 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



edolia, Theailecia E., Thadns A. and India. Mr. 
Parker settled on bis present farm in 18GS, and 
_ lias it now in a good state of cultivation, and is 
engaged principally in stock raising. He is a 
Democrat in politics and a member of tbe scbool 
board, in which he takes an active part. He is a 
member of the Masonic order and of the Knights 
of Honor, and he and wife are members of the 
Missionary Baptist Church, in which they take a 
great interest. 

M. F. Pike is prominently engaged in the mer- 
cantile business at Golden Hill, and has been post- 
master of that place for the past five years. Born 
in Alabama, he was a son of Capt. John and Eliza 
(East) Pike, natives respectively of North Carolina 
and Tennessee. They were married in Alabama 
and made that their home until 1849, then coming 
to Arkansas and locating a claim in the woods, five 
miles from Mount Adams, where thoy spent the 
rest of their lives. Mr. Pike died in 1868 at the 
age of sixty -three, and his wife ten years later, when 
sixty- six years old. He was a son of Gen. Pike, a 
soldier and general in the War of 1812, who, a na- 
tive of North Carolina, moved to Alabama when 
the father of our subject was a boy, and in 1855 
removed to Arkansas and settled in this county, 
where he died in 1856. M. F. Pike was born in 
Madison County, Ala., in 184'), but was reared 
and educated in Arkansas County. He enlisted in 
April, 1861, in the Confederate service, and took 
part in a number of hard- fought battles; was cap- 
tured on February 14, 1864, and taken to New 
Orleans, and was held captive for nearly a year. 
He was then exchanged at the mouth of the Red 
River, and joined Gen. Fagan's escort, in which he 
served until a short time before the close of the war, 
when he received his discharge and retiirned home. 
Of five brothers and two cousins who left his fath- 
er's house and joined the Southern army, all re- 
turned home in safety. Mr. Pike was married on 
May 12, 1866, to Louisa S. Gravett, of Madison 
County, Ala. They are the parents of six children, 
one son and five daughters. Mr. Pike has a farm 
of 120 acres, with fifty acres under cultivation. He 
entered into the mercantile business in 1889 at 
Golden Hill, but also still continues farming. Mrs. 



Pike has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church for a number of years. 

Jesse P. Poynter, editor of the De Witt Gazette 
and county treasurer of Arkansas County, is a na 
five of Kentucky, in which State he was reared 
and educated until fourteen years of age. Then 
he went to Ohio, and in 1852 came with his father 
and family to Arkansas, locating in Monroe County, 
but remained only a short time. Going thence to 
Memphis, Tenn., he was employed on the Mem 
phis Bulletin until 1858, after which he returned 
to Monroe County. At the outbreak of the war 
he enlisted in the Twenty fifth Arkansas Infantry, 
holding the position of first lieutenant, in which he 
served until 1864, when he was transferred to the 
Forty-seventh Arkansas Cavalry; he took part in 
Price's raid through Missouri, Kansas and the 
Indian Territory, and was appointed first lieuten- 
ant of Company K. After the war he engaged in 
farming, which occupation he followed until 1879, 
when he moved to De Witt, and was employed at 
his trade as printer. Mr. Poynter married Miss 
Amanda Coster, of Monroe County, and to them 
have been born three children : Walter, Ethel May 
and Cora. Mr. and Mrs. Poynter are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity and is a Royal Arch 
Mason. In 1886 he was elected county treasurer, 
and reelected in 1888, and tills the office with en- 
tire satisfaction to the community, and with credit 
to himself. In 1883, in De Witt, he started a 
paper called the Sentry, which he published until 
1884, when he started his present paper, the De- 
Witt Gazette, Democratic in politics, and the only 
paper published in this place. This ably advocates 
the interests of this section. Mr. Poynter was 
born in Kentucky, in 1835, the son of David E. 
and Judith B. (Moseley) Poynter, also natives of 
the Blue Grass State, where they lived until 1852, 
then coming to Monroe County, where they lived 
until their death. David E. Poynter was county 
surveyor of Monroe County for a number of years. 
His death occurred in 1859, at the age of fifty 
years, and his wife died in 1870, at the age of six- 
ty-nine. They belonged to the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. 



-y- 



•v"^ 



ARKANSAS COUNTY. 



005 



James M. Price, who is a mjin of substantial 
reputation bereabonts, spent his younger days on 
a farm in Tennessee, and was there married when 
twenty-three years of age to Elizabeth F. Wood- 
ard, a native of that State. In the full of 1857, 
removing to Arkansas, he bought a farm on what 
is known as Big Island, on White River, three 
miles east of his present farm. During the war 
he enlisted, in 1804, in the Confederate army, in 
which he served as a veterinary surgeon in the artil- 
lery department, although opposed to the secession 
movement and favoring the emancipation of slaves. 
Mi-s. Price, his wife, died in 1808, after having 
borne three children, all of whom are deceased. 
His present wife was formerly Miss E. J. Nichol- 
son, a native of this county, and daughter of James 
A. Nicholson, originally from Alabama, and an old 
settler here. They are the parents of the following 
childi'en : Fannie A. , Sallie S. , James A. , Joseph 
H. , Nancy E., Charles M. , Ralph C. and one 
child who died in infancy. Mr. Price was born in 
Tennessee, July 5, 1827, being a son of John S. 
and Sarah B. (Hughs) Price, natives of Virginia 
and North Carolina, respectively. John S. Price 
and wife started for Tennessee soon after their 
marriage, going by wagon, and a part of the way 
having to cut a way through the woods, as there 
was no road; they located a claim on which they 
made their home for the remainder of their lives. 
Mr. Price died in the fall of 1842, while in South 
Alabama on a trading expedition. He was a 
member of the Masonic order, and took an active 
part in the politics of his country. His wife died 
in 1800, when over eighty years of age, having 
reared a family of eight children. James M. 
Price owns a farm of 1,000 acres, under a good 
state of cultivation, and also owns and operates a 
large cotton-gin. He was engaged in the mercan- 
tile business until August, 1889, and was the or- 
ganizer of the Grange at St. Charles. He and 
his wife were formerly members of the Cumber- 
land Presbyterian Church, but as there was no 
church of that denomination in Prairie Township, 
they united with the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Mr. Price is a member of the I. O. O. B'. and 
Masonic fraternities. Benjamin Price, the grand- 



father of the principal of this sketch was a soldier 
in the Revolutionary War, and was captunKl Ijy 
the Tories while on Long Island, and was thrown 
overboard from the vessel. Instead of being 
drowned, as they had expected, he made his escape 
to shore. 

N. B. Price runs a general supply store at 
Mount Adams, and has a trade amounting to from 
|;30,0()0 to $40,000 per year, carrying a stock that 
would invoice $8,000. He began life for himself 
at the age of seventeen as a clerk, continuing t(j be 
thus employed for some time, when he went into 
business for himself in Hardeman County, Tenn. , 
and later in Memphis. After remaining in the 
latter city until 1805, he came to Mount Adams, 
and has since been in business at this point, at- 
taining to a well deserved reputation. Mr. Price 
was born in McNairy County, Tenn., in 18;iU, and 
was a son of Rev. William A. and Sarah A. (Duke) 
Price. The father was a native of Louisa County, 
Va., and when a young man moved to McNairy 
County, Tenn., where he married, and lived until 
coming to Arkansas in 1800. Settling near Mount 
Adams, he lived there until his death, which oc- 
curred in 1802, at the age of forty- seven. His 
wife died in February, 1889, at the age of sixty - 
eight. Mr. I'rice was a local minister of the Meth • 
odist Episcopal Church, and a member of the A. 
F. & A. M. N. B. Price was married in March, 
1803, to Miss Emma Cooke, who died in 18155 or 
1800, leaving two daughters. He was married 
the second time about 1808 to Miss Mollie E. IMif 
ligau, daughter of Rev. L. H. and Loviuia Milli 
gan, and a native of Mississippi. Her father was 
a Baptist minister, and died in 1888. Mr. and 
Mrs. Price are the parents of five chiUii-en, two 
sons and three daughters. Mr. Price owns 13,000 
acres of land, largely under cultivation, and in- 
cluding an extensive stock ranch. Ho has ac- 
quired all his property by personal industry and 
business ability, and deserves the success to which 
ho has risen. He has two brothers living: Will- 
iam M. (one of the most extensive stock and real 
estate men in Arkansas County) and Bryan (who 
is in the store with the principal of this sketch). 
Mr. Price has been postma.ster of Mount Adams 



^^ 



666 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



since his locating at this place. He is a member 
of Euclid Lodge No. 130, A. F. & A. M., and of 
Reynolds Chapter No. 147. Mr. Price is probably 
the oldest and most successful merchant in Arkan- 
sas County; he does a large retail and wholesale 
business, and is conceded to be a representative 
business man of the State. Mrs. Price is a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but was 
formerly a Baptist. 

William M. Price has been a resident of Arkan- 
sas County, Ark., since 1860, having been born in 
McNairy County, Tenn., in 1846, the second of 
four children born to William A. and Sarah A. 
(Duke) Price, natives of Goochland County, Va., 
who moved to Tennessee in 1838, and in 1869 to 
Arkansas County, Ark., settling on a farm on the 
White River bottoms. Here his death occurred in 
1864, his wife's death succeeding his in 1888. 
William M. Price was fourteen years of age when 
he came to Arkansas, and after assisting his father 
on the home farm, he engaged in agricultural jiur- 
suits for himself, continuing for two years, or until 
the opening of the war. In 1863 he enlisted at 
Monticello, Ark. , for the remainder of the war, and 
was assigned post duty with (Jol. Crockett, serving 
in the capacity of acting- adjutant until the close 
of the war, when he was paroled at Little Rock 
and returned home, and again resumed his farming 
duties, making a crop the same year. In 1886 he 
engaged in the general mercantile business at 
Mount Adams, continuing with success until 1885, 
controlling the largest trade of any general mer- 
chant in the county. Since 1877 he has been en- 
gaged in the stock business, and not only raises 
stock, but buys and ships also, and has, without 
doubt, the largest herds of any one man in the 
State. He makes a specialty of raising blooded 
Hereford and Durham cattle, and also has a mag- 
nificent horse, a blooded Clydesdale and Cleveland 
Bay. His stock-farm is one of the finest on White 
River, and comprises about 7,000 acres of land, 
about 300 acres of which are under cultivation, de- 
voted to grain and cotton, the latter averaging one 
bale to the acre. In addition to attending to his 
extensive farm, much of his time is given to the 
real -estate business, which has proven very profit- 



able, and he has made some of the largest deals 
of any one man in the State, buying 11^,000 acres 
of land at one time. He owns 20,000 acres of land 
in Arkansas County, which is for sale. Socially, 
he is a member of Euclid Lodge No. 130, A. F. 
& A. M. He was married in this county May 3, 
1873, to Miss Sallie L. Crockett, a daughter of 
Col. R. H. Crockett, and by her has the- follow- 
ing family of children: Mabel (attending Gallo- 
way College), William Mack, Cecil C, Herbert 
and Ernest (attending the Stuttgart Normal In- 
stitute). Mr. Price has always been interested in 
the advancement of schools, and is giving his chil- 
dren the best advantages to be had. He is presi- 
dent of the college board. 
I Benjamin F. Quertermous began life for him- 
self at the age of sixteen as a farm hand. In 1857 
he came to Arkansas and located in Arkansas 
County, and two years later was appointed deputy 
county clerk, which position he held until the open- 
ing of the war, when he enlisted in the Seventh 
Arkansas Battalion, being made third lieutenant of 
Company I. After the battle of Shiloh he was 
transferred to the Trans Mississippi Department, 
and was promoted to first lieutenant of the Twen- 
ty-sixth Arkansas Infantry, participating in the 
battles of Prairie Grove, Pleasant Hill and a num- 
ber of others. When peace had been declared he 
returned home and again served as deputy clerk 
until the reconstruction. In 1874 he was elected 
to the office of clerk of the court and was re-elected 
in 1876. In 1880, after a successful official career, 
he engaged in the mercantile business at Crock- 
ett's Bluff, where he has since lived. Mr. Querter- 
mous was born in Meade County, Ky., in 1841, to 
the union of John W. and Elizabeth (Roson) Quer- 
termous, of Kentucky and Virginia birth, respect- 
ively. John W. Quertermous was born near 
Louisville, Ky., in 1796. They removed to Ark- 
ansas in 1859, and located in this county, where 
he died in 1867, and his wife four years later. 
The principal of this sketch was married in 1884 to 
Lillie Cannon, daughter of D. S. and Josephine 
Cannon. She died in 1885, and in October, 1888, 
Mr. Quertermous married a sister of his first wife, 
and who is the mother of one daughter. Mrs. 



Vtf 



^. 



ARKANSAS COUNTY. 



667 



Quertermous is a meuil)er of tin; Mothodist Epis- 
copal Church. Her husl)<iiul has always voted the 
Democratic ticket, and cast his first presidential 
vote for Grreeley in 1872. He has been very suc- 
cessful in business; starting on a small capital, he 
now carries a stock of over $5,000, and has a trade 
which will aggregate $16,000 per annum. 

John W. Scott, who ably ropi'eseuts the prom- 
inent merchants and stock dealers of Arkansas 
County, is a native of Ohio, whc^ro his parents lo- 
cated on coming to this country from England. 
Launcelot and Jane (Clark) Scott, had a family of 
tenchildren. After emigrating to America, inlS;5], 
they first stopped at Pottsville, Ponn., but a year 
later chose a home in Ohio, where they lived until 
their deaths, that of the father occurring in 1852 
at the age of fifty years, and the mother in 1888 at 
the age of sixty-seven. Mr. Scott was a coal oper- 
ator by occupation, and was an educated man, 
holding the position of school director for a num- 
ber of years in the Buckeye State. He and his 
wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Chui'ch. John W. Scott was born in Athens County, 
Ohio, on September 26, 1838. After having re- 
ceived a good education at the common schools of his 
native county, he attended the Ohio University, 
and was married on May 16, 1868, to Elizabeth 
M. Brett, who died September, 1879. The follow- 
ing year he removed to Arkansas and settled in 
Arkansas County, where he shortly after became 
acquainted with and married a Miss Kingsberry. 
She died in August, 1885, leaving two children, 
Martha J. and John D. , both living. He mar- 
ried his third and present wife, Ormitta Couch, on 
December 3, 1885. To them three children have 
been born, but only one survives, Hallie M. Mr. 
Scott is one of the leading merchants of Bayou 
Meto, and also owns a fine farm of eighty acres, 
mostly under cultivation. He is highly respected 
as a prominent and influential citizen of his town- 
ship, enjoying the utmost confidence of the citizens, 
as is shown by the fact of his having held the posi- 
tion of justice of the peace for five years, and elected 
school director of his district, and is the present 
postmaster of the village, serving in this capacity 
for nearly two years. He is a member of the ^Ma- 



sonic order, and he and wife are connected with the 
Baptist Church. 

John W. Stephen is a native of this county, 
and a son of Henry K. Stephen, who was born in 
Cocke County, Tenn., on November 6, 1805). lie- 
moving to Clark Coimty, 111. , he was married there 
to Sallio Sanders, of Indiana, and later came to 
Arkansas County, Ark., in January, 1811, whore 
she died leaving one daughter, Charlotte E., wife 
of J. H. Merritt. Ho was married the second 
time to Amanda Maxwell, also a native of Indiana, 
in 1848. U[)on locating in this county Mr. Ste- 
phen was engaged in the practice of medicine for 
sixteen years. He also held the office of county 
sheriff several years, and was a prominent man of 
the community. He died in April, 1881. His 
wife still survives him, and is the mother of six 
children, four of whom are living: Sarah Angeline 
(now Mrs. McGahhey), Joseph E., John W. and 
Katie J. (now the wife of E. H. Childors). John 
W. Stephen was born on June 11, 1858, and was 
married to Annie McGahhey, in July, 1881. They 
are the parents of five children: Normly, Areola, 
Lenoire, Melissia, John L. and Lecil B. Mr. Ste- 
phen owns 364 acres of fine farming land, of which 
125 acres are under cultivation; ho also has a good 
cotton-gin. He is a member of the County Wheel 
and of the County Grange, in which he has held 
the office of Secretary. He is the present postmas- 
ter of De Luce, and has discharged the duties of 
this positibn for two years. Ho is a prominent 
Democrat in his county, and a highly respected 
citizen. Mr. Stephen's father, Henry K. Ste- 
]>hen, was a member of the Christian Church at 
the time of his death. Politically a Whig during 
the life of that party, he was afterward a Demo- 
crat. 

Brian M. Stephens, intimately associated with 
the affairs of this county as farmer, ginner and 
stock raiser of Crockett Township, was a son of 
Dr. Brian M. Stephens and Julia Ann (Earnest) 
Stephens, natives of Virginia and Tennessee, re- 
sjiectively. They lived in the Old Dominion until 
our subject was about nine years of age, then mov- 
ing to Tennessee. Dr. Stephens was also a son of 
Brian M. Stephens, a wealthy Virginia planter. 



>^ 



668 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



who was a son of one of the early colonists of that 
State. Brian M. Stephens, Jr., was born in Fred 
erick County, Va., in 1839, as the second son of a 
family of ten children, three of whom are still liv- 
inir. He received a good common- school educa 
tion, and had just entered Washington College, 
Tennessee, at the breaking out of the war, when, 
leaving his studies, he enlisted in the Confederate 
army, in Company A of the Third Tennessee In- 
fantry, known after the fall of Vicksburg as the 
Third Tennessee Mounted Infantry. He partici- 
pated in the battles of Bull Run, Perryville, siege 
of Vicksburg, and a number of others. In 1866 
he came to Arkansas, and in 1869 was married to 
Miss Martha J. Ferguson, daughter of Hon. Aus- 
tin H. Ferguson, and a sister of William F. Fer- 
guson, whose biography appears in this work. 
Mr. Stephens soon engaged in farming near Crock- 
ett's Bluflf, and now has a farm of IGO acres, with 
about 100 acres under cultivation, also owning a 
good steam gin. He and wife are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. He belongs to the 
I. O. O. F. 

J. Harold Stillwell, of the substantial firm of 
H. & W. J. Stillwell, the largest mercantile house 
at Arkansas Post, was born in 1853, being the 
son of Asher H. and Caroline (Maxwell) Still- 
well. Asher Stillwell was born in 1819, the son 
of Harold Stillwell ; he was a prominent farmer 
and stock raiser of Arkansas County all his life, 
and held public office at different times, including 
that of county surveyor. His death occurred in 
1873, his wife having preceded him in 1857. 
Harold Stillwell was probably born in the State of 
New Jersey, but accompanied his father, Joseph 
Stillwell, to Arkansas, in 1796, when the country 
was under Spauish rule. Harold held the office of 
sheriff of the Arkansas District, after the ceding 
of the Louisiana Territory to the United States, 
being the first sheriff ever appointed in the terri- 
tory of this present State. The principal of this 
biography was the first sou in the family, consist- 
ing of two boys and two girls, all living. He be- 
gan to earn his own livelihood at the age of twenty, 
by clerking in a store, and in 1879 he and Mr. 
Champion opened up a business house at Arkansas 



Post, which they continued until 1881. Mr. Still 
well then retired from the business. J. Harold 
Stillwell and his brother W. J. Stillwell, opened a 
store at Arkansas Post, in 1883, under the firm 
name of H. & W. J. Stillwell. They also own and 
operate a store at Stanley, which W. J. Stillwell 
has under his charge. Mr. Stillwell was married 
in 1880 to Miss Ada Quertermous, of Kentucky 
origin. They are the parents of six children, three 
of whom are still living. He has been postmaster 
of Arkansas Post since 1885, and is a stanch Dem- 
ocrat in politics. Mrs. Stillwell is a member of 
the Christian Church. 

Col. John A. Thompson is worthy of mention 
as an influential citizen of Arkansas County. His 
father, Alexander Thompson, was born in Virginia 
in 1 800, and was reared and educated in that State, 
but in 1826 removed to Missouri, settling in Mon- 
roe County. He was married in 18"22 to Miss 
Margaret W. McKee, whose birth occurred in Mer- 
cer County, Tenn. , in 1803-04. They were the 
parents of three children, John A. (the youngest) 
making his appearance in Monroe County, Mo., 
on January 23, 1831. His paternal grandfather 
came from Ireland to America in 1778, with two 
brothers, having been exiled and their property 
confiscated by the Crown for participation in the 
Irish Rebellion of that year. In 1849 Mr. Thomp- 
son went to California to look for gold and three 
years later returned with his pockets well filled. 
Going to Harrodsburg, Ky., he engaged in the mer- 
cantile business and remained until 1855, when 
he exchanged his business and trade for real estate 
in Monroe County, Mo. He was married shortly 
before leaving Kentucky to Miss Jennie R. Law- 
rence, daughter of Samuel and Eliza Lawrence. 
She died in July, 1856, leaving one child, which 
survived but two months. Mr. Thompson was 
married three years later to Henrietta Harrison 
Greeuwade, also a Kentuckian. In 1856 he moved 
to Audrain County, Mo., where he resumed farming 
until 1861, when the war broke out and he joined 
the Confederate service, enlisting in the Missouri 
State Militia. He soon received a commission as 
lieutenant-colonel, and was assigned to the north- 
ern part of the State on recruiting duty, serving 



"*^^ 



~^^ 



throughout tho war and taking part iu a number 
of battles and skirmishes. In 1808 he was sent to 
Kentucky on recruiting duty, where he enlisted 
several hundred men. After the war he returned 
to his farm, which he found in a very bad state, 
all of his improvements, consisting of a good 
dwelling house, several tenement houses, and other 
buildings, having been destroyed, and his two 
negroes set free and gone. In 1875 he sold out 
and went to Colorado and embarked in sheep rais- 
ing until 1SS3, when he returned to Missouri and 
carried on the sSme business. Two years later he 
came to Arkansas and located in this county, open- 
ing up a hardware store at Stuttgart; this he suc- 
cessfully conducted until quite recently, when he 
retired from active business life. Col. Tliompson 
is a liberal donator to all enterprises for the ad- 
vancement of the county or State, and is one of 
Stuttgart's best known citizens. 

John H. Walton, M. D., who ranks among tho 
representative physicians of Arkansas County, was 
born and roared here, and at the age of twenty- 
one commenced the study of medicine under Dr. 
Morgan, a graduate of the Louisville Medical 
University, and a very successful physician. In 
1875 he entered the Louisville Medical College, 
from which he graduated in 1882, subsequently 
returning to this county, where he has since prac- 
ticed with encouraging success. Dr. Walton mar- 
ried Miss Ada Butler, a native of Mississijjpi, who 
died in 1884, leaving one daughter, Mary J. In 
politics the Doctor is Democratic. He is a member 
of the A. F. & A. M. Dr. Walton was born on 
March 24, 1853, within five miles of the place 
where he now lives, being the son of J. K. Walton, 
a resident of Austin, Lonoke County. The latter 
was born in Burke County, Ga. , in 1813, and 
moved to Arkansas County, Ark., in 1835. He 
has lived in this State ever since and is a citizen of 
acknowledged worth and influence. He is a Royal 
Arch Mason. 

Joe Webster is tho son of Henry Webster, a 
native of England, who was born in 1813 and was 
married in that country, where he lived until about 
1840. Then he emigrated to America and settled 
in Philadelphia, at which place ho married his 



second wife, fomierly Miss R. E. Lamborn, a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Jonathan 
and Rachel Laniljorn. They were th(! parents 
of three sons and one daughter, three of whom 
are still living, two in Pennsylvania, and one, the 
principal of this sketch, in Arkansas. Mr. AN'el)- 
ster was engaged in the manufacturing business in 
Pennsylvania, until his death, in 1871. His wife 
still survives him and is now in her seventy-seventh 
year. Joo Webster was born in Chester County, 
Pennsylvania, on October 28, 1843. In 18(50 he 
came to Arkansas and located at Pine BlufF, where 
he lived alwut one year and went to Arkansas 
County, where he was married one year later to 
Mary A. Montgomery, of Tennessee nativity, and 
a daughter of James G. and Rebecca J. Mont- 
gomery. They have a family of nine children: 
Effie, Frank, Delia, Birtie and Edna (twins), Jen- 
nie, Harry, Louie and Ernest. Mr. Webster owns 
a fine farm of half a section of land, with forty 
acres under cultivation and well stocked, and is 
also engaged in the mercantile business. Though 
starting with but $500 he now carries a stock of 
goods invoicing $3,000, all of which he has made 
since coming to this State. Ho filled the office 
of county surveyor for four years, and has been 
the postmaster of Bayou Moto for twelve years. 
Mr. and Mrs. Webster are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South, in whicli they take 
an active part. 

Jlorris D. Williams is the efficient postmaster 
of Goldman Station and was born in Wales !ii 
1825, being a son of Daniel and Eleanor (Williams) 
Williams, the former a native of that country and 
a stone mason by trade, also a farmer, stock raiser 
and dairyman. To himself and wife, who was 
also bora in Wales, a family of ten children were 
born, six sons and four daughters, of whom eight 
are now living: Thomas, Robert, Morris, Al)iali, 
John A. (ex-circuit judge of Pino Bluff, Ark.), 
Elizabeth (wife of William Wright, of New York), 
Margaret (wife of Rollin Pridard, of Dakota) 
and Catherine (wifi> of William Roberts, of Mis- 
souri). Mary is deceased. Daniel Williams re- 
moved with his family from Wales to the United 
States iu 1829, and landed in New York, locating 



^s r- 



J^'- 



670 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



in Oiioida County of that State^ where he engaged 
in farming and stock raising. He was a njember 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church and died in 
full communiou with this church in 1876, his de- 
mise occurring in the State of New York. His 
wife also belonged to that church, and died in 
1880. Morris D. Williams was married in the 
State of New York, in 1865, to Miss Martha E. 
Thompson, a daughter of Abicutt and Axie Thomp- 
son, and their union resulted in the birth of one 
child: Maurice S. After the mother's death, 
which occurred in 1883, Mr. Williams resolved to 
emigrate westward, and in 1888 came to Arkansas 
and settled in Arkansas County, and was first en- 
gaged in hay pressing, being one of the leading 
dealers in hay in this section of the country, and 
this season (1889) put up about 150 tons of 
pressed hay. Since the election of Gen. Harrison 
to the presidency he has been postmaster of Gold- 
man. He was a participant in the late war, hav- 
ing enlisted in the Heavy Artillery, Fifth New 
York, in 1862, but owing to poor health was com- 
pelled to give up service at about the end of six 
months. He was first lieutenant of Company I, 
Newport Artillery, and had circumstances permitted 
would have made a gallant soldier. 

J. J. Woolfolk, who has been engaged in the 
mercantile business at St. Charles for a number of 
years, is a native of Georgia, and a son of Robert 
H. and Nancy (Beal) Woolfolk. Robert H. Wool- 
folk was a merchant of Augusta, Ga. , and died 
when our subject was Irat one year old. His mother 
then removed to Alabama, and settled on a farm, 
but a few years later she married James N. Smith, 
of Mississippi. J. J. Woolfolk was born in Au- 
gusta, January 19, 1837, and was reared princi- 
pally in Mississippi. Coming to Arkansas in 1857, 
he was employed as clerk in a store until the break- 
ing out of the war, when he enlisted in the First 
Arkansas Infantry, and was wounded in the battle of 
Shiloh and captured. He was taken to Camp But- 
ler, Illinois, where he was confined three months, 
and then exchanged. After the war, returning to 
St. Charles, Mr. Woolfolk was again employed as 
clerk for some time. He married Mrs. Wakefield 
(nee Leonia Willis), a native of this county, and 



has had a family of seven children, six of whom 
are living: Maggie, John J., Robert H., Sallie, 
Jessie and Cassa. Mr. Woolfolk is in partnership 
with J. Alexander in merchandising. They carry 
a large stock of goods, and have a trade of about 
160,000 per year. He is a Democrat in politics, 
and a fiopular citizen, meriting richly the success 
to which he has attained. He is an extensive laud 
owner, having several farms, most of them iinder 
cultivation, and is said to bo worth -f 100,000. Mr. 
Woolfolk and wife and children are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

James Word is a native of Alabama, and a son 
of William and Elizabeth (Bransford) Word, whose 
birthplace was in South Carolina. After William 
Word had moved to Alabama, his wife died, in 1849, 
and seven years later he came to Arkansas, settling 
near Crockett's Bluff, where he was killed in 1868, 
during the reconstruction. Ho was of English 
and Scotch descent, and had been a member of the 
I. O. O. F. for a number of years. James "Word 
was born in Limestone County, Ala., in 1838. 
During the war he served over four years in the 
Confederate army, and participated in the battles 
of Bull Run, Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, 
Missionary Ridge, and a number of others. He 
served in the Army of Tennessee, then in Price's 
raid through Missouri, and after the battle of 
Murfreesboro was transferred to the Trans-Mis- 
sissijipi Division. He was wounded at the battle of 
Shiloh, and was captured in December, 1864, and 
imprisoned at Pine Bluff throe months, following 
which ho was taken to Little Rock, where he was 
held until the close of the war. Mr. Word was 
married in 1867, to Miss Kate Inman, who died in 
1868. Two years later he married Miss Elizabeth 
Jelks, of Tennessee birth, who came to Arkansas 
with her parents in 1855. Mr. Word owns a fine 
farm of 700 acres, with 165 under cultivation, 
which he has made by his own efforts. He is one 
of the leading Democrats of his township, and a 
highly respected citizen. 

Benjamin N. Word, a leading and prominent 
merchant of De Witt, came to Arkansas with his 
parents at the age of thirteen, and was reared to 
agricultural pursuits. Enlisting in the Confeder- 



-B pV 



4. 



ARKANSAS COUNTY. 



f)71 



ate service at the opening of the war, he served 
until the close, and was in a numi)er of hard fought 
battles. On his return from the army he was ap- 
pointed deputy sheriff, which position he filled 
until 1872. In 1878 he was elected to the same 
office for a term of four years, and in 1884 
was elected clerk of the circuit court. While 
not filling public positions, Mr. Word has been 
engaged in the mercantile business, or in farming 
and stock raising. He is now occupied in the 
grocery trade, and is having a largo and grow- 
ing patronage. He was married on February 12, 
1870, to Miss Ida Hutchinson, a native of Madison 
County, Teun. They are the parents of five chil- 
dren: William N. , James, Benjamin N. , Mabel 
and Herbert. Mr. and Mrs. Word are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which they 
take an active part. He was born in Limestone 
County, Ala., on September 18, 1840, his father 
being William Word, and his mother Elizaljeth 
Bransford. Mr. Word has a brother, James Word, 
who lives in this county, and whose biography pre 
cedes this. 

William Joseph Wright, originally from Ire- 
land, emigrated to this country in 1846, locating 
in Vermont. His father, Frank Wright, was 
reared and educated in England, and joined the 
English army, in which he was soon j^romoted to 
the rank of colonel for his bravery. Ho was in the 
English army during the Revolutionary War, and 
led the "Twentieth Foot Regiment" at the battle 
of Waterloo. His wife, Mary (Hopkins) Wright, 
also of Ireland, was the mother of five children. 
William J. moved from Vermont to Kentucky in 
1847, and was engaged in steamboating on the 
Mississippi, between Louisville, St. Louis and New 
Orleans, until 1852, when he was employed on 
railroads in different parts of the country for sev- 
eral years. In 187U he l)ought land in Texas and 
engaged in farming for two years, after which, 
coming to Arkansas, he located at Pine Bluff, 
where he took a position as foreman in tho shops 
of the Cotton Belt Railroad. He has been in the 
employ of that road for about seven years iu vari- 
ous capacities, part of the time as contractor and 
for a time as conductor, his long experience quali- 



fying him for almost any position. Mr. Wright 
married Miss Bridg(tt Martin, also a native (^f Ire- 
land, and th(>y are tho [)arcnts of twelve children, 
five living: Mary (wife of Joe Woodland, foreman 
of the car department of the Cotton Belt Railroad, 
residing at Pine Bluff), Charlotte (wife of Alc.\ 
ander Fronitell, also of Pine Bluff, and who holds 
the ])ositit)ii of master car liuildor for the al)ove 
railroad), Frank (an engineer on tho Trans Conti 
nental), William and Henry (both engineers on 
the same road). Mrs. Wright died in 1870, in 
tho State of Mississippi, where they had resided 
for a short time. In 1888 Mr. Wright gave up 
the railroad life, in which he had been engaged 
nearly all his lif((, and l)ought a tract of land con- 
sisting of 700 acres, partially prairie land and tho 
balance finely timbered. The average purchase 
price of this was $7.50 per acre. Since then he 
has sold all of tho land, but forty acres of timber, 
at an average! of $20 per acre. Subsequently pur- 
chasing the New Hampshire House, at Stuttgart, 
he has since improved it, making it the leading 
house in the county. Mr. Wright's second wife 
was Miss Annie M. Rowley, a native of Connecti- 
cut and of Irish descent. They have live children 
living: Aradeneck, Albert, Jessie, Charles and 
Vennefred. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M. 
and of the I. O. O. F. Mr. Wright, wife and chil 
dren are members of the Catholic Church. 

John Young, a w<>llknown farmer of LaGrue 
Township, is a native of this county and a son of 
James and Sarena (Barkman) Young, natives tf 
Kentucky and Arkansas, respectively. Mr. Young 
came to Arkansas when he was a young man, enter- 
ing a tract of wild land in the Arkansas fore.sts of 
this county. Ho was a man of slight education, 
his opportunities having been very limited, but he 
was entor])rising, and an earnest worker in the 
Methodist Ei)isco])al Church, to which he and his 
wife belonged, being a leading member in organ 
izing the early churches of this community, not 
only those of his denomination, but of other relig- 
ious bodies. He died in 1850, and his wife fol- 
lowed him in a short time. They were the parents 
of four children: Jacob (deceased), Sciuey (de- 
ceased), Angelina B. (now Mrs. Brown) and John. 



672 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



The subject of this sketch was boru on January 3, 
1838, and was married on November 27, 1859, to Miss 
Sarah E. Brown, also of this State, and a daugh- 
ter of Pleasant and Elizabeth Brown. Mrs. Young 
died in January 22, 1889, leaving the following 
children: John P., Elizabeth (now Mrs. Duemore), 
Minnie (who married John Mitcliell), Robert L., 
Bashia A., Effie M. and Henry L. Mr. Young 
enlisted in the Confederate army in 1862, and 



served until November, 1864, participating in a 
number of hard- fought battles, though he was 
never wounded nor captiu'ed. He owns a farm of 
900 acres of fine land, and has about forty acres 
in cultivation. He is a member of the County 
Grange, and also of the County Wheel, in which 
he takes an active part. His wife was a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and well 
known in religious circles. 




•^ « 



5 ^ 



A^ 



l>£ 



PRAIRIE COUNTY. 



073 



Y Y ? IT' 



Praikie County-History of Settlemknt-Act of Organization-Public Structures-Centers of 
Judiciary Affairs— Judicial Districts— Courts— Names of Official Incumiients— 
Political History— Location, Topography, Etc.— Physical Features- 
Soil AND Productions— Railroads— agricultural Wheel- 
Civil War Items— Valuation and Taxations 
Towns and Villages— Public .School Sys- 
tem — Church Organizations- 
Personal Sketches. 

— >^*^- — 

Oft (lid tlic harvest to their sickle yiclil; 

Their furrow ofl the stiilihorn glebe has broke; 
How jocund did the}- drive their leani alield! 

Mow bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy slTa\ic\—(!my. 




■RAIRIE COUNTY'S 

etarliest settlemoiit, or the 
first in tbe territory now 
embraeed within its limits, 
was proljably made at and 
in the vicinity of the pres- 
ent Des Arc. About the 
'year ISIO two men named Watts and 
East (Creoles) settled there, and five 
years later the Runkles, Cobnrns and 
Goforths, from Vincennes, Ind., also 
located. The latter parties came up 
the White River in dugouts. These 
were followed by the McAnultys and 
others. Formerly nearly all of the 
present county of Lonoke belonged to 
Prairie County, consequently it is 
pro])or to mention a few of tbe first settlers of that 
portion of the original county. In ]822 James 
Erwin, father of M. M. and Ambrose Erwin (now 
of Des Arc) came from North Carolina with the 
Furgesons and Dunaways and settled at Old Aus- 



tin. Subsequently Daniel Farr, Jacob Gray, Sr. , 
Robert Anderson and E. E. Dismukes settled in 
the vicinity of Brownsville, the first county seat of 
Prairie County. John Percifiell, Sr., or Percifull, 
settled a few miles east thereof. John Percifull, 
Jr., is the olde.st man born in Prairie County, and 
M. M. Erwin is the next. Percifull remains in 
that portion of the country set off to form Lonok*, 
and Erwin lives at Des Arc. 

Charles G. Harris was the first settler at Hick- 
ory Plains, and the next early pioneers there and 
in that vicinity were Dudley (ilass, from Alabama, 
David Royster, from Virginia, and A. B. Taylor 
and his son in-law, Ben. T. Eml)ree, from Ken- 
tucky. This settlement began about the year 
1840. C. S. De Vail, from Georgia and Capt. 
Patrick H. Wheat, the latter now of Lonoke 
County, were early settlers at De Vall's Bluff. 
Among the lirst settlers in the southern part of 
the county were Albert Evans, Sheffield MaybeiTv. 
Dr. Gibbon and Richard Pyburn. Mayberry is 
living at this writing. William C. Hazen was tbe 






.j7 



674 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



pioneer settler in what is now the town of Hazen, 
and William Dedman settled on the military road, 
three miles south of Hazen. William McCuin 
was a pioneer settler in the central part of the 
county. The first settler.s in the southwest part, 
near Fairmont, were Joseph Stillwell, Thomas 
Belcher, the Harrises and Maj. Tisdell. In the 
northwest part of the connty, as now formed, Pat- 
ton Harris, the Farrs, William Johnson, Robert 
Travis and some of the Bogards were among the 
original settlers. The pioneers of the county came 
mostly from the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, 
Alabama and Mississippi. 

Prairie County was organized in accordance 
with an act of the legislature, approved by Gov. 
Thomas S. Drew, November 25, 1846. The first 
section of the act reads as follows: " That all that 
jiart of the county of Pulaski lying east of the fol- 
lowing described lines, viz. : Beginning at the cor- 
ner of Townships 2 and 3 south. Ranges 9 and 10 
west; thence east to the middle of Range 9; thence 
north to the line between Townships 1 and 2 south; 
thence west to the line between Ranges 9 and 10; 
thouce north to the line between Townships 4 and 5 
north; thence west to the line between Ranges 10 
and 11 west; thence north to the Cypress Bayou, 
to the line dividing White and Pulaski, be and the 
same hereby is erected into and declared to be a 
separate and distinct county, to be called and 
known by the name of Prairie County." 

Section 4 provided that on the first Monday of 
February, 1847, an election .should be held in each 
township in the new county for the election of 
county officers; the elections to be held where the 
last general elections had been held, and by the 
same judges and clerks. A subsequent act pro- 
vided that at these elections one commissioner in 
each township, and two at large in the county, 
should be elected to locate the seat of justice. 

It will be seen by the first section of the act 
creating the county that nearly all of the territory 
now embraced in Lonoke County was included in 
Prairie County. Subsequent acts, one creating 
Lonoke County, in 1873, and others changing 
boundary lines, have reduced Prairie County to its 
Dresent dimensions. 



The commissioners elected for the purpose, at 
the first election held in the county, located th(( 
seat of justice at Brownsville, a j)oint in what is 
now Lonoke County, two and a half miles north- 
east of the present city of Lonoke. This place 
was on the old military road, leading from Mem- 
phis to Little Rock. Ordinary county buildings 
were erected at Brownsville, and the clerk's office 
there was burned in September, 1852, together 
with a portion of the early county records. The 
seat of justice remained at its original site until 
1808, when it was moved to De Vall's Bluff, where 
it continued until 1875, then being moved to Des 
Arc, where it now remains. The last term of the 
county court held at Brownsville was in April, 
1868, and the first term held at DeVall's Bluff was 
in July, of that year. The last term of this court 
held at DeVall's Bluff was in July, 1875, and the 
first term held at Des Arc was in October, of the 
same year. While the county seat was at DeVall's 
Bluff the old wooden biiilding standing on the 
bank of White River, which was erected by the 
Government in the winter of 1864-65 for officers' 
quarters, was utilized for a court house. The pub- 
lic buildings at Des Arc consist of a court house 
and jail. The former is a large two story brick 
building, with a hall and offices on the first floor, 
and the court-room on the second. It was erected 
in 1883, by Messrs. Home and White, and cost 
the county about $8,000. The jail is a small 
wooden .stmcture, standing also on the public 
.square with the "court house. 

In 1885 Prairie County was divided into two 
judicial districts, the Northern and Southern; the 
first lieing composed of the townships of Upper 
SiUTonnded Hill, Calhoun, Des Arc, Hickory 
Plains, Union, Bullard and White River; the sec- 
ond, or Southern, of the townships of Wattensas, 
Belcher, Tyler, Lower Surroiinded Hill, Rockrow, 
Center and Hazen. De Vall's Bluff is the seat of 
justice for the Southern district, and there the 
county occupies a rented building for a court room, 
and a branch of the county clerk's oflSce. 

At Dos Arc the courts convene as follows: 
County, on the first Mondays of January, April, 
July and October of each year; the probate, on 



the third, and the common pleas on tlio fourth 
Mondays of the same months ; tlie circuit, on the 
first Mondays of INFarch and St<2)tember. At De 
Vall's Blnff the prol)ato court convenes on the first 
Mondays of February, May, Auij;ust and Novem- 
ber; the common pleas on the second Mondays, of 
the same months; and the circuit on the sixth 
Monday after the third Monday of Fel)ruary and 
August. 

The Prairie County legal bar is composed of 
the following named attorneys: J. J. Ball, K. A. 
Moore, De Arcy Vaughan, J. G. Thweatt and J. 
M. McClintock. 

The following is a list of the names of the 
officers of Prairie County, from its organization 
to the present vpriting, with dates of t(>rms of 
service annexed: 

Judges: W. S. Scroggs, 1840-48; H. Rey- 
nolds, 1848-52; J. Evans, 1852-54; J. S. Hunt, 
1854-50; W. J. Rogers, 1850-58; J. S. Hunt, 
1858-64; W. Sanders, 1864-00; E. L. Beard, 
1866-08; C. K. Morton, 1868-72; board of super- 
visors, 1872-74; A. O. Edwards, 1874-76; W. M. 
Warren, 1870-78; W. L. Kirk, 1878-80; H. P. 
Vaughan, 1880-82; J. S. Thomas, 1882-88; J. M. 
Dorris, present judge, elected in 1888. 

Clerks: E. M. Williams, 1840-54; W. H. Eng- 
land, 1854, to his death; then William Goodrum, 
balance of England's term, and till 1804; Robert 
Dodson, 1864-6('); William Goodrum, 1866-08; L. 
Bilheimer, 1868-72; J. E. England, 1872-74; C. 
B. Mills, 1874-82; W. L. Willeford, present in- 
cumbent, elected in 1882, serving continuously 
since. 

Sheriffs: A. Barksdale, 1846-48; J. A. Barks- 
dale, 1848-52; E. E. Dismukes, 1852-58; J. M. 
King, 1858-00; W. A. Plunket, 1860-62; J. M. 
King. 1862-64; J. K. Gray, 1804-68; J. M. Mc- 
Clintock, 1808-72; J. J. Booth, 1872-74; H. O. 
Williams, 1874-78; A. S. Reinhardt, 1878-88; J. 
W. Brians, present officer, elected in 1888. 

Treasurers: J. Percifull, 1846-48; W. San 
ders, 1848-52; W. H. England, 1852-54; A. Tip- 
kin. 1854-56; J. Robinson, 1856-58; L. By ram, 
1858, to his death; W. Langford, balance of By- 
ram's term and till 1 862 ; George Hallum, 1862-64; 



William Griffin, 1864-60; F. M. Griffin. 1806-08; 
R. Dingadale, 1808 72; H. Brown, 1872 76; J. R. 
Reid, 1876-78; H. Brown, 1878-80; W. J. Frith, 
1880-82; E. A. Winslow, 1882-84; H. R. Ward, 
1884-88; S. R. IVIason, present incumbent, elected 
in 1888. 

Coroners: H. Avery, 1840-48; T. Furlow, 
1848-50; C. Harvey, 1850-52; N. Kennedy, 1852- 
56: Benjamin Faucett, 1856 58; J. N. Henderson, 
1858-60; L. Harrison, 1860-62; J. H. Quisenberry, 
1862-64; Whit Kinidy, 1866-68; C. P. Landon, 
1868-72; J. A. Woolen, 1872-74; J. G. Becton, 
1874-78; J. B. Jamison, 1878-84; J. R. Mallory, 
1884-88; William Dixon, present incumbent, 
elected in 1888. 

Surveyors: P. Horton, 1840-48; S. J. Ragan, 
1848-50; J. W. Utley, 1850-54; K. H. Williford, 
1854-58; E. R. McPherson, 1858-60; E. A. Howell, 
1860-62; J. R. Alexander, 1862-04; W. D. An 
thouy, 1800-68; C. W. Richardson, 1868-72; W. 
Fishburn, 1872-74; E. K. McPherson, 1874-76. 
R. A. Richmond, 1870-88; N. C. Dodson, present 
incumbent, elected in 1888. 

Assessors: W. S. McCullough, 1808-74; (}. J. 
Rubell, 1874-78; J. G. Worsham, 1878-80; T. A. 
Canon. 1880-82; William Homer, 1882 84; W. R. 
Brown, 1884-88; R. Dindsdall, present incumbent, 
elected in 1888. 

Delegates in State conv(>ntions: 1861. B. C. 
Totton; 1868, Robert S. Gantt and William F. 
Hicks; 1874, David F. Reinhardt. 

Representatives in General Assemi)ly— Janice 
Erwin. 1848-50; B. T. Embry, 1850-52; B. V. 
Totton, 1852-54; E. M. Williams, 1854-50; Will- 
iam I. Moore, 1856-58: Hamilton Reynolds, 1858- 
60; JohnC. Davis, 1800 62; B. M. Barnes, 1862 
* * * ; W. T. Jones, 1866-68. Prairie and 
Arkansas Counties— G. M. French, Isaac Ayers, 
W. S. McCullough and T. M. Gibson, 180s" 70; 
sfime counties, F. R. Wiley, George H. Joslin, B. 
C. Morgan and A. O. Espy, 1870-72; P. C. Doo 
ley, 1872-74. Prairie, Arkansas and Lonoke — J. 
P. Eagle, L. B. Mitchell and M. M. Er^vin, 1872- 
74; J. D. Booe, 1874-7(i; J. S.Thomas. 1876-80; 
J. G. Thweatt, 1880-82; R. B. Carl Lee, 1882-80; 
J. D. Booe, 1886-88. 



•<" e^ 



J^^—^ 



• ' — ^ 



676 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



B. M. Barnes represented Prairie County in 
the Confederate legislature, held at AVaHliington, 
in Hemjistead County, from September 2'2 to Octo- 
ber 2, 1864. 

The votes cast in Prairie County for the candi- 
dates for Governor at the September election, in 
1888, and for the candidates for President, at the 
November election, in the same year, were as fol- 
lows: For Governor — James P. Eagle (Dem), 761; 
C. M. Norwood (Com. Opp.), 1,125. For Presi- 
dent — Cleveland (Dem.), 761 ; Harrison (Re25.),603; 
Streeter (United Labor), 165; Fiske (Prohibition), 
15. 

The population of Prairie County, in 1880, was 
5,691 white and 2,734 colored, making a total of 
8,425. It is now probably over 10,000. 

Prairie County, Ark., lies in the east central 
porti(jn of the State, and is bounded north by 
White and Woodruff Counties, east by Woodruff 
and Monroe Counties, south by Arkansas and west 
by Lonoke. The thirty-fifth parallel of north lati- 
tude passes through the northern part, and the 
county lies in the 92d° of longitude west from 
Greenwich. 

It has an area of 650 square miles or 416,000 
acres, one fourth of the entire area being under fence 
and in cultivation. The whole county is level, un 
dulating and rolling enough to admit of free and 
easy drainage, and not to wa.sh, no hills and hoi 
lows, no guUiesand ravines, no rock-cursed farms, 
not even a stone to become the instrument between 
the bad boy and the family cat. (Hon. J. G. 
Thweatt's description.) A large percentage of the 
lands of the county belongs to the State, and is 
subject to donation to actual settlers; a similar 
amount belongs to railroad companies, a very 
small amount to the United States, and the balance 
to individuals. Lands can be purchased at reason- 
able prices, but large tracts of the best lands are 
owned by non-resident speculators who hold the 
prices high enough to measureably retard immi 
gration. However, there are plenty of tracts that 
may'be secured from resident owners at prices that 
caiuiot fail to suit purchasers. 

\\'hite River flows southerly and southeasterly 
through the northeast part of the county to a point 



about two-thirds of the distance from its northern 
boundary, and for the other third it forms the 
eastern boundary thereof. Cypress Bayou forms 
the west half of the northern boundary, and flow- 
ing thence easterly, it empties into White River near 
the southeast coruw of Township 5 north. Range 5 
west. Wattensas River enters the county from the 
west, and running easterly, bearing a little soiith, 
it empties into White River about twelve miles 
below the mouth of the Cypress Bayou. Cache 
River swings into the county and out again a little 
north of the center of its eastern boundary, and 
Bayou DeView, a tributary of the Cache, flows 
southeasterly across the northeast corner of the 
county. LaGrue River enters the county on the 
west, near the center north and south, and flows 
thence in a southeasterly direction to its conflu- 
ence with White River. Bayou Two Prairie forms 
the southwestern boundary line of the county; and 
this and the other streams mentioned, together 
with their tributaries, furnish abundant drainage. 

Between White and Cache Rivers there is a 
long tract of land slightly elevated above the 
river bottoms, and divided by a depression into 
two parts, the northern being called "Upper Sur- 
rounded Hill," and the southern "Lower Sur- 
rounded Hill." The extracts immediately follow- 
ing are from a description of the county prepared 
by Hon. J. G. Thweatt, attorney and abstractor of 
titles at De Vall's Blufl'. 

The prairie lands lie mostly south of a divid- 
ing line east and west through the county, and 
constitute a good portion of the Grand Prairie of 
Arkansas, which reaches out into other adjacent 
counties. There are three or four small, but rich, 
productive prairies lying in the northern portion of 
the county, with an area of 800 to 5,000 acres 
each. These lands are very rich and productive, 
and seem specially adapted to small grains of all 
kinds and tame grasses. They grow tine corn and 
splendid cotton. As fine fruit as the country pro- 
duces can be found in the orchards on prairie 
farms. They grow fine vegetables of all kinds. 
The most of the untilled portion of the prairi(» is 
covered with a fine growth of wild grass, which is 
mowed, baled and shipped to market. The haying 



business here on the prairie is carried on very ex- 
tensively. Thousiuuls of tons are shipped yearly, 
and a great deal of money made at it. No lands 
are better adapted to stock raising. They furnish 
a natural range from the first or middle of March 
till fall. A few years ago these lands knew no oc- 
cupant save the wild deer and semi-wild herds of 
cattle, aud were regarded by the Southerner as 
worthless for agricultural purposes, but when the 
tidal wave of immigration began to flow from 
north to south, and the progressive husbandman 
of the Northwestern Prairies commenced to settle 
aud develop the prairie lands of Prairie County, 
then that once considered trackless, treeless waste 
of grass lands, wherever touched by the agricul- 
tural magician, began to astonish the natives with 
her golden harvest fields, frnit-laden orchards and 
mammoth vegetable products, aud to day they 
are more in demand than any lands of the State, 
and are worth from twice to three times as much 
as the forest lands of Prairie County. 

The county has a diversity of soil, the pro- 
ductiveness of which is exceedingly good. White 
River bottoms aud the Surrounded Hills have both 
a dark brown and alluvial soil, very rich and fer- 
tile. The creek and branch bottoms are a dark 
loam, next in productiveness to the river bottoms. 
The ridges or uplands not covered by creek or 
branch bottoms are of a light brown, often dark in 
color and very productive. The soil of the prairie 
is of a dark brownish color, possessed of chemical 
combinations peculiar to itself. It does not produce 
as line cotton as the timbered lands, but grows 
much finer wheat and oats, rye, tame grasses, peas, 
etc. The uplands, prairie and even branch and 
creek bottoms can, by rotation of crops and proper 
use of home fertilizers, be made better and more 
prolific every year. They are susceptible of a high 
state of fertilization, and will, when once fertilized, 
show effects of same for years. 

The wooiUand part of the county is well and 
heavily timbered. In the river and creek bottoms 
is found an superabundance of red gum or satin 
wood, which will yield in some localities 30,<1()() 
feet of timber per acre; though millions of feet of 
white oak in the shape of staves and square timber 

42 



have been shipped from the bottoms of Prairi.' 
County, yet the supply is still une.xhansted. There 
is some walnut, a great deal of hickory, asli, 
maple, pecan, sycamore, Cottonwood, red elm, hack 
berry, etc., with an undergrowth of cane, pawpaw, 
tar l)lanket, grape and muscatine vines, rattan, 
etc. In the branch bottoms and on the uplands 
may be had white oak, hickory, red and black oak, 
sweet gum, black gum and in some upland locali- 
ties immense brakes of po.st oak. some mai)le, red 
bud, persimmon, with an undergrowth of sumac, 
whortlebeny. hazelnut, dogwood, etc. 

According to the United States census of 1880, 
there were in Prairie County 1,127 farms, with 
37,032 acres of improved lands, and the value of 
the farm products of the county for IS79 was 
1402,902, the following being the amount of the 
several products raised: Indian corn, 135,4(52 bush- 
els; oats, 31,944 bushels; wheat, 2,214 bushels: 
orchard products, $9,405; hay, 203 tons; cotton, 
0,977 bales; Irish potatoes, 2,100 bushels; sweet 
potatoes, 9,359 bushels; tobacco, 4,S<iO pounds. 
Ureat improvements have been made since 1880, 
which will appear when the census of 1890 shall 
be taken. Cotton is the staple product and next 
to it is Indian corn. The yield per acre depends 
very much upon the skill of the farmer. With 
scientific cultivation of the soil it can be made to 
produce from 50 to 100 per cent more than it does 
under the i)resent modes of farming. Clover and 
the tame grasses succeed well, but these have l)e^ 
cultivated only to a limited extent. 

The number of live stock in the county as shown 
by the census of 1880 was as follows: Horses, 
1,525; mules and as.ses, 997; neat cattle, 11,008; 
sheep, 1,208; hogs, 15,073. The number of these 
animals in the county as shown by the tax books, 
for 1SS8, was: Horses, 2,040; mules and asses, 
1,104; cattle, 14,111; sheep, 1,437; hogs, 7.546. 
These figures show a large increase in all except 
hogs. The conijiarison for the latter, however, is 
not fair, for the reason that in 18S8 none were enu- 
merated except those on hand when the property 
was listed for taxation, while those given in the 
census report included all raised during the year. 
The climate being very mild and water easily obtain- 



ftfv 



J^O. 



678 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



able in abundant supply, Prairie County is especial- 
ly well adcipted to the raising of live stock, and re- 
cently a few individuals have begun the business 
and have large herds of cattle grazing on the 
prairies. This is becoming a leading industry. 
Hogs fatten on the mast and live through the year 
without being fed, but they are not extensively 
raised. Fruits grow almost to perfection, especially 
peaches, plums, pears, quinces, grapes and berries 
of every variety. Apples also do well, but not so 
well as in higher altitudes. Wild fruits, such as 
grapes, pliims, mulberries, blackberries, etc., grow 
abundantly in the timbered portions of the county. 

The Little Rock & Memphis Railroad crosses 
Prairie County from east to west, and divides it 
into nearly two equal parts. Its length within the 
county is about twenty-three miles. The Cotton 
Belt Railroad crosses the southeast part of the 
county, running in a southwesterly direction. The 
railroads constitute a considerable portion of the 
taxable wealth of the county, and give excellent 
shipping facilities. 

On February 15, 1882, seven farmers, named, 
respectively, W. W. Tedford, W. T. McBee, W. 
A. Suit, John and George McBee, Bluford Loakey, 
and L. F. Thasher, all of Prairie County, met at 
the McBee school house, near Wattensas Creek 
and at a point eleven miles north of Hazen, and 
there organized the " Wattcnisas Farmers' Club," 
with W. W. Tedford, president, and W. T. McBee, 
secretary. At the third meeting of this club its 
name was changed to " Wheel," hence the origin 
and name of that extensive organization. Soon 
thereafter other wheels were organized, up to the 
number of seven in all, four in Prairie and three in 
Cleburne County. Then on August 22, the same 
year, articles of incorporation were filed in the cir- 
cuit court clerk's office in Prairie County. After- 
ward, April 9, 1883, delegates from the wheels 
then existing met at the same school house where 
the original club was formed, and organized the 
State Wheel, with E. R. McPherson, president, 
and J. T. Kirk, secretary. Articles of association 
were filed in the office of the Secretary of State, 
September 28, 1885. The officers of the State 
Wheel, at this writing are, John P. H. Russ, of 



White County, president, and R. H. Morehead, of 
Hazen, Prairie County, secretary. The latter is 
serving his fifth term. There are 2, 109 subordi- 
nate wheels in Arkansas, and besides State and 
subordinate Wheels exist in Mississippi, Tonnes 
see, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin and Missouri. 

Upon the approach of the Civil War, in 1861, 
the people of Prairie County were generally in 
sympathy with the Southern cause, in consequence 
of which a public meeting was held at Brownsville, 
the then connty seat, on April 22, 1861, and reso- 
lutions passed favoring an appropriation by the 
county for putting it ' ' upon a war footing. ' ' Sub- 
sequently, in the same month, the county appro- 
priated §10,000 to arm and equip its volunteer 
soldiers. Then and thereafter companies were 
organized for the State and Confederate service. 
The first company in what is now Prairie County 
was organized at Des Arc, in the spring of 1861, 
and commanded by Capt. George W. Glenn. 
Other companies were organized in the territory of 
Prairie County, as now formed, and commanded 
respectively by Capts. John S. Pearson, John H. 
Bulla, Michael Peal, Gus. Reinhardt, John Kirk and 
Pat. H. Wheat. Gen. Steele, of the United States 
army, took possession of the county about Septem- 
ber 1, 1863, and from that time until the close of 
the war it was in possession of Federal troops. 
No Ijattle was fought in the county, but a few 
slight skirmishes took place between scouting par- 
ties of the contending armies. The county was 
completely overrun and laid waste. M. M. Erwin. 
of Des Arc, says that when he returned from the 
war in June, 1865, there were not, as he believes, 
fifteen horses left in the county. The people de 
serve great praise for their recovery from such 
devastation. 

In 18S0 the real estate of Prairie County was 
assessed for taxation at .1865, 881, and the personal 
property at 1161,100, making a total of 11,226,- 
981, and the taxes charged thereon, for all pur- 
jjoses, were 123,803. In 1888 the real property 
of the county was iissessed at $1,147,073, and the 
personal at 187-1,137, making a total of $2,021,210, 
and the total taxes charged thereon were $28, - 
677.28. By comparison, it will be seen that from 



-f? 



"E> "V 



PllAIlilE COUNTY. 



679 



1880 to 1888, the taxable wealth of tbo county 
nearly doubled, while the taxes increased only 
aliout 20 per cent. 

Prairie County has no bonded indebtedness, 
but owes a trifling amount on outstanding war- 
rants. In 1880 the county was robbed of from 
$10,000 to 112,000. On this occasion the treas- 
urer was found tied on the street, and alleged that 
he had been knocked down and tied by robbers, 
who took from him the keys to the safe containing 
the money. Upon suspicion he was indicted and 
tried for the crime, but was found "not guilty." 
No other arrests or prosecutions were made. 

Des Arc — the county seat — is situated on the 
west bank of White River, in the northern jtart of 
the county, and contains about 800 inhabitants. 
The streets are wide, and run oast and west and 
north and south, and the site is as level and beau- 
tiful as could possibly be found for a town. Judge 
AVatkins, of Little Rock, bought a portion of the 
land on which the town is located, and James Er- 
win entered the other j^ortion. In 1840 or 1847 
Watkins .surveyed and platted his portion into 
town lots and streets, and two years later Erwiu 
laid bis portion out into town lots. The latter 
opened the first store and erected the first cotton- 
gin and grist-mill (combined) in the place, and also 
the first saw mill. The gins and mills were all run 
by horse power, and M. M. Erwin (son of James 
Erwin), now living at Des Arc, ginned the (irst bale 
of cotton. Jlr. Erwiu lirought the machinery for 
his saw-mill, and a man to put it into operation, from 
Pittsburg, Penn. These improvements were made 
about the year 1847. The second store in the 
town was opened by Stephen Red, and the next 
by Frith & Jackson. In 1850 the town had a 
population of about 100, and during the .">()" s it 
grew so rapidly that by 1800 its population was 
over 2,000. M. M. Erwin opened and ke])t the 
fir.st hotel or "inn" in the place. A daily stage 
line — the Buttertield — met the boats here on White 
River. This line extended by way of Little Rock, 
Fort Smith, etc., to San Francisco, Cal., and the 
price charged passengers from Des Arc to San 
Francisco was $200 in gold. Only fifty pounds 
of baggage was allowed each passenger. 



During'the Civil War Des Arc was partially dc 
stroyed. Some of the buildings were burned, and 
others taken down and moved by the Federal army 
to De Vall's Blutf. The place was then almost 
depopulated. The town is improving now in the 
way of removal of the wooden business buildings 
and erecting brick blocks on their sites. It is an 
important cotton market, and from 5,000 to 6,000 
bales are annually shipped therefrom on White 
River. It contains eight general stores, four gro- 
ceries, three drug stores, one hardware and grocery 
store, one undertaking store, a livery stable, two 
meat markets, two hotels and a boarding house; 
four churches for the white people, Methodist, 
Baptist, Presliyterian, and Cumberland Prcsbvte 
rian; two churches for the colored people, Method- 
ist and Baptist; two school-houses, one for the 
whites and one for the blacks; a postoffice, saw- 
mill, cotton gin and grist-mill, a feiTy across the 
river, a town hall, five warehouses for storage of 
cotton, a lodge each of Masons and Knights of 
Honoi-, five physicians, and a weekly newspaper, 
the Des Arc Citizen, which was estal)li.shed in Sep- 
tember, 1854, by J. C. Morrel, and is now pub 
lished by J. J. Baugh. It is au eight column 
folio, neatly printed and ably edited. The town 
also contains several mechanics' shops, and other 
enterjn'ises not here named. Its name, Des Arc 
(the arc), is from the French Bayou Des Arc, a 
sluggish stream that empties into the White River 
al)out two miles above the town, which had pr»- 
viousl}' been named thus l)y the French settlers. 
The town is incorporated, and has a full set of cor- 
porate officers. 

De Vall's Bluff, situated on the west side of 
White River and also on the Little Rock & ^lem 
phis Railroad, was named after C. S. DeVall, who 
entered the land upon which it is located. At the 
beginning of the Civil War, in 1801. it contained 
a store and dwelling h()us(< and a " l)oat landing." 
In the fall of 1863 it was taken possession of by a 
portion of the United States array, and from thence 
f^)rward to the clo.se of the war, and for some time 
thereafter it was hold by Federal troops. Soon 
after the Federals took possession thev made it 
their base of supplies for Little Rock and other 



680 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



points west. The White River being navigable at 
all seasons of the year, the supplies were shipped 
thereon to DeVall's Bluff and transported thence 
by rail to Little Rock; however when the Arkan- 
sas River was high enough snp[)lies were shipped 
directly to that city on that stream. As soon as 
the Union army took possession of De Vall's Bluff 
and made it a permanent base of supplies, hun- 
dreds of refugees flocked in and claimed pro- 
tection. Houses were erected for them to occupy, 
and by the close of the war the place contained 
many buildings and had a large population, mostly 
of refugees, who then returned to their former 
homes. It now contains a postofRce, two general, 
two drug, three grocery and one millinery store, a 
livery stable, two hotels, a boat oar factory, a large 
saw-mill, a Methodist Church, white, and a Bap- 
tist Church, colored, a school-house each for the 
whites and blacks, two title alistract offices, a lodge 
each of Masons, Knights of Pythias, Knights of 
Honor, Good Templars and Iron Hall. 

The boat oar factory is said to be the only 
one of the kind west of the Mississippi. It is con- 
trolled and managed by F. P. Wells, formerly of 
Michigan, and turns out about 3,000 feet, lineal 
measure, of finished oars per day. These are 
shipped to Liverpool, England, San Francisco and 
other distant cities. A large number of men are 
employed at this establishment. The saw-mill, 
which has capacity for cutting 20,000 feet of lum- 
ber per day, is managed by Wells & Maxwell. 

De Vall's Bluff represents a wonderful amount 
of life insurance for so small a place. The Knights 
of Honor, fifty members, carry $2,000 each, aggre- 
gating $100,000; the Iron Hall, twenty five mem- 
bers, carry $1,000 each, aggregating $25,000; the 
Knights of Pythias carry in the aggregate $35,000, 
and it is estimated that at least $r)0,00() is carried 
in the "old line companies," making a grand total 
of $210,000. In addition to the societies named 
the town has a branch of the Southern Building 
and Loan Association, of Knoxville, Tenn., the 
members of which carry 175 shares of $100 each. 
De Vall's Bluff is incorporated, and has a popula- 
tion of about 500. Its princi])al exports are cotton, 
boat oars and lumber. 



Hazen, situated on the Little Rock & Memphis 
Railroad, forty-three miles east from Little Rock 
and seven miles west from DeVall's Bluff, has a 
population of about 050, and is the leading com- 
mercial point in the county. It was siu'veyed and 
laid out in 1873, and named in honor of William 
C. Hazen, its original proprietor. It is well laid 
out, with wide streets running east and west and 
north and south, and has around it a colony of 
thrifty and prosperous farmers from the North. 
It contains six general, two drug and two grocery 
stores, an undertaker's shop, two livery stables, 
two blacksmith shops, two real estate offices, post- 
office, one meat market, two lumber yards, two 
hotels, a steam cotton-gin, saw and grist mill, two 
school-houses (one for each race), two churches for 
the white people and two for the colored people. 
In and around the town are six hay presses and 
nine hay bam.s. The principal .shipments are hay, 
cotton and fruit. More hay, fruit, produce and 
game are annually shipped from Hazen than from 
any other town in the county. 

The Hazen Free Press, a five-column quarto 
weekly newspaper, is published by J. H. Tayloi'. 
It was established in May, 1889. 

Hickory Plains is a village of about 100 inhab 
itants in the northwest part of the county, and 
contains a postoffice, general store, drug store, two 
.steam cotton-gins and grist-mills, a lilacksmith 
shop, three churches and a large public school 
building. 

Barrettsville, located between Hickory Plains 
and Hazen, contains a postoffice, general store, 
drug store, and a steam cotton gin, grist and saw- 
mill. 

Surrounded Hill, or Fredonia, is on the Little 
Rock & Memphis Railroad, four miles east of De- 
Vall's Bluff, and contains two general and two 
grocery stores, two saloons, postoffice, two colored 
churches, a hotel, blacksmith shop and a .steam 
cotton-gin and gristmill. It is situated in one of 
the best cotton growing districts in the State, and 
ships a large amount of that commodity. It has 
a population of about 200, largely colored. 

Fairmount is a small post village on the prairie 
in the southern part of the county. 



r 



PllAIRIE COUNTY. 



(181 



Ulm, a new village, is growing up in the south- 
eastern part of the county. 

There are, besides the above, some otlior post 
liamlets in the county. 

The workings of the free school system in Prai- 
rie County may be learned by reference to the fol- 
fowing statistics taken from the last published 
report of the State superintendent of [uihlic instruc- 
tion, it being for the year ending June 30, 1SS8: 

Scholastic population: White, males, 1,247, fe- 
males, 1,165, total, 2,412; colored, males, 771, fe- 
males, 773, total, 1,544. Number of pupils taught 
in the public schools: White, males, 871, females, 
784, total, 1,655; colored, males, 413, females, 460, 
total, 873. Number of school districts, 49. Teach- 
ers employed: Males, 42, females, 22; total, 64. 
Average monthly salaries paid teachers: First 
grade, males, $50.00, females, $37.50; second 
grade, males, $35.00, females, $25.00; third grade, 
males, $30.00, females, $25.00. Amount expended 
for the support of the schools: Teachers' salaries, 
$11,310.00; for houses and sites, $1,150.43; treas- 
urer's commissions, $259.12; total, $12,725.55. 
The reader can compare the number of children 
enumerated with the number enrolled in the 
schools, make other comparisons and draw his own 
conclusions. The statistics show much room for 
improvement. The school terms in each district 
averaged four months for the year. After the pub- 
lic money is exhausted the teachers of the town 
schools usually teach a subscription school for sev- 
eral months longer. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has 
the following organizations in Prairie County: 
Des Arc and Hickory Plains Circuit, with a church 
at I'ach of these places, and three preaching points 
ill the country, Eev. D. T. Holmes, pastor, and a 
membership of 283; Hazon Circuit, embracing Ha- 
zen, De Vall's Bluff, and one or two appointments 
in the country, with a membership in all of over 
100, Rev. J. W. F. Scott, pastor; Wattensas Cir- 
cuit, embracing seven organizations, with a com- 
l)ined membership of about 311, Rev. James Hud- 
lUeston, pastor; the White River Circuit has ap- 
pointments in both Prairie and Arkansas Counties, 
and a membership of 425, Rev. J. A\'. Berry being 



pastor. A portion of the Carlisle Circuit lies in 
the western part of Prairie County, and a portion 
of the Briukley Circuit in its eastern part. 

There is a Baptist Church, with about forty- 
five members, at Des Arc, but at this writing they 
are not supplied with a pastor. Other Baptist 
Churches in the comity, pastors and ineiubin-ships, 
as shown by the session minutes of 1888, of the 
Grand Prairie Baptist Association, are as follows: 
Center Point, Elder B. F. House, 70; Hazen, Elder 
P. A. Hainan, 52; Pleasant Ridge. Elder R. G. 
Thomas, 23; Liberty, ... about 15. Since these 
minutes were published the memberships have in- 
creased, and changes in pastors may have been 
made. 

There are three organizations of the Presby- 
terians within the county: One at Des Arc, one at 
Hickory Plains, and the other at Hazen. Rev. S. 
I. Reid, of Lonoke, preaches at Des Arc antl 
Hazen. The memltership is small. 

Of the Cumberland Presbyterian denomination 
there is only one organization in the county, and 
that is at Des Arc, where they have a very small 
membership, a neat little church edifice, but nci 
pastor at this time. 

A Christian Church was organized at Hazen 
about the year 1881. They have no edifice, but 
contemplate buililing one within a j-ear. Elder J. 
A. Carter, of Lauderdale County, Tenii., preaches 
for them in the school- house. The membership is 
now 120. A Christian Church, with a small mem- 
bership, was organized in August, 1889, at B«r- 
rettsville. Elder C. E. Gillespie, of Hazen, is pas- 
tor. Here, too, they worship in the school -house. 



A. L. Aydelott, merchant. Surrounded Hill. 
Ark. The mercantile trade has long constituted 
one of the leading features in the commercial pur- 
suits of our country, and in this line we have in 
Surrounded Hill a thoroughly representative house, 
controlled by Mr. A. L. Aydelott, who is regarded 
OS an upright and energetic man of business, and 
respected in commercial and social circles. He is 
the son of S. D. and Elizabeth (Herring) Aydelott, 
and his birth occurred in Shelby County, Tenn., 



t 



^' 



682 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



on the 16th of March, 1855. S. D. Aydelott owes 
his nativity to Hardeman County, Tenn., where 
his birth occurred Noveml)er 18, 181'J, and he 
moved with his parents to Kentucky when quite 
young. There he received his education, and after 
reaching his majority returned to hi.s native State, 
and was united in marriage to Mrs. Elizabeth 
(Herring) Whitley. To this union were born three 
children: William L. , Alfred L. and Johnny L. 
The father was a blacksmith by trade, also a mer- 
chant, and in connection carried on agricultural 
pursuits. He is the owner of about ninety-two acres 
of land near Arlington, Tenn. He and wife are now 
living in Shelby County, Tenn. They are mem- 
bers of the Old School Baptist Church, and have the 
esteem and respect of all who know them. Dur- 
ing the late war the father enlisted iu the Confed- 
erate army. One Hundred and Fifty fourth Regi- 
ment Tennessee Volunteers, and was iu the battles 
of Corinth and Shiloh. At the end of fourteen 
months he was discharged on account of age, 
returned home, and began merchandising at Mem- 
phis. A. L. Aydelott received a good practical 
education in the schools of Memphis, Tenn., and 
there remained until December, 1877, when he 
immigrated to Ark., and located on his present fine 
property. Upon his lirst advent into Arkansas he 
was without means, and began business for himself 
by working as sub-manager on a plantation. By 
1878 he had accumulated some money, and he 
then retiu-ned to Tennessee, where he was united 
in marriage to Miss Sarah D. Gillespie, daughter 
of Jefferson and Mary Gillespie, on the 13th of 
February of that year. To this marriage have been 
born six children: Kate E. (deceased), Josie L., 
Grace A. (deceased), Ellise and Clarence (twins), 
and an infant, Herbert. Mr. Aydelott began mer- 
chandising in October, 1884, on a capital of .f 1,000, 
which has since been increased to $55, 0(H); is the 
owner of about GOO acres of good land, and has 
under cultivation about 140 acres. He runs a pub- 
lic gin that is situated in Surrounded Hill, and 
which has all the latest improvements, and he also 
owns an interest in a saloon. Mr. Aydelott is 
progressive in his ideas, and his farm, which is 
well stocked, shows care and attention. He was a 



member of the K. of H. , and was Dictator as long 
as he held membership; was also postmaster at 
Surrounded Hill for one term, and he is deeply 
interested in church and educational matters. 

Philip B. Baugh, retired, was born in Lincoln 
County, Tenn., October 10, 18'.^7, and is a son of 
James and Marina A. (Bruce) Baugh, the former 
a native of Virginia and the latter of North Caro- 
lina, she being a daughter of Arnold Bruce, a 
Frenchman. After their marriage the parents 
moved to Lincoln County, Tenn., and in 1837 to 
Mississippi, where the father's death occurred, his 
wife's death occurring in White County, Ark., in 
1808. Philip B. Baugh resided with his father 
until the latter' s death, and up to 1859 was en- 
gaged in following the plow in Mississippi. After 
moving to Arkansas he located in Des Arc and for 
two years, up to 1859, was engaged in the saw 
mill business. In January, 1862, he moved to 
White County, Ark., and followed farming and 
lumber manufacturing, also dealing in dry goods 
and real estate for some six years, then sold out, 
and in 1887 returned to Des Arc, where he is now 
spending his declining years in retirement from 
the active duties of life. He was married in Mis- 
sissippi, on January 3, 1850, to Eleanor C. Law- 
son, a native of North Carolina, who was reared in 
Mississippi, a daughter of John Lawson, a native 
of Ireland. Mrs. Baugh died January 9, 1888, 
having borne and reared a family of ten children: 
John C. (a farmer of White County, Ark.), J. J. 
Baugh (whose sketch appears in this work), W. L. 
(a druggist of Des Arc), Alice (wife of B. S. Hor- 
ton, of Searcy), Olivia (wife of A. A. Gilliam, also 
of Searcy), Cora (wife of Rev. A. C. Graham, 
a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church), 
Ola and Nettie (young ladies at home), Ida Bruce 
(another daughter, died in September, 1887, at the 
age of twenty-one years, being the affianced wife 
of Rev. C. B. Mosley, now a mi.ssionary of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to Japan), 
and Katie Florence (who died at the age of eighteen 
years). Mr. and Mrs. Baugh belonged to the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Baugh is a 
Royal Arch Mason. He served as magistrate of 
White County for a number of years, also as 



^. 






^ 



9 W. 



PKAIKIE COUNTY. 



(583 



notary public, and is bokling the last-named posi- 
tion at the present time. During the Civil War 
bo entered the Confederate arjiiy (in 18(54), being 
a member of Col. Crabtree's regiment, and was 
with Trice on his raid through Missouri, after 
which he was on detached service until the close 
of the war. 

James J. Bangh, attorney and editor, Dos Arc, 
Ark. The enviable position which the town of 
Des Arc occupies to-day as an industrial and mer- 
cantile center is due to the energy, enterprise and 
al)ility of the inhabitants and to the wise and ju 
dicious government of the civic authorities. Promi- 
nent among those who have made an impress on the 
history of the town, in more respects than one, is 
Mr. James J. Baugh, who is editor and publisher 
of the Citizen, and an able attorney of the town. 
Mr. Baugh is a native of Palona, Miss., where his 
birth occurred December 7, 1857, and he is the 
son of Judge P. B. and Eleanor (Lawson) Baugh, 
the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of 
North Carolina. The parents were married in the 
last-named State, and in 1859 moved to Arkansas, 
where the father first engaged in the saw-mill and 
lumber business at Des Arc. After residing at that 
place for a few years he moved to White County, 
but in September, 1887, returned to Des Arc, 
where he resides at the present time. He is sixty- 
two years of age, and is one of the prominent men 
of the county. He served as county judge of 
White County, and has held other positions of 
trust and responsibility. His wife died January 
y, 1888. Their family consisted of seven daugh- 
ters and three sons, all of whom gi'ew to mature 
years. James J. Baugh passed his boyhood days 
in White County, and remained with his father 
until about seventeen years of age. He then en- 
tered a newspaper office at Searcy, learned the 
printer's trade, and then took up the study of law, 
being admitted at Searcy in 1880. He moved to 
Des Arc in 1880, bought out a newspaper business, 
and now owns the only paper pul)lished at Des 
Arc. He has been actively engaged in the news- 
paper business since that time, and his paper, with 
its crisp and trenchant editorials, commands an 
ever- widening area of circulation, while it carries 



with it that weight and authority, which a clear, 
calm and intelligent judgment must always secure. 
Mr. Baugh was appointed postmaster at Dos Arc 
in 1885, and was acting postmaster for foui- years. 
His marriage took place at Hickory Plains, June 
15, 1882, to Miss E. M. Keinhardt, a native of 
Des Arc, and tlie daughter of Daniel F. llein- 
hardt, who was a member of the Constitutional 
Convention of lS7t. To Mr. and Mrs. Baugh 
were born two children: Lerline and Minni(« Kate. 
Mr. Baugh is a memljer of the Knights of Honor 
and he and wife are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

Christian Bechler is accounted a prosj)erous 
farmer, stockman and miller, of Belcher Town- 
ship, Prairie County, Ai-k. , and like the majority 
of the natives of France, he is of an energetic 
temperament and progressive in his views. He is 
a man whom nature seems to have especially de- 
signed to be a farmer, for he has met with more 
than the average degree of success in pursuing 
this calling, and is now the owner of 448 acres of 
land, all of which is under fence. He was born in 
1827, and when only fourteen years of age, l)e- 
came weary of life in his native land, and began to 
tui'n his thoughts to the new world across the 
water, where adventurous spirits could find wider 
scope of opportunities, and more congenial sur- 
roundings. Ho first landed in New Orleans, and 
in 1840 went to Ohio, and in 1840 to Iowa, thence 
to California in 1849, like so many others in search 
of gold. After working in the mining regions ^f 
that State, until 1852, he returned to Iowa, and 
the following year was married to Barlmra Conrad, 
a daughter of Daniel and Mary (Klopfeustein) 
Conrad, who were natives of Switzerland, and 
came to America in 1820. Mrs. Bochler was born 
in Ohio, and after their marriage, she and Mr. 
Bechler set energetically to work to accumulate 
some means, and they still own the farm on which 
they first settled in Henry County, Iowa, which 
comprises 1(50 acres. In 1883 they came to Prai- 
rie County, Ark., and as above stated, own an ex- 
cellent farm. They expect to make this State 
their home, and are interested in everything per- 
taining to its welfare. He is a Republican, and 



r 



9 W_ 



-^ ^'/ 



()84 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



be antl bis wife are members of tbe Mennonite 
Cburcb, and are tbe parents of tbe following fam- 
ily: Daniel (deceased), Benjamin J. and Jobn (de- 
ceased), Peter, Mary (Mrs. L. J. Anderson, of 
Arkansas County, Ark.), Anna (Mrs. C. B. Zim- 
merman, of Prairie County), Jacob, Katie, Frances 
and Cordelia, tbe last two being twins. Mr. Becb- 
ler is one of a family of tbree sons born to Cbris- 
tian and Elizabetb (Becbler) Becbler, botb of 
wbom were born in Switzerland, and emigrated to 
France, wbere tbe fatber died in 1830, the moth- 
er's death occurring in New Orleans, La., in 1843. 
Their children are: Joseph (now deceased), Peter 
(a resident of Iowa) and Christian. 

Capt. Jacob G. Becton is one of tbe experi- 
enced farmers and cotton-ginners of the county, 
and tbe property which be now owns has been ac- 
cumulated by attending strictly to bis chosen call- 
ing. He was born in New Berne, N. C, October 
23, 1833, being a son of F. I. and Eliza (Rhodes) 
Becton, who were liorn, reared and married in 
North Carolina, tbe fatber being a farmer of that 
State. They reared their family in Jones County, 
and there the father died in 1843, bis wife surviv- 
ing him" until 1845, she being married a second 
time, and with her last husband moved to Wayne 
County. Here Capt. Jacob G. Becton grew to 
manhood and was married here, moving some lime 
afterward to Cumberland County, wbere he en- 
gaged in farming and merchandising until 1861, 
and in March of that year moved to Arkansas and 
made bis home in Prairie County. In February, 
1802, he enlisted in Capt. Bull's company, La- 
non's regiment, but afterward became a member of 
Col. Craven's regiment, and was promoted from a 
private to tbe rank of captain, and participated in 
the battles of Baker's Creek, Corinth and a great 
many skirmishes. He was captured live times, 
and three times managed to make his escape, but 
tbe first time while held a prisoner be was kept on 
Johnson's Island for nine months, and tbe second 
time at Point Lookout, Md., for tbree weeks. The 
year following his return from the war be engaged 
in farming near Des Arc, and that he has been 
successful is clearly shown when we state the fact 
that be owns 9()0 acres of land, nearly all of which 



is in one body, 800 acres being in tbe home place, 
of which 500 acres are under cultivation. He has 
a good frame residence, and his outbuildings are 
all commodious and in excellent repair. He has 
been the owner of a cotton-gin at Des Arc since 
1886, and has been extensively engaged in cotton- 
ginning since that time. In 1855 he was married 
to Lizzie E., a daughter of John E. Becton, of 
Wayne County, N. C. Captain and Mrs. Becton 
have lost one daughter, Emma, who was tbe wife 
of W. L. Willeford, also three infants while they 
were residing in North Carolina. The Captain is 
a Master Mason, and bis wife is an earnest member 
of tbe Methodist Episcopal Cburcb. 

G. W. Belcher is a farmer, stockman and mil- 
ler of Belcher Township and was born in Perry 
County, Ala., in 1840, tbe eldest of eleven chil- 
dren born to tbe marriage of Thomas M. Belcher 
and Rachel Mayberry. Tbe former was a Vir- 
ginian, born in 1810, and was one of six children 
of Bevley Belcher. He was reared in Alabama and 
was married there in 1837 and for fourteen years 
was engaged in overseeing. He then engaged in 
farming and has made that his chief calling up to 
the present time. In 1851 he came to Prairie 
Countj^, Ark. , and entered 240 acres of land which 
he has since increased to 400 acres. He has been 
justice of the peace for about twenty years, and has 
held the position of postmaster four or live years. 
He is a Democrat and during the turbulent times 
preceding the Rebellion and during the war he was 
a strong Union man, and was greatly opposed to se- 
cession. His wife is a native of Alabama and botb 
are members of tbe Missionary Bajitist Church. 
Their children are: G. W., Martha (who died in 
Texas), Jane (deceased), Louisa (wife of William 
M. Shuford of Austin, Texas), James (deceased), 
Permalie J. (wife of M. C. Mayberry of Prairie 
County) and several children who died in infancy. 
G. W. Belcher attended school in Cotton Gin, 
Miss. , until eleven years of age, but after bis removal 
with bis parents to Arkansas bis school days were 
cut short and July 7, 18<51, ho enlisted in Comjjany 
C, Second Arkansas, Mcintosh regiment, and for 
gallant and faithful service was raised to the rank 
of captain, in 1864, in tbe commissary department. 



^. 



> "V 



l^ 



PRAIEIE COUNTY. 



685 



Some of the engagomeiits in which ho [);irticipated 
are Oak Hill, Wilson's Creek, Elkhoru, Farmiug- 
ton, Cumberland Gap, llichniond and others. In 
1862 he was wounded in the left hand by a pistol 
shot and was in the hospital at Knoxville, Tonn., 
for some time. After the war he returned to Ark- 
ansas and was married in Claiborne Parish, La., 
1866, to Miss Susan S. Hood, a daughter of Bryant 
and Polly Hood, of Georgia, and by her has four 
children: Ida, William M. , John G. and IMartha. 
Mrs. Belcher was born July 5, 1840, and died in Sei>- 
tember, 1889. She was a member of the Mission- 
ary Baptist Chvirch, as is Mr. Belcher, and was an 
earnest and consistent Christian lady. Mr. Belcher 
is a Democrat and has served in the capacity of 
school director for about fifteen years and he also 
belongs to the Masons, being a demitted member 
of Aberdeen Lodge. He is a descendant of some 
of the oldest settlers of the State of Arkansas and 
his grandfather Belcher was in the American Kev- . 
olution. He is a wealthy farmer and of his 800 
acres of land, 300 are under cultivation. 

Andrew Jackson Bowman, DeVall's Bhiff, Ark. 
Mr. Bowman, one of the pioneers of Hoc Roe 
Township, purchased his farm in that township, 
in 187-1, and settled where he now resides the fol- 
lowing year. He was born in Fairfield County, 
Ohio, in 1828, was the second in a family of ten 
children born to Peter and Susan (La Motte) Bow- 
man, and received his education in the subscrip- 
tion school of Putnam County, Ohio. He assisted 
on his father's farm until twenty years of age, 
when he was married in the last-named county, in 
1848, to Miss Rue Ann Burrel, a native of Putnam 
County, Ohio. After that he was engaged in farm- 
ing, and thus continued in that county until 1856, 
when he settled in McLean County, near Lexing- 
ton, and was quite extensively engaged in his for- 
mer pursuit. In 1858. he moved to Piatt County, 
III., remained there until 1866, and then moved 
to (Champaign County, of the same State, where 
he remained until March, 187"). He then came to 
Prairie County, Ark., bought 1,500 acres of raw 
land, which ho cultivated and added to until at one 
time he owned 2,000 acres. He now has 680 acres 
with 320 acres under fence, and sixty under culti- 



vation. He has paid considerable attention to fruit 
culture, has about forty acres in orclijird, 2,000 
apple trees and 1,000 peach trees, and all varieties 
of small fruit. Ho is a successful horticulturist, 
and has one of the finest orchards in Eastern Ar 
kansas. He has over 100 varieties of apple trees, 
and a number of |;ranscendent crab trees. On his 
farm he raises cotton, corn, rye, wheat and oats, 
and his farm is well adapted to the raising of stock. 
Mr. Bowman lost his excellent wife in Piatt County, 
111., in April, 1850. To their union were born 
three living children: Elias (residing in Ohio), Wes- 
ley (married and resides near his father) and Elmer 
(resides in Cloud County, Kas. , married and en 
gaged in farming). Mr. Bowman was married the 
second time in Piatt County, 111., in 185D, to Mrs. 
Mary Ann Plotner {nee Foust), a native of Picka- 
way County, Ohio, and the fruits of this union were 
two living children: Letitia Rancoline and Arthur 
(at home). Mr. Bowman was married in Putnam 
County, Ohio, in 1874, to Mrs. Harriet J. (Zeller) 
Long (widow of Mr. Long), a native of Putnam 
County, Ohio, and the daughter of Andrew and 
Catherine (Henderson) Zeller. Mr. Zeller was 
born in Wurteuiberg, Germany, and his wife in 
Pittsburgh, Peun. The father came to this coun- 
try when single, and was married in Tuscarawas 
County, Ohio. He was a wagon and carriage 
manufacturer. His death occurred in Ohio, in 
1852, and the mother died in Putnam County, in 
1872, surviving him about twenty years. Mr. 
Bowman is active in politics, and bis vote is c«Bt 
with the Democratic party. He was magistrate 
while living in Champaign CJounty, HI., takes an 
active interest in educatioiuil affairs, and is a mem- 
ber of the school board. He and wife are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His 
grandparents were natives of Germany, and his 
father was a miller by trade. The latter went to 
Ohio when a young man, was married there, and 
there made his homo for many years. Later in 
life he engaged in farming in Putnam County, 
Ohio, and there passed the closing scenes of his 
life, his death occurring in 1872. His wife sur 
vived him two years. Of their family the follow 
ing are now living: Andrew Jackson (the subject 



^<r 



%1 



686 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



of this sketch), Pauline (now Mrs. Cartwright, of 
Putnam County, Ohio), Martin (married, and is a 
a farmer in Putnam County), Mary (now Mrs. 
Todd, of Putnam County), Peter (married, and 
resides also in Putnam County) and John (who is 
married and resides in the above-mentioned county. 
C. L. Bowman is a successful real- estate dealer 
of Hazeu, Ark., and since 1879 has been a resident 
of and interested in the welfare of Prairie County. 
He was born in Knox County, Ind., in 1859, and 
was the eldest of four children reared by John and 
Martha A. (Roach) Bowman, the former of whom 
is a native of the Buckeye State, born in 1832. 
He was one of a large family of children, and in 
his youth he was taken by his parents, Daniel and 
Elizabeth Bowman, to the State of Illinois, and 
there his early manhood was spent. In 1852 he 
settled in Knox County, Ind., on a farm, but also 
engaged in carriage making, and in 1856 he es- 
poused Miss Roach, whose people were Virginians 
and early residents of Indiana. To Mr. Bowman 
were born the following family of children: Calvin 
L. , Samuel E. (who is married and living in Stutt- 
gart, Ark.), Lydia M. and Mary G. Mr. Bowman 
removed with his family to Arkansas, in 1879, and 
after farming until 1883 he settled in Hazen and 
is there now living. He is a Democrat politically, 
and he and Mrs. Bowman are members of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Calvin L. 
Bowman, our subject, spent his early days on his 
father's farm in Indiana and there received his 
early schooling, being an attendant of the common 
.schodls. He came to Arkansas with his parents, 
and was married here, in 1881, to Miss Sallie E. 
Back, a daughter of Jackson and Mary Back, the 
former of whom was killed in the Civil War, being 
a member of the Union army. His wife afterward 
married Mr. Denton, and is at present living in 
Hazen. Mr. Bowman and his wife have two boys: 
Walter P. and Clyde E. Up to 1886 Mr. Bowman 
farmed in AVhite River Township, but since that 
time has been engaged in the real-estate business 
in Hazen. Besides having in his control large 
tracts of land belonging to others, he owns 160 
acres of land and town property. He has always 
been interested in the upbuilding of schools and 



churches, and it is his earnest desire to see the 
country advance in every way, and he is doing all 
in his power to aid in its improvement. He and 
Mrs. Bowman are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South. 

James W. Brians, county sheriff. Among the 
men who cast their fortunes in Prairie County, 
Ark., in January, 1867, and whose memory is 
treasured by the people of this region, is William 
J. Brians, the father of our subject. He was Ijorn 
in North Carolina, and was married there to Eli- 
zabeth Smith, a native of the same State, and 
moved with her to Mississippi in October, 1858, set- 
tling on a farm, where he remained eight years, 
after which he moved to Prairie County, Ark. He 
made his home on a farm near Butlervillo, and 
here his death occurred in 1876, he having served 
for a short time in the Confederate army during 
the late war. His wife survives him at this writ- 
ing. James W. Brians was born in Cabarrus 
County, N. C, September 5, 1852, and remained 
with his parents until he was twenty- three years 
of age. He was married in Prairie County, Octo- 
ber 17, 1877, to Miss Emma Moore, a daughter of 
Dr. W. L. ]\Ioore, she being a native of Arkansas, 
born and reared in Prairie County. After their 
marriage they settled on a farm in the western 
part of the county, their home place consisting of 
eighty acres, sixty-one acres being in an excellent 
state of cultivation, on which is a good residence 
and other necessary farm buildings. Besides this 
land he also owns 160 acres in another tract, a 
considerable portion of which is also improved, 
and good residence property in the town of Des 
Arc. He has always supported the principles and 
men of the Democrat party, and in the fall of 1888 
was nominated and elected by a handsome major- 
ity on that ticket to the office of county sheriff. 
He has held other local positions, and he and his 
wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South. They have one child three years 
of age named Bertha Emma, and have lost three 
children, William Moore (a son, dying on Septem- 
ber 12, 1889, at the age of eleven years), Mary 
Buelah (died at the age of ten months) and Augus- 
tus Edwin (at the age of two years). Mr. Brians 



^-^ 



<a fL. 






PKAIKIE COUNTY. 



087 



displays great, system and iieatnoss in tho luanago- 
luent of his farm, and everything about his place 
shows the progressive and intelligent citizen that 
he is. 

Lnther Brink, n^al estate and tax paying agent, 
Hazen, A.rk. In a young and rajiidly developing 
town like Hazen, situated as it is in the Ijest grain 
and stock raising section of Arkansas, the busi- 
ness of dealing in real estate is necessarily a very 
important one, and especially so l)ecause, in addi- 
tion to city property, there is a large amount of 
farm property constantly changing hands. A 
greater part of this is handled by the Shock & 
Brink, real-estate and tax paying agents at Hazon, 
Prairie County, Ark. Mr. Brink was born in 
Boone County, Mo. , in 185(), and was the third in 
a family of live children, the result of the union 
of C. W. and Mariam (Kelley) Brink. The father 
was born in Kentucky about 1828, and was one of 
a large family reared by H. L. Brink, a native of 
Kentucky, who moved to Missouri at an early day, 
and there followed the trade of millwright. The 
grandfather is still living, was in the War of 1812, 
is ninety- eight years of age and enjoys compara- 
tively good health. C. W. Brink passed his boy- 
hood days in Boone County, Mo., and was there 
married to Miss Kelley, daughter of James Kel- 
ley, after which he followed the trade of black- 
smith. He now resides in Hinton, Boone County, 
Mo. His children are named as follows: W. H. 
(resides in Hallsville, Mo., is married and has tv70 
children), Joella D. (now Mrs. J. D. Barrett, re- 
sides in Hazen, Ark., and has four children), 
Luther, Lucy D. (was married and died in Boone 
County), and J. S. (died at the ago of eighteen 
months. Mr. and Mrs. Brink are members of the 
Chirstian Church. The mother is deceased, her 
death occurring in 1805. The school days of 
Luther Brink were passed in Missouri, and later 
he engaged in mercantile pursuits and contracting 
in that State. He emigrated to Hazen in 1888, 
engaged in contracting and building, and perhaps 
the best comi)liment that could be paid him would 
be to point out those monuments of his handiwork 
which now grace so many of the homesteads in 
this county. Later he embarked in the real-estate 



business with Mr. Shock, and this firm hascon 
trol of a largo amount of farming land, Ijcsides a 
number of thousand acres of timber and prairie 
land. Mr. Brink is a member of the Odd Fellow 
Lodge No. 158, Grand Pass, Saline County, whore 
he first located, and where his membership r(« 
mains. Ho is a notary public. 

William H. Brock, farmer, was l)orn in Harde 
man County, Tenn., January 11, 1820, and is a son 
of Caleb Brock, a native of Virginia, l)ut who was 
reared in North Carolina, being also married there 
to Mary Frances Jones, a Virginian, also reared in 
North Carolina. From the "Old North State" 
they moved to Tennessee, and still later went to 
Tip{)ah County, Miss., and after making their home 
in this State for twenty-one years, being engaged 
in farming, they came to Arkansas (in 1855) and 
settled in what is now Prairie County, making a 
farm on the Cache River. After a short time they 
sold this and moved to Des Arc, where the father 
-resided until his death, October 10, 1874, his wife 
surviving him until February 11, 1883, when she, 
too, passed away. Mr. Brock was a soldier in the 
War of 1812, and for bis services received a pen- 
sion from the Government in the latter part of his 
life. He was an earnest member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church for many years, and gave liber- 
ally of his mi>ans in support of the same. His 
wife was a member of the same chm'ch, and pos- 
sessed bright assurances of going to a happy home 
in the skies. William H. Brock (our subject) grew 
to manhood in Mississippi, and made his home 
with his father until the death of the latter, after 
which he took charge of his mother, caring for her 
until her demise. In 1802 Mr. Brock eidisted in 
the Confederate service as a private, but was on 
detached service the most of the time, conscripting 
and collecting Confederate money. After the war 
was over he returned to Des Arc, and has since fol- 
lowed various occupations, the most of his at ten 
tion, however, being given to farming. Ho has 
400 acres of land in four different tracts, all good 
land, and more or less improved, lying near Dos 
Arc. He also owns some tine town property, a 
hotel, some residence property, and a livery stable, 
the latter being under his management in connoc- 



^. 



»pr 



:^. 



« k. 



'^ 



688 



HISTOKY OF AEKANSAS. 



tion with his farm for fifteen years. He has served 
as a moruber of the school board, as alderman, dep- 
uty sheriff, and has had charge of the coiiuty poor 
and insane ever since the war. When Mr. Brook 
first located in Des Arc the town was in the timber. 
David Brockway, senior member of the firm of 
Brockway & Eaton, general merchants of Hazen, 
Ark., was born in the Nutmeg State in 1837 and 
was the second child born to Pierce and Pearl 
(Webb) Eaton, who were also born in that State, 
the former's birth occurring about 1810. Upon 
securing a good education in the common schools 
of his native State, he began learning the carpen- 
ter's trade, and followed this occupation through- 
out life. He was married about 1834 and made 
his home in Hartford, Conn., his children being 
born there. Their names are as follows: William 
(who died when young), David and Mary (who be- 
came the wife of Mr. Hurlburt, of Quincy, 111., 
and died one year after her marriage). The father 
of these children emigrated to California in 1848 
and was never heard fi'om afterward, but was sup- 
posed to have died in that State about 1848 or 
1849. His wife survived him until 1853 when she, 
too, passed to her long home, her death occurring 
in the State of Virginia whither she had gone for 
h(»r healtli. She was a daughter of Harvey Webb, 
a native of Counecticiit. David Brockway acquired 
his early education in New Haven, Conn., and at 
the age of twenty years he started for the West 
to seek a fortune, and landed in McDonough 
County, 111., where he made his home until 1883, 
at which date he came to Arkansas and settled at 
Hazen. He was formerly a successful farmer, but 
since his arrival in this State he has devoted his 
atterition to merchahdising and the lumber business, 
and since 1887 has been associated in business with 
William E. Eaton. They are also large shippers 
of hay and cotton and do an annual business of 
al)out $75,000. Mr. Brockway is a Republican 
politically, and socially, belongs to Hazen Lodge 
No. mi, A. F. & A. M., and the United Work- 
men, Good Hope (ill.) Lodge No. 129. He was 
married in Illinois to Miss Rebecca Ballance, a 
daughter of Joseph Ballance, a native of England. 
Mrs. Brockway was born in Illinois and has borne 



her hiisband five children: Mollie (Mrs. Webb, re- 
siding in Illinois), Ella (Mrs. Eaton), Pearl, Bessie 
and Bruce. She is a member of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

William E. Eaton is the junior member of the 
firm of Brockway & Eaton, general merchants 
of Hazen, Ark., and was born near Viola, Mercer 
County, 111., being a son of Rev. Cyrus H. and 
Margaret (Frazier) Eaton, the former of whom was 
born in the State of Virginia in 1821. Ho settled 
near Viola, 111., about 1845, and was there mar- 
ried, his wife being a daughter of John and Eliza- 
beth Frazier, who removed to Illinois from their 
native State, Ohio, at an early day. The family 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Eaton are: Martin (who is 
married and is a practicing physician of Fairbury, 
Neb.), Hugh (who is married and resides in Chi- 
cago, 111., being engaged in the manufacturing 
business), John and William E. Rev. Cyrus 
Eaton removed to Iowa, becoming a well-known 
minister of that State, but is now in Oklahoma, 
Ind. Ty., in the interests of the church. His wife 
died in Hazen, Ark., in 1884. William E. Eaton 
was united in the bonds of matrimony to Miss Ella 
Brockway, and is residing in Hazen, Ark., the 
father of two childi-en: Hallie and Harry. Marga- 
ret died in infancy. Mr. Eaton received his edu- 
cation in the Iowa College at Grinnell, and his 
youth was spent in that State and in Illinois. He 
has resided in Arkansas since 1883, and is associ- 
ated with his father-in law in the general mercan- 
tile business, and is meeting with financial success. 
Politically he is a Republican, and his wife is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church. 

James T. Brown (deceased) was a man well 
known in Prairie County, and was respected for 
his straightforward course through life and for his 
many Christian virtues. He was born in Talla- 
dega County, Ala., April 13, 1842, and nntil he 
attained his eighteenth year ho was a resident of 
his native State. At the opening of the Civil War 
he joined the Confederate forces and served until 
the close of the war, after which he went North to 
Indiana, and located in Hamilton County, where 
he met and afterward married Miss Elizabeth J. 
Fall, their union taking place September 9, 1800. 



A Xj 



Mrs. Brown was born in Hamilton County, a 
daughter of D. H. and Susan (Wolls) Brown, and 
after her marriage she and Mr. Brown were en- 
gaged in farming for about three years, after 
which they moved to Illinois, and a year later 
came to Prairiti County, Ark. A y(>ar later they 
went to Woodruff County, but a short time after 
returned to Prairie Covinty and located at Des Arc, 
where Mr. Brown purchased a mill and engaged 
in the manufacture of lumber. This business he 
conducted very successfully for a number of years, 
but in 1887 he sold his mill and turned his atten- 
tion to farming once more, continuing this occu- 
pation until bis death March 27, 1 88'.). He was a 
man possessing fine business qualifications and was 
very successful in all his ventures, but gave liber- 
ally of his means to all worthy movements, and 
the needy were never turned empty from his door. 
He left a wife and two sons to mourn his death, 
the latter' s names being: Daniel L. (who is mar- 
ried and resides on a farm in this county) and Ed- 
gar W. (a young man at home). Mrs. Brown has 
been engaged in the hotel business since the death 
of her husband, and her success in this undertaking 
does much to show what a woman can do when de- 
pendent upon her own resources. She keeps a 
first-class house called the Des Arc House. 

Fred E. Brown is a prosperous general mer- 
chant of Des Arc, Ark., and by his sujierior busi- 
ness qualities has done much to advance the repu- 
tation which the county now enjoys as a commer- 
cial center. He was born in Choct.iw County, 
Miss., August '27, 1858, and is a son of A. J. and 
Elizabeth (House) Brown, who were born, reared 
and married in Alabama, and removed to Arkansas 
in 1801), settling on a farm near Hickory Plains, 
where they are now residing. Fred E. Brown grew 
to manhood in Prairie County, and was educated 
in the schools of Des Arc and in a commercial col- 
lege at Little Rock. He began the battle of life 
for himself as a clerk in Des Arc in 1879, but at 
the end of a few years he became a traveling sales 
man for a St. Lonis and Memphis wholesale house 
and continued this occupation until 1888, when he 
purchased a stock of goods and engaged in busi- 
ness for himself. His store is now well established 



and his stock of goods is largo arid well soh^cted, 
and as he possesses good judgment, business abil- 
ity and efficiency, his efl'orts are mc^etiiig with well 
deserved success, and his outlook for the futiue is 
bright and promising. Hci was married in Decem- 
ber, 1882. to Miss Ada Morrell, a daughter (jf J. C. 
Morrell, who was one of the early settlers of the 
State, and who establishcid and edited the Des Arc 
Citizen for a number of years. Mrs. Brown was 
born, reared and educated in Prairie County, and is 
the mother of one child, Charles Frederick. She 
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. 

David J. Burks, farmer and giimer. Hickory 
Plains, Ark. Generally age and experience are 
essential to success and promotion, but in (he ex- 
ample before us we have a yotmg man who has risen 
without any especial fortuitous circumstances to the 
position of one of the successful agriculturists of 
the county. He was born in Logan County, Ky., 
June 11, 18r)U, and his father, W. I. Burks, is a 
native of the same State. The latter was married 
in his native State to Miss Harriet Irwin, a native 
of the same county and State, and followed farm- 
ing in Kentucky for a number of years. He now 
resides at Springfield, Mo., where he is engaged in 
merchandising. He served through the late war 
as first lieutenant in the Confederate service. In 
1874 he moved to Arkansas, and remained here 
until 1883, when he moved to Springfield, Mo. 
D. J. Burks came with his parents to Arkansas in 
1874, and here grew to manhood. On Noveml)er 2§, 
1878, his nuptials with Miss Emma Doener, a native 
of Arkansas and a daughter of Thomas and Huldah 
Deener, were solemnized, and to this happy union 
have been born two children: Willie and Irwin. 
After marriage Mr. Burks located on a farm, and 
has cultivated the soil industriously since that time. 
He bought a gin in the fall of 1888, and has good 
machinery, etc. His farm consists of about eighty 
acres with seventy-five acres under cultivation. He 
has a good residence and outbuildings, etc. , and 
is making his way to the front. 

Dr. James W. Burney, physician, surgeon and 
druggist, Des Arc, Ark. In a comprehensive work 
of this kind, dealing with industrial pursuits. 



•<'|6 r- 



T 



Lk^ 



690 



HISTOEY OF ARKANSAS. 



sciences, arts and professions, it is only fit and 
right tbat that profession on which, in some period 
or other of our lives — the medical profession — all 
are more or less dependent, should be prominently 
noticed. It is the prerogative of the physician to 
relieve or alleviate the ailments to which suffering 
humanity is prone, and as such he deserves the 
most grateful consideration of all. A prominent 
physician and surgeon, who, by his own great abil- 
ities, has attained distinction in his profession, is 
Dr. James W. Burney. This gentleman owes his 
uativitj' to Williamson County, Tenn., where his 
birth occurred on November 1, 1830, but he was 
reared principally in Maury County, of that State. 
He came West, to Mississippi, in 1850, located at 
Mount Pleasant, and in 1855 commenced the study 
of medicine, under the instruction of Dr. J. D. 
Sale, one of the most jirominent physicians of 
Northern Mississippi. In the winter of 1856-57 
he took his first course of lectures at the Memphis 
Medical College, and in March, of the last named 
year, located at Des Arc, where he associated him- 
self with Dr. J. C. Goodwin, with whom he com- 
menced the practice of medicine. The following 
year, in July, he volunteered his services in the 
terrible epidemic of yellow fever, then scourging 
Vicksburg, Miss., rendering valuable assistance in 
fighting the same. In 1859 the Doctor returned 
to Des Arc, resumed his practice, and ou Septem 
ber 13, of the same year, was united in marriage 
to Miss Liicy C. Adams, a native of Tennessee, 
who was reared and educated in Memphis, and the 
daughter of H. S. Adams, a planter in Mississippi, 
a soldier in the War of 1812, and a participant in 
the battle of New Orleans. In ISfil the Doctor 
enlisted in the Confederate army as lieutenant in 
Col. Patterson's regiment, and the following year 
was promoted to the captaincy of Company K, 
Col. Matlock's regiment, liy Gen. Hiiidman. He 
remained in active service up to 1864, when he 
resigned his commission and returned to Des Arc. 
He participated in the battle of Prairie Grove, and 
was in many severe skirmishes. After returning 
to Des Arc he engaged actively in the practice of 
his profession, in which he continued uj) to the 
present time. He went to Philadelphia and com- 



pleted his course, graduating from the Medical 
Department of that renowned university in the 
class of February, 1870. Before and since his 
graduation he has enjoyed an extensive practice, 
proving conclusively that he is one of the most 
successful and skillful physicians in the State. He 
engaged in the drug business in 1881, and still 
continues that industry. Dr. Burney lost his first 
wife on August 6, 1878, and on December 7, 1880, 
he selected for his second wife Mrs. Hattie (John- 
son) Richardson, a native of Alal)ama, but who 
was reared in Arkansas, and the daughter of Hanp 
Johnson. The fruits of this union have been two 
children: Alfi'ed and Robert, aged, respectively, 
eight and six years. The Doctor was first vice- 
president of the first medical society formed in 
Prairie County, and is president of the board of 
examiners of this county, discharging the duties of 
this, as in all other important positions to which 
he has been called, with honor, fidelity, ability, and 
to the satisfaction of all concerned. He is a Master 
Mason, and he and wife are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South. For the past ten 
years the Doctor's name has l)een prominently 
mentioned by his friends in connection with a seat 
in our State legislature, but owing to private busi- 
ness and his extreme modesty, he has never given 
his consent to become a candidate for the position, 
although a prominent leader in the Democj-atic 
party. Chairman of the County Democratic Ex- 
ecutive Committee during the dark days of recon- 
struction, he was ever at the holm, and landed the 
old scar-worn party safely and successfully to vic- 
tory over all opposition. The Doctor's father, 
John Burney, was a native of North Carolina, and 
was reared in Guilford County, where he married 
Miss Matilda Young, a native also of North Caro- 
lina, and who was reared in the same county. The 
father moved to Tennessee about 18'20, and was 
there engaged in agriciiltural pursuits. He was 
also a mechanic, and died in Henry County. His 
wife survived him a few years. Their family con- 
sisted of nine children, six sons and three daugh- 
ters, three sons and three daughters now living, 
the three elder sons being deceased: J. T. , R. 
W. and J. M. Burney. Those living are Mrs. E. 



;^ 



PRAIBIE COUNTY. 



691 



'k. 



P. Warren (of Mississippi), Mary B. Bnrnoy (on the 
old home place in Maury County), Mrs. Sallie 
Glenn (of Tennessee), Thomas P. Barney (of Maury 
County, Tenn.), Prof. A. M. Burney (president of 
the Howard Eemale College, at Gallatin, Tenn.) 
and Dr. James W. Burney (the oldest of the three 
brothers, living at Des Arc, Ark., actively engaged 
in the practice of medicine and the drug business). 
He has practiced medicine a greater number of 
years than any other man ever did in Prairie 
County. He never smoked a cigar, never took a 
chew of toliacco, never shaved his face nor never 
drank whisky. At this date (January 1, 1890) his 
weight is even 200 pounds, and he is six feet in 
height, stout and active, as all may be who will lead 
a temperate life. 

Joseph W. Caskey, farmer and stock raiser, 
Hickory Plains, Ark. Agricultural pursuits has 
been Mr. Caskey' s principal occupation in life, and 
the energetic and wide-awake manner in which he 
has taken advantage of all methods and ideas tend- 
ing to the enhanced value of his property, has had 
a great deal to do with obtaining the competence 
which he now enjoys. He first saw the light in 
Maury County, Tenn., on August f), 1847, and 
when ten years of age came with his parents, J. 
J. and Nancy J. (Foster) Caskey, to Arkansas, and 
there grew to manhood. He is the eldest of three 
children, two sisters: Sarah (deceased, wife of C. 
C. Broyles) and Martha E. (wife of C. C. Burton). 
The parents were natives of Tennessee, and in 1856 
moved to Arkansas, locating in Prairie County, on 
the farm where Joseph W. is now residing. There 
were but slight improvements on the place at that 
time, but they began working on the same, and 
soon many changes were to l)e seen. The father 
died in Kinggold, Ga., in 1863, and the mother 
followed him to the grave in 1885. Joseph W. 
Caskey then took charge of the home place, has 160 
acres of land, with eighty acres improved, and all 
his buildings are good and suljstantial. He was 
married on January 18, 1872, to Miss M. J. Bur- 
ton, a native of Henderson County, Tenn. , and the 
daughter of C. A. Burton. Five children have 
been born to this union: L. C, James A., N. Fi., 
AV. J. and Harriet R. Mr. and Mrs. Caskey are 



members of the Baptist Church, and he is clerk ot 
the same. 

M. M. Clark, De Vall's BIufF, Ark. Mr. Clark, 
another of the honored and much respected pion- 
eers of Prairie County, was originally from Ken 
tucky, where his birth occurred in Warren County, 
in April, 182S), and was the eighth in a family of 
thirteen children born to the union of Joseph and 
Sarah (Moore) Clark, natives of South Carolina. 
The parents were married in A\'arren County, 
Ky., in 1818, and the father followed the occu])a- 
tion of a farmer until his death, which occurred in 
1852. His wife died in St. Louis two years later. 
The grandparents on both sides were pioneers of 
Kentucky, and the paternal grandfather, Micajah 
Clark, was in the Revolutionai-y War, as was also 
the maternal grandfather, Hugh Moore, who died 
in Kentucky, at the age of ninety-six years. M. 
M. Clark was early taught the duties of the farm, 
and received his education in the schools of Warren 
County, Ky. Ho came to Arkansas in 1854, settled 
in Mississippi County, near Osceola, where he pur- 
chased 161 acres of land, with ten acres cleared. 
He also entered 160 acres, making 320 acres in 
all, cleared the same, erected buildings, but in tlic 
freshet of 1858, lost everything he had. He was 
married in Mississippi County, Ark., in October, 
1857, to Miss Temperance A. Herrell, a native of 
North Carolina, and in 1859 he sold out and came 
to Prairie County, Ark. In March, 1862, he en- 
listed at Des Arc, in Capt. Ball's company, Mc- 
Carver's regiment, for three years, and was in tire 
battle of Fort Pillow. After remaining there some 
time, he returned to Arkansas, and entered Gen. 
Hindman's division. Col. Glenn's regiment, par- 
ticipating in the liattle of Oak Hill. Ark. He was 
with Gen. Price in his raid through Mis.souri. He 
was in the battle of Helena, where he received a 
bomb shell wound in the foot, and was paroled at 
the hospital at Heleiui, in July, 1864. He then 
returned t« Prairie County, Ark., entered the cav- 
alry service, aiul was in active duty during the 
war. After this he returned to Prairie County. 
Ark., and in 1870 moved into Wattensas Town 
ship, where he purchased 160 acres of land, and 
now has seventy acres cleared and under cultiva- 



J^f 



*]iL 



692 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



tion. His principal crops are cotton and corn. 
Hp is active in politics, and votes with the Demo- 
cratic party. He has been magistrate in his town- 
ship. Mrs. Clark is a member of the Methodist 
E})iseopal Church, South. To their union were 
born two children: John and Mary (now Mrs. 
George Ray). Mr. Clark has witnessed many 
changes in the country since his residence here, 
being one of the oldest settlers in the township, 
and has always taken an active interest in all mat- 
ters relating to the good of the county. He is 
deeply interested in educational mutters, and has 
been a member of the school board for sixteen 
years. 

B. J. Collins, merchant, Hazen, Ark. Jared 
Collins, the father of the subject of this sketch, 
was born in North Carolina in 1807, was married 
in about 1882 to Miss Matilda E. Witty and reared 
a family of five children: Sally J. (deceased, mar- 
ried Dr. Jerome Cocki-an), J. W. (was killed in a 
battle at Jonesboro, Ga.), O. B. (is residing at 
Birmingham, Ala. ), Emma C. (married Mr. Stead- 
ham and now resides at Pine BlufP, Ark.) and Mat- 
tie E. (now Mrs. Lawrence, resides at Memphis, 
Tenn.). Mr. Collins moved to Mississippi about 
1835, and settled in Hernando County, where he 
was engaged in the tailor's business, but later be- 
came a tiller of the soil in the same county. His 
wife died and he married Miss R. J. Irwin, the 
mother of the subject of this sketch, in 1842, and 
the daughter of Bashford and Sophia Irwin, na- 
tives of that grand old mother of States, Virginia. 
B. J. Collins is the eldest of the following children: 
J. W. (who is married and resides in Birmingham, 
Ala.), Laura A. (deceased, was the wife of Mr. G. 
W. Guthrie), J. D. (resides in Shubnta, Miss.), 
M. J. (resides in Cotton Plant, Ark.), Minnie (is 
the wife of Mr. Dobl)ins, of Hazen, Ark.), and 
M. J. (married and resides at Cotton Plant, Ark.). 
B. J. Collins was reared and educated in Missis 
sipj)i, and in 18(52 enlisted in Company C, Forty- 
second Mississippi Infantry, commanded by Col. 
Miller. He was discharged in 1 863, and after the 
war was engaged in farming until 186*1, when he 
went to Grenada, Miss., and until 1877 carried on 
the mercantile business. Returning to Do Soto 



County he remained two years, and in 1879 re- 
moved to Brinkley, Ark. In 1881 he located at 
Batesville, Independence County, coming thence to 
Prairie County, in 1887, where he engaged in mer- 
chandising with Mr. Dobbins. Mr. Collins is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
is a Democrat in his political views and is one of 
the successful men of the connty. 

"William Cook, deputy county clerk, De Vail' a 
BlnfF, Ark. This representative gentleman is a 
native of Shenandoah Valley, Va. , where his birth 
occurred in 1838, and is the eldest of five children, 
the fruits of the union of William and Sarah 
(Kelley) Cook, natives of the Old Dominion. The 
father was a merchant l)y occupation and followed 
this in Warren County, Va. , for many years. 
William Cook, Jr., was reared in the Shenandoah 
Valley, received his education in his native State, 
and when fifteen years of age left home and went 
to Missouri. He then started to go overland to 
California, went as far as Salt Lake City, and then 
returned to Missouri, settling in Rockport, and was 
here engaged as clerk for difPerent firms. In 1861 
he joined the Confederate army, and soon after 
the battle of Wilson's Creek, he was assigned to 
Gen. McBride's regiment. Seventh Division, Mis- 
souri State Guards. He participated in the battles 
of Lexington, Mo., Springfield, Mo., Pea Ridge, 
Ark., and Corinth. He was with Gen. Price in 
his raid through Missouri, and was taken prisoner 
at Lexington, in that State. He was taken to John- 
son's Island, was paroled in 1865, and then came 
direct to Des Arc, Prairie County, Ark. , where he 
engaged in general merchandising under the firm 
of Wilson & Cook, and carried on business until 
1868. He then engaged in agricultural pnrsuits 
on a farm he had purchased in the edge of Des 
Arc, for some years, and later was made dej)uty 
clerk of Prairie County. He is a Democrat in his 
political principles. Socially he is a member of 
the White River Lodge No. 37, A. F. & A. M., 
and has served in every office in the lodge, having 
been Worshipful Master for ten years. He is a 
member of Iron Hall Lodge No. 109, De Vall's 
BlufF, Ark. He was married in Missouri in 18r)l, 
to Miss Mattie Lewis, a native of Virginia, who 



V 



^5= 



PRAIRIE COUNTY. 



093 



died at Des Arc in 1874, leaving three children, 
the eldest, Lula, now Mrs. Vayden, of Das Are. 
Mr. Cook was married the second time in Des 
Arc, in 1875, to Miss Can T. Allen, a native of 
Tennessee, and the result of this union was one 
child, who died at the age of one year. Mr. Cook 
was a member of the school board at Des Ai-c for 
some years, and is now one of the progn-ssivc men 
of De Vall's BlufP. Mrs. Cook is a meii]l)er of the 
Presbyterian Church. 

Joshua Davis. From his earliest youth, Mr. 
Davis has been familiar with the details of farm 
work, and since his fifth year has been a resident 
of Arkansas. He was born in Maury County, 
Tenn. , in the year 1835, being the fourth child 
born to Joseph and Hannah (Lamb) Davis, the 
former a native of South Carolina, liorn in 1812. 
He was the youngest of his father's family, and 
when quite a young man he was left an orphan, 
and from that time onward was compelled to fight 
his own way in the world. He started westward, 
and finally settled in Tennessee, where he was 
married to Miss Lamli, by whom he became the 
father of nine children: Emma (deceased), Eliza- 
beth, Thomas, John Abraham, Leonidas, William, 
all of whom are dead. Those living are: Joshua 
and Nancy (Mrs. Davis). Joseph Davis was a 
farmer and a practicing physician, and followed 
both these occupations throughout his residence 
in Arkansas, having first come here in 1840, set- 
tling in Monroe County. In 1849 he moved to 
Prairie County, where he purchased 160 acres of 
land, and later bought eighty acres more, and here 
made his home until 1SS2, when he moved to 
Pulaski County, and here died the following year. 
He was very fond of the chase, and his desires in this 
direction were fully satisfied, for on first coming 
to the State, it was a splendid hunting region. 
Politically he was a Democrat, and for many years 
he bad been an earnest member of the Missionary 
Bapti.st ("hurch. His wife, who was an earnest 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
died in Prairie County, Ark., in 1852. Joshua 
Davis was married in 1S60 to Miss Emma 
Knowls, her people having lieen residents of Ohio. 
His wife died five days after her son Scott was 



born, and in 1806 Mr. Davis wedded Mrs. Sarah 
M. (Hendrix) Sparks, widow of S. M. Sparks, and 
by her has had t\w following children: William 
H. (deceased), Priscilla (Mrs. Davis), Lacretia 
(Mrs. Sales), L.-oin'das and Elmira. In 1801 Mr. 
Davis enlisted in Capt. (iarrett's company, Eifth 
Arkansas Regiment, and after serving until 1802, 
was discliarged on account of ill health. I'pon re- 
covering, he enlisted in tlie Second Arkansas Cav- 
alry, and in 1863 received a severe wound in the 
head at Big Shanty, Ga. He was also at Chicka- 
mauga. Missionary Kidge, Atlanta, Franklin and 
Nashville. Since his return home, he has given 
his time to agricultural ]iursuits, and now has a 
fine farm of 320 acnm, with 120 under cultivation. 
Like his father he is fond of hunting, and in his 
political views is a Democrat. He and his wife are 
meinl)(U's of the Primitive Baptist Church. 

Richard Dinsdale, countj' assessor, De Vall's 
Bluff, Ark. The locality in which De Vall's Blnff 
is situated is indeed fortunate in having among its 
citizens such a man as Richard Dinsdale is eon- 
ceded to be, for his connection with the interests 
of the county in a quiet, but none the less effective 
way, has proven to be of much benefit and influ- 
ence, and of no little importance. He was born in 
Yorkshire, England, May 10, 1835, and was the 
youngest of eight children, the fruits of the union 
of John and Isaliella (Thwaite) Dinsdale, both na- 
tives of Y'orksliire. ]<luglaud. The ancestors were 
fai'mers for generations back, and on both sides 
were of English de.scent. The father died in hJl 
native country in 1837, and the mother received 
her final summons in 18(53. Their children were 
named as follows: Alexander (married at Brown- 
more, Yorkshire, England, was an extensive stock 
and dairy farmer aud died, leaving one daugh- 
ter, Isabella, now Mrs. Thomas Willain, of 
Brownmore, England), Simon (married and settled 
in Yorkshire, England, was a farmer, and died in 
1887 or 1888. leaving one daughter. Rose, who is 
now Mrs. Hebden ami resides in England). George 
(married and settled at (lale. England, was an inn- 
keeper, and died in 18S3). Ann (married Robert 
Pratt, and died in England in 1880). Fawcett 
(married, and settled near Melbourne, Australia. 



G94 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



in 1851, where be is engaged in farming), Jane 
(died ,it the age of^ six years) and Richard. The 
latter was reared on a dairy farm in Yorkshire, 
England, received his education in the schools of 
that country, and, at the age of twenty-one years, 
left Liverpool, on a sailing vessel, and, after an 
ocean voyage of five weeks, landed at Castle Gar- 
den, New York City. From there he went direct to 
La Crosse, Wis. , remained there one year, and, in 
the spring of 1857, in company with nine others, 
crossed overland to Blue Earth County, Minn., 
where he entered 120 acres, near Mankato. This 
he improved, and also speculated in buying and 
selling land. In October, 1861, he enlisted in an 
independent battalion of Minnesota Volunteers and 
was mustered into service at Fort Snelling, Minn., 
November 1. From there he was sent to Benton 
Barracks, Mo. , and participated in the battle of 
Fort Donelson, after which he was engaged in 
guard duty as escort to the telegraph corps throiigh 
Kentucky and Tennessee. He was discharged at 
St. Paul, November 30, 1864, remained there a 
short time, and, in January, 1865, started for De 
Vall's Blutf, Ark., where he was engaged in the 
general grocery business. This he continued un- 
til 1873. During this time he was appointed 
county treasurer by Powell Clayton, and served 
four years. He subsequently engaged in agricult- 
ural pursuits, and is the owner of 400 acres of 
land, while his wife has 200 acres, making 600 
acres in all, with about fifty acres under cultiva- 
tion. He was married at De Vall's BlufF, Ark., in 
1873, to Mrs. S. A. Brooks, a native of West Ten- 
nessee, and the result of this union has been two 
children: Isabella (died at the age of four years) 
and Maggie (who died at the age of eight years). 
Mr. and Mrs. Dinsdale are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South. Socially. Mr. 
Dinsdale is a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
Hamilton Lodge No. 110, he being Worshipful 
Master of the lodge. He is also a member of the 
C!hapter, a member of Occidental Council No. 1, 
Little Rock, and belongs to De Vall's BlufF Lodge 
No. 2172, K. of H. , which he has represented in 
the Grand Lodge. He takes an active part in pol- 
itics, and his vote is cast with the Republican 



party. He also takes a deep interest in educa- 
tional matters and has been a member of the school 
board for years. He has been a member of the 
town council a number of terms. He was elected 
county assessor in 1888, which position he fills to 
the satisfaction of all. 

Doblnns & Collins, general merchants, Hazen, 
Ark. W. G. Dobbins, senior member of the firm, 
was born in Warren County, N. C. , in 1844, and 
was the fourth in a family of five children born to 
the union of N. J. and Rebecca (Baker) Dobbins, 
natives of Virginia and North Carolina. The par- 
ents were married in North Carolina in 1830, and 
later moved to Mississippi, where the father car- 
ried on agricultural pursuits. Their children were 
named as follows: Elizabeth (deceased, was the 
wife of John E. Brown), John J. (married and re- 
sides in Mississippi), Edward B. (was killed at the 
battle of Shiloh), W. G. (our subject), and Joseph 
S. (who is married and resides in Mississippi). N. 
J. Dobbins is a member of the Baptist Church, is 
a public spirited citizen and an earnest Democrat. 
His wife died in 1888. W. G. Dobbins moved to 
Mississippi with his parents in 1856, received his 
education in the common schools and began life as 
a sturdy son of the soil. He was married in 1877 
to Miss Minnie (3. Collins, daughter of Jared and 
R. J. (Erwin) Collins, natives, respectively, of 
North Carolina and Virginia. To this union were 
born five children, two now living: Viola D. and 
Edward B. Those deceased were named: William 
I., Clyde and Ada I. Mr. Dobbins moved to Ark 
ansas in 1888, and engaged in merchandising at 
Hazen, where he still continues. He is an active 
man in the building up of the country and is uni- 
versally respected. He is a Democrat in politics, 
and he and wife are members of the Baptist 
Church. Ill 1862 Mr. Dobbins enlisted in Blythe's 
battalion for twelve months. State service, and in 
18(')3 he enlisted in Chalnier's battalion Eight- 
eenth Mis8issip])i Cavalry. He participated in the 
battles of Fort Pillow, Guntown, Harrisl)urg and 
several skirmishes. At the close of the war he re- 
turned to Mississippi and there remained until 
coming to Arkansas. 

James M. Dorris has been a resident of Prai- 



^; 



>> \ 



A 



PRAIKIE COUNTY. 



695 



lio County for twenty two years, but has l)e(>n a 
resident of the State since 1859. He is a Ken- 
tuckian, born in Fulton County August 7, 1838, 
and is a son of Samuel H. and Anna (Howton) Dor- 
ris,who were also natives of the" Blue Grass State." 
The father, who was born in 1795, was a farmer 
throughout life, and a soldier in the War of 1812, 
being with Jackson at the battle of New Orleans, 
and died in his native State in 1847, his wife's 
death occurring in 1846, she being born in 1799. 
James M. Dorris made his home with a sister in 
Kentucky until about sixteen 3'ears of age, then 
resided with different parties until he attained his 
majority. His early advantages for acquiring an 
education were not of the best, but he read with 
avidity such books as came in his way, and by the 
time he was ready to commence his medical studies 
he was a well informed and intelligent young man. 
He became a disciple of Jilsculapius under the di- 
rection of Dr. J. B. Blanton, of Hickman, Ky. , 
and was a conscientious and faithful student for 
over two years. In 1859 he came to Arkansas and 
located at Searcy, and until the opening of the war 
was occupied as a hardware merchant. In April, 
1861, he enlisted in the Confederate army, as a 
member of Company A, of Col. Matlock's regi- 
ment, one of the best drilled, as well as one of the 
l)est lighting companies west of the Mississippi 
Kiver. Capt. James A. Poe commanded the com- 
pany, in which he served until the close of the war, 
being engaged in various detached duty the most 
of the time. He was a participant in a number 
of skirmishes, and while home in Arkansas on a fur- 
lough, the army was disbanded in Louisiana. .He 
then returned to Searcy and again engaged in the 
hardware business, but sold out after one year's 
e.xperience, and settled about six miles northwest 
of Des Ai'c, where he began the practice of medi- 
(;ine, and was one of the leading members of that 
"healing art" for about seventeen years. He 
also conducted a farm, and was engaged in rais- 
ing stock, and in all these enterprises was e.'ctreme- 
ly successful. During the war he lost all his 
property, but since that time he has accumulated a 
handsome competency, and is now the owner of 
about 1 , 500 acres of land, about '250 acres l)eing in 



White County. His land embraces live farms. 
and he has about 800 acres under cultivation and 
well improved. He has always been a stanch 
Democrat in politics, and while a resident of 
White County served in the capacity of associate 
justice in the county courts, and in Septembei-, 
1888, was elected to the last-named olTice in 
Prairie County, and in this capacity has shown 
sterling integrity, sound judgment, i)road intelli- 
gence and liberal views. His decisions are made 
after careful and painstaking .study of the evidence 
and all feel that his judgment can be relied upon. 
While in White County the Judge was married on 
October 17, 1860, to Miss Fannie E. Old, a dauglr 
ter of Thomas Old. She was born near Somer 
ville, Tenn., and was there reared to womanhood. 
She and the Judge are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and are the parents of the fol 
lowing family: James T. (deputy sheriff of Prairie 
County), Samuel H., Lucien A. and Rosie (who is 
attending college at Gallatin, Tenn.). 

Adolph Driehaus, at present a planter of Ulm, 
Ark., is one of the many excellent citizens of for- 
eign birth now living in Prairie County, who, by 
their thrift and energy have become prosperous 
and substantial residents in the community in 
which they make their home. He was born in the 
city of Leer on the river Ems, on the north sea 
coast (Gorman Empire), on June 25, 1831, receiv 
ing his education at several of the schools in the 
city, and when hardly (ifteen years of age went.ki 
sea, visiting most every navigable port in the world. 
He served nearly three years on the old frigate. 
Constitution, under C^ommodore Mayo, .stationed 
on the west coast of Africa to suppress the slave 
trade, and was honorably discharged at Portsmouth. 
N. H. , in 1854, under F. Pierce's administration. 
He studied navigation and went, after a year's Lard 
studying, to sea again for several years as s«H;ond 
and (irst ollicer or mate, when, in 1859, he became 
master of the barque Five Star. After one voyage 
he was given command of the Goldlinder. in which 
vessel he went up the Pike River i-o Fienstien in 
September of 1862. When France and England 
were at war with China, on August 13, 1862, at 3 
o'clock P. M. , I hey were attacked by Chinese 



A^^ 



696 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



pirates in the Gulf of Pichili and Mr. Driehans was 
shot through the head and severely cut up with 
swords and left for dead. In 1863 he commanded 
the clipper barque, Flying Fish, under the Siamese 
colors, sailing mostly between Bankok and Shang- 
hai, when, in 1865, she was sold at Hong Kong for 
$35,000. While in command of this craft he met 
with the Confederate cruiser, Alabama, on the east 
coast of Borneo, commanded by Capt. Lemmon. 
He then paid bis passage fi'om Hong Kong to Lon- 
don, England, and later made a visit to his old 
home in Leer to see his father. In March, 1866, 
he left home again, being of a restless disposition, 
and crossed the ocean to New York, trying hard to 
get command of a vessel again, but times being so 
very dull he remained quite a while in New York 
without success. He then went to Illinois and 
Iowa to grow up with the country and made sev- 
eral successful land speculations. On October 6 
he was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Ren- 
nan, who bore him eight children; Emma, Mary, 
Robert E., Adolph H., Bertha H., John T. and 
two other children who died in infancy. Mr. 
Driehaus' children are all at home with the ex- 
ception of his oldest daughter, Mrs. Alf. Shriner, 
who resides in Nebraska, and is the mother of one 
child, a daughter named Mary. Mr. Driehaus has 
a good farm of 240 acres, eighty acres of which 
are improved and well stocked. He has an excel- 
lent orchard of 800 bearing trees, and is one of 
the wide-awake farmers of the county. After his 
marriage he resided in Iowa for a short time and 
then moved to Nebraska where ho lived for twenty 
years, being one of the first settlers. The Pawnee 
Indians were numerous there at that time. Mr. 
Driehaus and family are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church and he takes a deep interest in 
educational matters. He came to this State in 
December, 1888, taking possession of the property 
he had bought the year previous, preferring the 
Sunny South of this locality to the North with its 
blizzards. 

W. T. Edmonds, farmer and ginner, De Vall's 
Bluff, Ark. What is usually termed genius has lit- 
tle to do with the success of men in general. Keen 
perception, sound judgment and a determined will. 



supported by persevering and continuous effort, 
are essential elements to success in any calling. 
Mr. Edmonds was originally from Shelby County, 
Tenn., where his birth occurred on October 14, 
1845, and is the son of William T. Edmonds, a 
native of Tennessee, and one of the early pioneers 
of that State. He was married in Obion County, 
Tenn., to Miss Mary Ann Brown, also a native of 
Tennessee, and the fruits of this union were nine 
children. The father followed farming there un- 
til his death, which occurred in 1851, the mother 
surviving him until 1852. He was a minister in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and was 
revered and respected by all acquainted with him. 
W. T. Edmonds, the tifth of the nine children 
born to his parents, was reared to farm life, edu- 
cated in the schools of Obion and Shelby Counties, 
Tenn., and in August, 1861, at Dresden, Weakley 
County, Tenn., he enlisted in Company A, Thirty- 
first Tennessee Infantry, commanded by Capt. 
Tansey, as a private. He participated in the bat- 
tles of Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville and Murfrees- 
boro, and after that battle, under the conscript 
act, he was discharged and returned to West Ten- 
nessee. He there joined Gen. Forrest's cavalry, 
and was in the battle of Harrisburg (Miss.), Price's 
Cross Roads, Memphis, Franklin, Nashville, Fort 
Pillow, etc. He was paroled at Gainesville, Ala. , 
in 1865, after which he returned to Memphis and 
engaged as salesman in a wholesale tobacco house. 
In 1868 he was messenger on the Mobile & Ohio 
Railroad for the Southern Express Company, run 
uing from Cairo to Mobile, and in 186'.) he came 
to Prairie County, settled in Lower Hill Township, 
where ho remained engaged in tilling the soil un- 
til 1888. He then purchased 460 acres of land, 
with 150 acres under cultivation, and his principal 
crops have been cotton and corn. He has a good 
cotton-gin located one and a half miles from De 
Vall's Bluff, and is considered one of the practical 
and progressive farmers of the county. He is a 
Democrat, politically, but is not active in politics. 
He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, White 
River Lodge No. 41, and is also a member of the 
Knights of Honor, De Vall's Bluff Lodge. He 
was married at De Vall's Bluff, Ark., on December 



spv 



PRAIRIE COUNTY. 



697 



23, 1886, to Miss Sally Senter, a native of Ham- 
blen County, Tenn., who was a teacbor in the De 
Vall's Bluff schools when Mr. Edmonds mot her. 
He and wife are members of the Missionary Bap- 
tist Church. 

Martin M. Erwin is one of the progressive till- 
ers of the soil of Prairie County, Ark., and was 
born in Austin in what is now Lonoke County, 
December 9, 1828, being a son of Oliver Erwin, a 
brother of A. S. Erwin. He was roared on the 
home farm near Austin, and his knowledge of the 
world was only such as conld be obtained while 
assisting his father in tilling the soil. He was 
married in Pulaski County in July, 1852, to Miss 
Elizabeth MeCraw, a daughter of Pleasant MeCi-aw, 
a prominent man and a jjioneer of that county. 
After his marriage Mr. Erwin farmed for a short 
time near the old home place, but in 1853 he moved 
to Des Arc where he has since made his home, and 
in addition to conducting his farm he also dealt in 
real estate, both occupations proving quite suc- 
cessful, and he is now the owner of several thou- 
sand acres of land, besides some valuable town 
property. In 18(31 he enlisted in the Confederate 
army and served until ho received his discharge 
for disability the following year. After remaining 
idle until 1863 he re-enlisted and was on active 
duty until the close of the war, jjarticipatiug in the 
battles of Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, and was with 
Price on his raid through Missouri. He was called 
upon to mourn the loss of his wife by death in 
1855, and two years later he took for his second 
wife Miss Sania Bethell, a daughter of Dr. Will- 
iam Bethel], who is now deceased. Mrs. Erwin 
was born in Rockingham County, N. C, but was 
reared and educated in Dallas County, Ark. She 
and Mr. Erwin have one son, William Erwin, a 
merchant of Des Arc; and they are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Ambrose S. Erwin, retired merchant, Des Arc, 
Ark. In these days of money-making, when life 
is a constant struggle between right and wrong, it 
is a pleasure to lay before an intelligent reader the 
unsullied record of an honorable man. To the 
youthfttl it will be a useful lesson, an incentive to 
honest industry. Ambrose S. Erwin, the subject 



of this sketch, is a native of Arkansas, his birth 
occurring at old Austin, in what is now Lonoke 
County, on February 26, 1834, and is the son of 
Hon. James and Olivia (MeCaleb) Erwia, both 
natives of North Carolina. The father was of Irish 
descent and grew to manhood in his tiative State, 
where ho remained until 1822. He then moved to 
Arkansas, settled in wiiat is now old Austin, ami 
erected the first house in Lonoke or Prairie Coun- 
ties, being one of the first actual settlers of these 
counties. He resided in that vicinity and carried 
on agricultural pursuits until about 1850, when he, 
in partnership with G. C. Watkins, of Little Rock, 
entered the land and laid off the town of Des Arc. 
He then settled there, erected a residence, mill 
and gin, and there died on January 1, 1853. He 
held several prominent oflScial positions, and was 
the first man to represent Prairie Count}' in the 
legislature. He contracted with the United States 
to assist in removing the Indians west of the Mis- 
sissippi and was engaged in that business for a 
number of years. Mrs. Erwin survived her hus- 
band a few years, dying in 1859; she was of Scotch 
descent. Their family consisted of three sons and 
one daughter, all of whom grew to mature years, 
but Ambrose S. and an elder brother are the only 
ones now living. The former attained his growth 
in Des Arc, and remained with his parents until 
they received their final summons. In 1855 he be- 
gan clerking in Des Arc, and continued at this un 
til 1859, when he formed a partnership with a ]\J.r. 
P. H. Haley, in the general mercantile business 
and which he has continued the principal part of 
the time since. He began as clerk, but by his 
good business management has made a comfortable 
competence which ho now enjoys, and is one of 
the substantial men of Prairie County. He loft 
his business during the war, and in 1861 enlisted 
in Col. Churchill's regiment, serving about three 
months, when he was discharged. In 1862 he re- 
enlisted in Col. Crawford's regiment and served 
until the close of the war. He entered the army 
as a private, was promoted to the rank of lieuten- 
ant, and at the close of the war had charge of a 
company. He participated in the following bat- 
tles: Oak Hills, Poison Springs. :Mnrk's Mill, and 



i^ 



698 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



was in all the battles of Gen. Price's raid through 
Missouri. He was captured with Gen. Marmaduke 
at Big Blue, but succeeded in making his escape 
within two hours afterward. He was at Camden 
and had command of couriers when peace was de- 
clared and he was disbanded at that place. Re- 
turning home after the war he formed a partner- 
ship with S. N. Jackson, which continued for three 
years, and then he and Mr. Plunkett formed a 
partnership in the mercantile business, which con- 
tinued for about twenty years. Mr. Erwin was 
married in Des Arc, in February, 1859, to Miss 
Lucy Bethell, a native of Memphis, but who was 
reared in Arkansas, and the daughter of Dr. Will- 
iam Bethell. They have five children : Anna (wife 
of Reuben Lee), Albert L., Carrie (wife of F. P. 
Gates, of Little Rock), Mabel and Minnie (two 
young ladies at home). Mr. Erwin is a Master 
Mason, and he and wife and family are members 
of the Old School Presbyterian Church. 

Albert L. Erwin, although a young man, is 
already recognized as a progressive and substan- 
tial merchant of Des Arc and has achieved a place 
among the business men of the county by no means 
an inferior one and one in which many older in 
years and experience might well feel proud to 
occupy. He has spent his life and received his 
education in Des Arc, his birth occurring here 
January 1, 1864, and he is a son of A. S. and 
Lucy Erwin, a sketch of whom appears in this 
work. Besides attending the schools of his native 
town he was also an attendant of Batesville College 
and after clerking in his father's store some time 
he formed a partnership with B. B. Bethel & Co., 
and was associated with this firm for two years. 
He then began liusiness for himself and now has 
one of the best and most complete establishments 
in the county. His store is a long two-story brick 
110x30 feet an<l is well fitted to .supply the wants 
of the jjublic. He has been married since Septem- 
ber 20, 1885, to luta Ward, a native of Winona, 
Miss., where she was also reared and educated, 
being an attendeut of the Ward Seminary, of 
Nashville, Tenn. She died September 22, 1889, 
leaving one son: Benj. A., a child of three years. 
Mr. Erwin is a member of the Presbyterian Chui-ch. 



B. \\. Flinn, M. D. , is a physician and sur- 
geon of ])rominence in Prairie County, Ark., and 
although he is still a young practitioner he has 
been very successful in alleviating the sutferings of 
the sick and afflicted. He was born in Darlington 
District, S. C, February 19, 1861, and is a son of 
Dr. C. J. Flinn, a native of the "Emerald Isle," 
but who was reared and educated in Mississippi. 
He was a man of superior mental endowments, and 
for a number of years was professor in Charleston 
Medical College, becoming well known as an eminent 
physician. In 1869 he moved to Arkansas, and lo 
cated in Lonoke County, and for two years prac- 
ticed his profession at Austin, moving in 1871 to 
Des Are, Prairie County, where he made his home 
xintil his death, November 24, 1884. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Susan A. Hearron, was 
born and reared in South Carolina, and their mar- 
riage also took place in that State. She now 
resides in Des Arc. Dr. B. W. Flinn spent the 
greater part of his youth in Des Arc, and received 
the best educational advantages the town afforded, 
commencing, after reaching a proper age, the study 
of medicine with his father, and took his first 
course of lectures in 1879 in the College of Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons at Baltimore. Diu'ing 1880 
and 1881 he took a course of medical lectures in a 
College of Memphis, Tenn., graduating in the 
spring of 1881, but the following year returned to 
this institution and took the hospital course. He 
then located eight miles south of Des Arc, and has 
since been in active practice in the county, but since 
March, 1884, has been a resident of the town of 
Des Arc. He is a member of the County Medical 
Society, and in 1884 was appointed county medi- 
cal examiner, and still holds this position. He 
was married in Prairie County, March 10, 1886, to 
Miss Lizzie Whyte, a daughter of J. F. Whyte, she 
being a native of this county, and l)y her he has one 
son: Heber, who is eighteen months old. The 
Dr. and his wife are members of the Old School 
Presbyterian Church, and he is a member of the 
K. of H. , and is medical examiner of his lodge. 

F. H. Fransioli is a farmer of Belcher Town- 
ship, Prairie County, Ark., and was born in Wil 
son County, Tenn., in 1851, and was reared to 



e li- 



PKAIlilE COUNTY. 



WM I 



luiinhood in that county, being the thinl cliilil l)()in 
to J. A. aud Mary J. (Tlioniason) Fraiisioli, the 
former a native of Switzerhiiiil. About the year 
1820 he emigrated to America, settling in Mem- 
phis, Tenn., where he engaged in the (jueensware 
business and made his home tor nearly forty years. 
In 1844 he married the daughter of John Thoma- 
son, a native of Mississippi, aud liy her became 
the father of the following family: Josejjhino (who 
is the wife of George Shutt and resides in Wilson 
County, Tenn.), Charles (who died in Arkan.sas 
County, Ark., in 1877) and our subject, F. H. 
Mr. Fransioli died in Cuba in 1858, whither he had 
gone for his health. His widow survives him and 
is a resident of Middle Tennessee. F. H. Fran- 
sioli spent his life, up to 1875, in the State of 
Tennessee, and after tbo year 1870 worked for 
himself, being engaged in farming in Wilson 
County. This occupation ha.s received the greater 
part of bis attention since coming to the State, and 
of his tine farm of OUO acres he has 150 acres un- 
der cultivation. He possesses those advanced 
ideas and j)i'ogres8ive principles regarding agri- 
cultural life which has placed so many men at the 
top round of the ladder, and in looking over his 
well tilled farm we find that his days have not 
been uselessly or idly spent. He has done all in 
his power to promote an interest in the building of 
schools and churches, and has also been interested 
in local politics, being a member of the Democratic 
party. He is a Mason, and his wife, whom he 
married in 1879, and whose maiden name was Lucy 
Tittle, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. She is a daughter of James and Mar- 
garet E. (Hurst) Tittle. 

David Gates, DeVall's Bluff, Ark. A number 
of years passed in sincere and honest endeavor to 
thoroughly discharge every duty in the different 
lines of business to which his attention has been 
directed has contriljuted very materially to the suc- 
cess that has fallen to Mr. Gates' career in life. 
He was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1845, aud 
was the fourth in a family of five children, the 
fruits of the union of Mayer and Henrietta Gates, 
natives also of Bavaria, Germany. The father 
was a stock breeder, a butcher and an extensive 



land owner. He died iu 1S81, and the mother in 
1888, iu their native country. Ferdinand, their 
eldest sou, came to America iu 1855, settled at 
Hickory Plains, Prairie County, Ark., and in 1805 
engaged in business at Des Arc. Later he had 
four stores, one at De Vall's Bluff, another at 
Lonoke, another at Cotton Plant and still another 
at Des Arc. He is closing out the one at Des Arc. 
He is now residing at Memphis. Ho was in the 
service for three years. Isaac, another son, came 
to Prairie County, Ark., iu 185(5, engaged in ped 
dliug until 1805, ahd then engaged as partner 
with his brother Ferdinand. In 1801 he enlisted 
in the Confederate army, was cjuartermaster and 
commissary in Bragg's division, and was wounded 
at Chattanooga and Murfreesboro. He suffered 
from paralysis and died in 1884. David Gates 
came direct to Prairie County, Ark., iu 1857, and 
although but little over twelve years of age he 
commenced working for his brother on a salary. 
He was educated at Hickory Plains, Ark., and in 
1802 he donned his suit of gray, shouldered his 
musket, aud enlisted in (Company A, Col. Glenn's 
regiment of infantry. He [jarticipated in the battle 
of Little Rock, and afterward was placed in Wood- 
ruff's battalion of artillery. He was in the battles 
of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, and was with 
Gen. Price in his raid through Missouri. He sur 
rendered at Marshall, Tex., in 1805, after which 
he returned to Prairie County, but in 1800 went 
to the Lone Star State, where he was engaged in 
the stock business and in running a wagon train. 
In 1808 he returned to I'rairie County, and was 
engaged on a salary for his brother as collector 
and outside manager. They own a stock ranch of 
480 acres, and make a speciality of raising blooded 
stock, especially Hereford and short horned cattle. 
They also raise cotton, corn, millet and peas. 
The subject of this sketch owns individually al)out 
1,200 acres, with 450 acres under cultivation. He 
is also engaged in raising horses. Mr. Gates was 
married in Des Arc in 1881 to Miss Carrie Greer, 
a native of Des Are. They have two children: 
Stella aud Fannie Pearl. Mr. Gates is a member of 
the K. of H. in Brinkley, and is also a member of 
De Vall's Bluff Lodge, No. 41. K. of P. 



® »^ 



'-^ 



700 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Dr. W. K. J. Gibbon, planter and stock raiser, 
Roe, Ark. Every life has a history of its own, and 
although in appearance it may seem to jjossess very 
little to distinguish it from others, yet Dr. Gib- 
bon's career as a planter and physician, as well 
as his experience in the political affairs of the com- 
munity, have contributed to give him a wide and 
popular acquaintance with nearly every citizen of 
Prairie County, if not personally, then by namei 
and serves to make his career a more than ordi- 
nary one. Dr. Gibbon was born in Brunswick 
County, Va., on March 19, 1832, and is the son of 
Thomas Gibbon, who was also a native of the 
Old Dominion, born in 1772. The father was edu- 
cated in his native State, and in 1811 was there 
married to Miss Mary Mabry, who was born in 
Virginia in 1782, and was the daughter of Nathan- 
iel and Dorotha Mabry, early settlers of Virginia. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Gibbon were born eleven chil- 
dren, five of whom lived to be grown: James L., 
Thomas, Lucy J., W. R. J. and Charles. The re- 
mainder died in infancy. The senior Mr. Gil)bon was 
quite a prominent man in Brunswick County, held 
the office of sheriff of the same for two years, and 
filled many other prominent positions. He was in 
the War of 1812, held the position of captain, but 
on account of poor health was released from duty. 
He was member of the Masonic fraternity for about 
fifty years, and held most of the offices in that 
order. He and wife were both members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a jjlanter 
by occupation, and owned about 1,300 acres of land 
at the time of his death, which occurred in July, 
1859. His wife died in 1867. Dr. W. R. J. 
Gibbon received his education in Stony Mount 
Male Academy, Brunswick County, Va. , and the 
Virginia Military Institute, and later attended the 
Medical College of Virginia, graduating during the 
session of 1854-55. In June of the same year he 
immigrated to Fayette County, Tenn. , practiced his 
profession there until December, 1856, when he 
immigrated to Arkansas and located in Monroe 
County, at Indian Bay. He was married April 24, 
1856, to Miss Mary J. Wilie, a native of Pontotoc 
Coimty, Miss., born March 1, 1839, and the daugh- 
ter of Oliver and Susan Wilie. On May 28, 1860, 



a sou, Thomas E., was born to this union, and he 
is now residing at Los Angeles, Cal. He was edu- 
cated at Austin and Lonoke, and has been practic- 
ing law for the past eight years. He is a brilliant 
yoimg man and was elected to the legislature from 
Pulaski County, in 1885 and 1886. Dr. W. R. J. 
Gibbon is an extensive planter and stock dealer by 
occupation, and has about 320 acres of good land, 
with 125 acres under cultivation. He is one of the 
prominent men of Prairie County, has represented 
the same in the legislature, and is at present filling 
that honorary position. He is a member of the 
Blue Lodge, in the Masonic order, and has held 
the office of Master for four years of Lodge No. 
185. He is also a member of the Good Templars' 
lodge, and is a man who takes an interest in all 
laudable enterprises. He and Mrs. Gibbon are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, and both are liberal contril)utor8 to the 
same. 

J. W. Grady is one of the well-known farmers 
and stockmen of Prairie County, and is highly re 
spected and very popular, for his career has been 
of much value to this community, both in material 
affairs, as a public spirited citizen and otherwisii. 
Since 1867 he has resided on his present farm of 
160 acres, seventy acres of which are under culti- 
vation, and has continuously given his attention to 
the calling to which he was reared, that of farming 
and stock raising. After coming into this new 
country, he had many discouragements to over- 
come, and many obstacle.s to meet in securing for 
himself and family a comfortable home, but this 
did not deter him from putting forth every energy 
toward the ambition of his hopes. In his efforts 
he was warmly aided bj' his good wife, whom he 
married in August, 1865, and whose maiden name 
was Sarah J. Collier, a daughter of V. H. and 
Hannah Collier. To Mr. and Mrs. Grady have 
been born eight children: William L., Caroline 
(now Mrs. Petty of Prairie County), James, Anna, 
Francis, Joseph, Mary and Jackson. The mother 
of these chikhen died at her home in Praiiie 
County, in 1887, and the following year Mr. Grady 
espoused Lou E. Petty, a daughter of George I. 
Petty, of Prairie County. Mr. Gradj' is a Demo- 



» "V 



PKAIllIE COUNTY. 



701 



crat, el Master MaHoii, and ho and wife are mem- 
bers of the Baptist Church. He was born in 
Alabama iu IS-tl, aud was the second child born to 
William J. and Caroline E. (Brown) Grady, the 
former of whom was born in the State of North 
Carolina about 1815. He was married there in. 
1835, to a daui^hter of Loroy Brown, a South Caro- 
linian, aud he and his wife became the parents of 
twelve children: Sophia K. (of Texas), J. W. (our 
biographical subject), Samuel H. (who lives in 
Mississippi), Nathaniel (also of Mississippi), Zach- 
ariah T. (of Alabama), Leroy (of Alabama), Car- 
oline E. (Mrs. McKinney, of Alabama), Florence 
(Mrs. Tramell, of Alabama), Frances (who died at 
the age of seventeen years) and three infants (de- 
ceased). Mr. Grady moved to Alabama, shortly 
after he was married and reared his boys to a farm 
life in that State. He was a prominent Mason, and 
besides holding a number of official positions, he 
was Master of his lodge for a number of years. 
He was magistrate iu the town where he lived, and 
was possessed of a keen insight into business, and 
very prosperous in farming. Ho died in Chambers 
County, Ala., in 1880, his wife following him to 
the grave five years later The Grady's are of 
Irish descent, the grandfather, John Grady, hav- 
ing been born in the ''Emerald Isle." In 1861 
J. \\. Grady took up arms in defense of the South, 
and enlisted in Company D, Eighth Confederate 
Cavalry, and was under Wheeler, taking part in all 
the engagements in which the Army of Tennes- 
see participated. 

Thomas F. Greer, farmer, stock raiser and 
ginner, Des Arc, Ark. Tennessee has given to 
Prairie County, Ark., many estimable citizens, but 
she has contributed none more highly respected or 
for conscientious discharge of duty in every relation 
of life, more worthy of respect and esteem than the 
subject of this sketch. He was born January 14, 
182'J. in llhea County, and is the son of William 
and Tern pie (Presley) Greer, both natives of Ten- 
nessee. The father followed agricultural pursuits 
in Tennessee a number of years and then removed 
to Alabama, thence to Arkansas in 1851, and sot- 
tied in Prairie County, where he resided for some 
time. Later he removed to White County. He 



died at the residence of his son, Thomas F., in 
1885, and his wife died two years previous to this. 
Thomas F. Greer's time was divided in early life 
between assisting on the farm and in attending 
school iu Alabama. He remainetl with his parents 
until twenty-one years of age, when he moved with 
them to Arkansas in 1851, engaging in the livery 
busine.ss at Des Arc, aud continuing it until about 
1873. He then bought laud where ho now resides, 
cleared it, and has since added to the same vmtil 
he now is the owner of fi-lO acres of good land, 
with about '250 acres under cultivation. He has a 
good gin, ten or twelve tenement houses, and his 
laud lies about two miles from Des Arc. Mr. 
Greer served about two years in the ordnance de- 
partment of the Confederate army during the war. 
He has Ijoen twice married, lirst alwut 1853 to 
Miss Sarah Goodwin, a native of Middle Tennes- 
see, who bore him four children: Isabella (wife of 
G. W. Blakcmore), Floyd (married, and resides at 
Des Arc, Ark.), Annie (wife of John Thomas) aud 
one died in infancy. Mr. Greer's second marriage 
occurred about 1875, to Mrs. Ellen (Brown) Both- 
ell, a native of Memphis, Tenn., aud the daughter 
of Col. Samuel Brown. To this union have been 
born two children: Daisy and Birdie. Mr. (ireer 
is a member of the Baptist Church and his wife of 
the Old School Presbyterian Church. He is now 
also engaged in the sawmill business. 

J. A. Harr is a real-estate dealer of FairiuDunt, 
Ark., and was born in Maryland in 1854, being the 
fifth child born to Everhard and Martha iCofrtnan) 
Harr, the former of whom was born in I'hiladel 
phia, PeuQ., being one of nine children born to 
Isaiah Harr, an Englishman. Kverhard Harr was 
a manufacturer of edge tools, and after working in 
his native city for many years be moved to Mary 
land. He was born in 17riO, and about 1S35 was 
married, his wife being a native of Philadelphia, 
and a member of the CofFman family of that city. 
Their children wore: Isaiah (who is married and 
lives in Phillipsburg, Peun. ), J. A., Sanford L. (a 
resident of Fairmount, Ark.) and James, Mary. 
Martha and Margaret (deceased). The early days 
of our subject were spent in Marylaiul. and his 
schooling was obtained in the Millersville State 



^i' 



• k^ 



702 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Normal School of Pennsylvauia. After teaching 
school for a number of years he determined to take 
Horace Greeley's advice and "Go West," thinking 
the advantages for a young man of push and enter- 
prise! much better here than there, and in 1877 set- 
tled in the State of Nebraska, in Colfax County. 
In 1882, however, he came to Fairmouut, Ark., 
and has since been actively and successfully en- 
gaged in the real-estate business. He has under 
hi.s control 240,000 acres of land, and in his deals 
commands the public confidence in a marked de- 
gree. He is a director of the Little Rock & Mis- 
sissippi Railroad, and being public spirited and en- 
terprising, is deeply interested in the upbiiilding 
of the coiuity, and is a special advocate of schools 
and churches. He is a Republican in his political 
views. 

John R. Harshaw, merchant, farmer and po.st- 
master, Hickory Plains, Ark. A number of years 
2)assed in sincere and earnest endeavor to thor- 
oughly discharge every duty in the different 
branches of business to which his attention has 
been directed has contriljuted very materially to 
the success that has fallen to Mr. Harshaw's career 
in life. He came originally from Mississippi, 
where his birth occurred in Marshall County, on 
September 4, 1852, and is the son of Daniel Har- 
shaw, a native of South Carolina. When a young 
man the father married Miss Mary N. Dowdle, also 
a native of South Carolina, and they afterward 
moved to Mississippi, where they resided for fifteen 
years. In December, 1852, they moved to Arkan- 
sas, located at Hickory Plains, Prairie County, and 
there the father cultivated the soil for a several 
years. In 1860 he engaged in mercantile pursuits 
with his son at this place and continued business 
here up to 1883. He was postmaster from 1865 up 
to the time of his death and was a man who had 
the confidence and esteem of all. His wife survives 
him at this writing and is now seventy years of 
age. Their family consisted of two sons and five 
daughters, all of whom grew to mature age. One 
sou, Leroy D. , was the second merchant at Hick- 
ory Plains. He went to California for his health 
in 1873 and died there soon after. Thi'ee of the 
sisters are living: Mrs. E. S. Davis (a widow). 



Mrs. A. C. Harrison (also a widow) and Mrs. A. S. 
Reiuhardt (of Des Arc). J. B. Harshaw attained his 
growth and received a good practical education at 
Hickory Plains Academy. He clerked for his father 
until twenty-one years of age, when he took an act 
ive interest in the store and has had charge of the 
business since that time. He has a large and com- 
plete stock of general merchandise, and is doing an 
immense business of about $30,000 annually, and 
handles cotton, etc. He is a clear-headed man of 
business and an excellent manager of all affairs of 
which he has the control; he has enjoyed an unsul- 
lied reputation and has materially helped the gen- 
eral interests and standing of Hickory Plains. He 
is the owner of several farms in this State and coun- 
ty, in all about 5,000 acres of land, and is a man 
whose characteristics of energy, promptness and 
sobriety will always secure success. He was ap- 
pointed postmaster here in 1883 and holds this 
position at the present time. He was married at 
Hickory Plains on May 18, 1876, to Miss Eva 
Burks, a native of Kentucky, who was reared and 
educated near Russellville, Logan County, Ky., 
and who is the daughter of W. I. Burks, now of 
Springfield, Mo. To Mr. and Mrs. Harshaw were 
born five children, who are named as follows: 
Leroy, Mary V., Marion B. , John ii. and Lizzie. 
Mrs. Harshaw is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, South. Mr. Harshaw is a man of 
fine physique, standing six feet one inch, weighs 
275 pounds, and is as pleasant and sociable a gen- 
tleman as one would care to meet. 

A. J. Hendricks, a farmer and stock raiser, 
Hazen, Ark. Mr. Hendricks on starting out in 
life for himself, chose as his calling the piu'suit of 
farming, and not without substantial results. He 
takes a native pride in all that he does, for this 
county has ever been his home, his birth occurring 
in 1849. His father was a native of South Caro- 
lina, was born in 1812, and was married in 1834 
to Miss Rebecca L. Minton, the daughter of S. B. 
Minton, a native of South Carolina. Mr. Hen- 
dricks, Sr. , settled in Arkansas, in 1844, entered 
land, and here reared his family of twelve children, 
all now deceased, with the exception of Matilda, 
A. J., B. F., Rebecca and Naomi. William, the 



•<^|< 



V 



r<,T(S_ 



PKAIRIE COUNTY. 



703 



fiithor. WHS a member of the Primitive Baptist 
Church, was magistrato for years, and took an 
active interest in everything pertaining to the good 
of the county. He died in 1884. The mother is 
still living, and is an honored mcmlx-r of the 
Primitive Baptist Church. A. J. Hendricks com- 
menced life for himself in 1869 as an agricultur- 
ist, and chose for his companion in life. Miss 
Amanda Sparks, daughter of David Sparks. This 
union resulted in the birth of nine children: Leroy 
F., Ernest J. and Purna. Those decea.sed were 
named: Thomas E., Albert A., Luther F., Ari- 
zona, Irene and Ursula. Mr. Hendricks now owns 
a good farm of 150 acres, has sixty-iive under cul- 
tivation, and is one of the progressive agi'iculturists 
of the county. He is a member of the school 
board, and takes a deep interest in all educational 
matters. He is a Democrat in politics. 

James W. Highfill, farmer and stock raiser, 
Hickory Plains, Ark. Mr. Highfill, like many of 
the prominent settlers of Prairie County, is a na- 
tive of North Carolina, his birth occurring in 
Guilford County, November 27, 1848, and is the 
son of D. H. Highfill, a native of North Carolina, 
and Sarah H. (McMichael) Highfill, also a native 
of the same State. The family moved to Tennes- 
see in 1851, settled in Henry County, and there 
resided until 1856, when in the fall of that year, 
they moved to Missouri. One year later they re- 
turned to Tennessee, and the parents now reside 
in ^Veakley County, where they own a good farm. 
J. W. Highfill' s youthful days were divided be- 
tween assisting on the home place and in attend- 
ing school. He remained with his father until 
twenty -one years of age and was married Decem- 
ber 24, 1870, to Miss Tennessee L. Ashby, a native 
of Wilson County, Tenn., and the daughter of 
James W. Ashby. The fruits of this union have 
been eight sons: AVilliam H., Jesse B., Charles L., 
Henry H. , Edwin James, Walter T. , John A. and 
Robert D. They lost one daughter i n October, 1 888, 
at the age of eighteen months. After his marriage 
he followed farming in Henry County, for two years, 
and in January, 1872, moved to Arkansas, locating 
on land adjoining his present property. He has 
a farm of 1(50 acres, with ninety acres under cul- 



tivation, and has six acres in orchanl. Mr. High- 
fill is serving his second term us president of Ag- 
ricultural Wheel No. 2, and he is given a recog 
nized position among the leading agriculturists 
of the township. Ho and Mrs. Highfill are mem- 
bers of the Missionary Baptist Church, and he is 
a deacon in the same. As a citizen, Mr. Highfill 
is respected and esteemed by all acijaainted with 
bim. 

W. W. Hipolite, M. D., Do Vall's BlulT. Among 
the people of Prairie County, as well as surround- 
ing counties, and of the State at largo, the nanre 
that heads this sketch is by no means an unfamiliar 
one. For many years he has been actively on- 
gaged in the practice of his chosen profession, and 
during this time his career as a practitioner and 
thorough student of medicine has won for him no 
less a reputation than has his personal characteris- 
tics as a citizen and a neighbor. He was born in 
Hornellsville, Steuben County, N. Y., August i5, 
1834, and Wius the son of Casimir Vincent Hipolite, 
a native also of New York. The father was the 
son of Vincent Hipolite, a native of France, and at 
one time a surgeon in the French army. After 
leaving the army Vincent Hipolite resivled on the 
Island of Hayti, where he was a large properly 
holder, till the insurrection of 1791, when his pos- 
sessions were confiscated. Owing to the fact that 
he was a physician his life was spared, in order 
that his services might bo utilized in the hospital. 
He succeeded in escaping to New York, in one of 
his own vessels, accompanied by s(>ven of his slaves, 
who still adhered to him. It was dm-ing the resi 
dence of Vincent Hipolite in New York that Cas 
imir Vincent Hipolite, the father of the siiltject of 
our sketch, was born, September 12, 17yti. C. V. 
Hipolite lost by death two wives and all his chil- 
dren by them, excepting a son who died some 
years later. He was married for the third time on 
June 16, 1833, to Nancy Drake, widow of Francis 
Drake, and whose maiden name was Nancy Parsons 
a native also of the same State. To them were 
born three children. Dr. W. W. Hi|K)lite being the 
eldest; the next, Maria Antoinette, who became the 
wife of Dr. F. M. Weller, and died at Evanstoii, 
111. ; the youngest, Leverett Anson Hipolite, is now 



el 



704 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



a resident of Kansas. The occupation of C. V. 
Hijiolite was that of a farmer, which he followed 
in the State of New York till 1851, when ho re- 
moved to Northville, Mich. , and thence, in 1857, 
to Cook County, 111., where he continued his occu- 
pation till 1861. Owing to their advanced age, 
and the fact that they were alone, the father and 
mother of Dr. W. W. Hipolite were then induced 
to make their future home with him, first in Racine 
County, Wis., and then in De Vall's Bluff, Ark., 
where they died, the mother on June 24, 1870, and 
the father in November, ] 874. The early life of 
Dr. W. W. Hipolite was spent on his father's farm, 
where he regularly attended the public school till 
the age of fifteen, when he entered the Academy 
of Fredonia, N. Y., where he remained till the fall 
of 1851, when he accompanied his father's family 
to Northville, Mich. While attending Fredonia 
Academy, he was, on the recommendation of the 
faculty, appointed to take charge of the meteoro- 
logical observations at that point, by authority of 
the Smithsonian Institute of Washington, D. C. 
After his removal to Northville, Mich., he engaged 
in teaching school, and while thus employed com- 
menced the study of medicine under his brother- 
in-law. Dr. P. M. Weller. In due time he entered 
the Medical Department of the University of Mich- 
igan, fi-om which he graduated with honor, March 
27, 1857. After graduation he spent some months 
in the olfice and drug store of Dr. Weller, who had 
iu the meantime removed to Evanston, 111. He 
located in Cook County. 111., in the spring of 1858, 
where he built up a good practice, and remained 
there three years, when he removed to Racine 
County, Wis., and continued to practice his profes- 
sion. In December, 1862, he entered the army as 
assistant surgeon of the Eighteenth Regiment Illi- 
nois Volunteer Infantry, having been commissioned 
as such by Gov. Yates, of Illinois. Soon after 
joining his regiment he wa.s placed in charge of 
the same, the regimental surgeon having been sent 
on duty elsewhere. He was constantly with his 
regiment in its various engagements in Tennessee, 
and later in the Vicksburg campaign. Soon after 
the suiTender of that stronghold he resigned and 
returned to his home, owing to the fact that he 



had become disabled for duty from a severe attack 
of typho malarial fever, followed l)y camp diar- 
rhcea, and his recovery was despaired of. During 
several succeeding months his recovery was slow 
and tedious, and he was unable to engage in busi 
ness. After about one year from the time he left 
the service, his health being sufficiently restored 
to enable him to again take the field, he re entered 
the service by accepting a commission as assistant 
surgeon of the Twenty- ninth Wisconsin Volunteer 
Infantry. From this time till April 9, 1866, when 
he was finally discharged with his regiment, he 
saw much active service, and held many responsi- 
ble positions. At one time he had charge of all 
the reserve artillery, Department of the Gulf, with 
headquarters at Kenner, La. In February, 1865, 
he was ordered to take charge of the hospital prop- 
erty of his brigade, and convey the same to Fort 
Gaines, Mobile Bay. In the execution of this order 
he embarked on board the gulf steamer George 
Peabody, which had on board in all about 1,000 men 
and nearly 200 horses and mules. After crossing 
the bar, at the mouth of the Mississippi River, the 
vessel encountered the most violent storm known 
there for many years, and all the horses and mules, 
excepting four, were put overboard, and eight men 
were lost. It was deemed a marvel that the vessel 
escaped destruction with all on board. Upon his 
arrival at Foi't Gaines, Dr. Hipolite found waiting 
him a commission from President Lincoln, pro- 
moting him to the rank of major of cavalry and 
surgeon of the Eleventh United States Cavalry 
Troops. Prior to this he had successfully passed 
the medical examining board. United States army, 
at St. Louis, before which he was ordered by the 
surgeon-general of the army. He joined his new 
command at Little Rock, Ark. , and served with it 
till April 1, 1865, when the Eleventh, the One Hun 
dred and Twelfth and the One Hundred and Thir- 
teenth Regiments, United States Cavalry Troops, 
were consolidated into a single organization, to be 
known as the One Hundred and Thirteenth United 
States Cavalry Troops, and he was retained as the 
surgeon of the new regiment, and was commis- 
sioned as such by President Lincoln. In the fall 
of 1865 he was made post- surgeon at De Vall's 



PRAIRIE COUNTY. 



705 



Bluff, Ark., and took charge of the large hoflpitals 
at that post, aud continued in charge until hi.s final 
muster out. He was also surgeon- in-chief of White 
River District, which embraced a wide extent of 
territory. Upon leaving the army the Doctor re- 
sumed his practice in Wisconsin, where he re- 
mained till the spring of 1870, when he removed 
from Racine, Wis., to DeVall's Bluff, Ark., whore 
he has continued to practice to the present time. 
He is regarded as one of the leading physicians of 
his State, and has held many responsible positions. 
He is the regularly commissioned surgeon of most 
of the various life insurance companies doing busi- 
ness there, and also of the Memphis & Little Rock 
Railway. He is the president of Prairie County 
Medical Society, a member of the Arkansas State 
Medical Society, and, by appointment from that 
organization, has for several years been a member 
of the board of visitors to the Medical Department 
of the Arkansas Industrial University ; and was a 
delegate to the Ninth International IMedical Con- 
gress, which met in Washington, D. C. , in 1887. 
He is a Republican in politics; has been a member 
of the town council for a number of terms, and is 
at present president of the school board. While a 
resident of Cook County, 111., he was married, in 
Chicago, to Maria Jane Parker, seven years his 
junior, a native of Canada, and the daughter of 
Lott and Roxana Parker, both natives of Massa- 
chusetts. The parents settled in Canada East, 
where the father engaged in farming. In the 
spring of 1880, being left alone, they left their 
lifelong homo in Canada, and removed to De Vall's 
Bluff, to be with their two daughters, Mrs. A. W. 
Socy being a sister of Mrs. Dr. Hipolite. The 
mother died in 1882, and the father still lives at 
the advanced age of eighty-five years. To Doctor 
and Mrs. Hipolite have been born five children. 
The first, Carrie Lorena, died at the age of five 
years aud seven months, at De Vall's Bluflf, while 
he was in charge of the post hosi)ital there, the 
mother aud children having gone there to spend 
the winter with him. The next, Fred A., is at- 
tending the Medical College at Little Rock, and 
expects to graduate in the spring of 1890. The 
third. Walter H., is a civil engineer and a fine 



draughtsman. Both sons attended school at Lit- 
tle Rock and at the Arkansas Industrial University, 
located at Fayt-tteville. Carrie Lorena, the only 
daughter now living, was named after the first- 
born, which died as stated. She is now the wife 
of T. J. Owen, a druggist at De Vall's Bluff. 
Charles Edward, the youngest, will be nine 
years of age on the last day of January, 18'.K). 
The Doctor owns a fine residence, and has one of 
the best equipped offices in his State. He still 
owns the mare "Dixie," now twenty-eight y(!ars 
old, on which he rode during the last year of liis 
service in the army. 

H. W. Holmes, druggist, Hazen, Ark. Mr. 
Holmes established the drug business in Hazen in 
April, 1889, and his accuracy and skill in this par- 
ticular branch of industry, have won the confidence 
of the public, and he already commands a good 
trade. He came to Prairie County, Ark., in the 
fall of 1870, from Alabama, and here he has since 
resided. He owes his nativity to Madison County, 
Ala., where his birth occurred in 1851, and is the 
oldest in a family of three cliildren, the fruits of 
the union of D. K. and Virginia A. (Ruth(>rford) 
Holmes, natives of Virginia and Alabama, resjieet- 
ively. The father was reared in Lexington, Ky., 
read medicine in Na.shville, Tenn., ami took a 
medical course at that place, after which he prac- 
ticed his profession for over twenty-five years. 
He has now retired, and resides at Hazen. His 
excellent wife departed this life in Jackson County, 
Ala., in 1861. H. W. Holmes remained in Ala- 
bama until twenty years of age. and received his 
education in the schools of Jackson County. He 
came with his father to Arkansas in 1870, and 
here he commenced clerking in a dry-goods stor(>, 
at Des Arc, Prairie County, remaining in that city 
for about seven years. In 1884 he came to Hazen, 
and was engaged as book keeper for Curtis & Co., 
general merchants, following this business for dif 
ferent firms, until he engaged in the drug business, 
in 1889. He was married in Des Arc, in 1882, to 
Miss Mamie Thompson, a native of South Caro 
lina, and the daughter of William and Elizabeth 
A. (West) Thompson, natives, respectively, of 
North Ireland and South Carolina. Mr. Thomp- 



>>• 



706 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



son came to this county in about 1872, and here 
his death occurred in 1887. Mrs. Thompson is now 
residing in Dos Arc. To the union of Mr. and 
Mrs. Holmes have been born three living childi-en : 
William T., Daniel K. and Annie Pearl. Henry 
W. died in February, 1888, at the age of two 
years and six months. Mr. Holmes is Democratic 
in his political views, and takes considerable inter- 
est in politics. He was recorder of Hazen for a 
number of years, and is also a member of the 
school board. He is a member of the K. of H., 
Hazen Lodge No. 3135, and was charter member 
and Reporter of the same. Mrs. Holmes is a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Holmes was 
the founder of Hazen Free Press, and bad charge 
of it for some time, but recently sold out. He 
piirehased the outfit and moved it to Hazen. 

Simeon Home, retired. The life record of this 
gentleman will prove of more than usual interest, 
for his career has been of much benefit and influ- 
ence among the people with whom he has resided, 
not only of Prairie County, but throughout the 
State. He was born in Jones County, Ga., Aiigust 
8, 1818, and is a son of Simeon and Elizaljeth 
(Bloodworth) Home, natives of North Carolina, 
who moved from Bibb County to Georgia at an 
early day. Here Simeon Home, Sr., made a farm, 
near where Gordon Station is now situated, and on 
this farm reared his family and made his home 
until his death, in 1819, his wife surviving him a 
number of years. She moved with her family to 
Middle Tennessee, aboiit the year 1826, and here 
died two years later, in Rutherford County. Simeon 
Home, our subject, was the youngest of a family 
of eight children and was reared to the age of four- 
teen years in Tennessee going, in 1832, to Tipton 
(Jounty, with an older brother, where he attained 
his majority. He learned the earitenter's and 
))uilder's trade in this county and after moving to 
Memphis, in 1844, worked at his trade there until 
his removal, in 1856, to Arkansas. He settled on 
a farm near Des Arc, in White River Township, 
and up to 1 881 was actively engaged in farming 
and also contracting and building, but at this date 
gave up farm work and moved to Des Arc, where 
he has since made his home. His ability and skill 



as a mechanic is shown by the buildings which he 
has erected, among which may be mentioned the 
county court house, the Presbyterian Church, num- 
erous stores, county bridges, etc. His labors have 
been attended with excellent results, and in addi- 
tion to owning 400 acres of fine farming land, with 
about 140 acres under cultivation, he owns a good 
drug store in Hazen and some valuable town prop 
erty in Des Arc. He was married in Tipton Coun- 
ty, Tenn., about 1841, to Maria, a daughter of 
Arthur F. Wooten, who died in that county, and 
he was next married in Memphis, to Sarah C, a 
daughter of Tillman Bettis, their union taking 
place October 10, 1848. Her death occurred in 
Prairie County, Ark., in August, 1880, leaving, be- 
sides her husband, two sons and two daughters to 
mourn her loss, their names being: E. P. (the 
widow of A. M. Morrow). Rev. T. J. (a minister 
of the Presbyterian Church), W. A. (a farmer of 
this county), and Elizabeth (wife of Dr. W. F. 
Williams, of Hazen). One son, Samuel B. , died in 
1883, after reaching mature years. Mr. Home 
married his present wife in Des Arc, in 1881, she 
being Mrs. Mahala (Jackson) McLaren, a native 
of Tennessee, who came to Arkansas after reach- 
ing womanhood. Mr. Home and his wife are 
members of the Presbyterian Church, in which he 
is an elder, and he has been a member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity since 1839, and is now a Royal 
Arch Mason. In 1862 he joined Col. Lemoyne's 
regiment of infantry and served on detached duty 
as regimental quartermaster, until his regiment 
was disbandc^l. He re enlisted in 18f)4, becoming 
a member of Col. Davie's battalion, and was with 
Price on his memorable raid through Missouri. 
His company was disbanded at Clarksville, Tex., 
in 1865. 

William A. Home is a prosperous farmer and 
stockman of Prairie County, and was born in Mem- 
phis, Tenn., December 12, 1851, being a son of 
Simeon Home, a sketch of whom appears in this 
work. William A. Home came to Arkansas with 
his parents when a child of five years, and his 
knowledge of the world was only such as could be 
learned on the home farm until he attained his ma- 
jority. On December 22, 1874, he was married to 



^-. 

" 



^k 



PRAIEIE COUNTY. 



707 



Miss Sarah L. Fliiiii, sister of Dr. riiiiii, n druggist 
of Des Arc, bor birth having occurred in the " Tal- 
iimtto State." She wa.s brought by her parents to 
Arkansas when a miss of eleven years, and was 
here roared to womanhood and received her educa- 
tion. After their marriage she and Mr. Home 
located on a farm near Des Arc, and this occupa- 
tion has received Mr. Horue's attention up to the 
present time, but since 1886 they have been resid- 
ing in Des Arc, in order to give their children the 
advantages of the town schools. Their farm com- 
prises 300 acres of land, of which 150 are under 
cultivation, furnished with good buildings, fences, 
orchards, etc. , and, in addition to attending to his 
land, Mr. Home gives considerable attention to 
raising horses and mules, in which ho has boon 
very successful. He has served in the capacity of 
magistrate, is a member of the K. of H. , and be- 
longs to the Famous Life Association of Little 
Rock, and the Mutual Life Association of Now 
York. He and wife have a family of seven chil- 
dren: Irene, Oscar C, William Flinn, Nir.a H. , 
Simeon, Wigfall and Faber. 

F. P. Hurt was the first man to settle on the 
present site of Hazen, Ark. (November, 187B), and 
is now express agent at that plac(>. He was born 
in Tipton County, Tenn., and is the youngest of 
four sons born to S. T. and M. C. (Holler) Hurt, 
both of whom wore born in the " Old North State," 
the former's birth occurring in 1809 and the lat- 
ter's in 1811. Their union was consummated on 
June 2, 1844, in the State of Tennessee, and 
there they reared a family of five children, whose 
names are as follows: Texana (who was liorn in 
1845 and died in 1846), James N. (who was born 
in 1840 and died the same year), Spencer T. (born 
June 1, 1850, and died in ISS'2), Kufus K. (born 
in 185'2 and died the following year) and F. V. 
(whose birth occuiTod in October, 1854). Mr. 
Hurt died in 1855, and his widow still survives 
him and is a resident of Hazen, Ai-k. F. P. Hurt 
has been a resident of Hazen since 1871, at which 
time there was only one dwelling house and a log 
house in the place, and for six years after locating 
was engaged in merchandising, but for some time 
past has been agent for the Southern Express Com- 



pany, which position keeps hinj fully employiul as 
the place has grown and improved very rapidly. 
Since 1881 Mr. Hurt has boon married to Miss So- 
Ionia E. Price, a daughter of F. F. Price. She 
was born in Prairie County, and is th(^ mother of 
three children: Birdie A., Sophia S. and Carrie F. 
B. U. Joidiins is the popular druggist and 
postmaster of Barrettsville, and although a native 
born resident of the State of Mississippi, ho has 
been a resident of Prairie County, Ark., since 
1868. His father, J. J. Jenkins, was bom in 
South Carolina in 1819, and was a son of Benja- 
min and Frances Jenkins. His youth was spent 
in his native State, but when a young man he re- 
moved to Northeast Mississippi, and there re- 
mained engaged in farming for about sixteen years. 
He was married in this State about IHA'l to Miss 
Mary Guess, a daughter of Richard and Jane 
Guess, who were native Alaljamians. Mr. and 
Mrs. Jenkins reared a family of eight children: 
Frances J. (died when a young lady), B. K.. 
James (who is also deceased), Jack A. (a rosidont 
of Lonoke County, Ark.), Mary (deceased), Cath 
erine (Mrs. Morgan, resides in Prairie County), 
Anna (Mrs. (Jhatlin, also resides in this county) 
and Amanda (deceased). In 1857 Mr. Jonkins ro 
moved his family to White County, Ark., ami 
after his wife's death, in 18A0, he married Mrs. 
Nancy Jackson, and by her roared a family of 
eight children: George W., John H., Samuel H.. 
David S., Charloj', Josephine, Thomas and Bottio. 
After rositling in AVhito County for about ^n 
years, he came to Prairie County, and is here re 
siding on a farm. He is a Mason, and in his \w 
litical opinion is a Democrat. B. R. Jonkins has 
been educated in Arkansas, and in IStiT was 
united in marriage to Miss Louisa Haglo, l)ut tlioy 
parted by mutual consent after living together for 
one year. Mr. Jenkins has lioon a resident of 
Prairie County for twenty one years, and for six- 
teen years was a farmer, but since ]SS(i has boon 
engaged in the drug business at Barrettssville. and 
has l)een postmaster of that placi> since 1SS7. Ho 
owns KiO acres of land, and lias forty acres luidor 
caltivation. He is a mombor <>f the Bajilist 
Church. 



li£. 



708 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Henry C Jewell is a prosperous agriculturist 
of this region, and owing to having been a fol- 
lower of the Golden Rule, he has received the es- 
teem of his fellow- citizens. Owing to his having 
spent his early life on a farm, and to his advanced 
and progressive ideas he has done not a little to 
advance the farming interests hereabouts, and his 
farm, comprising 160 acres, is one of the best 
tilled in this section. He has about eighty acres 
under cultivation, and his residence is comfortable 
and his outbuildings substantial. He was born in 
Nelson County, Ky. , September 27, 1832, and is 
a son of James and Nancy (Higdon) Jewell, who 
were born, reared and married in the "Blue Grass 
State." In 1839 they moved to Indiana, and 
opened up a farm in Vigo County, here spending 
the rest of their days, the mother's death occur- 
ring in March, 1845, and the father's in January, 
1862. Henry C. Jewell's youth was spent in the 
Hoosier State, and until he was twenty years of 
age, he made his home with his father, going then 
to Illinois, and worked on a farm in Coles County. 
Here he was married on April 10, 1857, to Nancy 
Tilley, a native of Indiana, and a daughter of 
Moses Tilley, and began farming for himself, con- 
tinuing to make Coles County his home until 1870, 
when he sold out and moved to Arkansas, and has 
since been a resident of his present farm. He and 
his wife are the parents of the following children: 
Leonard (who is married and lives in Arizona Ter- 
ritory), Emma (wife of Thomas Chandler), Stephen 
E. (also in Arizona), James, Rachel and Herschel. 

Dr. B. F. Johnson has been engaged in the 
drug business in Des Arc since 1860, and the stock 
of goods which he carries is only to be found in a 
well-kept, reliable drug store. He was born in 
Prince George's County, Md. , July 19, 1836, and 
is a son of Lloyd Johnson and Elizabeth (Walker) 
Johnson, who were also born in Maryland, the 
father being a farmer of Prince George's County 
until his death, in December, I860, his wife's 
death occurring several years earlier. Dr. Johnson 
grew to manhood in Maryland, and when a young 
man began learning the drug business in a store in 
Washington, D. C, but after his father's death he 
came West and located at Des Arc, where he en- 



gaged in the printing and newspaper business, 
having charge of a paper for two years, at which 
time the Federal soldiers took the office from him. 
In 1866 he engaged in the drug business, buying 
out an established store, and since that time he has 
devoted his attention to this work, with the excep- 
tion of two years, when his property was destroyed 
by lire. The following two years were spent in 
general merchandising, after which he resumed the 
drug business, and his stock now includes drugs 
of all kinds, paints, oils, etc. The Doctor was 
married at West Point, White County, Ark., De- 
cember 21, 1865, to Miss Alice Bradshaw, a daugh- 
ter of W. H. Bradshaw, of White County. She 
was born in Dresden, Tenn. , but was reared and 
educated in White County, Ark. Her union with 
the Doctor has resulted in the birth of sis children: 
Jessie (who died when she was six years old), Boyd 
B. , May, Eva, Herbert and Zuma. Dr. Johnson 
and his wife are members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, and he belongs to the Masonic frater- 
nity and the Knights of Honor. 

John R. Johnson, farmer and ginner. Hickory 
Plains, 4-i"k- There are a number of men promi- 
nently identified with the agricultural affairs of 
this county, but none among them are more de- 
serving of mention than Mr. John R. Johnson, 
who was born in Randolph County, N. C, March 
30, 1839. His parents, Joseph and Katie (Brower) 
Johnson, were both natives of North Carolina and 
were married in that State. The parents moved 
to Tennessee about 18-12, locating in Decatur 
County, and there tilled the soil until 1876, when 
he moved to Arkansas. He located in Sebastian 
County and resides there at the pi-esent time. His 
first wife died in 1878. John R. Johnson remained 
in Tennessee until sixteen years of age and in 
1857 moved to Arkansas, locating at Fort Smith, 
where he resided for about fourteen months. He 
came to Hickory Plains in 1859 and was one of the 
early settlers. In 1861 he enlisted in the Con 
federate army. Fourth Independent Arkansas 
Battery as a private and was promoted to the rank 
of second lieiitenant after the battle of Murfrees- 
boro. Afterward he was on detached duty for 
twelve months on the Alabama Railroad and served 




IF 




WoDDRUFf County , Arkansas. 



'k 



PRAIRIE COUNTY. 



711 



all through the war. He participated in the battles 
of Wilson's Creek, Richmond, and Miirfreesboro. 
After the war he returned to Hickory I'laina. He 
followed the carpenter' s trade, working at the same 
during 18CG-G7, at Little Rock and in 1807 began 
merchandising in Pulaski County. In 1808, 1809 
and 1870 he worked at his trade in Prairie Coun- 
ty, and many monuments of his handiwork are 
still standing in the county, especially in Hickory- 
Plains and vicinity. In 1870 he began selling 
goods hei e, and two years later engaged in tilling 
the soil, which occupation he has since carried on. 
He has 240 acres of land with about 14r) cleared, 
has good buildings and is in a very prosperous con- 
dition. He built a gin in 1880, has good new 
machinery and is doing a good business. He is 
the owner of six acres of land where his gin is 
located and also has several lots in Des Arc. Mr. 
Johnson was married in Prairie County, Ark. , in 
1868, to ]\Iiss Fannie Holloway, a native of Fayette 
County, Tenn. , but who was reared and educated 
in Hickory Plains. She is the daughter of John 
Holloway. Mr. Johnson is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity. Hickory Plains Lodge No. 95, 
and is Junior Deacon and Past Master in the same. 
He was one of the original founders of the Wheel 
organization and was twice unanimously elected 
president of the State Wheel. He was appointed 
and is one of the county commissioners. In 1SS8 
he was doorkeeper of the house of representatives 
and in 1889 was appointed by the Governor for the 
Second Congressional district to the Farmers' 
Agricultural Congress. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are 
members of the Old School Presbyterian Church 
and he is an elder in the same. 

Charles F. King is one of the sturdy and inde- 
pendent tillers of the soil of Arkansas, and his 
property has been acquired by his own good man- 
agement and industry. Like so many native Vir- 
ginians he displays in his business operations 
those sterling principles, which mark him as one of 
the leading men of the county, and he is noted for 
his progiessive views. His birth occurred near 
Petersburg, March 31, 1809, and he is a son of 
Elisha King, who was also a Virginian and served 
in the American Revolution, entering the army 



when quite young and serving throughout the en- 
tire war. At (he age of eighteen years he was 
married in his native State to Miss Priscilla But- 
ler, also of that State, and there they resided un- 
til their respective* deaths. Charles F. Kiug grew 
to manhood in the Old Dominion, jjut removed to 
Tennessee in 1830 and located at Memphis, near 
which plac(< ho farmed for a number of years, then 
became conductor on the Charleston Road, continu- 
ing as such three years. He came to Ai-kansas in 
1850 and settled in Prairie County, in the neigh- 
borhood of where he now lives, there being very 
few settlers in this section at that time. The farm 
which he first purchased was slightly im[)roved, but 
this he afterward sold, and bought his present 
property which consists of 170 acres, sixty of which 
he is engaged in tilling. He was married in Ten- 
nessee to Miss Lucy Bettis, a native of that State, 
and bj' her has the following children: Charles 
Tillman (who is married) and Agnes (wife of J. B. 
Stallings). Mr. and Mrs. King are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church and he belongs to 
the I. O. O. F. Charles King, his son, was bom 
near Memphis, Tenn., June 1, 1850, and when an 
infant was brought by his parents to Arkansas, 
and in Prairie County he grew to manhood and 
was educated. He was married in White County 
May 3, 1877, to Miss Bettie Benge, a native of 
Mississippi, l)ut who received the principal part 
of her rearing in Arkansas. After their marriage 
they lived in Beebe for about one year, and since 
that time have resided on the farm with th^r 
father, C!harles F. King, and our subject is en- 
gaged in ()])erating his cotton-gin. He and Mrs. 
King are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church and are the parents of three childri'n: 
Thomas O., Jennie L. and Esther I. 

John W. KnaufT, farmer, Des Arc. Ark. No 
where in Prairie County is to be found a man of 
more energy or determined will or force of charac- 
ter, than Mr. KnaufF jtossesses, and no agricultur- 
ist is deserving of greater success in the conduct 
and management of a farm than he. Farmville. 
Prince Edwards County, Va.. was the .scene of his 
birth, the same occurring mi March 19, 183(5, and 
he is the son of G. Philip KnaulT, a native of Ger- 



t 



'*4* — ^ 



712 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



many, and Ann E. (Bondurant) Knauff, who was 
of French Huguenot descent. The parents were 
married in Virginia, and the father was a merchant 
and importer of musical instruments, doing busi- 
ness at Farmville for a number of years. His 
death occurred in 1855. His wife had died pre- 
vious to this, shortly after the birth of the subject 
of this sketch. John W. Knauff passed his youth- 
ful days in Prince Edward County, and received a 
good education at Hampden Sidney College. He 
left college after completing his junior year, on 
account of the death of his father, and engaged in 
teaching in Virginia for about two years, when he 
retui-ned to college and graduated with honor. In 
the fall of 1858 he came West, to Arkansas and was 
the first engaged as principal of the male academy 
at Searcy, where he remained five months. He 
then returned to Virginia, and there remained until 
March, 1859, when he came to Des Arc, where he 
continued his former occupation of teaching near 
that town until 1861. In August, of that year, 
he enlisted in the Confederate army. First Arkan- 
sas Mounted Rifles, Col. Churchill's old regiment, 
and served until peace was declared. He was dis- 
banded and paroled at Greensboro, N. C, on May 
1, 1865. He enlisted as a private and musician, 
Imt no regimental bands lieing allowed in the Con- 
federate army and the band to which he belonged 
being unwilling to serve as brigade band, each 
member of his band was required to serve as litter 
bearer or go in the ranks in time of an engagement. 
He always took a musket and was wounded three 
times in Johnston's retreat from Dalton to Atlanta, 
Ga. , but refused to be sent to a hospital, his wounds 
not preventing his marching. He took part in the 
following battles: Oak Hill, Pea Ridge and many 
skirmishes; was then transferred to the east side of 
the river, and participated in the battles of Chicka- 
mauga, Murfi-eesboro, Richmond (Ky.), and all the 
fights in and around Atlanta. He was wounded 
slightly at Atlanta (Resaca), but was not disabled 
from service. After the war he returned to Prairie 
County, Ark., engaged in agricultural pursuits, and 
also taught school, continuing the last-named occu- 
pation up to the present time. He was married 
hen; on May 17, 1868, to Miss Emma P. Williams, 



a native of Alabama, although reared principally 
in Prairie County, and the daughter of Elijah 
Williams. The fi'uits of this union have been seven 
children: Guy W., O. O. , Emma Irene, Baxter T. . 
Philip W., Hubert A. and John De W. Mr. Knauff' 
served one term as magistrate, and is a man uni 
versally respected. 

Dr. William Lee is a physician of acknowledged 
merit in Prairie County, and the restoration of 
hundreds to health and happiness is due to his 
skill and talent. He was born in Graves County, 
Ky. , February 20, 1832, and is the son of Gen. 
Joshua and Nancy (Markham) Lee, both of whom 
are Virginians by birth. The father moved to the 
Blue Grass State in his early manhood, and was a 
successful tiller of the soil in Graves County for a 
number of years, or until 1845, when he moved to 
Arkansas, and for some time followed the plow in 
Independence County, near Batesville, on the old 
Independence road. Later he engaged in steam- 
boating on the White River, but after following this 
occupation for a few years he decided that farming 
was more congenial to his tastes, as well as more 
remunerative, and he resumed agriculture. About 
this time reverses overtook him, and he disposed of 
his property here and moved to Louisiana, where 
he set energetically to work to retreive his fortunes, 
and succeeded in doing so to some extent, and at 
the time of his death was the possessor of a com- 
fortable competency. He died in 1855, his wife's 
death occurring in 1853. Dr. William Lee removed 
with his parents to Louisiana, and after reaching 
mature years determined to see a little of the world, 
and traveled over the greater portion of Louisiana, 
Texas and Georgia. Having always been pos- 
sessed with a desire to study medicine, he began a 
systematic course of reading at Des Arc, under Dr. 
E. P. Nicholson and Dr. Burney, and in 1866 lo- 
cated six miles west of Des Arc, and has been an 
able practitioner of the county ever since. In con- 
nection with his practice he has been engaged 
in managing his small farm, situated about five 
miles west of the town, but recently rented his 
property and moved to this place. He joined the 
Confederate service in 1861, becoming a member 
of Gen. P. R. Clebiune's regiment, and from a 



l^ 




sergeant was promoted to the rank of captain in 
the Trans-Mississippi Departments, Comi)aiiy F, 
of Ganse's regiment. He was a member of Cle- 
burne's regiment until after the battle of Mission- 
ary Ridge, and during his term of service was in 
the tights at Scottsville (Ky.), Shiloh and Prairie 
Grove; in this engagement he received a wound in 
the lower part of the left leg, and after recovering 
somewhat, was transferred to the cavalry, and was 
with Price on his raid through Missouri. At the 
close of the war he returned to Des Arc, and here 
has since made his home. A year after his re- 
moval to Prairie County, Ark., or in June, \Si>d, he 
was married to Miss Mary Lee, a daughter of John 
Lee. She was born and reared in Prairie County, 
and here died on February 20, 1876, having be- 
come the mother of four children by the Doctor : 
Martha Ann (wife of Henry Boggs, of Utah), John 
M. (married and residing on the farm), Elizabeth 
and Thomas B. In December, 1885. the Doctor 
was married to Mrs. M. E. (Jones) Whitlock, a na- 
tive of Arkansas, being here reared and educated, 
and a daughter of Abner P. Jones. The Doctor 
belongs to the Prairie County Medical Society. 

William B. Lumpkin. The amount of land 
which this gentleman has in his possession com- 
prises 520 acres in four different farms, and of the 
entire amount he has 300 acres under cultivation, 
and all his property well improved with good build- 
ings. Since 1886 he has been residing in Des Arc, 
where he owns some valuable property, but he con- 
tinues to manage his farm, and has been more suc- 
cessful than the average. He was born in Law- 
rence County, Tenn., April 14, 1S40, and is a son 
of J. B. Lumpkin, a native of North Carolina, who 
came west with his ])arents to Tennessee when a 
small lad, and was here reared to manhood, edu- 
cated and married, his wife's maiden name being 
Betsey Bryant, a native of North Carolina. After 
his marriage Mr. Lumpkin moved to Shelby Coun- 
ty, but afterward settled permanently in Tipton 
County, where he is now residing at the age of 
seventy-six years, his wife's death having occurred 
herein 1870. William B. Lumpkin grew to ma- 
turity in Tennessee, and until he attained his 
majority made his home with his father. In the 



latter part of 1861 ho enlisted in the Confederate 
army. Fifty first Tennessee Infantry, Company B, 
and of his company, which consisted of 104 men, 
he and one other man were the only ones not killed 
or woundtMl. He enlisted as a private, but became 
a non-commissioned officer, and took part in the 
battles of Chickainauga, Franklin, and was in the 
retreat from ('hattauooga to Atlanta. At the fall 
of Fort Henry he was captured, and for nine 
months was ke])t in cai)tivity at Alton, HI., and 
after being exchanged rejoinctd his regiment, and 
at the final surrender was at home on furloui'h. 
He then settled down in Shelby County, and was 
engaged in farming up to 1879, when he sold out, 
and moved to Arkansas, locating in Prairie County, 
near Des Arc, his first purchase of land being 160 
acres. He was married in Shelby County. Tenn., 
July 24, 1870, to Miss Nannie J. Yancey, a native 
of luka. Miss. , a daughter of James Yancey, but 
her demise occurred on October 15, 1884, leaving 
besides her husband, to mourn her loss, a family 
of four children: Tellie, Thomas B. and Calvin P. 
Saddle died in September, 1887, at the age of 
thirteen years. Mr. W. B. Lumiikin is a member 
of White River Lodge of the Masonic fraternity. 
Prof. Hugh McQ. Lynn, the well-known post- 
master of Des Are, Ark., was born in Chester 
County, S. C, April 10, 1837. and is a son of 
John and Elizabeth (McQuiston) Lynn, also na- 
tives of the Palmetto State, where they were 
reared, educated and married. In December. 1887. 
they moved to Tennessee, and settled in Tipton 
County, where the father followed agricultural 
pursuits until his death in January, 1886, his wife 
following him to the grave in April, 1889. Prof. 
Lynn's early youth was spent in Tipttm County, 
and he acijuired an education far beyond the aver- 
age farmer's boy, owing to the fact that he was 
studious and persevering, and received superior 
advantages. He entered Erskine College, S. C, 
and graduated from this iustitutioa when twenty- 
two years of age, after which he engaged in teach 
ing in Tipton County, holding the position of 
principal of an academy. After coming to Ar- 
kansas, in 1872, he engaged in teaching school in 
Lonoke County, coutinuiu^ one year, then fol- 



T' 



^1 



>*•. 



714 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



lowed the same occupation in Des Arc for nine 
years, and also taught for some time at Hazen. 
He is an educator of more than local celebrity, and 
up to the spring of 1889 his entire time and at- 
tention was given to his profession, but since then 
he has held the position of postmaster of Des Arc, 
l)ut only entered actively upon his duties on Sep- 
tember 1, 1889. He was married in Tennessee, 
April 10, 1802, to Miss Martha S. Simpson, a 
native of that State, and by her became the father 
of two sons and one daughter: Dr. J. R. (of 
Hazen), W. C. (a book-keeper by profession) and 
Nannie E. (a young lady, and Mr. Lynn's princi- 
pal assistant in the postoffice). At the opening of 
the Civil War, Mr. Lynn espoused the Confederate 
cause, and in May, 1861, joined the Ninth Ten- 
nessee Infantry, as a private, and served until the 
close of the war, being paroled at IMemphis, Tenn., 
in July, 1865. He was in the lights at Chicka- 
mauga and Franklin, but the most of the time 
served on detached duty in the ordnance depart- 
ment. Prof. Lynn has shown his brotherly spirit 
by becoming a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
and the K. of H. , and in the former organization 
has attained the Royal Arch degree, and has been 
Worshipful Master and High Priest, and in the latter 
order is Past Dictator. He and family are mem- 
bers of the Old School Presbyterian Church, and 
he is an elder in the same. 

Robert C. McCarley. From this brief review 
of the life of Mr. McCarley it will be seen that his 
time has not been uselessly or idly spent, but that 
he has continued to "pursue the even tenor of his 
way," and is now ranked among the prosperous 
and enterprising farmers and merchants of the 
county. He was born in Lauderdale County, Ala. , 
May 12, 1883, and he is the second in a family of 
five children, four sons and one daughter, born to 
the marriage of Thomas McCarley and Margaret 
Sturgeon, the former a native of Alabama, and the 
latter of Tennessee. They were married in Ala- 
bama, where the mother was reared, and here the 
father's death occurred in 1839, he having been 
a follower of the plow throughout life. His wife 
lived to be seventy-two years old, reared her fam- 
ily, and died in 1886. Robert C. McCarley left 



home after reaching his twentieth year, and began 
clerking in a store in Lauderdale County, continu- 
ing until 1859, when he came to Arkansas, and 
settled at Des Arc, following the same occupation 
here for several years. After embarking in the 
mercantile business on his own responsibility he 
continued this work until the opening of the war, 
and in 1863 joined the Confederate service, Col. 
Dobbins' cavalry, and served as a private until the 
close of the war. Soon after enlisting he was de 
tailed to the adjutant-general's office, but was soon 
after transferred to the quartermaster's depart- 
ment, and served in this capacity during the 
remainder of the war. In January, 1865, he was 
captured while at home on a visit, and was held a 
prisoner at Little Rock until the close of the war, 
being paroled on May 12, 1865. After the war he 
retarned home and clerked for a while, then again 
engaged in business for himself, and since 1879 
has carried an excellent line of general merchan- 
dise. He is the owner of 1,350 acres of land in 
seven different farms, and has about 100 acres un- 
der cultivation ; 800 acres lie near Des Arc, and are 
very valuable. He has been married four times, 
once in Alabama, and three times in Arkansas. He 
has one son by his second wife (Albert by name), 
who is clerking in Des Arc. He married his pres- 
ent wife, Mrs. M. C. (Koonce) Howard, in 1876, 
she being a native of Tennessee, and by her has a 
daughter named Anna, a miss of ten years. Mr. 
McCarley has held a number of local offices, such 
as magistrate and alderman, and has been treasurer 
and mayor of Des Arc. He is an elder in the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church, of which his wife is 
also a member, and he is a Master Mason, and has 
been a member of that order since 1860. He also 
belongs to the I. O. O. F. 

James R. Mallory, merchant, De Vall's BlufP, 
Ark. Among the many industries largely devel- 
oped in De Vall's Bluff within the past years, that 
of merchandising has taken a prominent position, 
as may be seen by the establishment and growth 
of the various houses engaged in this line of enter- 
prise. One of the best-known and most liberally 
patronized establishments in the city of De Vall's 
Bluff is that conducted by Mr. Mallory. This 



^JV*" 



^ 



PRAIllIE COUNTY. 



715 



gentlemaa was bom in Granville County, N. C. , on 
May 25, 1834, and is the son of John Mallory, a 
native of North Carolina, and Mollie (Coleman) 
Mallory, whom he had met in Tennessee. The 
fruits of this union were eififht children, five daugh- 
ters and three .sons: William, Hallie, Eliza, Mary, 
Lucy, Caroline, James R. and John. Mr. Mallory 
was a local minister and was instrumental in or- 
ganizing several churches in North Carolina. He 
died in 1861, and his wife several years previous. 
He was very much interested in educational as well 
as church matters, and contributed liberally to all 
laudable enterprises. James R. Mallory was edu- 
cated in Oxford, N. C, and was there married to 
Miss Luc}' Horner, in November, 1860. This union 
resulted in the birth of two children: Sarah and 
John T. , both of whom reside at home. Mr. Mal- 
lory immigrated from North t'arolina to Arkansas 
in November, 1868, located at De Vall's Bluff, and 
there he has since resided, engaged in mercantile 
pursuits with a stock valued at $10,000. He has 
held the position of coroner for four years and was 
also postmaster for nineteen months. He is a 
member of the K. of H. , and has held the office of 
Reporter of that lodge. He is also a member of 
what is called Iron Hall, located at De Vall's Bluff, 
and is a Freemason, but has not affiliated with any 
lodge in this State. He enlisted in the Confeder- 
ate army, under Cien. Lee, in 1861, and his first 
hard battle was at Richmond, Va. He was com- 
missary of the Fifth North Carolina Regiment 
during service, and was discharged at Appomattox 
Court House, Va. , in 1865. Ho then returned to 
his home and embarked in mercantile ptirsuits, 
which he has since continued. 

Ur. Stephen R. Mason, county treasurer, De 
Vall's Bluff, Ark. There are few men of the 
present day, whom the world acknowledges as suc- 
cessful, more worthy of honorable mention, or 
whose life history affords a better example of what 
may l)e accomplished by a determined will and per- 
severance, than Dr. Mason. He was born in the 
town of Chichester, near Pittslield, Merrimack 
County, N. H., in 1827, and was the fourth in a 
familj' of five children born to the union of John 
and Abigail Amanda (Roby) Mason, natives, also, 



of New Hampshire. The parents were married in 
that State and there the fatlier was an operative in 
a cotton factory until 1835, when he moved to the 
Far West and located in what is now Woodford 
County, 111., near where Metamora is now located, 
and there bought land of the United States and 
improved a farm. In 1840 he moved to Bureau 
County, 111., and there his death occurred in 1S61. 
His (!xcellent wife survived him until 1867. Dr. 
Stephen R. Mason remained on the home farm, 
where the town of Buda is now located, until six- 
teen years of age, and received his education in the 
academy at Princeton, 111. After this he engaged 
in teaching school, and in the meantime read mcfli 
cine with Dr. J. S. Whitmire, at Metamora, in 
1847. He then alternately attended school and 
taught until the fall of 184'J, when he (>ntored 
Rush Medical College, Chicago, 111., and gradu- 
ated therefrom in the class of 1851. He then 
began practicing in Bureau County, near Buda, 
and remained there until 1853, when he located at 
Sheffield, 111. Dr. Mason was married in 1852 to 
Miss Mary A. Brainard, a native* of La Fayette, 
Ohio, and the daughter of Deodatus E. and Sally 
J. (Fry) Brainard, natives of New York. Mr. and 
Mrs. Brainard emigrated to Ohio and settl«>d in 
Medina County at an early date. From there they 
moved to Bm-eau County, 111., in 1841, and here 
the father was occupied in cultivating the soil. 
Both parents are now living, and reside in Buda, 
111. To the Doctor and Mrs. Mason were born 
five children, four now living: Ella Jane (now IVfts. 
W. B. Allen, of Chicago, 111. ), Ida May (now Mrs. 
J. W. Waterman, of Creston, Iowa), Roby E. (was 
an engineer on the Little Rock & Memphis Hail- 
road a numl)er of years, and recently on the Bates- 
ville & Brinkley Railroad, where he was killed by 
the engine being derailed, near Gray Station, on 
July 28, 1888; his widow now resides in Brinkl<<y, 
Ark.), Wilbur J. (is married, resides at De Vall's 
Bluff, and is assistant postmaster at that place) 
and Harry AV. (who is married and resides at Cot- 
ton Plant, Ark. , being railroad agent and operator 
on the Batesvill(> & Brinkley Railroad). The 
mother of thes(> children died in March, 1889, and 
the remains of both mother and son were carried 



IE. 



716 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



to Buda, 111. After his marriage Dr. Mason re- 
sided in Sheffield until coming to De Vall's Bluff, 
in 1873, since which time he has practiced his pro- 
fession. He was first appointed postmaster at De 
vall's Bluff in 1881 (February -t), and served in 
that capacity until the spring of 1886. He was re- 
appointed in August, 1889. He was elected 
county treasurer of Prairie County in 1886, was re- 
elected iu 1888, and is the present incumbent. He 
has been magistrate a number of times, and has 
held various town and school offices; he is also a 
member of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, 
joining the same in 1867, and a member of the 
Southern Homceopathic Association. He is a mem- 
l)er of Ames Lodge No. 142, A. F. & A. M., at 
Sheffield, 111., was made a Mason in 1852 or 1853, 
and has also been a member of the I. O. O. F. 
He was a charter member of De ValFs Bluff Lodge 
No. 2172, Knights of Honor. In 1882 he joined 
the Iron Hall Association, and has drawn one final 
benefit of $1,000, and considers it a good thing. 
The Doctor is independent in his religious views, 
and is willing others should enjoy the same privi- 
lege. 

W. E. Maxwell, merchant and manufacturer, 
De Vall's BlufP, Ark. This gentleman is one of 
the prominent business men of De Vall's Bluff, 
Ark., and his reputation in that capacity is well 
and favorably known throughout the county. He 
was originally from Kentucky, where his birth oc- 
curred in 1852, and is the eldest of a family of six 
children born to the union of J. H. and Mary M. 
((3ole) Maxwell, the father a native of Kentucky, 
and the mother of Pennsylvania. J. H. Maxwell 
was born in Caldwell County in 1822, and was a 
merchant and planter. He was man'ied in 1849 
or 1850 to Miss Cole, who was a descendant of the 
family of that name in Pennsylvania. Mr. Maxwell 
died in 1884 at De Vall's Bluti', Ark. W. E. Max- 
well began business for himself by manufacturing 
handles at Lansing, Mich., in 1875, remaining 
there imtil 1883, when he came to De Vall's Bluff, 
and there, in partnership with Mr. Wells, engaged 
in the mill business under the firm title of Wells, 
Maxwell & Co. This firm is engaged in sawing 
all kinds of lumber, and ships a great deal of oak 



to foreign parts. He is also engaged in merchan- 
dising under the firm title of 'Maxwell & Co., and 
is one of the ablest business men to be found. He 
is the owner of consideraljle town property, and 
owns a 900-acre tract of land in the county. He 
is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Hamilton 
Lodge No. 110, De Vall's Bluff, and is a member 
of the Knights of Pj'thias, White River Lodge No. 
41, of De Vall's Bluff. 

S. A. Minton is a worthy agriculturist of Prairie 
County, Ark., and enjoys to an unlimited extent, 
the confidence and respect of all who know him. 
He has been a resident of the county since 1867, 
and at that date settled on forty acres of land in 
Center Township, and at the present time has 220 
acres, 100 under cultivation. Bom in the State 
of Alabama, in 1844, he is the third child born 
to J. M. and Nancy (Rainwater) Minton, both of 
whom were laorn in the '"Palmetto State," the 
former's birth occurring in 1S18, and the latter's 
in 1816. J. M. Minton settled in Alabama, where 
he followed farming and tanning, and his marriage 
occurred about 1836. After residing in Alabama 
until 18(50, he came to Arkansas and settled at 
Austin, where he worked at the tanner's trade for 
about ten years, then moving to Center Township, 
Prairie County, where he s])ent his declining years, 
his death occurring in 1884. Politically he was a 
Democrat and his wife was a member of the Prim- 
itive Baptist Church. They became the parents of 
the following children: Emily E. (who is the wife 
of R. N. Sparks and resides in Centre Township), 
S. B. (who lives in Hazen Township is married and 
has eight children), S. A. (our subject), Martha G. 
(wife of R. N. Sparks, Sr. ), Adaline (who died 
young), Matilda S. (died in 18()8 in her nineteenth 
year), John P. (who also died in childhood), and 
M. M. T. (an infant, deceased). The mother of 
these children died in the year 1882. The pater- 
nal grandparents, Sylvanus and Jennie Minton, be- 
came the parents of twenty-three or twenty-four 
children. S. A. Minton spent his youth in Ala- 
bama and came with his father to Arkansas in 
1860. The following year he enlisted in Company 
B, Fourth Arkansas Regiment of Infantry, and 
the battles in whicli ho participated were: liich- 



■~® 



x: 



A 



PRAIRIE COUNTY. 



7r 



moucl, Mnrfroesboro, Atliinta, Missionary Ridgo, 
Chickamauga and Fianliliu. Upon returning to 
Arkansas he was married in December, 1800, to 
Miss Nancy A. Douglas, a duuglit(>r of Logan and 
Patience Douglas, and tlie year following moved to 
Prairie County, and as shown above, has become 
a well-to-do farmer. The children born to his 
union are: George J. (who died in 1887), Joseph 
M. (who also died in 1887), Emma C. (who is the 
wife of R. N. Sparks, Jr.), William F., Thomas 
W. , Burrell S. and Ada B. Mr. Minton is a mem- 
ber of the Primitive Baptist Church and is an en- 
terprising and progressive citizen. 

Hon. William L. Moore, retired physician and 
surgeon, Hickory Plains, Ark. A plain untar- 
nished statement of the facts embraced in the life 
of William L. Moore, a man well known to the 
people of Prairie County, Ark., is all that we 
profess to be able to give in this history of the 
county; and yet, upon examination of those facts, 
there will be found the career of one whose entire 
course through the world has been marked with 
singular honesty and Hdelity of purpose, as well as 
sincere and efficient service to those whom he has 
been called upon to represent in different capaci 
ties. He was born in Wilson County, Tenn., near 
Lebanon, on August 29, 1814, and is the son of 
Robert and Ann L. (Duty) Moore, natives of Vir- 
ginia and North Carolina, respectively. The par- 
ents were married in North Carolina, near the line, 
and the father cultivated the soil in Virginia until 
1800, when he moved to Wilson County, Tenn. 
He was in the Creek War, was made major, and 
fell while leading his men at the battle of' Tallade- 
ga. The mother reared the family, and in ISl'J, 
was married the second time, to James L. McDon- 
ald. She then moved to Cotton Grove. Tenn., 
thence to Bolivar to educate her children, and there 
died in 1827. Dr. William L. Moore was reared 
in Tennessee, and at th(> age of fourteen years, en- 
tered a store to learn something of merchandising, 
spending the time alternately in the store earning 
funds and in attending school until twenty-one 
years of age. He received a fair education in the 
common and higher English branches, also studied 
Latin, and subsequently began the study of medi- 



cine under Dr. John McCall, at Rome, Smith 
County, which he continued a short time. He then 
began studying under Dr. Alexander Goode, of 
Fayette County, a very prominent physician, and 
took his first course of lectures in 1883, 1884 and 
1835. He then practiced with his jireceptor for 
twelve months, and his liom(> being in th(> corner of 
Fayette County, he practiced in that, and Marshall, 
DeSoto and Shelby Counties for twelve years, meet- 
ing with excellent success. In February, 18r)3, 
he moved to Arkansas, locating in Hickory Plains, 
Prairie County, where he has remained ever since. 
While living in Fayette County, Tenn., he was 
married on December 0, 1840, to Miss Mary V. 
Abington, a native of the Blue Grass State, and 
the daughter of William Al)ington. Five living 
children arc the results of this union: Edwin, Dora 
(wife of Dr. Lindsay), Emma (wife of J. N. Brians), 
Rij)ley A. (an attorney at Des Arc) and Sanniel ,\. 
They lost two daughters, one an infant, and the 
other nine years of age, and a son who died at the 
age of three years. After locating in Prairie 
County, Dr. Moore carried on farming in coiin<>c 
tion with his practice, and for ten years lived in 
Hickory Plains to educate his children. In IS,")!') 
he was elected to represent Prairie County in the 
legislature and served one term. During the late 
war, he was in the Confederate service about six 
months, and was^ first lieutenant of Totten Guards, 
Twenty-fifth Arkansas Battalion of Infantry, and 
was in. the battle of Farmington. In reorganizing 
the Dr. was discharged and returneil home, ^e 
has been a member of the Masonic Fraternity for 
over forty years, and all matters of benefit receive 
his sanction and snjiport. 

Edwin Moore, stock raiser, farini'r and ginner. 
Hickory Plains, Ark. Mr. Moore owes his nativity 
to Fayette County, Tenn., where his birth oc 
curred on May 9, 1848, and is the son of Hon. W. 
L. Moore, whose sketch immediately precedi's this. 
He came with his father to .\rkaiisas in 1S,")8. 
and grew to manhood in Prairie County, where he 
received a fair education and this he has improved 
materially by self culture. He remained with his 
parents until twenty one years of age, and on 
March 8, 1S70, was united in marriage in Prairie 



.1^ 



718 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



County, Ark., to Miss Mattie Brians, dangliter of 
W. J. and E. J. Brians and sister to J. W. Brians, 
sheriff of Prairie County, whose sketch appears 
elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Moore was born in 
North Carolina, but was reared and partly educat- 
ed in Prairie County. After marriage Mr. and 
Mrs. Moore had nothing of this world's goods on 
which to commence, but they went to work with a 
determination to succeed, and although they had 
considerable to contend with they were not dis- 
couraged. They finst located on a farm which 
they began clearing of the timber that covered 
it, and this they have since added to until they 
now own about 1,000 acres of good land with some 
500 acres under cultivation. They have a good 
frame residence, a good gin boiler and engine 
and first class outbuildings, etc. They also have 
a good orchard and vineyard. Mr. Moore was 
elected magistrate, holding the position for eight 
consecutive years, and was also made a member of 
the school board. He takes a great interest in 
politics and served as a delegate to the State Dem- 
ocratic Convention. To Mr. and Mrs. Moore were 
l)orn seven children: Charles A., William E., Rob- 
ert A., Emma A., James L., Henry I. and Gordon 
E. and the two eldest children with their parents 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Mr. Moore has also reared his wife's youngest 
brother and her mother has made her home with 
him since the death of Mr. Brians. Mr. Moore 
is a member of the Masonic fraternity. 

Dr. W. P. Owens, physician and surgeon, De- 
Vall's B.luff, Ark. This prominent and successful 
practitioner owes his nativity to De Soto County, 
Miss., where his birth occurred August 10, 1855, 
and he located in Prairie County, in March, 1884, 
where he has since practiced his profession. He 
was the fourth of nine children born to the union 
of Joshua D. and Fannie (La Favri*) Owens, na- 
tives of Alabama. The parents were married in 
their native State, and there the father carried on 
agricultural pursuits until 1835, when ho moved 
to Mississippi, and settled in De Soto County, 
where they are now living. Dr. W. P. Owens was 
reared to farm labor, and remained under the 
parental roof until seventeen years of age. He 



received his literary education at Lexington, Ky. , 
and at the State University of Mississippi, at Ox- 
ford, where, after reaching the junior year, he 
commenced reading medicine, and then entered 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Balti- 
more, Md. , in September, 1878, graduating with 
the class of 1880. He then returned to De Soto 
County, commenced the practice of medicine, 
which he continued until 1884, and, as above 
stated, he then came to De Vall's Bluff, Ark., 
where he has since built up a good practice. He 
was married near Baltimore, Md., in 1879, to Miss 
Florence Dawson, a native of Maryland, and the 
daughter of Edward Thomas and Susan (Smith) 
Dawson, natives also of Maryland. Mr. Dawson 
was a merchant, and followed this pursuit the 
principal part of his life. His death occuiTed in 
1878. His wife had died many years previous. 
To Dr. and Mrs. Owens were born four- children, 
one living, Edward. The Doctor is not very active 
in politics, but votes with the Democratic party. 
Socially he is a member of the K. of P. Mrs. 
Owens is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, Sotith. 

Dr. A. C. Parrish, physician and surgeon, Haz- 
en. Ark. Dr. Parrish has all the attributes essen- 
tial to a succe.ssful practitioner, is the possessor of 
much personal popularity and is highly esteemed 
by all who know him. He was born in Dixon 
County, Tenn., in 1830, was reared to the arduous 
duties of the farm and received his education in 
the schools of his native county. He commenced 
readino- medicine in 1849, and after continuini>: 
this for a few years he begam practicing in 1852. 
Since then he has been actively engaged in the 
practice of his profession, a period of thirty seven 
years, and has met with fair success. He was mar- 
ried in Hickman County, Tenn. , in 1848, to Miss 
Jane Wilson, a native of Tennessee, and to them 
were born eight children, three now living: Albert 
(married and residing in Texas), Rebecca (now 
Mrs. Pollard of Tennessee) and Nellie A. (now 
Mrs. Turner of White County, Ark. ). The mother 
of these children died on June 3, 1802. In 1804 
Dr. Parrish married Mrs. Elizabeth (Spencer) 
James, widow of L. James, and her death occurred 



^^ 






in October, 1885. Three children were the result 
of this union: Melvin, Nola and Sudie. He mar- 
ried the third time in 1888 Mrs. Alice ((Jwyn) 
HalliBurton, widow of H. HalliBurton. The Doc 
tor came to Arkansas in 1870 and diigagod in 
tilling the soil in connection with his practice. He 
has opened up several farms, Iniilt three cotton- 
gins "and now owns a good farm of thirty acres, 
besides giving his children land. Ho votes with 
the Democratic party but is not active in poli- 
tics. Socially he is a m(»mher of the K. of P., 
Hazen Lodge No. 3134, and ho and lady are mem- 
bers of the Missionary Baptist Church. 

L. M. Peak has passed the uneventful life of 
the farmer, and has continued to " pursue the even 
tenor of his way" until he is now ranked among 
the prosperous agriculturists of this region. He 
is a Kentuckian by birth, born in Scott County in 
1851, and is the third child born to Dudley and 
Ann (Martin) Peak, the former a Kentuckian also, 
born in 18'20. His brothers and sisters are as fol- 
lows: James (deceased), John J., Leland, Madison 
(who died young), Dudley, Laurinda (Mrs. AV. 
Cragg, now deceased), Pilena (Mrs. S. Cragg) and 
Eveline (wife of Sandy Faulkner, the supposed 
"Arkansaw Traveler"). Dudley Peaks pent his 
youth in his native State, and in 1841 was married, 
his wife being a daughter of William H. and Susan 
(Hayle) Martin, all Kentuokians. Mrs. Peak's 
brothers and sisters are as follows: Jane, Solon, 
Louis, Nettie and James. Mr. Peak and his wife 
wore meml)ers of th(( Baptist Church, and I)ecame 
well to-do farmers. They reared live children: 
Susan M. (Mrs. J. Long, the mother of four chil- 
dren), Emma (Mrs. J. Morris, now deceased), L. 
M., George and Solou, all of whom are married 
and live in Scott County, Ky., except L. M. Peak. 
The father was a pulilic-spirited citizen, a Demo- 
crat in politics, and passed from this life in 1883, 
his wife dying in 1850. L. M. Peak resided in 
Kentucky until thirty- four years of age, and was 
married, in 1875, to Sallie K. Sconce, a daughter 
of James F. and Lou A. (Morris) Sconce, but in 
1873 had begun farming for himself, and moved 
to Missouri. That State continued to l>e his homo 
\intil 1885, when he camo to Arkansas, and a year 



later settled in Prairie County. Here he purchased 
land to the amount of 350 acres, and now has it 
all under fence, and a considerable portion of it in 
a good farming condition. He is a Democrat, and 
while a resident of Scolt County, Ky. , served in 
the capacity of constable two years. He and wife 
are members of the Christian Church, and are 
highly esteemed and valued citizens of the county. 
J. M. Perry is a farmer aiul stock shipper of 
Hazen, Ark. This leading farmer of Prairie Coun- 
ty, Ark., was borii in Camden County, N. C, on 
August 31, 1841), and is the son of S. B. Perry, 
who was also born in North Carolina, in the year 
1812. The father was educate<l in his native 
State, and was there married to Miss Nancy J. 
Rieves, also a native of North Carolina. To this 
union have been born thirteen children, seven of 
whom are still living, three in Arkansas, and four 
in North Carolina, viz.: John \\'., William J., 
Samuel, James M., Joseph E., Ann J. and Sarah 
H. The father, a successful agriculturist, is still 
living, and resides in Chatham County, N. C. 
He assisted materially in building up the country 
in the early settlement of North Carolina, and is 
one of the prominent citizens. His father was one 
of the very first settlers of that State. Mr. and 
Mrs. Perry are members of the Methodist ('hurch. 
J. M. Perry was educated in North Carolina, and 
in 1803 ho enlisted in the Confederate army, un- 
der Gen. Holmes, iu Company A, Sixty -ninth 
Regiment, and his first battle was at Plymouth. 
He received his discharge in lS(i5, and returnAl 
home, where he was engaged in tilling the soil the 
first year. On August 10, 18()5, he was united in 
marriage, to Miss Temperance E. Lindly, a native 
of North Carolina, and the daughter of Owen and 
Temperance Lindly. Two children have been the 
fruits of this union: Quincy (deceased) and Wal- 
ter O. (who resides at home with his parents). Mr. 
Perry is a farmer by occupation, and owns about M\0 
acres of good land, with sixty acres under cultiva 
tion. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. 
Bine Lodge, and has held the oflice of Junior 
Warden. He is a member of the Wheel, and held 
the oflice of president of the same for one year. 
He is a self-made man, and one who has the en- 



^ 



* *- 



_< 9 



720 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ergy and perseverance to succeed in whatever he 
undertakes. When he tirst came to Arkansas, he 
was the owner of a horse and $40 in money. Now 
he has an excellent farm, well stocked, and is one 
of the substantial farmers of the county. He and 
Mrs. Perry ai'e members of the Methodist Church. 
J. E. Perry. There are few farms of the size, 
if any, in this portion of Arkansas that presents a 
better picture of advanced agriculture than the one 
referred to in the present sketch. It contains 320 
acres, with 150 under cultivation, and as far as 
natural advantages, and the manner in which it is 
iinj>roved is concerned, it is prolial)ly without a 
superior hereabouts. The owner of this farm, Mr. 
Perry, was born in North Carolina in 1849, and 
was the eighth of a large family of children born 
to D. B. and Nancy J. (Kieves) Perry, and was a 
grandson of William and Anna Perry, the latter 
couple being the parents of twelve children and 
natives of Virginia. D. B. Perry was born in 
North Carolina in 1812, and from his earliest 
youth has been familiar with farm life, and has 
made that calling cjuite a success. He and wife 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, and are still residing in North Carolina, 
and he is a Democrat in his political views, and is 
an enterprising and public spirited man. He and 
Miss Rievos were married about 1832, his wife 
being a daughter of Reuben and Hannah Rieves, 
natives of North Carolina, and by her he became 
the father of twelve children: John, William J., 
Mary M. (the wife of a Mr. Campbell, is deceased), 
Henry H., Abner B., Samuel, James M., J. E., 
Isaac (deceased), Aaron D. , Anna J. (Mrs. Perry) 
and Sarah H. (Mrs. Headen). J. E. Perry as- 
sisted in tilling the old farm in North Carolina, 
and during odd moments attended the common 
schools, acquiring thereby a fair education. In 
1872 he determined to come west to court dame 
fortune, and settled in Prairie County, Ark. , where 
he purchased 100 acres of land, but this land he 
has since increased to its above-mentioned propor- 
tions. He was married in 1876 to Miss Sallie 
McNeill, a daughter of Philip and Sallie (Tabb) 
McNeill, born in North Carolina and Tennessee, 
who died in 1870 and 1808, respectively. Mr. 



and Mrs. Perry have a family of four children: 
Bessie, Henry A., Fitz Hugh and Clio C. , and are 
expecting soon to give up farming and move to 
town, in order to give their children the advant 
ages of the town schools. Mr. Perry is a Mason, 
E. H. English Lodge No. 237, at Walter Chapel, 
and belongs also to the K. of H. No. 108840 of 
Carlisle. He and wife have for some time been 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. The latter was born in 18()0, in the house 
in which she now lives. 

John W. Pettey is a manufacturer of lumber 
and shingles at Des Arc, and since one year old 
has been a resident of the State of Arkansas. He 
was born in De Soto County, Miss., May 11, 1854, 
and is a son of George I. Pettey, of Alabama, who 
was reared in Mississippi and was married in 
Shelby County, Tenn., to Barbara Ann Callis, a na- 
tive of Shelby County. After their marriage they 
resided in Mississij)pi for about two years, and in the 
spring of 1855 moved to Arkansas and settled near 
Hazen, where they cleared a farm and reared their 
family. The father served in the Confederate 
army for over two years and died at his old home 
in September, 1880. His wife, two sons and four 
daughters survive him, all residents of Prairie 
County, the children being married. John W. 
Pettey grew to manhood in Prairie County, and 
remained with his father on the farm until twenty- 
six years of age, then began blacksmithing, having 
learned the trade at home, and from 1878 up to 
1881, conducted a blacksmith, wagon and repair 
shop, but in the last-named year purchased his 
mill, and has since given his attention to the man- 
ufacture of lumber, averaging about 400,000 feet 
annually, the business rapidly increasing from 
year to year. He has overhauled his building and 
put in considerable fiew machinery this year, and is 
preparing to cut all the lumber and shingles for 
which he has demand. His brother has been asso- 
ciated with him in business since January, and they 
are honest and enterprising business men, and are 
bound to succeed. He was married in October, 
1885. to Lelia W. Plant, a daughter of C. H. Plant, 
of Prairie County. Mrs. Pettey was born near 
Moscow, Tenn., but was reared and educated in 



^ir^ 



to , 



^ 4^—^ 



PKAIKIE COUNTY. 



721 



Prairie County, Ark., and I)y Mr. Pettey is the 
mother of two children : Earl Cecil and Hoiuer Al- 
len. Mr. Pettey and his wife are members of the 
Methodist and Christian Churches, res|)ectively, 
and he is a Mason and a member of White Biver 
Lodge No. 37, of which he has been Master for 
two years. 

Dr. George E. Pettey, physician and surgeon, 
Dos Arc, Ark. Dr. Pettey, one of the successful 
practitioners of Des Arc, was l)orn in Washington 
County, Tex., on January 10, 1857, and is the 
son of Dr. F. M. Pettey, a native of Lime.stone 
County, Ala. The father was educated at Mem- 
phis, Tenn. , and afterward located in that State, 
where he practiced his profession for four years. 
He then moved to the Lone Star State, located in 
Washington County, but a few years later moved 
to Navarro County, Tex., where he practiced his 
profession until the breaking out of the war. He 
was surgeon in the army, and had charge of Gal- 
veston Hospital, where he remained until the ces- 
sation of hostilities. After the war he located in 
Arkansas, and is now engaged in the practice of 
his profession in Monroe County of that State. 
He married Miss Sarah A. G. Elliott, in Hender- 
son County, Tenn. , in 1848, and the result of this 
union was the birth of two sons and six daughters. 
Dr. George E. Pettey came to Arkansas with his 
father in 1870, attained his growth in Mississippi 
County, and later began the study of medicine with 
his father. At the age of fourteen years he entered 
a drug store, where he remained while studying 
medicine. He took his first course of lectures at 
the Medical Department of Vanderbilt University, 
Nashville, Tenn., in the winter of 1880 81, and 
took another course in the spring and summer of 
tlio last mentioned year. He then passed an exam- 
ination before the medical board, and began the 
practice of his profession at Hickman, Mississippi 
County, Ark., where he remained three years. 
From there he removed to Golddust, Tenn., where 
he continued in practice until October, 1887, when 
he went to Memphis, and took an additional course 
at Memphis Hospital Medical College, giaduat- 
ing from the same in the spring of 1888. After 
completing this course ho came to Des Arc, Ark., 



where he is doing an extensive practice. Dr. 
Pettey is a surgeon of sujierior skill, bold, but ex 
tremely careful, giving personal attention to the 
most minute details of an operation. His complete 
success in every operation he has undertakiMi is 
sufficient warrant for the general expression that 
he is fast taking position as one of the leading sur- 
geons of the State. The Doctor makes a specialty 
of the diseases of women and n^ctal diseases. He 
has always been studious, there being few well- 
known books on medicine he is not ac(|UMintpd 
with, and by taking a number of the loading med 
ical journals, both of this country and Europe, 
keeps constantly up with the times. He was mar- 
ried in Mississippi County, Ark., on December 24, 
1879, to Miss Susan C. Lynch, a native of Arkan- 
sas, who was reared in Mississippi County, and the 
daughter of E.sq. A. J. Lynch. To this marriage 
were born four children: Adah L., Mary A., Fran 
cis Allen and (ieorge E., Jr. They lost their eld- 
est son, Francis Allen, in Jnne, 1888. Dr. Pettey 
is a meml)er of the Masonic fraternity and is now 
Worshipful Master of White River Lodge No. 37. 
He and wife are members of the Methodist Epis 
copal Church, South. 

Cajit. Augustus M. Keinhardt. farmer, stock 
raiser and horticulturist, Hickory Plains, Ark. 
This enterprising and progressive citizen was l)orn 
in Lincoln County, N. C, October 20. 1S25. and 
is the son of Hon. Michael and Mary (Moore) Kein- 
hardt, both natives of Noi+li Carolina. Michai'l 
Keinhardt was a farmer up to 1840, when )|c 
moved to Marshall County, Miss., and there re- 
sided until his death, which occurred in 1852. Ho 
served one term as a member of the State senate, 
and held other positions of honor and trust, ac- 
quitting himself as an efficient, jiopular official, 
always laboring zealously for the best interests of 
his constituents. He also served in one of the old 
Indian wars. His wife died in 182S. Capt. Keiii 
hanlt went to Mississippi in the spring of ISl.'i. and 
his father's family moved oat in the fall of the same 
year. They made a crop the following year, and 
remained there until 1S52, farming in .Marshall 
County, when they moved to Prairie, Ark., and 
bought land in Hickory Plains Township. They 



J^ 



722 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



farmed here until the breaking out of the war, and 
were also engaged in the real-estate business for 
four }-ears previous to that event. Capt. Rein- 
hardt enlisted with the '"Boys in Gray," in March, 
1862, first in Col. Turnbull's infantry, and served 
in that capacity up to May, when he returned 
home. In 1863 he joined the cavalry, Col. Mon- 
roe's regiment, and was commissioned captain in 
the first Regiment, serving until peace was de- 
clared. He participated in the fights at Mark's 
Mill and Poison Springs, and also in a number of 
skirmishes. Returning home after the war, he 
engaged in farming and the real-estate business, 
being now the owner of 1,000 acres of I'and, with 
all but 160 acres in Prairie County. The home 
place consists of 600 acres, with 300 acres under 
cultivation, and the buildings on the same are sub- 
stantial and pleasing to the eye. He has a beau- 
tiful yard, ornamented with trees, evergreens, 
shrnbs and flowers, and his orchard, of about 
eighty acres, furnishes some of the finest peaches, 
apples, pears and plums to be found. He has a 
fine vineyard of about four acres, and shipped 
about 800 baskets from the same, but retaining for 
himself about as many more. He was first mar- 
ried in Prairie County in January, 1856, to Miss 
Mary Harshaw, sister of John Harshaw, whose 
sketch may be seen in this work. Mrs. Reinhardt 
was born and reared in Marshall County, Miss., 
and died August 28, 1881, leaving nine children: 
Henry, Anna (wife of Brainard Perkins), Mattie 
(widow of Mr. Jones), Mamie, Emmett, Clara, 
Sallie, John and William. Mr. Reinhardt took for 
his second wife Mrs. Sallie E. (Rayburn) Harrison, 
a native of Conway County, Md., where she was 
educated and married. She is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Reinhardt is a 
member of the Presbyterian Church, and is an 
elder in the same. 

Abel S. Reinhardt, like the majority of native 
Mississippians, is jirogressive in his views and of 
an energetic and enterprising temperament. He 
was born in Marshall County January 4, 1847, and 
is a son of D. F. and Harriet E. (Shuford) Rein- 
hardt, both of whom were born and reared in Lin- 
coln County, N. C. About 1844 they immigrated 



to Marshall County, Miss., but a short time after- 
ward moved to Tennessee and in 1857 settled in 
Prairie County, being engaged in farming in these 
three States. In October, 1888, he moved to Lit 
tie Rock and there died in November of that year, 
his wife having passed away many years earlier, in 
1861, on October 8. He was twice married, his 
second wife being a sister of his first, and she still 
survives him. Mr. Reinhardt was a representative 
to the last Constitutional Convention and was a man 
who possessed superior natural abilities and was 
universally beloved and respected. He reared nine 
children to mature years, but one son, Adolphus,lost 
bis life at Pilot Knob in 1864, while servinsr in the 
Confederate army. Mary (wife of Rev. R. H. Croz- 
ier, of Palestine, Tex.), Emma (wife of Dr. P. E. 
Thomas, of Clarendon, Ark.) and Abel S. Reinhardt 
are the only ones of the family now living. The 
latter received a common-school education in 
Prairie County and in 1864 enlisted in the Con- 
federate army, Col. Witt's regiment, and was with 
Price on his raid through Missouri. He was badly 
wounded in November of that year and was dis- 
abled for several months. After the surrender he 
returned home and successfully conducted the home 
farm for a number of years, but in 1876 moved to 
Hickory Plains. Two years later he was elected 
sheriff and collector of Prairie County, and was re- 
elected in 1880, 1882, 1884 and 1886, serving in 
all ton consecutive years, his majority at each time 
of his re-election being large. He has been carry- 
ing on a farm all these years and he also owns a 
good home in Dos Arc. He was married in Prairie 
County on October 30, 1871, to Miss Laura J., a 
daughter of Daniel and Mary Harshaw, of Hickory 
Plains, and by her has had the following children: 
Alice, Katie Gray, Lillie, Gracie, Arthur Shuford 
and two sons who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. 
Reinhardt are members of the Old School Presby- 
terian Church and the former belongs to the 
Knights of Honor. 

George J. Reubell, druggist, Hazen, Ark. 
This worthy and much-respected citizen of Prairie 
County, Ark., was originally from New York State, 
his birth occurring in the city of New York, in 
1837, and was the only son born to the union of 






Jacob ami Mary A. (Cornelius) Eeubell, natives 
of New York. George J. Reubell was left father- 
less when but six months old, and his mother, who 
was a native of France, died at Staten Island, 
N. Y., in 1845. Grandfather Cornelius was under 
Napoleon in the battle of Austorlitz, and others, 
in the retreat from Moscow, and after Napoleon 
was banished to the Island of Elba he came to 
America, settliu<^ on Staten Island, N. Y. , where 
he followed the occupation of a gardener. His 
death occurred early in 1850. George J. Eeubell 
was reared and educated in the schools of New 
York City, and at the age of seventeen years he 
went to Madison County, Tenn., where ho worked 
at the boot and shoe business. He also engaged 
in clerking, and in November, I860, he came to 
Prairie County, Ark., where he resumed his trade, 
at Brownsville and Des Arc, until the close of the 
war. He also read medicine for some time. In 
1866 he was engaged in selling drugs for different 
firms, and also filled the position as clerk in a gen- 
eral store. In 1874 he was appointed assessor of 
Prairie County, was elected the same year, and 
served in that capacity until 1878, when he was 
appointed deputj' circuit clerk, filling this position 
until 1884. He is active in politics, and votes with 
the Democratic party. He is a member of the 
K. of H. , Hazen Lodge No. 3135, and is Reporter 
of the same. He was also a member of the I. O. 
O. F. He was married in Des Arc, in 1863, to 
Julia A. Kilgrove, a native of Tennessee, and the 
daughter of James D. Kilgrove, who was also a 
native of North Carolina, and who came to Prairie 
County, Ark., in 1860. To the union of Mr. and 
Mrs. Reubell were born seven children: Jaiues C. , 
Gilson B. , Henry D. , Mary Anna, Medora, Charles 
E. and Addie. In 1876 Mr. Reubell purchased 
eighty acres of land, and has added to the same 
until he is now the owner of 205 acres, with thirty- 
five acres under cultivation. He and Mrs. Reubell 
are members of the Presbyterian Church. 

W. H. Richards (deceased). Of that sturdy 
and independent class, the farmers of Arkansas, 
none were possessed of more genuine merit and a 
stronger character than he whoso name stands at 
th(> head of this sketch. His birth occurred in 



Person County, N. C, February 10, 1841, and in 
1871 he was married to Mrs. Harriet (Hunter) Tip- 
ton, the widow of J. A. Tipton. Moving witli her 
shortly after to Prairie County, Ark., he purcliased 
in Center Township 100 acres of land which h^ 
commenced immediately to improve, and soon had 
seventy acres under cultivation. He took an act 
ive interest in all affairs pertaining to the welfare 
of the county and in his political views was a Dem- 
ocrat. He was also a patron of ((ducatiori and his 
death, which occurred in Prairie County, January 
25, 1888, was deeply lamented by all. Mrs. Rich- 
ards was born in the State of Mississippi in 1835, 
and was there married in 1852 to William B. Hig- 
ginbottom, born Septeml)er 15, 1829, in Tusca- 
loosa County, Ala., by whom she became the 
mother of four children: John B. (a farmer), E. E., 
S. L. and Mary A. (deceased). Mr. Higginbot- 
tom removed to Clark County, Ark., in 1860. and 
there died in 1863, his widow afterward being 
united in mairiage to J. A. Tipton, l)y whom she 
became the mother of one son: John. She was 
again left a widow in 1871 and the following year 
married Mr. Richards, as above stated. She was 
born in Mississippi in 1835, and was one of a fam- 
ily of twelve children born to George W. and Har 
riet (Bonds) Hunter, natives of North Carolina, 
who were married in Mississippi and spent their 
days in the last-named State. Mr. and Mrs. Rich 
ards became the parents of three children: Jennie 
E., Robert L. and Florence Idella. 

Robert E. Richardson, of the well known firm 
of R. E. Richardson & Co., composed individually 
of J. M. and R. E. Richardson, owes his nativity 
to Memphis, Tenn., where his birth occurred on 
January 28, 1848, and where he attended school 
until fourteen years of age. His father. Gen. 
Robert V. Richard.son, was born in the Old Do 
minion, on November 4, 1820, and immigrated with 
his parents to AVilson County, Tenn., in 1834. Hi- 
received his education in Clinton College, after 
ward taught school for aljout four years, and then 
commenced the study of law, opening an ofBce at 
Brownsville, Tenn. Here he found the field too 
small for his capabilities, and later moved to Mem- 
phis, Tenn., where he became one of the prominent 



f 



r 



^(£ 



724 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



legal lights in the professioo. He continued his 
chosen calling up to the time of his death, which 
occurred in 1809. In 1845 he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Mary E. Avent, a daughter of James 
M. Avent, of Limestone County, Ala., and the 
fruits of this union were three children: James M., 
Robert E. and Philip R., the two eldest of whom 
reside in Prairie County, Ark. Previous to the 
war Gen. Richardson was one of the largest land 
holders in the State of Arkansas, owning at one 
time 100,000 acres of land. He was the inspector- 
general of the Tennessee Volunteers during the 
Mexican War, and was in service during the whole 
time. In 1861 he organized the Twelfth Tennes- 
see Regiment of Tennessee Cavalry, and was as- 
signed duty under Gen. N. B. Forrest, afterward 
receiving the commission of brigadier-general. 
Later he organized the Fotirteenth, Fifteenth and 
Sixteenth Regiments of Tennessee Cavalry, which 
formed one of the principal brigades of the Army 
of Tennessee, and served with distinction in all the 
principal battles of the late war. He was paroled 
at Grenadier, Miss., on April 15, 1865, after which 
he moved immediately to New York City, where he 
l)ecaiue vice-president of the United States Cotton 
Company, and in his official capacity, while with the 
company, he was obliged to visit Europe twice on 
business. In 1808 he returned to Memphis, Teun. , 
practiced his profession there, and while on a tour 
of inspection of his large landed interest in South- 
east Missouri, he was assassinated iu Clarkton, 
Dnnklin County, in December, 1809. Robert E. 
Richardson moved with his ])arents to Fayette 
County, Tenn., in January, 180'2, and in the spring 
of the following, year he joined the Confederate 
array as a private, Twelfth Tennessee Regiment, 
commanded by his father, and his lirst engage- 
ment was one of the most desperate cavalry 
charges that occnrred during the war. The Twelfth 
Tennessee Regiment, 325 strong, fought over 3,000 
Federal soldiers who were trying to capture Capt. 
Richardson's wagon train, consisting of sixty or 
seventy wagons, but the captain succeeded in draw- 
ing the enemy away from the train and went out of 
the fight with 100 prisoners. He was in numerous 
engagements over Tennessee and Mississippi during 



1863, 1864 and 1865, was in secret service also dur- 
ing those two years, and gained much valuable in- 
formation for the Confederate army. He was pro- 
moted to the rank of captain, and served in that 
capacity until the close of the war. He surren- 
dered April 15, 1805, after which he returned with 
his father to their home, and was here engaged in 
tilling the soil. In 1865 he attended the Male 
Academy at New Castle, Tenn., and there remained 
until May, 1866. The same year he moved with 
his father's family to New York City, where 
the remainder of that year and the whole of 
1807 he attended school at the University of New 
York. At the close of the last- mentioned year he 
moved back to Memphis, and here read law under 
Judge McHeury and Col. Hubbard. He remained 
with them for about a year, and then went to 
Hardeman County, Tenn., where he was engaged in 
cultivating the soil until 1808. In June of the 
same year he married Miss Annie Avent, daughter 
of W. T. and Nannie Avent, and afterward re- 
mained in Hardeman County for four years. In 
January, 1872, he moved with his family back to 
Memphis, and was there engaged in the wholesale 
grocery business, under the firm title of Scales, 
Richardson & Co. He became dissatisfied with his 
partner and sold his interest to a man named 
Murphy, and in 1863 he engaged as a drummer for 
Menken Bros., remaining with them two years 
when he was offered a larger salary and began 
working for Lowenstine Bros. He remained with 
this firm until after their failure, when he went to 
Louisville and work(>d in the capacity of a drum 
mer for W. H. V\'alker & Co. In 1879 he and a 
brother crossed the Mississippi River to Arkansas 
and engaged in farming and merchandising in that 
State. In 1881 they moved to Fort Smith, and 
after remaining there six months became dissatis- 
fied and moved to Prairie County, Ark., where the 
same year they bought out the firm of R. P. Watt 
& Co. Here they have remained ever since, and 
have gained a large trade l)y their honest, upriglit 
conduct. Mr. Richardson has been a member of 
the K. of H. for seven years; is one of the promi- 
nent citizens of the county and is a liberal contribu- 
tor to all worthy enterjJrises. He is a member of 



^f^ 



PKAIIUE COUNTY. 



the Methodist and his wife a member of the Baptist 
Church. Their family consists of the following 
children; Annie C, liobort V., Mattie A. and 
James E. 

J. M. Richardson, a member of the firm of E. 
K. Kichardsou & Co., is a brother of K. E. 
Richardson, the subject of the preceding sketch, 
and is a man whose excellent business ability is 
acknowledged by all. He owes bis nativity to 
Memphis, Tenn. (where his birth occurred Octo- 
ber 16, 1850), and is the son of Gen. Robert V. 
Richardson (see preceding sketch). J. M. Rich- 
ardson received a thorough education in Memphis, 
Tenn., and New York City and there he began 
business for himself as bookkeeper, remaining 
thus engaged until January, 1881. He then came 
to De Vall's Bluff, engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness on a capital of if! 1,200 and has been very 
successful, increasing the original capital to $40, - 
000. He is also engaged in a large ranch business, 
has an excellent stock farm and has some of the 
finest blooded animals in the State of Arkansas. 
He owns about 10,000 acres of good land in the 
State and is the man who by his wide-awake and 
thoroughgoing manner will succeed in whatever 
he undertakes. He selected as his companion in 
life Miss Ella Rose, daughter of Jud^'o E. W. Rose 
of Giles County, Tenn., and was united in mar- 
riage to her March 18, 1874, at Pulaski, Tenn. 
The fruits of this union have lieen the following 
children: Ella, Gussie, Erma, Annie, Sarah, Lillian 
(deceased) and James M. , Jr. Mr. Ricliardson is 
H member of the K. of H., has held all the offices 
in the gift of his lodge and has represented his 
lodge twice in the Grand Lodge of th(> State. He 
has been a delegate to every Democratic State 
convention from this county since his removal here 
and is a man in whom imj)licit confidence is placed. 
He and Mrs. Richardson are members of the 
Presbyterian Church, take a deep interest in church 
and school work and are liberal contributors to all 
worthy enterprises. 

F. M. Robinson, justice of the peace, Hnzen, 
Ark. Mr. Robinson owes his nativity to Madison 
County, Teun., where his birth occurred October 
10, 1S35, and is now one of the much-esteemed 



and respected citizens of Prairie County. He is 
the eldest of a family of twelve children born to 
Henry and Jane (Golden) Rol)ins<jn, the father a 
native of the Old Dominion, and the mother of 
South Carolina. They were married in Tennessee, 
where the father conducted a farm, and was a sue 
cessful farmer. He is still living in Jladisoii 
County, Tenn., l)ut his wife died in February. 
1880. He first settled in Tennessi-c when it was 
called Kentucky. F. M. Robinson passed his boy 
hood days in assisting on his father's farm and in 
attending the schools of Madison County. He se 
lected Miss Susan Lester as his companion in life, 
and was married to her December 20, 1853, in 
Tennessee. She was the daughter of Ricliard and 
Mary (Newsom) Lester, natives, respectively, of 
Virginia and Tennessee. At an early date Mr. 
Lester settled in Tennessee, and there he and wife 
passed their last days. Mr. Robinson came to 
Prairie County in 1858, settled near Hickory 
Plains, and there engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
which occupation he has continued for twenty-five 
years. He enlisted at Austin, May 10, 1801, in 
Company C, Col. Glenn's regiment of infantry, but 
later was transferred to Company I, as second 
lieuteiuint of the same regiment. He was in a 
number of the prominent battles, Prairie Grove. 
Helena, Little Rock, Saline and others, and was 
taken prisoner at Camden, Ark., cimtined at Aus- 
tin, and paroled in 1805, after which he returned 
to Prairie County, Ark. Here he engaged in till 
ing the soil, and this continued until 18.SH, wlieu he 
moved to Uazen, where he followed the carpenter's 
business for some time, and later the undertaker's 
business. He owns a good business l)uildiiig and 
some lots. He takes considerable interest in [«)li 
tics, and votes with the Democratic party. He is 
recorder of tli(> town of Ha/en, and one of thi' 
commissioners of accounts of Prairie County. Mr. 
Robinson has also been magistrate for fourteen 
successive years, and has discliarged all duties in 
cumbent upon these various public oHices to the 
satisfaction of all. To his marriage were lx)rn 
ten living diildren: Walter (married, ami resides 
near Boston, Tex.), T. A. (engaged in merchandis- 
ing in Cotton Plant, Ark. ), Sam £. (married, and 



■» V 



% 



<2 W. 



.<t 9 



^ 



72G 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



residing at Hope, Ark.), Ella (now Mrs. Rev. W. 
J. Hudspoth, State evangelist of Christian Church, 
of Texas, resides at Prescott, Ark.), F. C. (physi- 
cian and surgeon at Kerr Station, Ark. ), Emmett 
(married, and resides at Hazen), F. B. (resides at 
Cotton Plant), Minnie (resides at Prescott), Eva 
and Nellie (both residing at Prescott, Ark. ). The 
mother of these children was called to her long 
home in March, 1886. She was a kind mother and 
a true helpmate to her husband. 

James M. Rooker, farmer and stock raiser. 
Hickory Plains, Ark. Mr. Rooker is now follow- 
ing a calling that has for ages i-eceived undivided 
efforts from many worthy individuals, and one that 
always furnishes sustenance to the ready worker. 
He was originally from York County, S. C, where 
his birth occurred on December 11, 1833, and is 
the son of John B. Rooker, a native of South 
Carolina, and Nancy A. (McCallum) Rooker, who 
was born in Scotland. John B. Rooker was a 
mechanic, a bridge carpenter, and moved from his 
native State to Georgia, where he was engaged in 
building bridges on the first railroad from Atlanta 
to Chattanooga. He subsequently located on a 
farm in Gordon County, and there received his 
final summons about 1857. He served as magis- 
trate for a number of years, and was a much re- 
spected citizen. His wife survives him, and is 
seventy-five years of age. James M. Rooker passed 
his boyhood days in Georgia, and remained with 
his father imtil of age, after which he went to 
Noxubee County, Miss., and was overseer on a 
plantation for three years. He was married on 
January 28, 1858, in Smith County, to Miss Mary 
A. Hill, a native of Noxubee County, and the 
daughter of Sherod Hill. To this union have been 
born fourteen childi-en: Emma E. (wife of R. S. 
Guess), Joseph A. (lives on a farm near his father's), 
J. Thomas (now taking medical lectures at Little 
Rock), Ella E. (wife of William Webb), John W., 
Augustus, Cora E. (wife of J. E. Wilson), Bunyon, 
Leroy C, Mary O. and Martha (twins), Samuel, 
Ava and Elmer. They lost one child, Minnie, on 
November 2, 1871, at the age of four years. After 
his marriage Mr. Rooker bought a farm in Smith 
County, and tilled the soil up to the breaking out 



of the late war. He enlisted in the Confederate 
army, Seventh Battalion Infantry, in May, 18G1, 
and served twelve months, after which he was in 
the Forty-sixth Regiment Infantry, and served un- 
til the close of the war, being promoted from pri- 
vate to sergeant. He participated in the follow- 
ing engagements: Chickasaw Bayou, Port Gibson, 
siege of Vicksburg, where he was captured, held 
a prisoner until the fall and then exchanged. After 
this he was in the fights at Atlanta, Kenesaw Mount- 
ain, and in the fights fi-om Dalton to Nashville. 
He was again cajitured in front of Nashville, and 
held at Camp Douglas until the close of the war. 
He received one slight wound at Vick.sburg, but 
numerous bullets passed through his clothing. 
Returning to Mississippi after the war, he fol- 
lowed farming there for two years, and in 1868 
moved to Arkansas, where he rented land in Prai- 
rie County for one year. He then purchased 160 
acres, cleared it, and added to the same until he 
now owns 500 acres of land, with 150 acres under 
cultivation. He has good buildings, a fine orchard 
of five acres, and is one of the progressive men of 
the county. Ho has been a member of the school 
board for a number of years, and is deeply inter- 
ested in educational matters. He and wife are 
members of the Baptist Church, and he is deacon 
in the same. 

J. B. Sanders, county examiner of Prairie 
County, Hazen, Ark. There are many men in 
this county at the present day in whose lives there 
are but few thrilling incidents, or remarkable 
events, yet whose success has been a steady and 
constant growth, and who, possessed of excellent 
judgment, strong common sense and indomitable 
energy, have evinced in their lives and character, 
great symmetry, completeness and moral standing 
of a high order. To this class belongs Mr. Sand- 
ers, whose birth occurred in Johnson County, N. 
C. , in 1834, and who was the second in a family 
of eleven children born to the union of R. T. and 
Eliza C. (Boone) Sanders, natives of North Caro- 
lina. The father was a man of education, having 
graduated from the University of North Carolina, 
in the class of 1828, and was a largo land owner 
in his native State. In 1870 he moved to Prairie 



;f^ 



County, Ark., and lator in life settlwl lit Hazen, 
where his death occurred in 1887. The mother 
had died in 1885. The father was not active in 
politics, but took a great interest in church work, 
and was moderator of the Grand Prairie Baptist 
•Association at the time of his death. J. B. Sand- 
ers was initiated into the duties of farm life when 
young, and received his education in tlie Baptist 
College at Clinton, Miss., graduating with the 
class of 1856. He then commenced cultivating the 
soil, continuing at this until January, ISOH, when 
he enlisted at De Soto County, Miss., in the Eight- 
eenth Mississippi Cavalry, in Chalmer's division 
of Forrest's cavalry. Mr. Sanders participated in 
many of the battles and raids of Forrest' s cavalry 
in West Tennessee and North Mississippi, and was 
taken prisoner at Spring Hill, Tenu., in Jaiuiarj', 
1865. He was confined at Camp Chase, Ohio, pa- 
roled there on June 13, 1865, and afterward re- 
turned to De Soto County, Miss., when he found 
all of his property, stock, etc., gone and he re- 
duced from affliience to poverty. He was married 
in Madison County, Miss., in 1S56, to Miss Ezza 
Densofl, a native of Mississippi, and the daughter 
of Harvey and Jennie (King) Denson, early pion- 
eers of Madison County, Miss. One child, Harvey, 
was born to this union, and he is at present and 
has been for nine years, a clerk in the Gates mer- 
cantile store at De Vall's Bluff. Ark. Mr. Sanders 
was married in De Soto County, Miss., on Decem- 
ber 23, 1865, to Miss Lucy C. Gwyn, a native of 
the Old Dominion, and the daughter of James H. 
and Caroline S. (Ransom) Gwyn, natives also of 
Virginia, and both now deceased. After his sec- 
ond marriage Mr. Sanders settled on a farm, and 
in \810, came to Prairie County, where he has 
been engaged in teaching most of the time for six- 
teen years. He takes a very great interest in edu- 
cational matters and had charge of the school at 
Judsonia, Ark., in the winters of 1881 and 18S2. 
He has been county examiner most of the time 
since 1881, and has tilled that jiosition in a highly 
creditable manner. He took an active part in the 
organization of Hazen Township, where he has re- 
sided since 1881. having bought seventy acres in 
the woods, and now has forty acres fairly im 



proved. He takes considerable interest in politics 
and votes with the Democratic party. He was 
chairman of the D(>mocratic executive committee 
of Prairie County for years. He is a member of 
the Masonic fraternity, \\hit(! Itiver Lodge, at 
Des Arc, Ark., and is a member of Quitmaua 
Chapter, Hernando, De Soto County, Miss. He 
and Mrs. Sanders are members of the Missionary 
Baptist Church; Mr. Sanders being moderator of 
the Grand Prairie Baptist Association, comprising 
this and Arkansas (bounties. To the marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Sanders were born seven children: 
Walter Troy (clerking at De Vall's Bluff), Joseph 
(who has been contracting for the Little Kock <fe 
Memphis Railroad, building wire fence for them 
since eighteen years of age), James (working for 
the Little Rock & Memphis Railroad). Bap[)y (John 
Thomas), Alice, Hull, and Lucy. Mr. Sauilers has 
seen a vast change in Prairie County, from a moral 
as well as an educational standpoint, since his resi- 
lience here. When he lirst came to Arkansas guns 
and dogs were often heard on the Christian Sab- 
bath, but now the church and Sunday bell sounds 
forth instead of the hunter's call. He can say 
what very few can say, that he has not lost one of 
his own intermediate family since he came to the 
State, twenty years ago. This speaks well for the 
health of Prairie County, Ark. 

William D. Shock has been a resident of Hazen, 
Prairie County, Ark. . for only one year, yet he is 
well known throughout the community as a success- 
ful business man, being engaged in the real estifte 
and lumber business. He owns about 100 lots in the 
town, and has about 1.2(K) acres of land. He was 
born in Missouri in 1813. being the eighth child in 
a family of sixteen born t« Henry Shock, who was 
born in Kentucky in 1S02. The latter was one of 
twelve children born to John aii<l Mary Shock, who 
were of German ilescent and natives of Pennsylva- 
nia. The latter cou|ile removed to Missouri at an 
early day and settled in Boone County, where the 
father followed farming and blacksniithing. He 
died in 1855, and his wife about 1862. Henry 
Shock spent his early life and school days in Mis- 
souri, and. liki> his father, was a successful tiller of 
the soil, being also a prosperous stockman. Hi' 



728 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



was married, first, in 1827, to Miss Mary Jackson, 
a daughter of Thomas Jackson, a Virginian. Five 
childi-en blessed this union: John J., Thomas P., 
Permelia A., Joseph S. and Mary J. (the wife of 
S. Alverson). The mother of these children died 
about 1835, and three years later Mr. Shock 
wedded Miss Hannah L. Cox, a member of the Cox 
family of Kentucky, she being one of a family of 
seven children. To them were born eleven chil- 
dren : James H. , Liicinda F. (widow of D. Smart, 
of Missouri), William D., Daniel P., Sarah and 
Lydia (twins, the former the wife of J. Turner, of 
Missouri, and the latter, Mrs. Green Gautt, also of 
that State), Alonzo, Theodore R., Robert A. and 
Milton P. Mr. Shock died in the State of his 
adoption in 1885, but his widow still survives him 
and resides on the old homestead, she being a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church, as was her husband. 
William D. Shock, the immediate subject of this 
biography, spent his youth in Missouri, and in 
1862 left home to take part in the struggle between 
the North and South. After being in the service a 
short time he was crippled by a horse falling on 
him, and was compelled to go home, but upon re- 
covering he again entered the service and in 1864 
joined Company H, Marmaduke's brigade, but 
was afterward exchanged to the advance guard of 
the same brigade. After his return home he 
turned his attention to farming and stock raising, 
in Audrain County, being very successful in both 
occupations, but since coming to Arkansas has de- 
voted his time to the real estate and lumber busi- 
ness, and now has under his control about 40,000 
acres of land together with a number of town lots. 
He was married, in 1867, to Miss Nancy I. Gay, a 
daughter of John D. and Rebecca E. Gay, of Mis- 
souri, but natives of Kentucky. Mrs. Shock was 
born in Missouri, and her union with Mr. Shock 
has resulted in the birth of three children: Charles 
E., Olivia (who died in Missoui-i in 1886) and 
William R. The family attends the Christian 
Church. 

J. D. Sparks is a stockman and farmer of Cen- 
ter Township, Prairie County, Ark., and was born 
in Tennessee in 1854, being the youngest of ten 
children born to David and Comfort (Marphat) 



Sparks, the former a native of the "Old North 
State," born in 1808, one of a large family of chil 
dren bom to John Sparks. His youth was spent 
in his native State, but while still young he was 
taken to Middle Tennessee, and in this State re- 
ceived the most of his education. He was reared 
to a farm life, and in 1834 was married to Miss 
Marphat, she being a daughter of John Marphat, 
of North Carolina, who removed to Tennessee dur- 
ing the early history of that State. Mr. Sparks" 
family are as follows: Julia, Minas, Findly, Sarah, 
Comfort, John, William, Elmira, Amanda and 
Jonas D. (the immediate subject of this biography). 
The father was a Democrat, and a member of the 
Primitive Baptist Church. The early life and 
school days of Jonas D. Sparks were spent in Cen- 
ter Township, and there he was married, in 1876, 
to Miss Margie Anna Mills, a daughter of Thomas 
and Catherine Mills, natives of Tennessee. Mrs. 
Sparks was born in Arkansas, and has borne her hus- 
band four children: Pearl, Ross, May and Berney. 
In 1876 Mr. Sparks engaged in farming for him- 
self, and by judicious management and industry 
has become the owner of 120 acres of land, and 
has about seventy under cultivation. He is a 
stanch Democrat in his political views, and has al- 
ways been one of the public-spirited citizens of the 
county. 

Hugh S. Stephenson is filling the office of jus- 
tice of the peace at Des Arc, and by occupation is 
an undertaker. He was born in Maury County, 
Teun., March 24, 1819, and is a son of Rev. John 
C. Stephenson, who was born in Tennessee, where 
he was reared, educated and married, the last 
event being to Miss Agnes Simpson, who was born 
in that State. Rev. Stephenson moved to Ala- 
bama at an early day, settling in the northern part 
of the State, where he was engaged in farming 
and preaching the doctrines of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church for many years; he fell in tlie 
pulpit while p)reaching his last sermon, and died 
soon after, his death being caused by the bursting 
of a bloodvessel, in August, 1840. His wife sur- 
vived him until 1887, when she too passed from 
life at the age of eighty-nine years. Hugh S. 
Stephenson grew to manhood in Lawrence County, 



FliAIKIE COUNTY. 



729 



Ala., and until he attained his majority, made his 
home with his fathor. Icaniing in the meantime 
the carpenter's trade, at which he worked as coij- 
tractor until his marriage in 1840. After moving 
to Sumter County in 1841, he farmed for aboiit 
eight years, then put up a tannery in Pickens 
County, and spent eight more years in conducting 
this business. Northern Mississippi became his 
home in 1858, and until the opening of the war he 
was engaged in farming in De Soto County. He 
joined the Confederate service, Blye'a battalion, 
ijut a year later he was discharged on acconnt of 
disability, after which he was on detached duty 
the most of the time until the close of the war. 
He continued to make his home in Mississippi un- 
til January, 1870, when he came to Des Arc, Ark., 
and engaged in contracting and building, also the 
livery business. After following the latter l)usi- 
ness for about four years he gave it up, and in 
1883 began dealing in und(>rtaker's goods, at 
which he has been quite successful. In all his 
enterprises he has been reasonably successful, and 
has acquired a good home and a comfortable com- 
petency. He first filled the otlitre of magistrate in 
Alabama, serving thei'e about eight years, and dis- 
charged the duties of the same office in Mississippi 
for ten years, and has been justice of the peace at 
Des Aj-c for at least twelve years, and has also 
filled the office of alderman at this place. He 
joined the Masonic fraternity in Alabama, was 
Master of his lodge there for about eight years, 
and represented his lodge in the (Trand Lodge of 
the State. He was also Master of Des Arc Lodge. 
He is an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church, and is a consistent Christian. He was 
married in Alabama, in 1840, to Ann A. Whitley, 
a native of Alabama and a daughter of N. G. Whit- 
ley. She was born in North Carolina, but was 
reared in Alabama. Their children are: Lou H. 
(wife of A. C. Weatherall), Alice (wife of W. G. 
Hazeii). Lula (wife of Henderson Reid). Willie H. 
(wife of D. J. Martinger, of Little Kock). Amos J. 
(at home) and Dr. Charles C. (a prominent young 
physician of Swan Lake. Robert H. was wounded 
at Shiloh, and afterward died from the effects of 
this wound. Mariah, who died several years ago, 



was the wife of J. B. Jamison. George W., who 
died in 1884, at the age of twenty-eight years, and 
two children who died in infancy. 

Jefferson J. and Frank Stratton are prosperous 
farmers and cotton ginners, residing at Rarretts- 
ville, and are natives of the county in which tliey 
are now residing, and sons of James E. and Com 
fort (S|)arks) Stratton. The father was a Tennes- 
seean, born in 18"il), and his juvenile days were 
spent at farm work in his native State, and in at 
tending the old time sul)scription schools. About 
1858 he wedded the daughter of David and Com- 
fort Sparks, Tennesseeans, and in 1850, came to 
Prairie County, Ark., and settled in Totten Town- 
ship, and here reared his family, which consists of 
the following children: Thomas B. (who died in 
]8t)4), Jefferson, Frank, Lou. Dora (who ilied in 
1880) and Eddie. The fatlierof these children was 
a well-to-do and jirosperous farmer, and died in 
Lonoke County. Ark., in 1873. He and wife wen- 
members of the Missionary Baptist Church, anil 
his widow still survives him, and has been a resi 
dent of Center Township since 1886. He was a 
soldier all through the war, enlisting in 18(')1. 
Their sons, Jefferson J. and Frank, were born in 
1801 and 1864, respectively, and are now young 
men of entei'prise and push, their outlook for the 
future being bright and promising. In 1887 they 
began operating a cotton gin, which has a ca|)acity 
of twelve bales per day. Jefferson owns lOlt acres 
of land, and has eighty acres under cultivation, 
while Frank lives with his mother and manages 
her farm of 100 acres, of which sixty acres are un- 
der the plow. Their sister Lou is now Mrs. JI. 
L. McCuue, and has three children: Quinton. Bir 
ney and Frank. 

John Henry Taylor, editor of the Hazeu Free 
Press, was born April 25, 1802. in Panola County, 
Tex., his parents, Thomas H. and Annie A. Tay- 
lor, being married there in 1855. The father was 
a Georgian, who went from the State of his birth 
to Texas in ISHI, the mother having movwi there 
from her native State (Alabama) with her parents 
in 1850. Thomas H. Taylor was one of the gal 
lant "boys in gray,'" and spent four years faith 
fully lighting for the cause of the South. After 



^1 



11^. 



730 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



the proclamation of peace he began the stvidy of 
medicine, graduating in his profession in 1806, 
and two years later moved to Hopkins County, 
Tex., where he was successfully engaged in the 
practice of his jirofession until his death, in June, 
1888, being recognized as one of the leaders of the 
medical fraternity. J. H. Taylor spent his early 
life, up to the age of sixteen years, on a farm, and 
became thoroughly familiar with the details and 
intricacies of farm labor, acquiring also that sturdy 
independence and honesty of purpose which is 
characteristic of the average farmer's boy, and 
which has remained among his chief characteris- 
tics up to the present day. Upon reaching the 
above-mentioned age he entered the office of the 
Sulphur Springs (Texas) Gazette as an apprentice, 
remaining there until he attained his twentieth 
year; then went to Jefferson, Marion County, Texas, 
and worked for two years as foreman of a book 
and jol) office for Wortham & Mullins, but think- 
ing he could do better for himself elsewhere, he, 
in 1885, went North and traveled over the whole of 
the Eastern and Northern States, working in 
nearly every town containing over 10,000 inhabi- 
tants. This tour extended over a period of two 
years, and he acquired a keen insight into the po- 
litical views of the different sections, from which 
he is deriving a great benefit. In the spring of 
1880 he went to Waco, Tex., where he took charge 
of the newspaper and book and job office of Rev. 
J. B. Cranfill, called the Advance office. He was 
also foreman of the daily, and it was published in 
favor of the prohibition cam))aign, which was agi- 
tating Texas in 1887. In June, 1888, he landed 
in Little Rock, Ark., and in July of the same 
year he settled in Prairie County, and in August 
established the Vox Populi, a paper which he 
edited in a very able manner, winning considerable 
notoriety as a journalist. Fel)ruary I'i, 1889, he 
was united in marriage to Miss Rosa Cuneo, at 
Hazen, Ark., and they took a trip to Texas and 
spent some three months sight seeing in the Lone 
Star State. In May, 1889, he established and is 
now running the Hazen Free Press, an eight-page 
quarto, at a subscription price of $1 per year. 
This journal, under the efficient editorship of Mr. 



Taylor, is already wielding a widespread influence 
for good, and some interesting and valuable infor- 
mation can always be gleaned from its columns. 
That a brilliant future in the field of journalism 
lies before Mr. Taylor is conceded by all, and he 
gives every promise of becoming one of the leading 
men of Arkansas. He is of a social and genial 
natiu'e, "With malice toward none and charity 
for all." 

Col. Nicholas B. Thweatt, farmer and horticult- 
urist. Hickory Plains, Ark. Prominent among the 
enterprising and successful tillers of the soil of 
Prairie County, whose career has been both honor- 
able and successful, is the subject of this sketch. 
His father, Howard D. Thweatt, was a native of 
Virginia, who went to Tennessee when a young 
man and was there united in marriage to Miss 
Elizabeth Echols, a native also of the Old Domin- 
ion. The parents moved to a farm in Williamson 
County, Tenn., and there reared their family. 
The father was a regent in the War of 1812, but 
was not in active service himself. He died at his 
son's residence in Mississippi. Col. Nicholas B. 
Thweatt owes his nativity to Williamson County, 
Tenn., where his birth occurred on May 10, 1827, 
and remained in his native State until seventeen 
years of age when he went to Mississippi, settling 
in Yalobusha County, where he cultivated the soil 
up to the breaking out of the war. In 1862 he 
enlisted in the Confederate army, served on de- 
tached duty most of the time (in secret service) and 
thus continued until cessation of hostilities. He 
was taken prisoner, held at Helena and there suf- 
fered much from exposure. He was in niimerous 
tight places, but always succeeded in getting through 
all right. Returning to Mississippi after the war 
he remained there until 1867, after which he moved 
to Arkansas and located on his present tine proper- 
ty. He purchased an improved farm and now has 
200 acres with 100 acres cultivated. Like the 
majority of farmers in that locality he has a good 
residence and substantial outbuildings. He has 
a tine orchard of six acres and has one and a half 
acres in vineyard. He made the first wine manu- 
factured in Prairie County, and makes on an aver- 
age from 150 to 200 gallons per year. This is a 






PllAIKIE COUNTY. 



731 



very fine quality of wine. Mr. Thweatt was mar- 
ried in Mississippi on December 18, 1850, to Miss 
Mary Hardin, a native of North Carolina, but who 
was reared in Mississippi, and the daughter of 
Redic Hardin. Mrs. Thweatt died on March 25, 
1S70, leaving four sons: J. G. (an attorney at 
De Vall's Bluff), A. (a farmer and stock raiser), 
Prof. H. D. (a teacher of Prairie County) and N. 
E. (who is on the home farm). Mr. Thweatt is a 
Royal Arch Mason, also belongs to the Council, 
and is Past Master of the same. 

J. G. Thweatt, attorney, De Vails Blutf, Ark. 
Every life has a history of its own and although 
in appearance it may seem to possess little to dis- 
tinguish it from others, yet the popularity attained 
by Mr. Thweatt in his profession as well as his 
political career has contriViuted to give him a wide 
and popular acquaintance with nearly every citizen 
of Prairie County, if not personally, then by name. 
He came to Prairie County, Ark. , from Tallahatchee 
County, Miss., in January, 1807, settled near 
Hickory Plains, where he has since made his home. 
His birth occurred in Tallahatchee County, Miss., 
in 1852, and he was the eldest of seven children 
born to the union N. B. and Mary (Hardin) 
Thweatt, natives respectively of Tennessee and 
North Carolina. The father left his native State 
and journeyed to Mississippi when a young man, 
married there and in 1867 moved to Prairie County, 
Ark., where he engaged in agricultural i)ursuits. 
He is still living, but the mother died in Prairie 
County in 1869. J. G. Thweatt was early taught 
the duties of farm life and received his education 
at Hickory Plains, Prairie County. He commenced 
reading law at De Vall's Bluff in 1873, and two 
years later was admitted to the bar. "He com- 
menced the practice of law at De Vall's Bluff in 
1875 and the following year moved to Des Arc, 
where ho continued his practice. He also engaged 
in the real-estate business and has charge of the 
land of the Little Rock & Memphis Railroad in 
Prairie and Arkansas Counties. He has consider- 
able land for sale in Soutli Prairie County, lioth 
prairie and timber laud, all well watered by living 
streams. He has sold a vast amount of land and 
it is advancing each year in value. Mr. Thweatt 



is active in politics and in 1881 represented Prairie 
County in the legislature. He votes with thi' 
Democratic party and socially is a mem\)er of the 
K. of H. He was married in Des Arc, Prairie 
County, in 1882, to Miss Maggie McLaughlin, a 
native of Kentucky and the daughter of John and 
Christina (Cooper) McLaughlin, natives of Hcot 
land and Kentucky, respectively. The fatlier left 
his native country in 1839, settled in Michigan and 
some time later moved to New York, thence to Ken 
tucky in 1857 and in 1870 to DeWitt, Arkansas 
County. He was for many years a minister in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, but prior to that was 
an attorney. He is now located at Arkadelphia. 
The mother is also living. J. G. Thweatt opened 
his present office in January, 1888, and is one of 
the practical business men of the j)lace. He lias 
always taken an active interest in all things relat 
ing to the good of the county, especially educational 
and religious matters, and he and Jlrs. Thweatt 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Chinch, 
South. One child, Charley, is the result of this 
marriage. 

Gen. William A. E. Tisdale. The history of 
the Tisdale family in this country, or rather that 
branch to which the subject of this sketch l)olongs, 
dates back to the great-gieat grandfather, John 
Tisdale, who settled in Massachusetts in 1646, 
making his home at Taunton. His sou. John, the 
great-grandfather, was a colonel in the Revolution- 
ary War, and raised and equipped his regiment. 
His son, who also bore the name of John, was 
born in the "Bay State," was a gentleman of the 
old school, and possessed very courtly and polished 
manners, and in his youth was very fond of the 
chase. His sou, Timothy, the father of uur imme 
diate subject, was born in Massachusetts, and there 
spent most of his life, his death occurring in lSri6, 
at the age of lifty eight years. He was very linely 
educated, being a graduate of Harvard C^ollege, 
and was a Congregational iiiinister. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Charlotte Quintin. was 
also born in Massachusetts, and on her father's 
side is a descendant of an old Scotch family, that 
resided in the Lowlands. She was born in 1S(K), 
and died in 1869. Her mother was Thankful Nye. 



li:. 



732 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



a sister of the late Senator Nye, of Nebraska. Maj. 
Will. A. E. Tisdale, was born near Winchester, 
Va. , in 1838, his parents being residents of that 
State at the time, but in his early youth he was 
taken by them to Hampshire County, Mass., and at 
the age of fifteen years he entered West Point Mili- 
tary Academy, and was graduated therefrom in 1857. 
He was sent to the frontier as brevet-second lieu- 
tenant, and imder Maj. (later Lieut. -Gen.) E. 
Kirby Smith, Confederate States army, went to 
Salt Lake, theuce to San Francisco, P^ort Vancou- 
ver. Walla Walla and back to the frontier, where, 
in 1859, he resigned on account of rheumatism and 
located in Clinton County, Iowa. Here he was ad- 
mitted to the bar by the Hon. John F. Dillon, in 
April, 1801, but did not enter on his practice as the 
war then came up. He joined the Missouri State Mi- 
litia as first lieutenant of an independent company, 
being mustered in by the then Capt. (afterward 
Gen.) Lyons, on April 23, 1861, for three months, 
and before the expiration of said service was made 
captain. He subsequently enlisted in the Fifth 
Iowa Infantry (in August, 18(il), and remained in 
the army until August, 1807, serving part of the 
time after being crippled as Adjutant 00, United 
States Colored Troops, and mustered out with the 
volunteer rank of major-brevet-colonel, and the 
rank of captain in the Regulars. He received a 
severe wound in the thigh at the battle of Wilson's 
Creek, in August, 1801, and in March, 1802, at the 
liattle of New Madrid, received a wound in the 
forehead over the right eye, causing the entire loss 
of the same. This happened while serving under 
Gen. John Pope, and he received a high compli- 
ment from his iirigade commander. Brig. -Gen. 
Schuyler Hamilton. On September 19, 1802, 
while acting aid-de-camp at luka. Miss., he was 
wounded seven times, twice through the lungs, 
both balls passing in under the right arm, once 
through the right foot, one in the right hand, one 
in the right leg above the knee, breaking the bone, 
one in the left leg below the knee, and one in the 
buttock. All these wounds he received in forty 
minutes, and was complimented on his bravery in 
a special order by Gen. C. L. Mathias, his old col- 
onel. Subsequently he served the most of the time 



on staff duty, holding such positions as provost- 
marshal, inspector genera] and aid-de-camp. He 
commanded the military prison at Helena for some 
five months, and was also engineer in charge of 
Helena's fortifications. He arrived at Little Rock 
the night of the surrender uf Richmond, and was 
assigned to duty as district provost- marshal, which 
position he held until August, 1865, at which time 
he was assigned to duty as superintendent and 
provost-marshal Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen 
and Abandoned Lands for the White River Dis- 
trict embracing De Vall's Bluif, Augusta, Jack- 
sonport, Batesville and Evening Shades. In Octo- 
ber he was ordered to Little Rock to relieve Col. 
Sargeant, in charge of the largest district of tbe 
State. During the reconstruction he was appointed 
by Gen. E. O. C. Ord. as president of the board of 
military registration for Johnson County, which 
office he held until after the election for the con- 
stitution, and its adoption in March, 1808. In 
July of the same year he was appointed by Gen. 
Clayton, assistant adjutant-general for the State, 
and assistant mustering otficer, and was sent to the 
district embracing the counties of Van Buren, 
Searcy, Newton, Carroll and Madison to muster 
the militia, which he accomplished in due time, 
and returned to Little Rock the night of November 
4, in time to vote in the Congressional election held 
on November 5. He was one of Clayton's briga- 
dier-generals in the military troubles, was with 
Gen. Upham in his skirmishes, and subsequently 
commanded the district composed of the counties 
of Greene and Craighead, where he had a skirmish 
with the Ku-klux gang, and on being relieved, 
turned over to Gov. Clayton 980 affidavits of par- 
ties who confessed to having belonged to the Ku- 
klux. All this time he was interested in planting 
on the Arkansas River, an investment that did not 
pan out to his advantage, and in July, 1869, he 
was appointed assistant assessor and deputy col- 
lector of one division of the First Congressional 
district, with headquarters at Jacksonport, and 
during this time collected some 120,000, much of 
which he obtained from old delinquents. In March, 
1871, he was made chief assistant assessor for the 
district, with headquarters at De Vall's Bluff, which 



^ 

r 



PllAIRIE COUNTY. 



733 



if 



office he held until the fall of 1872, when he was 
appointed clerk of the United States Court at 
Helena, and held this office until March, 1875. 
In March, 1881, he was tendered the position of 
mail agent on the Memphis & Little Hock Mail 
Route, the duties of which position he faithfully 
tilled until November, 1881. Since that time he 
has been twice elected a school director of his dis- 
trict, and although he has never been an aspirant 
for pt)litical honors, he was once nominated by the 
Ke|)ublican party for State senator, but declined 
to be a candidate. He is now one of the commis- 
sioners of accounts and notary public of Prairie 
County. Although disabled and incapacitated for 
manual labor, he prides himself as being one of the 
"honest sons of toil," and the owner of alwut 
1,000 acres of land. He was married November 
11), 1863, to Miss Serena M. Graham, a daughter 
of Hon. James B. Graham and Sarah A. (Fish) 
Graham, the latter a relative of Hamilton Fish. 
Mrs. Tisdale was born in Pittsburgh, Penn. , in 
1844, and when about nine years old she was taken 
by her people to Warren, Ohio, thence to Keokuk, 
Iowa, at the age of eleven years. She is an ac- 
complished singer, and at the time of her marriage 
was the leading soprano singer in the Congrega- 
tional Church at Keokuk. She is one of nine chil- 
dren, all of whom are living and married, with the 
exception of two who died in infancy. Gen. Tis- 
dale is the seventh son in succession in a family of 
nine children, the one younger than him a girl, and 
he and live brothers were hi the Union army, three 
operating in the East and three in the West. 
Gen. and Mrs. Tisdale have had born to them a 
family of seven children : Launa Maria (born May 
3, 1865, in Keokuk), Frank Story (born in Keokuk 
November 8, 1868), Maud Alice (born January 13, 
1870, and died August 12, 1872, at De Vail' s Bluff). 
The following children were also born there: 
Charles Henry (born August 8, 1873), Clara Mabel 
(born October 8, 1874, and died in September, 
1875, at Fairmount), Thomas Albert (born March 
8, 1877, and died August 12, 1878). and John 
Timothy {horu May 8, 1881, and died August 12, 
1881). These little ones were carefully laid away 
on the home place, and the especial care of their 



graves and the wealth of flowers which bloom over 
them shows that though aliscnt they are not for- 
gotten. When the (teneral first came with his 
family to their present home, which they called 
Pleasant Prairie, the people in the coiumuiiity ol) 
tained their mail at De Vail" s Bluff, twenty livn 
miles away, but through the iastrumentality of 
Hon. W. W. Whitshire, then a meml)er of Con- 
gress, and a personal friend of the family, he 
had established a mail route from Lonoke U^ De 
Witt, which gave them mail once each week, and 
later was increased to twice a week. This office 
was from some cause unknown abandone<l, and 
Gen. Tisdale had the office established at his home 
and it was called Des Moines, Mrs. Tisdale being 
postmistress until the establishment of a store at 
Fairmount, when she resigned in favor of Benjamin 
Thalheimer. The General is now Post Commaii 
der of the G. A. R. Post at Stuttgart, and is a 
member of the Republican Central Committee of 
Prairie County. In politics he is a strong Repub- 
lican, and always has been from boyhood. He has 
in his possession a silver spoon that came from 
England with the first John Tisdale in 104<). 

J. M. Van Zandt, M. D. One of the very 
foremost among the jirofessional and active busi- 
ness men of Barrettsville, is acknowledged to bo 
Dr. Van Zandt, whose personal popularity is un- 
limited. He was born in Wayne County, Tenn., 
in 1841, being the eldest of five children born to 
Thomas T. and Elizabeth (Wells) Van Zandt, the 
former of whom was born in the State of Tennes 
see. in 1828, and there spent his youthful days 
and received his education. He was a minister of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was a mem 
ber of the Southwest Missouri Conference. In 
1839 he married, his wife being a daughter of 
George Walls, and in 1844 he moved to Ozark 
County, Mo., and there became pastor of a church. 
Of five children born to him, our subject is the 
eldest. The next in order of birth is John W. 
(who lives in Marion County, Ark., is married, and 
has a family of six children), James A. B. (who 
resides near St. Charles), Elizabeth H. (Mrs. J. 
L. McSwayne, residing near De Vall's Bluff) and 
Margaret P. (Mrs. C. E. Hnyley. also residing 



<5 k. 



734 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



near St. Charles). Rev. Thomas T. Van Zandt 
was a Democrat in his views, a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, and was a man whom all re- 
spected and esteemed. He met a violent death 
during the turbulent times of the Civil War, being 
killed by Jayhawkers, in 1863. His wife died in 
Missouri, in 1858. The paternal grandfather, 
Elijah Van Zandt, was born in North Carolina, 
and was a participant in the War of 1812. Dr. 
J. M. Van Zandt received his early education in 
the common schools of Missouri, and after reach- 
ing a proper age, began studying medicine, at 
McDowell's College, in St. Louis, Mo., and in 
1861 began his first practice. He did not continue 
long, however, but the same year enlisted as third 
sergeant in the Missouri Cavalry State Troops, and 
was a participant in the tights at Oak Hill, Lex- 
ington, Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove, Hartsville, Cape 
Girardeau, Helena, Jenkins' Ferry and others. 
After the death of his father he left this command, 
and took charge of a company, and joined Price 
on his raid through Missouri, his last tight being 
at Newtonia, that State. He practiced his pro- 
fession in Dallas County, Mo., in 1865, and the 
following year went to Texas, and settled in Som- 
erville County. Not liking this location, he came 
to Arkansas, and after a residence in Arkansas 
County until 1884, he settled in Barrittsville, 
Prairie County, where he has since made his home. 
In connection with his practice he is engaged in 
merchandising, having commenced this enterprise 
in October, 1889, and is doing a prosperous busi- 
ness. While in Texas he was married, in 1877, 
to Miss Ida E. Yager, a daughter of R. L. and 
Elizabeth (Sanders) Yager, the former an Ala- 
bamian. Dr. and Mrs. Van Zandt are members of 
the Christian Church, and are the parents of two 
children: Nannie M. and Helen E. The Doctor 
has been an extensive traveler, but is thoroughly 
satisfied with his present location. He is a Mason, 
and has a demit from Little River City Lodge No. 
402, Bell County, Texas. 

Judge Horace P. Vaughan. On this page of 
the history of Prairie County, Ark., is found the 
life record of a man, whose career through life has 
been as honest in the honesty of manhood, as 



worthy so far as duty, well and faithfully per- 
formed goes, and as untarnished by reproach as 
that of any man mentioned in the history of the 
community. He was born in Mecklenburg County, 
Va., August 25, 1825, and is a .son of Pleasant and 
Mourning E. (Dauce) Vaughan, who were also 
Virginians. The father for a number of years was 
a teacher by profession, being also engaged in 
farming. He reared his family, consisting of a 
son and two daughters, in Mecklenburg County, 
and there died in 1883, his wife's death having oc- 
curred in 1844. Although not favored with very 
good educational advantages in his youth Judge 
Horace P. Vaughan possesses a brilliant and cul- 
tured mind and his knowledge of books and the 
world has been mostly acquired since reaching 
years of maturity. At the early age of thirteen 
years he began clerking and followed this occupa- 
tion off and on until he came west in 1852, arriving 
at Somerville, Tenn., in August of that year. 
He followed his old occupation of clerking in that 
place for three years and in 1855 came to Arkan- 
sas, settling at Des Arc, where he formed a part- 
nership with another gentleman and was engaged 
in the mercantile business up to the opening of the 
war. He was then appointed by the military 
board as secretaiy of that organization, and this 
position retained until the close of the war, being 
also paymaster-general of the State troops and 
private secretary to the Governor. After the close 
of the war he settled in Des Are again, took up 
the study of law, and in 1867 was admitted to the 
bar and practiced his profession successfully until 
1878. Before commencing the practice of law and 
since giving up the work he has been engaged in 
farming and at one time he owned a considerable 
quantity of valuable lands and town property, but 
reverses have swept much of his property away. 
Mr. Vaughan was elected and held the office of 
magistrate for a number of years, and has been 
mayor of the town and couaty judge one term, and 
to the excellent natural abilities possessed by Judge 
Vaughan are added the wisdom and experience of a 
useful and well-spent life and there was no reason 
to view his official career with disapproval when 
he retired fiom the bench. He was married in 



VI 



r 



V 



PRAIKIE COUNTY. 



T.ir: 



I'rairie County, Nov. 4, 1856, to Mattie E. Brock, 
a native of Mississippi, and a daufjlitcr of Caleb 
and Mary F. (Jones) Brock, who were amonjj the 
first families to come to this region. Mrs. Va\ighan 
died February 5, JS73, leaving five children: 
D'Arcy, Emmet, Victor, Percy and Kezzie. Victor 
died January 24, 1S88, aged seventeen years. 
Judge Vaughan's second union took place in May, 
1873, his wife being Mrs. Mary J. (Cox) Mizill, 
was born in Phillips County, Ark., and by her he 
is the father of five children: Blanche, Mabel, 
Bertha, Alzie and Horace Cox. Judge Vaughan 
belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
and his wife to the Missionary Baptist Church. 
He is also, a memljer of the Masonic fraternity. 

F. P. Wells. A sketch of Mr. Wells' life, as 
far as Prairie County is concerned, covers a period 
of but little over six years, yet he has become so 
thoroughly identified with the business interests of 
the same, and his career has been so successful 
that a brief sketch of his career will be of much 
interest to all. His lairth occurred in Erie Coun- 
ty, Penn., in 183(5, he being the eldest of a family 
of nine children born to the marriage of J. E. 
\Vells and Louisa Cole. The former was born in 
the "Green Mountain State" in 1812, and about 
the year 1820 removed with his father to Pennsyl- 
vania, and in that State he was reared to manhood 
and married, the last named event taking place in 
1835, and resulted in the birth of these children: 
Mittie, Charles, Jerome (deceased), Julius, Louisa, 
Judson, Addie, Jerome (named for his elder brother 
who died) and subject of sketch. Mr. AVells was 
a tanner by trade, and in this business became 
quite successful. He died in 1880. still survived 
by his wife, who is residing in BulTalo, N. Y. F. 
P. Wells' youthful days were spent in the " Key- 
stone State," but his education was aci|uired in 
Hillsdale College, Mich. Mr. Wells is a marrieil 
man, his wife having formerly been Miss Sarah M. 
Page, a datighter of E. Pago, their union being 
consummated in 1801, and resulted in the l)irth of 
six children: Charles, Marie, Julius, Frank, Louise 
and Clara. They, with their mother, reside in 
Buffalo, N. Y. Mr. Wells first began manufact- 
uring boat- oars in 18(55, in Albion, Erie County, 



Penn., l)ut at a later period he removeil to Lan- 
sing, Mich., where he had control <jf four mills 
for this purpose, his business there ijeing on a very 
extended scale, indeed. In 1883 he established a 
factory at Do Vall's BlulT, Ark., which estal)lish. 
ment is the only one of the kinil in the State, and 
it is fitted up with all the latest improved and best 
machinery, and has a capacity of 3,5(10 feet of 
oars per day. He ships his product to all points 
of the globe, and in addition to having an exten- 
sive trade with the seaport and river towns of the 
United States, he supplies the markets of London 
and Liverpool (England), Glasgow (Scotland) and 
Sidney and Melbourne ( Autitralia). He nianufact 
nres pike-j)oles, handles of all kinds and ilcscrip 
tions, but makes a specialty of oars. Joseph Gord- 
ner & Sons, of London, Liverpool (Fiiiglaml) ami 
Glasgow (Scotland), are interested in this estab 
lishment. Mr. Wells owns a portion of 14,(I(MI 
acres of woodland, and in addition to tliis. owns 
valuable property in Lansing, Mich., and Buffalo, 
N. Y. Mr. Wells is one of the progressive and 
enterprising business men of the county, whose 
strict attention to work, perseverance and integrity 
have produced such substantial results, and it is a 
pleasure to lay I)efore the reader the unsullied 
record of such a man. He is a member of the 
Masonic order, and he and wife are members of tht> 
Congregational Church at Lansing, Mich. 

Dr. David N. White, Hickory Plains. Ark. This 
much-esteemed and prominent citizen was origi 
nally from North Carolina, his birth occurring In 
Burk County, July IS, 1S32, the son of .John and 
Sarah P. (Duncan) White, natives of North Carolina. 
The father was a blacksmitli l)y trade, and also car- 
ried on agiicultural |)ursuits all his life. Hi' moved to 
Tennessee about 1834, located into Carroll County, 
and there tilled the soil until his death, which oc- 
curred about 1857. His wife survivetl him many 
years, and died in Tennessee in 187U. Dr. David 
N. White pa.ssed his boyhood days in Carroll 
County, Teim.. and remaine<l with his father until 
twenty-one years old. He embarked in the tan- 
ning Inisiness when a young man, continuing seven 
years, when he commenced the study of medicine 
at Shady Grove, under Dr. J. (l. Boyd alxjut 1857. 



n' 



• k^ 



736 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



He to(jk bis first course of lectures at Nashville, 
Toim., iu the winter of 1860, but had previously 
[)racticed for some time with Dr. Boj'd. Iu the 
last-meutioaed year he located in Henderson Coun- 
ty, and jiracticed in connection with Dr. H. Brown 
for six years. In the sjjriug of 1866, he removed to 
Arkansas, located at Hickory Plains, and has been 
i;; constant practice here since that time, and had 
most of the practice in the neighl)orhood. The Doc- 
tor located on a farm when he came here and in con- 
nection with his professional duties has carried on 
agricultural pursuits. He was married in Hender- 
son County, Tenn. , on May 6, 1863, to Miss Mar- 
tha J. Whyte, a native of Henderson County, and 
the daughter of Joseph Whyte. Ten children have 
been the fruits of this union, eight sons and two 
daughters: Homer L. (a physician now practicing 
with bis father), Joseph M. \V. (clerk at Des Arc), 
William L., David E., Lily, John T., Luther, 
Newton B., Fred and Mattie. The Dr. and wife 
are members of the Baptist Church, and have the 
respect and esteem of all acquainted with them. 
The Dr. is a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
White River Lodge No. 39, and is a Master Mason. 
He was elected a commissioner to locate the court 
house. 

William L. Willeford is the present efficient 
circuit and county court clerk of Prairie County, 
Ark., and as his prominent characteristics are 
strict, honest and exceptionally line business quali- 
fications, his fellow-citizens have been quick to 
recognize his merits. His birth occurred in Giles 
County, Tenn., July 20, 1847, and he is a son of 
A. H. and Sarah W. (Cotrell) Willeford, the former 
a Tennesseean, and the latter a native of Alal)ama. 
A. H. Willeford removed to Alabama after reach- 
ing manhood, and there became a prominent at- 
torney at law, and served the Government as sur- 
veyor of that State. After the celebration of his 
nuptials, he returned to Tennessee, but in 1851 
settled in Hernando, Do Soto County, Miss. , 
whore he successfully practiced law until his death, 
which occurred in July, 1860. His widow re- 
moved to Des Arc, Ark., in 1871, and is now re- 
siding with her son^ AVilliam L. The early days of 
the latter were spent in Mississippi, and there he 



acquired his early education, and from this State 
he joined the Confederate army, in 1862, being at 
that time only fourteen years of age. He enlisted 
as a private in Company K, Ninth Mississippi In- 
fantry, and was in the battles of Shiloh, Murfrees- 
boro, Franklin and a great many skirmishes. 
During the latter part of the war, he was trans- 
ferred to Forrest's cavalry, and was disbanded 
near Selma, Ala., in 1865. He tiien returned to 
Mississippi, and began clerking iu a drug store, 
and during the period up to 1871, he Ix'came thor- 
oughly familiar with the details of this business. 
He then followed this occupation in Des Arc, in 
the drug store of Col. Biu-ney, until 1875, at 
which time he turned his attention to farmingf, 
continuing one year, and in the fall of that year 
he purchased a drug store, and successfully man- 
aged it until 1882. At this date he was elected on 
the Democratic ticket, of which he has always been 
a supporter, to the office of clerk of the circuit and 
county court, and has been re electetl successively in 
1884, 1886 and 1888, and is acknowledged by all 
to be the best clerk Prairie County has ever had. 
He has also filled other positions of trust with 
ability, and in every walk in life, has been straight- 
foi'ward, upright and conscientious. September 
26, 1872, his marriage with Miss Emma Becton 
was celebrated. She was a daughter of J. G. and 
Lizzie Becton, and was born in North Carolina, 
her death occurring in Prairie County, Ark., Oc 
tober 2, 1888, leaving a family of five children to 
mourn her loss: Anna, Gracio, Jacob, William and 
Frederick. Mr. Willeford took for his second wife 
Miss Maggie Bacon, a Kentuckian, a daughter of 
Ben. and Gabriella Bacon, their union taking 
place April 17, 1S8U. Mrs. Willeford is a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church, and her husband be- 
longs to the K. of H. and the K. of P. 

B. S. Willeford, merchant, Des Arc, Ark. 
Among the prominent business houses of Des Arc, 
one deserving of special mention is that conducted 
by Mr. Willeford, who established himself in busi- 
ness at this place in 1887. He owes his nativity to 
Pulaski County, Tenn., where his birth occurred 
on Febrnar}' 13, 1850, and is the brother of W. L. 
Willeford, whose sketch immediately precedes 



^ 



PRAIRIE COUNTY. 



737 



this. B. S. Williiford iuovihI with his parents 
i'roju Tennessee to Mississipi)i, tlunice to Arkansas, 
ill 1870. Previous to this, whihi in Mississippi, ho 
hail been engaged in a number of business enter- 
prises, and, after coining to D(<s Arc, he engaged in 
merchandising on his own responsibility. Although 
he commenced in a very small way, ho soon built 
lip an extensive trade, and now does as flourishing a 
business as any of the substantial men of the town. 
He selected for his (companion in life Miss Amanda 
Allen, a native of Prairie County, and the daughter 
of Col. Allen, whom he married in December, 
1878. The fruits of this union have been two chil- 
dren, viz.: Cannie and Ruth. Mr. Willeford has 
served as alderman of his ward, also tilled the po- 
sition of marshal, and was deputy clerk at De- 
Vall's Bluff' for a time. He has steadily kept up 
that reputation for excellence, which lirst gave him 
success. 

Dr. W. F. Williams, physician and surgeon, 
Hazen, Ark. Dr. Williams is a man who is stead- 
ily and surely making his way to the front in the 
medical profession and as a prominent and useful 
citizen. He was born in Memphis, Tenn., in 
December, 1850, and his parents, John S. and 
Frances S. (Lawrence) Williams, were natives of 
Virginia and Memphis, Tenn., respectivelj'. The 
father came to Tennessee, a single man, engaging 
in the drug business under the lirm name of Wat- 
son & Williams, and was married in Memphis. In 
1856 he came to Prairie County, Ark., settling on 
a farm, where he also engaged in the practice of 
medicine, having graduated from the Philadelphia 
Medical Institute some time previous. In 1862 he 
enlisted as surgeon in Col. Lemoin's regiment of 
this State, and later consolidated into the Seven- 
teenth Arkansas Infantry. He was transferred to 
the west side of the Mississippi River, was enrolling 
officer for several counties and was made bonding 
agent for Confederate script. At the close of the 
war he returned to Woodruff County, engaged in 
teaching and earned money enough to take him and 
his family back to Prairie County. He returned 
to the homestead in the winter of 1865, and re- 
sumed the practice of medicine. He was elected 
Secretary of the State Grange, and was Secretary 



prro tern, at its organization in 1872. In the year 
1875, he moved to Dc^Vall's BlulT, Ark,, and made 
that his home. In lS7y he was elected Master of 
the State Grange. His death occurred in Novem- 
ber, I8S1. The mother died in September, IH70. 
The father was a member of Des Arc Lodge, No. 
45, A. F. & A. M. Dr. W. F. Williams was edu 
cated at St. Johns' military school in Little Rook, 
Ark. , attending fom- years, and then attended the 
Memphis Medical Institute, from which he gradu- 
ated in March, 1886. After this he commenced 
the practice of medicine near Hickory Plains, and 
later went fi'om there to Hazen, buying out Dr. G. 
\V. Hudspeth. He takes a prominent part in 
politics and his vote is cast with the Democratic 
party. He was married in Prairie County, in 1873, 
to Miss Elizalieth Home, a native of Tennessee, 
who bore him seven children, four living: Frank, 
Lawrence (deceased), Joseph (attending school in 
Water Valley, Miss. ), Sim, Anna Lou (deceased >, 
Bessie Emma and W. F., Jr. The Doctor is a 
member of the Masonic order, Hazen Lodge, No. 
56], and he and Mrs. Williams are now connected 
with the Presbyterian Church at Hazen, having 
been members of that denomination since 1867. 
He was elected re])resentative to the State ^ledical 
Association ami is the present Treasurer of the 
County Medical Society. He takes a deep interest 
in the temperance cause and is one of the progres- 
sive men of the county. 

Rudolph Wintker, planter, Ulm. Ark. This 
gentleman is another of the many esteemed citizefls 
of foreign birth who have made their home in 
Prairie County. Ho was born in (ieriiiany on 
December 27. 1S33, and was the son of Matthew 
Wintker and ^^■ilhelmilla Woitinan, both natives 
of Germany and iiotb members of the Lutheran 
Church. Tlie father was a farm(>r by occupation 
and this pursuit carried on the principal part of 
his life. Rudolph Wintker left his native country 
with his mother and emigrated to the United Slates. 
They located tirst in St. Louis, but sulisecpiently 
moved to Illinois, where they remained two years 
and then returned to St. Louis, where he learned 
the carpenter's trade. About 1851 he returned to 
Illinois, locating in Washington County, and there. 



738 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



on January 3, 1856, was united in marriage to 
Miss Mena Piatt, a native of Germany. This union 
resulted in the birth of nine children, six of whom 
are living at the present time: Caroline, Franklin, 
Henry, Emma, Emele and Rudolph, and all reside 
in Prairie County. The mother of these children 
died on Fi«l)ruary 8, 1885, and Mr. Wintker chose 
for his second wife Miss Helena Filers, and was 
married to her on April 10, 1889. He emigrated 
from Illinois to Ai'kansas on December 1, 1882, 
located where he now resides, and is the owner of 
200 acres of good land, with seventy acres under 
cultivation. He has held the office of school direc- 
tor and has been justice of the peace for five years. 
He has also been a member of the Odd Fellows 
Lodge. Mr. Wintker also handles considerable 
real-estate and is one of the thoroughgoing busi- 
ness men of the county. He and wife are mem- 
bers of the Lutheran Church, and reside a short 
distance from the same. He makes it now a spec- 
ial business to sell real estate and attend to collec- 
tions. 

E. F. Wylie, farmer and stock raiser. Fair- 
mount, Ark. Of that sturdy and independent 
class, the farmers and stock men of Arkansas, there 
are none who possess more genuine merit or 
stronger character than he whose name stands at 
the head of this sketch. Mr. Wylie owes his na- 
tivity to Indiana, where his birth occurred July 8, 
1830. His father (A. M. Wylie) was a native of 
Kentucky, born in 1819, and in that State he 
received his education. Subsequently he emi- 
grated to Indiana, and there married Miss Rebecca 
Farmer, a native of Indiana, and the daughter of 
Jesse and Rhoda Farmer. The fruits of this union 



were ten children: Augusta C. , E. F. and Julia 
O. The remainder died while young. The father 
was a farmer by occupation, and this j)nrsuit con- 
tinued the principal part of his life. His wife 
died in 1849, and he chose for his second wife Miss 
Elizabeth Young, who bore him three children: 
Ellen, George and Lillie. Mr. Wylie held the 
office of sheriff of Tipton County, Ind., for throe 
terms, and was a man who took quite an interest 
in church and educational matters. He died in 
1881, but his wife is still living, and resides in 
Illinois. He was a member of the Baptist Church, 
to which his wife also now belongs. E. F. 
Wylie received his education in Illinois and em- 
igrated to Missouri in 1853, where he married 
Miss Sarah J. Richardson, on May 24, of the same 
year. She was born in Indiana, and by her mar- 
riage became the mother of six children: Rebec- 
ca J. (deceased), Emma C. (wife of Fulton Harris), 
Martha O. (wife of John Vaughn), Augustus M., 
Norton W., Cora A. (who resides at home) and 
Charles E. The mother of these children died in 
1886. Mr. W3'lie emigrated from Missouri to Ar- 
kansas in 1874, and located in Prairie County, 
where he now resides. In 1887 he married Miss 
Emma E. Hollaway, and to this union has lieen 
born one child, Henry W. Mr. Wylie has fol- 
lowed farming and stock raising nearly all his life; 
is the owner of 400 acres of land, with sixty acres 
under cultivation, and is one of the progressive 
and enterprising farmers of the county. He was 
Master of the Grange. for two years, and has held 
the office of justice of peace for four years. He 
and wife are members of th« Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 




•els — ^ 



i \ 



A 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



739 



Phillips County-Judicial Center-Buildings for Public Use-Political Life-Population- 
CouKTS of Equity- Roll ok Legal Puactitioners-County Situation and Physical 
Features -Geologic Formation- Water Supply and Dhainage-Fakmino 
Lands— Live Stock Interests— Shipping Facilities— Pioneer Set- 
tlements — Military Affairs — Sketch of Helena- 
Other Towns, Villages, etc. — Interests, 
Scholastic and Religious- 
Memoirs. 

— -^sC^* — 

Ye pioneers, it is to you 

The debt of gratitiule is due; 

Ye buililed wiser tlinii ye knew 

The broad foundation 

On which our superstructure stands. — Peurre. 




HILLIPS COUNTY was 
organized in accordance 
with an act of the leijisla 
-A E^^^ R^^ j"* tnre of Arkansas Territory, 
-| I ^^^S' . approved May 1, 1820. -It 
then included a large 
amount of territory lying 
' north of its present limits, which has 
since lieen organized into several coun- 
ties. The county was named in honor 
of Sylvanus Phillips, a pioneer settler, 
ami one of the original proprietors of 
the site of the present city of Helena. 
Soon after the county was organized, 
the seat of justice thereof was located 
at this place, and about the year 
1821, Nicholas Rightor, an early set- 
tler and Government surveyor, surveyed and laid 
out a town on lands belonging to Sylvanus Phil- 
lips and William Russell, and it was named 
Helena, in honor of Miss Helena Phillips, a daugh- 



ter of Sylvanus Phillips. Russell was not a settler 
of the county. He lived at St. Louis, Mo., was a 
great land sjiecniator, and owned a part of the 
lands on which the city of Little Rock was located, 
and was one of the company that laid out the 
capital city. He obtained his lands by locating 
soldier claims on the best lands he could find, aad 
then buying them of such claimant-s as did not de 
sire to occupy them at verj- low jirices. In this 
way he accumulated a vast amount of the best 
lands in Ai-kansas. 

The first county l)nilding. which was a two- 
story log building, witli a court room above and 
the jail below, stood on the ridge a short distance 
south of the present court house. Tiie next county 
buildings, consisting of a small twostory frame 
court bonse and a one story log jail, stood on the 
east of Jlaiii or Oliio Street, south of Porter 
Street. Early in the Civil War period this court 
house took tire and burned down (8np|>osed to have 
taken tire accidentally). The county then rented a 



740 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



building for conrt pnrposes aud county offices 
until the present court bouse was ready for occu- 
pancy. 

The present jail, a large two-story brick struct- 
ure, was erected in 1860. It stands on a lot east 
of and adjoining the conrt house square. The 
court house is a large and plain two-story brick 
building, with halls, stairs and office rooms on the 
first floor and the court room on the second. It 
was completed in 1871, in "reconstruction" 
times, and is said to have cost the county much 
more than it should have cost. It stands in the 
northwestern part of the city, on a hill so elevated 
that a commanding view of the city can be ob- 
tained therefrom. A beautiful grass lawn sur- 
rounding the house is kept in good order. 

The following is a list of names of county 
officers of Phillips County, from its organization to 
the present, with dates of terms of service annexed: 

Judges: J. H. McKenzie, 1829-32; J. J. 
McKeal, 1832-33; I. G. P. Tolleson, 1835-36; 
W. E. Butts, 1836-38; T. B. Hanley, 1838-40; 
W. E. Butts, 1840-42; A. G. Underwood, 1842 
-44; J. S. Hornor, 1844-46; A. G. Underwood, 
1846-56; A. P. E warts, 1856-58; A. G. Under- 
wood, 1858-60; J. B. Shell, 1860-62; A. P. 
Ewarls, 1864-65; E. G. Cook, 1865-66; George 
AVest, 1866-68; Q. K. Underwood, 1868-72; board 
of supervisors, 1872-74; S. J. Clark, 1874-78; M. 
T. Sanders, 1878-82; R. W. Nicholls, present in- 
cumbent, first elected in 1882, re-elected, and has 
served continuously since. 

Clerks: W. B. R. Hornor, 1820-21; S. Phil- 
lips, 1821-23; S. M. Rutherford, 1823-25; H. L. 
Bi.sco, 1825-27; G. W. Fereby, 1827-29; Austin 
Hendricks, 1829-30; S. C. Mooney, 1830-32; J. 
R. Sanford, 1832-38; J. S. Hornor, 1838-42 
William Kelley, 1842-44; L. D. Maddox, 1844-48 
. R. H. Yates, 1848-52; E. H. Cowley, 1852-62 
,). H. Maxey, 1864-66; E. H. Cowley, 1866-68 
S. J. Clark, 1868-74; D. W. Elison, 1874-78 

Thompson, 1878-82; Whit Jarmin, 1882-88 

James C. Rembert, present incumbent, elected in 
1880. 

Sheriffs: Daniel Mooney, 1820-23; George 
Seaborn, 1823-25; Daniel Mooney, 1825-27; H. 



L. Brisco. 1827-30; F. Hanks, 1830-32; H. L. 
Brisco, 1832-35; M. Irvin, 1835-44; W. M. Bos- 
tick, 1844-48; D. Thompson, 1848-52; A. Thomp- 
son, 1852-58; B. W. Green, 1858-62; B. W. 
Green, 1864-65; J. Graves, 1865-66; B. Y. Turn- 
er 1866-68; D. C. Gordon, 1868-72; A. Barrow, 
1872-74; H. B. Robinson, 1874-78; B. Y. Turner, 
1878-84; E. D. Pillow, present incumbent, first 
elected in 1884. 

Treasurers: J. B. Ford, 1836-52; E. P. Scant- 
land, 1852-54; J. Locke, 1854-50; W. D. Hornor, 
1856-58; William Lonford, 1858-60; E. K. Har- 
ris, 1860-62; R. A.Yerby, 1864-66; W. H. Craw- 
ford, 1866-68; S. H. Brooks, 1868-72; N. Straub. 
1872-78; S. H. King, 1878-80; E. M. Ford, 1880 
-86; N. Straub, present incumbent, first elected in 
1886. 

Coroners: Peter Edwards, 1823-25; W. H. Cal- 
vert, 1829-32; Enor Askew, 1832-33; S. S. Smith, 
1833-35; P. Pinkston, 1835-36; W. Battis, 1836 
-38; J. Skinner, 1838-40; A. Sanders, 1840-42; 
W. H. Calvert, 1842-50; M. Piatt, 1850-54; J. M. 
Odle, 1854-56; R. Goodwin, 1856-58; W. A. 
Dickson, 1858-60; W. A. Thorn, 1860-62; T. 
Wallace, 1864-65; A. Neal, 1865-66; J. J. Mulky, 
1866-68; C. Williams, 1872-74; Samuel Hill, 
1874-78; T. H. Quarles, 1878-80; John Cren- 
shaw, 1880-82; T. N. Upshaw, 1882-84; R. W. 
McKenny, 1884-86; C. H. Hicks, 1886-88; Abe 
Crawford, present incumbent, elected in 1888. 

Surveyors: N. Rightor, 1823-25; N. Rightor, 
1829-30; B. Burress, 1830-32; C. P. Smith, 
1832-35; Charles Pearcy, 1835-36; C. P. Smith, 
1836-38; H. Turner, 1838-40; J. H. Bonner, 
1840-42; S. Weaver, 1842-44; S. Goodman, 
1844-46; J. Thomas, 1846-48; S. K. Goodman, 
1848-50; E. H. Gilbert, 1850-60; M. D. Norton, 
1860-63; E. H. Gilbert, 1864-68; F. Trunkey, 
1868-72; M. M. Robinson, 1872-76; W. W. Bail- 
ey, 1876-78; B. F. Thompson, 1878-82; R. A. 
Blount, 1882-86; Thomas M. Jacks, present in- 
cumbent, first elected in 1886. 

Assessors: J. C. AVatson, 1864-65; H. Camp- 
bell, 1865-66; J. A. Bush, 1866-68; H. B. Rob- 
inson, 1868-72; T. Grissom, 1872-74; A. Barrow, 
1874-76; M. G. Turner, 1870-78; B. W. Green, 



*7; 



V 



<2__ 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



741 



1S7S-88; M. G. Ttirnor, present incumbent, elect- 
ed in 1888. 

Circuit court clerks: J. P. Clopper, 1878-80; 
J. F. Humphries, 1880. 

Delegates in constitutional conventions: 1830, 
Henry L. Brisco and George W. Ferebey; 1861, 
T. B. Hanley and C. W. Adams; 1804, J. A. 
Butler, T. M. Jacks and Thomas Pearce; 1808, 
Joseph Brooks, Thomas Smith, William H. Gray 
and James T. White; 1874, J. J. Hornor, J. T. 
White and R. Polk. 

Representatives in Territorial legislature: Dan- 
iel Mooney in council and W. B. R. Hornor in 
house, 1828; J. W. Calvert in council and H. L. 
Brisco in house, 1825; E. T. Clark in council 
and John Johnson in house, 1827; F. Hanks in 
council and E. T. Clark in house, 1829; Charles 
('aldwell in council and T. Hanks in house, 1831 ; 
W'. T. Moore in council and M. Hanks in house, 
1883. 

Representatives in State legislature: J. C. P. 
Tolleson and J. J. Sliell, 1830-88; J. J. Shell 
and F. Hanks, 1840-42; Eli.sha Burke and T. B. 
Hanley, 1842-44; E. Burke and F. B. Culver, 
1844-40; E. Burke and Bailey Kendall, 1840-48; 
John Martin and W. E. Preston, 1848-50; W. E. 
Preston and J. C. Tappan, 1850-52; G. Geffries 
and A. Wilkins, 1852-54; R. B. Macon and W. 
D. Rice, 1854-50; Francis H. Moody, 1850-58; 
Thomas C. Anderson, 1858-60; J. C. O. Smith 
and Thomas J. Key, 1800-02; H. P. Slaughter 
and W. N. Mixon, 1860-07; J. A. Bntler, M. 
Reed, J. C. Tobiast, W. H. Gray, J. J. T. White 
and J. K. Whitson, Phillii.s and Monroe, 1868- 
09; same counties, G. W. Holliliough, A. Mays, 
J. M. Peck, Austin Barrow, C. C. Waters and J. 
M. Alexander, Jr., 1871; same counties, J. W. 
Williams, Tony Grissom, John ^\'. Fox, \V. H. 
Furbush, G. H. W. Stewart and H. H. Robinson, 
1878; same counties, T. M. Jacks, P. McGowan 
and W. Foreman, 1874; Phillips only, Tony Gris 
som, A. H. Miller and Perry Coleman, 1875; Perry 
Coleman. J. M. D(mohoe and T. M. Jacks, 1877; 
GreeuHeld Quarles, T. B. Hanley and W. R. 
Burke, 1879; G. Quarles, A. G. Jarman and J. 
1*. K<.l.(>rts. 1881; S. H. Brooks, R. B. Macon 



and John J. Moore, 1888; J. P. Roberts, W. R. 
Burko and S. H. King, 1885; R. B. Macon. James 
P. Clarke and J. M. Donohoe, 1887. 

In 1888 th(! number of votes cast in Phillips 
County for State and National candidates for office 
was as follows: For Governor, at the September 
election, James P. Eagle (Dem.), 1,123; C. M. 
Norwood (Com. Opp.), 3,278. For President, at 
the November election, Cleveland (Dem.), 789; 
Harrison (Rep.), 2,123. This shows the Repub- 
licans to have a very large majority in the county, 
but before the September election, 1888, a com- 
promise county ticket, composed of candidates from 
both parties, was put into the field, and at the 
election it was successful, hence the county officers 
are representatives of l)oth parties, and it is said 
that this gives general satisfaction. 

The population of the county since its inceptiop 
has been, at the end of each decade, as follows: 
1820, 1,197; 1830, 1,152; 1840, 8,547; 1850, 
0,935; 1800, 5.931 white and 8,945 colored, mak 
a total of 14,870; 1870, 4,871 white and 10,501 
colored, total, 15,872; 1880, white 5.444. colored 
15,809, total 21,253. 

The county court, proper, was organiz(Ml in 
1829, and prior to this time the county busi 
ness was transacted in the circuit court. Since 
1829 there has always l)een a county court, liut 
from 1.S72 to 1874 it consisted of a board of .super 
vi.sors. The several courts of Phillips County con- 
vene in regular session at Helena at the following 
dates: County, on the lirst Monday of Januarj'. 
April, July and October of each year; common pleas, 
on the third Monday of the samci months; probate, 
on th(* third Monday of February, March, August 
and November; circuit, on the third Monday of 
May and November. 

As far back as 1880, the year that Arkansas 
became a State, the Helena bar consisted of the 
following resident attorneys: William K. Sebas- 
tian and John C. P. Tolleson from Tennessee; 
William E. Butts from New York; Thomas B. 
Hanley and William l\r. ^McPherson from Kentucky, 
and John Preston from Virginia. These were mostly 
young men then, and some of them lived to be- 
come distinguished throughout the State. The bar 



\A@ 



:f- 



C fc_ 



!£: 



742 



HISTORY OP ARKANSAS. 



of this county has always been noted for its ability, 
having among its members some of the ablest 
lawyers and most distinguished generals the State, 
has produced. The resident attorneys of Phillips 
County, now composing its legal bar, are Gen. J. 
C. Tappan, Judges John J. Hornor & Son, E. C. 
Hornor, Jacob Trieber and M. L. Stephenson, John 
C. Palmer and R. W. Nicholls, Greenfield Quarles 
and John I. Moore, James P. Clarke, P. O. Thweatt, 
Jacob Fink, Samuel I. Clarke, James P. Roberts 
and M. G. B. Sqaife. Gens. Pat. R. Cleburne and 
Thomas C Hindman were once members of this 
bar. 

Phillips County, located in East Central Ark- 
ansas, is bounded north by the base line of the 
public land surveys which separates it from Lee 
County, east by the Mississippi River which sep- 
arates it from the State of Mississippi, south by 
Desha County, and west by Arkansas and Monroe 
Counties. The northwest corner of the county is 
at the initial point where the fifth principal merid- 
ian crosses the base line, and this meridian forms 
a portion of the western boundary of the county. 
The area is about 659 square miles, two- fifths of 
which is alluvial level land, and only about one 
sixth of the county is improved. 

Crowley's Ridge which runs through Greene, 
Craighead, Poinsett, Cross, St. Francis and Lee 
Counties, forming the divide between St. Francis 
and Cache Rivers, terminates in Phillips County 
just below the city of Helena. In the upper coun- 
ties this ridge has an elevation of only a few feet 
above the river bottoms, but in Phillips it is very 
hilly and broken, the hills extending from 100 to 
200 feet in height. Tlie top of this ridge, through- 
out its entire length in Arkansas, is composed, for 
the most j)art of silicious clay and marl of <[uarter 
nary date, usually resting on a bed of water-worn 
gravel. Numerous springs of good cool water 
rtow from beneath this gravel bed along the eastern 
foot of the ridge near Helena. The most noted 
of these is the " Big Sj)ring," two and a half miles 
al)ove Helena, which forms a considerable stream 
where? it Hows from under the gravel bed at the 
base of the ridge. 

The following section, showing the position of 



the material composing Crowley's Ridge, was taken 
inl859 or 1860 close to Mr. Rightor's dwelling in 
the edge of the city of Helena, by the then State 
geologist. Prof. David Dale Owen: Quartenary: 
Yellow, silicious clay, six feet; marl, with fossil 
shells. At this place, the marl was traversed by two 
vertical cracks one inch in width, and filled with 
sand from the stratum beneath. Tertiary: Yellow 
and orange sand and gravel, twenty feet; gravel, 
six inches; space concealed, reddish clay, nine 
feet; plastic clay (potter's) local, six inches; yellow- 
ish and white sand, with some gravel, five feet; 
sand and gravel, fifteen feet; space concealed, 
twelve feet; bed of slough. 

The geologist further said in his report: "In 
Phillips County there are many remains of old for- 
tifications or aboriginal towns to be seen, monuments 
of a bygone race, of whose history no tradition 
known to the white man has been preserved by the 
occiipants of the country. One of these ancient 
works of art, four miles west of Helena, at the 
terminus of Crowley's Ridge, was visited. The 
embankments now nearly destroyed by the washing 
of the rains, and the cultivation of a part of the 
land, were built of sun-dried clay, mixed with 
stems and leaves of the cane. The vegetable 
structure of the cane is still well preserved in the 
clay matrix, and I could in no instance, find any 
evidence of the cane's having been charred by fire, 
hence the conclusion that it received no greater 
heat than that given it by the sun. Nor is there 
any appearance of fashioned brick, of which it is 
said this wall was built. The clay and stems of 
cane appear to have been mixed together and 
molded into a wall, somewhat after the manner 
of a pise. The northern boundary of this enclosure 
is formed by the hills, and within the interior 
there are a number of small mounds." 

Agriculturally speaking, Phillips County ranks 
equal to any in the State. The broad Mississippi 
in the southern ])art, interspersed with small, old 
lakes and bayous, is remarkably fertile. In the 
western part, watered by Big Creek, there is a 
large body of level land formed liy the gradual flat- 
tening out of the Crowley's Ridge; hence, it has 
received the name of table lands. 



^ 6 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



748 



A considerable district of land a fow miles be- 
low Helena, is known as "Sugar tree Ridge," so 
called, because of the largo amount of trees of that 
name grown thereon. This ridge is elevated a few 
feet above the overflow of the Mississippi. Aside 
from the siigar trees, the timber growth consisted 
of black walnut, red oak, persimmon, white and 
red elm, sweet gum, mull)erry and large sassafras. 
Here traces of old fortifications and mounds have 
been found, and in plowing over the latter, human 
bones, implements of pottery, arrowheads and 
atone axes have been found. The low bottom 
lands of the lakes and sloughs are from ten to fif- 
teen feet lower than the ridge land, and liave a 
bluish black, stiff, plastic .soil when wet, but when 
dry it becomes mellow, and easily pulverizes un- 
der cultivation. The alluvial land adjoining the 
Mississippi is a sandy loam, easily cultivated, and 
is very productive. The hill land soil is derived 
from the silicions, marly, qiiartenary clay above 
the gravel. It is also very fertile. The timber 
growth on Crowley's Ridge originally was large 
poplar, beech, red and white oak, Spanish oak, 
hickory, sweet gum, black walnut, butttn-nut, sugar 
tree, honey locust and cane. The only poplar 
trees in Arkansas grow on Crowley's Ridge. The 
table lands have for the most part, a deep yellow, 
or mulatto soil, which is also very fertile. The 
principal growth is sweet gum, but on the most 
elevated portions are the same timbers as are foniid 
on Crowley's Ridge. 

The St. Francis River emptit>s into the Missis- 
sijipi a short distance south of the northeast corner 
of Phillips County. Big Creek enters the county 
from the north about nine miles east of its north- 
west corner, and flows southeasterly, southerly and 
southwesterly, and leaves the county a little north 
of the center of its western boundary. Beaver 
Bayou heads a little east of the center of the county 
and flowing thence southwesterly it empties into 
White River. Another stream rises near the cen- 
ter of the county and flowing in the same direction 
as the latter also empties into White River. These 
streams, with the Mississi])pi on the east, and their 
tributaries, furnish the drainage of the county. 
Water is abundant for all pur])09es, but for do- 



mestic use spring water and cistern water are 
mostly used. 

Improved lands can be bought at from $10 to 
I'iO, and unimproved at from $1 to $5 per acre. 
The yield of crops per acre is said to V)e as fol 
lows: Cotton, on hill lands, 000 pounds; on bottom 
lands, 1,000 pounds; Indian corn, on uplands, 
average crop, seventeen bushels; oats, twenty 
bushels; Irish potatoes and sweet potatoes, 100 
bushels each; turnips, 200 bushels; field peas, fifty 
bushels per acre. Of the tame grasses, timothy, 
red top and orchard grass are said to yield two 
tons each, and clover and millet, three tons each. 
The yields of grain and v(>gotables are given accord- 
ing to the present system of farming, and are far 
below what they could be under a scientific process 
of farming. But very little tame grass of any kind 
has been cultivateil in the county. The attention 
of the farmers is mostly devoted to the raising of cot- 
ton, and the live stock get their living by grazing 
the native wild grasses on the commons or ranges. 
In 1880, according to the United States census, 
there were in Phillips County, 1,311 farms and 
85,379 acres of improved lands. The aggregate 
yield of products for 1879 were given as follows: 
Cotton, 29,070 bales; Indian corn, 832,585 bush- 
els; oats, 13,410 l)ushels; wheat, 367 bushels; 
orchard products, $8,512; hay, 1,401 tons; Irish 
potatoes, 0,201 bushels; sweet potatoes, 21,950 
bushels; tobacco, 11,172 pounds. The entire 
value of all the farm products raised in the county 
in 1 879 were cahiulated at $ 1 , 54S, 538. Assuming 
that there has not been much change since 1880, 
except the increase of quantities, the above figures 
show conclusively wliat kinds of products are 
mostly cultivated. Cotton stands pre-eminently 
at the head, Indian corn next, all the other prod- 
ucts, except sweet potatoes, being very limited. 

The number of domestic animals in the county, 
according to the census of 1880, were as follows: 
Horses, 1,783; mules and asses, 2,850; neat cattle, 
8,998; sheep, 2,230; hogs, 14,217. The number 
of these animals as shown by the assessor' s returns 
for 1889, are as follows: Horses, 2,402: mules and 
asses, 3,408; neat cattle, 8,000; sheep, 1,1(58; hogs, 
7,362. These figures show an increase in the 



t 



-t^ 



744 



HISTORY OF AEKANSAS. 



namber of horses and mules, but a decrease in the 
mimber of all the others. 

Fruits of all kinds, common to this latitude, can 
be grown as well here as in any of the other val- 
ley counties of the State. Small fruits, especially 
for the Northern market, could be grown here with 
profit. But this industry has not been developed 
to any considerable extent. Cottoa-growing seems 
to be the all-absorbing industry. 

The Helena branch of the Iron Mountain Rail- 
road connects Helena with the main line at Knobel, 
in Clay County. This gives Phillijas County a 
direct outlet to the North and at the several roads 
crossing it, to all points east or west. It enters 
the county from the north and traverses it about 
fifteen miles to its southern terminus at Helena. 
Tho Arkansas Midland Railway connects Helena 
with the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railway at 
Clarendon. It traverses across the entire county, 
a distance of about twenty-seven miles. A trans- 
fer across the Mississippi River, connects Helena 
with the Louisville, New Orleans & Texas Railroad 
on the east side of the river, and thus gives an 
outlet directly by rail to the Crescent City, and to 
all points east of the river. These railroads and 
the Mississippi River, which traverses the entire 
eastern border of the county, constitute its ship- 
ping facilities. 

The United States census of 1880 shows that the 
real estate of tbe county was then assessed at 1770, - 
080, and the personal property at $-t40,640, mak- 
ingatotalof the taxable wealth of i?!, 210,720. The 
assessor's returns for 1889, indicates the real estate 
to have been assessed at $2,408,495, and the per- 
sonal property at $977,990, a total of $3,380,485. 
This shows a wonderful increase in the value of the 
property of the county since 1880. To get a fair 
estimate of the real value, the whole amount re- 
turned by the assessor should be thribbled. Prop- 
erty is generally assessed for taxation at only about 
one third of its real value. 

The county has recently issued $100,000 thirty - 
year funding bonds, with interest at six per cent, 
payal)le July 1, each year. A few years ago the 
county owed $200,000 in railroad bonds, and 
$60,000 in refunded script. This has been reduced 



so that according to the last financial report, dated 
July 7, 1889, the total indebtedness was $104,400. 

The French and Spaniards may have made tem- 
porary settlements in the territory now. composing 
Phillips County, long before the beginning of the 
nineteenth century, but if any such were made no 
detailed account thereof has been preserved. But 
that there were permanent settlers here when the 
century began is evident from the fact that in the 
year 1800, one John Patterson was born at a place 
about five miles above, or rather north of the site of 
the present city of Helena. In 1836 Judge John S. 
Hornor, who is now living in Helena, and who was 
eighty-three years of age in August, 1889, came to 
Helena from Virginia in 1836. His uncle, William 
B. R. Hornor, had settled here many years prior to 
that date. Other early settlers of Helena and vicin- 
ity, all of whom were here in 1830, were James 
H. McKenzie, from North Carolina, John J. Bowie, 
from Louisiana, Fleetwood Hanks, from Kentucky, 
who lived where his son. Judge Hanks, now resides, 
B. A. Porter, fi-om Massachusetts, Dr. B. F. Odle, 
from New York, Henry L. Briscoe, from Virginia, 
who was register of the United States land ofiice 
here in 1836, Boyd Bailey, from Kentucky, F. H. 
Cosset, George W. Fereby, from Virginia, Nicholas 
Rightor, Sylvanus Phillips, after whom the coun- 
ty was named. Judge Thomas J. Lacy, from Ken- 
tucky, and others. Lacy was then one of asso- 
ciate justices of the first supreme court of Aiican- 
sas. The other lawyers in Helena, in 1836, are 
mentioned under the head of legal bar. In 1835 
John T. Jones, now known as Judge Jones, a 
farmer living in the county, came from Virginia, 
and settled first in Helena. In the summer of 18S9 
he and his loving wife returned on a visit to " Old 
Virginia," and there on August 13, at the house 
of their son-in-law, Maj. Morton, in Charlotte 
County, they celebrated their golden wedding, hav 
ing lived together as husband and wife half a cen- 
tury. 

The first settler in the Martin settlement, at the 
present northern boundary of the county, was 
James Martin, from Kentucky. There was a large 
family of the Martins, and some of them were early 
settlers of the territory farther north. The first 



^. 






,k 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



745 



settlers of the ' ' Lick Creek Sotfcleraeut, ' ' were 
William F. Moore, from Alabama, and Jesse J. 
Shell, from Louisiana. The latter died while a 
member of the legislature. James Nelson settled 
on the military road leading to Little Kock, on the 
place where his son John W. now resides. Near 
the Martin settlement were the pioneers, Josiah S. 
McKiel and Col. Elisha Burke, both from North 
Carolina. Burke's widow and younger children are 
living on the same place at this writing. Burke 
at cue time represented this county in the lower 
house, and at another time this and Monroe Coun- 
ty in the upper house of the State legislature. 
Bailey Kendall, from Kentucky, was the first set- 
tler west of Big Creek at the village of Trenton, 
and John C. Swan, from Kentucky, near the pres- 
ent village of Marvell. Thomas Locke and the 
father of James M. and Ellis Ward, and Benjamin 
F. Bonner, all from Tennessee, were the pioneer 
settlers of the northwest part of the county. The 
extreme southern part of the county, the lowlands; 
were not settled until much later than the uplands. 
The Indians all moved away from this part of 
Arkansas prior to 1830. A part of those moved to 
the Indian Territory from Georgia and othei- States, 
and crossed the Mississippi at Helena in 1S37. 

Upon the approach of the Civil War of 1801-05, 
many of the best and most conservative men of 
Phillips County deplored a disruption of tim I^nion 
of the States, but after the war had actually begun, 
all the citizens became unanimously in favor of dis- 
union and the establishment of a Southern Con- 
federacy. The first companies raised in the county 
for the Confederate service were the Yell Rifles, 
cominanded by Pat R. Cleburne; the Phillips 
(xnards, commanded by Capt. W. S. Otey; the 
Tapiian Guards, Iiy Capt. J. C. Tappan; the Pat. 
('leburne Guards, by Capt. Thomas Qtiiiilin; the 
La Grange Guards, by Capt. D. C. Govan, and 
the Trenton Guards by Capt. J. W. Scaife. These 
were all raised early in 1801. Afterward other 
companies were organized in the county, sufficient 
in niimbin-, together with those named, to compose 
three regiments — the Second, Thirteenth and Fif- 
teenth, Confederate States army. It must be 
remembered that at that time Phillips County 



contained the greater part of what is now Lee 
County, and it turned out for the Confederate ser- 
vice the three regiments above mentioned, two 
major-generals— Pat R. Cleburne and Thomas C. 
Hindman — and six brigadier-generals: D. C. Go- 
van, J. C. Tappan, C. W. Adams, L. E. Polk, 
Dandi'idge McRea and Arch Dobl)ins. 

The county remained within the Confederate 
linos until July, 180'2, when the Federal army under 
Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, first occupied Helena, 
and fi'om that time forward to the end of the war 
the town was strongly garrisoned by Federal troojis. 
On December 15, bSO'i, Brig. -Gen. W. A. Gorman, 
then in command at Helena, reported that an out- 
post of his, consisting of twenty-three men and a 
commissioned officer belonging to the Sixth Mis- 
souri Cavalry, were captured at a point four miles 
out on the St. Francis road, near the residence of 

Turner. On January 3, following, he 

again reported that on the first day of the month 
twenty five or thirty Texas rangers had captured 
another of his outposts, consisting of twenty-six 
men and a commissioned officer of the Twenty- 
eighth Iowa Regiment. In this report he censured 
the men captured, and recommended the officer to 
be disgracefully dismissed. On January 12, 1803, 
Lieut. James B. Bradford, with twenty five men of 
the Second Wisconsin (.Javalry, was sent out to a 
point on Lick Creek, about twelve miles west 
of Helena, where he was confronted bj' superior 
numbers, and being overpowered he and foui-^f 
his men escaped and returned to Helena, and 
afterward some more of his men also, having made 
their escajie, returned to Helena. On May 25, 
1803, a skirmish between small forces at Polk's 
plantation, a few miles fi-om Helena, took place. A 
few other small engagements were had in the 
county between the contending forces, aside fi-om 
the battle of Helena. Helena was .strongly fort i 
tied by the garrison occupying it, and was a very 
advantageous military post for the Union army, 
especially for ke(>])ing the communication of the 
Mi.ssissippi open to points below. In the western 
part of the town, on the ridge south of the present 
court house, was Fort Curtis, armed with siege 
guns, and there were redoubts armed with field- 



•^ <r 



4 



746 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



pieces, and protected by rifle-pits on the suburban 
hills north and west of the town, so as to efPectu- 
ally guard every avenue of approach. One of the 
redoubts was on the summit of Graveyard Hill. 
The Confederate General, T. H. Holmes, com- 
manding the District of Arkansas, seeing the im- 
portance of Helena to the Union army, and the 
advantages it might be to the Confederate army, 
conceived the idea of capturing it. To this end he 
concentrated his army, consisting of the commands 
of Gens. Price, Marmaduke and others, at Claren- 
don, on White River, from which place he advanced 
upon Helena, and reached Allen Polk' s plantation, 
live miles therefrom, on the morning of July 3, 
1863. The plan of attack was for Gen Price, with 
his two brigades, McRea' s and Parson' s, to assault 
and take Graveyard Hill at daylight, Marmaduke, 
assisted by Walker's cavalry brigade, to take 
Rightor's Hillby daylight, and Gen. Pagan to take 
the battery on Hindmau's Hill by daylight. Gen. 
B. M. Prentiss was in command of the garrison, 
and was well informed of the approach of the Con- 
federates, and consequently in readiness to receive 
them. Arrangements had been made to hold an 
old-fashioned celebration in Helena on Satiirday, 
July 4, but Gen. Prentiss issued an order to dis- 
pense with it, and for every man to be at his post 
of duty. 

Accordingly, at 3 o'clock, A. M. , of July 4, 
the Confederate army advanced ujaon the town, at- 
tacked and drove in the outposts, and by daylight 
the battle raged furiously. The battery on Hind- 
man's Hill and the redoubt and battery on Grave- 
yard Hill were captured by storm, after which a 
large force of Confederates passed through the ra- 
vine between these hills into the suburbs of the 
town, where, being exhausted and confused, they 
were surrounded and captured by the Federalists. 
The battle continued to rage until 10:30 A. M. , 
when the Confederate commander, finding his army 
losing ground, retired from the field and left all in 
possession of the garrison. It is said that the 
hardest fighting took place on Graveyard Hill. In 
the summarized reports of the battle by the re- 
spective commanders of the armies. Gen. Holmes 
said that his whole force consisted of 7,646 effect- 



ive men and officers, that his loss was 173 killed, 
687 wounded and 776 missinsj, making a total of 
1,636. Gen. Prentiss said that his whole garri- 
soned force consisted of 4,129 effective men and 
officers, assisted by the gunboat Tyler, commanded 
by Lieut. -Com. Pritchett, which rendered him 
valuable assistance, and that his loss consisted 
of fifty-seven killed, 146 wounded and thirty-six 
captured, making a total of 23'J. He reported the 
Confederate loss at 400 killed, 354 wounded and 
774 captured in addition to the wounded, mak- 
ing a total of 1,528. It will be seen that, in the 
aggregate, Prentiss reported the Confederate loss 
at 108 less than Holmes did, but that they differed 
widely as to the number of killed and wounded. 
Of course, Prentiss had the best opportunity to 
know how many were killed, as they were all 
buried by his men, but it appears to be an extraor- 
dinary number in comparison with the number he 
reported as wounded. No other attack was ever 
made upon Helena. 

Helena, the county seat of Phillips County, is 
situated on the west bank of the Mississippi 
River, at the foot of a range of hills, which 
bounds the city on the north and west, the distance 
from the river bank to the hills on the west being 
about half a mile. The site of the greater part 
of the city, especially the business part, is com 
paratively low and level. Many of the streets and 
business houses, and some dwelling houses, have 
been elevated on made land several feet iibove the 
original level. The origin of the town has been 
given in connection with the organization of the 
county. Among the early merchants of the place, 
who were doing business here in 1836, were John 
J. Bowie, F. H. Cosset and George W. Fereljy. 
There were about half a dozen business houses in 
the town at that time. William B. R. Hornor, 
mentioned among the early pioneer settlers, was 
a lawyer and kept a hotel in Helena at a very 
early day. B. A. Porter, another of the pioneers, 
engaged in the lumber business about the year 
1836 and erected a saw-mill in Helena. Later he 
moved into the country, but still continued his 
lumber business in the town. Waldo P. Craig 
erected another sawmill about the year 1837. 



\^ (. 



;r^ 



s 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



747 



The growth of Helena from its ioceptiou to the 
yetir 1888 was very slow aud gradual; thon, in 
consequence of the liuancial panic of 1837, the 
place began to decline, and for a few years more 
people, it is said, moved away from the town and 
the country round about than came into it. The 
population of Helena iu 1840 was 250 souls. In 
1844 the town and country began again to pro- 
gress, but the growth was so slow that iu ISOO the 
population of Helena had only reached about 800. 
It did not suffer much daring the war period of 
1861-65, for the reason that it was constantly 
held by Federal troops from its first occupancy by 
them in July, 1862, to the ch)se of the war. Had 
it been occupied alteriuitely by the couteiiding ar- 
mies it would have suffered much more than it did. 
Since the close of the war, its growth has been 
gradual, but much more rapid than before. In 
1880 its population, according to the United States 
census, was 3,652 and it is now estimated at 5,000. 
It contains at this writing. Baptist, Catholic, Pres- 
byterian and Methodist chiu'ches, four schools, 
cotton-seed oil mills, lumber mills, cotton gins and 
compress, planing mills, a foundry aud machine 
shop, an opera house capable of seating 800, three 
banks, gas-works, an eflicient and well equipped 
tire department, street railways, a telephoni! ex- 
change, gas-works, two express oflSces, two rail- 
road depots, ferry-boats for crossing the river, 
many stores of all kinds, several wholesale houses, 
four weekly and one daily newspaper, aud all the 
other attributes of a city of its size. 

The Helena Weekly World, a nine-column folio, 
was established iu 1870, and is now ably published 
by William S. Burnett, its editor aud proprietor. 
The Helena Daily World, a seven-column folio 
was established in 1871, and is published from the 
same office and by the same party as the Weekly 
World. It is claimed by its proprietor to be the 
oldest daily paper in the State excepting the Ar- 
kansas Daily (iazette. These papers are Demo- 
cratic in politics and both are well edited. The 
Helena State was established October 19, 1889, by 
B. M. Barrington. It is a seven-column quarto, 
is published every Friday, and is also Democratic 
in principle, neat in appearance, and edited with 



ability. The Southern Review, an eight-column 
folio, now in its fifth volume, is published weekly 
at Helena by the "Benevolent Church Aid and 
Relief Society," an associatien of the colored peo- 
ple. Rev. J. T. White is editor and manager, 
and J. E. Harris, business manager. The People's 
Friend, a six-column folio, is published weekly at 
Helena, by M. Kline, a colored man. It is now in 
its second volume. These "colored" papers bear 
but little upon the subject of politics. 

Helena was iiicorjwrated as a city of the second 
class, but efforts are now being made to secure its 
incorporation as a city of the first class. 

Directly west of Helena is the old graveyard 
on one of the hills partially surrounding the city. 
The land was owned by individuals, but by consent 
the people buried their dead there frcjm tli(( set- 
tlement of Helena until the close of the Civil War. 
The summit of the hill is not less than 100 feet 
above the level of the city. After Gen. Curtis oc- 
cupied the place in 1862, he built a redoubt on 
this hill, as well as upon other commanding posi- 
tions, and cut the timber off of them to strengthen 
the defenses of the city. It is said that the hai dest 
part of the battle of Helena was fought in this 
graveyard, it being a very largo tract of hill land. 
Monuments and headstones were knocked to i)ioces 
by the cannonading. After the close of the war, 
the timber having been removed, the ground be- 
gan to wash into gullies, and soon began to dis- 
turb the sleeping dead. Theu the remains of 
some i)ersons who had friends and relatives lining 
sufficiently near, were disinterred and l)uried else- 
where, but the remains of all others were left to 
their fate. Some of the gullies now reach a depth 
of from thirty to forty feet, graves have been com- 
pletely wa.shed away and human skulls and bones 
can be seen in greiit uuml)ers bleaching in the 
gullies. Now and th(*n a grave can !)(» found un- 
disturbed. It is only a question of time, however, 
when all will be washed away, unless otherwise 
removed. An improvement company, which has 
been organized in the city, has purchased the lands 
which contain the old graveyard, and contemplate 
leveling down the hills and using the earth (o fill 
up the hollows and depressions of the site of the 



^ 



« h_ 



*.iL 



748 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



city, and laying out the lands thus made level into 
an addition to the city. This can be done largely 
with the aid of the washing of the rains. These 
hills contain no solid rock formation, consequently 
the earth can easily be loosened up and removed. 
This will be a great improvement to the city, both 
in filling up the low places and in removing the 
unsightly gullies. 

Evergreen Cemetery, owned by a company of 
that name, lies at a proper distance north of the 
city, but it is only partially fenced and is not kept 
in a neat and proper condition, the stock at large 
being allowed to overrun it. Ne.xt to this is the 
Catholic Cemetery, and still farther is the Hebrew 
Cemetery. A small tract of land i)u Confederate 
Hill contains the remains of about 300 Confederate 
soldiers. This hill is one of the highest points on 
Crowley's Ridge, just north of the city. This 
cemetery is kept in order by the Phillips County 
Memorial Association, managed mostly by the 
ladies. Among the most noted men buried here 
are Gen. Pat. R. Cleburne, Gen. T. C. Hindman, 
Col. Paul F. Anderson and Maj. R. H. Cawley (a 
Presbyterian minister when he entered the military 
service). 

Poplar Grove, the second town in size in the 
county, is situated on the Arkansas Midland Rail- 
way, seventeen miles west of Helena. It was laid 
out in 1872 on lands belonging to N. S. and B. Y. 
Turner. The first business, a general store, was 
established in 1873, also the postoffice, with James 
R. Turner, postmaster. The same year several 
business and dwelling houses were erected. It now 
contains six general stores, a drug store, a milli- 
nery store, four churches (two for. the whites and 
two for the blacks), one cotton gin and grist-mill 
combined, one saw-mill, two blacksmith shops, one 
livery stable, two hotels, one undertaker's shop, a 
white school taught ten months in the year (four 
months free and six mouths on subscription), a 
colored school taught four months each year (free), 
and a lodge each of Knights of Honor and Knights 
and Ladies of Honor. The school at Poplar 
Grove is very popular, and the people are jsroud 
of it. There are two teachers, a music teacher 
and ninety pupils in attendance. A number of 



the pupils are from the couutrj', and board in the 
village. Large quantities of cotton and cotton seed 
are shipped fi'om this jjoint. The population of 
the village is about 400. 

Murvell is situated on the Arkansas Midland 
Railway, twenty-one miles west of Helena. The 
fii'st store was opened there in 1870, by Messrs. 
Dade & Emby. It now has live general stores, 
four groceries, a furniture store, an undertaking 
establishment, a foundry and machine shop, two 
blacksmith shops, a church used by the Presbyteri- 
ans, Baptists and Christians, a colored Baptist and 
a colored Quaker church, a school-house, livery 
stable, hotel, and a cotton-gin, huller and grist-mill 
combined. The postoffice was establi.shed in 1872, 
with G. H. Cowan, postmaster. About 3,000 bales 
of cotton are shipped annually from this place. It 
has a lodge each of Masons and Knights of Honor. 
The population is about 300, one-third of which is 
colored. 

Trenton is a small village three miles south of 
Poplar Grove, and contains a steam saw and grist 
mill and cotton gins. Cotton and cotton-seed are 
shipped from here; it also has a hotel, two or three 
general stores and a population of about 150. 

Barton is a station on the Arkansas Midland 
Railway, thirteen miles west of Helena, having a 
population of about fifty. It has a saw-mill and 
two or three small stores. 

For the year ending June 30, 1889, the schol- 
astic population of Phillips County was as fol- 
lows: White, males, 904, females, 842, total, 
1,746; colored, males, 3,360, females, 3,137, total, 
6,497. Pupils taught in the public schools: White, 
males, 545, females, 413, total, 958; colored, 
males, 2,262, females, 2,151, total, 4,413. This 
shows only a small percentage of the scholastic 
population taught in the public schools, but it is 
partially accounted for by the fact that several 
private schools, especially in Helena, are main- 
tained and patronized There are 36 school dis- 
tricts in the county, and the number of teachers 
employed during 1888 were: White, males, 15, 
females, 13, total, 28; colored, males, 33, females, 
18, total, 51; aggregate, 79. The average monthly 
salary of teachers for the last year was: White, 






A 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



74<J 



k. 



males, of the first grade, $00, females, of the same 
grade, 144.25; second grade, wliite, males, $41.80, 
females, $30. 75. The average* term in thii several 
schools for the last year was ft)ur montlis, and the 
amount of money spent for th() support of the pub- 
lic schools was $14,881. The value of the school 
property in the county is at least $40,000. The 
public school-house in Helena is probably the 
largest one of its kind in the State. It is a two- 
story brick, handsome and substantial, contains 
ample rooms, and on the top thereof is a grand 
tower, in which is a lino town clock, which strikes 
every hour of the day. It was constructed in 1886, 
at a cost of $24,000. There is also in Helena a 
very large and commodious public school -house for 
the colored people. In addition to the jmblic 
schools in this [ilace is the private school taught by 
Prof. ^V. S. White, which is a mixed graded school, 
in which pupils are prepared for college. This 
school has been established for twelve years, and 
has now about fifty pupils. There is also the 
Catholic Convent school, the "Academy of the 
Sacred Heart," and a Kindergarten school, taught 
by Miss Wendland. In addition to the above, the 
colored people have two or three private schools, 
all well sustained. The scholastic population of 
Helena school district is 2,000. Fiv(> teachers are 
employed in the wliite public school, and the same 
number in the colored public school. There is 
also the Southland Institute, about nine miles 
northwest of Helena, a school for the colored peo- 
ple, conducted by Prof. Beard. 

The Presbyterian Ciuirch in Helena was organ- 
ized long before the Civil War, and the present 
frame church edifice was also erected before that 
period. During the war it was used by the Fed 
eral troops as a hospital. For some time the 
church has been without a regular pastor, but 
(hirii)g 1888 Rev. A. E. Grover, of Mason, Tenn., 
has preached for it every alternate Sabbath. He 
has recently been called ta and has accepted the 
pastorate of the church. The membership at this 
writing is about fifty, and the Sunday school of 
forty pupils is progressing finely under the super- 
intendtnice of J. R. Graham. This is the only 
church of this denomination in Phillips County. 



The Methodists and Baptists were probably, as 
they have been everywhere, the i)ioneer Christian 
workers in the county, both of the societies or- 
ganized in a very early day. Of the Methodist 
Episcopal (Church, South, there is Helena Station, 
with a memt)ership of from 150 to 175, with Rev. 
E. M. Pipkin, pastor. This station has a large 
brick edifice, erected in 1884, which ranks among 
the finest in the State. The Sunday school con- 
nected with it has about seventy-five scholars, and 
is doing good work as the nursery of the church. 
The La Grange Circuit, containing several ap[)oint- 
ments, with an aggregate membership of about 
150, with Rev. W. E. Bishop, pastor, is also in 
Phillips County. These constitute all the churches 
of this denomination within the county. The 
names of the Baptist Churches in the county are: 
Helena, Marvoll, Barton, Salem, New Hope, Cy- 
press and Level Valley. These have an aggregate 
membership of about 300, and those reported hav- 
ing Sunday schools are Helena, Salem and New 
Hope. Rev. ^^'. H. Barnes is pastor of the church 
at Helena. 

The Catholics have a small church orgaiiiza 
tion in Helena, with Rev. Father J. M. Boetzkes, 
priest. They hav<> jnst completed a nice and com- 
fortable brick church edifice, worth aljout $10,000. 

The colored people have three Baptist and one 
Methodist Church in Helena, and several other or- 
ganizations throughout the county. Thi>re may Ik* 
a few other church societies in this county which 
have not been mentioned. 



Capt. J. C. Barlow, dealer in hardware, stoves, 
etc., of Helena, Ark., was born in Scott County, 
Ky., January 3, 1830, and is a sou of Thomas J. 
and Mildred (Cantrell) Barlow, natives of Scott 
and Bourbon Counties, Ky. , respectively. The 
paternal grandfather was born in Old Virginia and 
the grandmother in North Carolina, but at an early 
period they moved to the wilds of Kentucky, mak- 
ing their way thither on horseback, the grand 
mother carrying a large cane which she jiretended 
was a gun, and used in frightening away the In- 



-:F[1 



750 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



dians. She was reared on the farm once owned by 
Daniel Boone in the "Old North State." The 
grandparents on both sides died in Kentucky, and 
were farmers by occupation. Thomas J. Barlow 
was also a farmer, and after living a useful and 
well-spent life, quietly breathed his last in Ballard 
County, Ky., in 1873, his wife's death occurring 
in Scott County, Ky., she having borne him six 
children, three of whom are now living: Frances 
A. (wife of John W. Allison, of Bourbon County, 
Ky.), Joseph C. and James M. Edward was in 
the Confederate army and died at Montgomery, 
Ala. Thomas died in Kentucky and William also 
died there when quite young. Mr. Barlow was mar- 
ried twice and by his last wife had a family of three 
children, Clifton J. being the only one alive. J. 
C. Barlow was reared and favored with the advan- 
tages of the common schools in Scott County, Ky. , 
but in 1859 came to Helena, Ark., and became a 
salesman in a dry-goods establishment, this work 
receiving his attention until the opening of the 
war, when he enlisted in the Phillips County 
Guards, and subsequently got a transfer to the 
Yell Rifles, with which he served until the fall of 
1861, when he joined the Second Arkansas Battery, 
remaining with them until the close of the war. 
After serving for some time as first lieutenant of 
artillery he was appointed to the rank of captain 
by the secretary of war, and was a participant in 
all the engagements of his regiment. After the 
war he clerked in Memphis, Tenn. , for about one 
year, then returned to Helena and has since been 
conducting a hardware establishment, this enter- 
prise meeting with good success under his able 
management. He has the largest stock of goods 
in the town, and receives a most liberal share of 
public favor. He tilled an unexpired term as 
mayor of Helena, is president of the Phillips 
County Fair Association, and since August 22, 1882, 
has held the position of colonel of the Arkansas 
State Guards, receiving his appointment from Gov. 
F. J. Churchill during the political troubles of 
that year. He was married in 1809 to Miss Mary 
J. Porter, a native of Helena, and in 1876 took for 
his second wife Mrs. Mary Grant, by whom he ! 
has three children: Fannie A., Harrell E. and Jo- 



seph C. , Jr. Capt. and Mrs. Barlow are members 
of the Episcopal Church. 

Rev. J. M. Boetzkes, rector of St. Mary's 
Church, at Helena, Ark., was born in Prussia, 
Germany, and received his education at Muenster 
University, Westphalia, from which institution ho 
was graduated- in 1855, and was ordained sub- 
deacon September 8 of the same year. The fol- 
lowing year he embarked to America, taking pas- 
sage at Havre, France, and landed at New York 
City after a two weeks' ocean voyage, and came 
directly to St. Louis, where he was ordained 
deacon a few months after his arrival. On Sep- 
tember 8, 1856, he was ordained a priest of the 
Catholic Church, and during the late Civil War 
was in the service for some time in Scott County, 
Mo., acting as chaplain. Here he built a stone 
church, which was demolished during the latter part 
of the war. He was in the hospital service in St. 
Louis for about a year, and in 1865 returned to 
Europe, but a few months later came back to the 
United States and settled in the city of Philadel- 
phia, where he occupied a position in the diocese 
until 1875, at which time he came to Helena, Ark. 
Here he was the means of erecting a fine brick 
church at a cost of $12,000, and on July 21, 1889, 
it was dedicated, the corner-stone being laid July 
22, 1888. The convent at Helena has been built 
several years, but since Father Boetzkes' arrival 
he has improved it wonderfully. It is a day and 
boarding-school and is controlled and managed by 
nine Sisters of Charity who have made it one of 
the best institutions of the kind in the West. The 
training includes a comprehensive collegiate course 
and thoroughly fits a young lady for any position 
or vocation in life, the branches taught being mu- 
sic, the languages, all branches of mathematics, 
chemistry, botany, calisthenics, etc. The building 
is beautifully situated and commands a view of the 
Mississippi River, as well as the surrounding coun- 
try and the grounds are tastefully laid out with 
magnolia and other shade trees. 

R. S. Bonner, carpenter, Poplar Grove, Ark. 
Were it necessary for us to include in the sketch 
of Mr. Bonner's life any items pertaining to his 
ability and skill as a builder, perhaps the greatest 



^. 



^ 



-d. 9 



^ 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



751 



cotnplimeut tliut could l)e |);iid him would be to 
point out those moniimouts of his handiwork, which 
now grace so many of the homesteads in this por- 
tion of the State. Ho was born in Alabama, in 
1S44, and is the fifth of ten children, the result of 
the union of Thomas T. and Elizabeth (Schackel- 
ford) Bonner, the father a native of North Caro- 
lina, and the mother of Alabama. Thomas T. Bon- 
ner was a carpenter and ginwright by trade, and 
came to Alabama when a young man. Ho was 
there married to Miss Schaekelford in 1834, and of 
the ten children born to this union, livo are now 
living: R. S., J. C, \V. H., E. C. and E. K. Mr. 
Bonner was a member of the I. O. O. F., and was 
a much-respected citizen. He died on December 
31, 1849, and the mother died in 1871. The ma- 
ternal gi'andfather, John L. Schaekelford, was u 
native of the Old Dominion, and moved to Ala- 
bama at an early day. His death occurred in 
Phillips County (now Lee County) in 18(53, at the 
age of seventy-nine years. He was a soldier in the 
War of 1812. His "wife died in 1874, at the age 
of eighty-five years. R. S. Bonner came to Arkan- 
sas in 1856, received his education in this State 
and Alabama, and at the age of sixteen years, or in 
18(31, enlisted in Company A, Thirteenth Arkansas 
Infantry, under Capt. Tappan (afterward Gen. 
Tappan), in what was known as Tappan's guards. 
He served in Gen. Bragg" s command and was en- 
gaged in quite a number of battles, prominent 
among which were: Belmont, Corinth, Shiloh, Rich- 
mond, Perryville, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, 
Murfreesboro and Bell Buckle Station. He was 
captured close to Atlanta, in 18(34, was confined at 
Rock Island, 111., for four months, after which he 
was exchanged and returned to Arkansas. Later 
he served iu Cajit. Woatherly's company. He 
surrendered in 1865, and afterward engaged in 
farming on rented land in Phillips County, until 
1876. Ho then bought Ins present place, at that 
time consisting of forty acres, principally wood 
land, and to this he has added eighty acres, with 
100 acres under cultivation. However he devotes 
the greater part of his time to carpenter work and 
is the only contractor at this place, doing a largo 
amount of building. His man-iage occurred in 



October, 1869, to Miss Jennie Allison, who bore 
him seven children, two only now living: Hettie 
R. and Mamie L. Five died while small. Mrs. 
Bonner died in 1881. She was a worthy member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In ()c,tol)er, 
1883, Mr. Bonner married Miss Mamie Allison, a 
sister of his first wife, and they have two children: 
Olivett and Eveline H. 

Charles L. Bonner, son of Charles S. Bonner, 
one of the pioneer settlers of this county, was born 
on his present place of residence in Phillips County, 
in 1862. His father was a native of Tennessee, as 
was also his mother, whose maiden name was Miss 
Margaret J. Gamble, and the former came to Phill 
ips County, Ark., in 1835, when there were very 
few settlers. His father bought land on Big Creek, 
but in 1844 Charles S. purchased the place on 
which his son Charles L. is now residing, and 
which at that time consisted of 160 acres of land. 
He and wife were the parents of eight children, 
five of whom are now living: Nettie (widow of T. 
N. Conley), B. F., Chellie J. (wife of John W. 
Terry), C. L. and Loutie L. (a teacher in the Gal- 
loway Female College of Searcy, Ark.). The eldest 
child, Sallie E. (deceased, was the wife of W. S. 
Ferrill). She left one child, Charles. The father 
of these children died in 1876, but the mother is 
still living, and makes her home with her son 
Charles L. The latter received a good common- 
school education in Phillips County, and at the age 
of nineteen years began work for himself as a 
farmer, having followed this occupation thi> princi- 
pal part of the time since. He was also engaged 
in the saw-mill business for some time. In 1888 
he was married to Miss Sallie Allison, of Phillips 
Coimty, and of the city of Helena. The maternal 
grandfather of Charles L. Bonner was among the 
early settlers of Eastern Tennessee, and was in the 
wars with the Indians in that section of the country. 
He came to Phillips County in 1840, where he re- 
sided until iiis death iu 1S74. Mr. and Mrs. Bon- 
ner and Mr. Bonner's mother are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

James T. Branie. About four generations ago, 
three sons named Brame, who lived in England, 
their native country, separated, one remaining at 



^' 






« w. 



752 



HISTORY OF AEKANSAS. 



home, another going to Canada, and the third 
coming to America, choosing for his residence the 
State of Virginia. From this sou, James T. 
Brame, the subject of this sketch, is a direct de- 
scendant. Jame.s T. Brame was born in Virginia 
November 26, 1848 and is the son of James H. 
Brame, a celebrated professor, for many years con- 
nected with the prominent colleges of Virginia, 
but is now retired. He is the son of Thomas 
Brame, and was born in Mecklenburgh County, 
Va., in 1810. James H. Brame was married in 
1847 to Miss Martha Baptist, born in Virginia in 
1826, and a daughter of Richard H. Baptist. Mr. 
Baptist was a prominent politician, having served as 
State senator for sixteen years, and was filling that 
position at the date of his death. He was an uncle 
of Gen. A. P. Hill, Mrs. Baptist' s maiden name was 
Sally Goode, she being a daughter of Dr. Thomas 
Goode, of Virginia. James T., our subject, was 
one of eight children, five sons and three daugh- 
ters, born to his joarents. He was reared in Virgin- 
ia, and at the age of fifteen years enlisted in the 
Confederate army. Company A, First Virginia Reg- 
iment, and served until the surrender of Gen. Lee. 
At the battle of Stanton River Bridge he received 
a slight wound, that being the only time he was 
injured, notwithstanding that he was always in the 
thick of some of the most important engagements. 
At the age of twenty-one he left his native home 
and came to Arkansas, locating in Phillips (now 
Lee) County, at Council .Bend. He chose the in- 
de])endent occupation of farming, which has been 
his work ever since, and has resided on his present 
farm since 1S81, under his careful management it 
Ijeing second to none in the county. It consists 
of 400 acres, nearly all cultivated. Mr. Brame 
also oversees and cultivates 1,000 acres. In Janu- 
ary, 1875, he was married in Memphis, Tenn., to 
Miss Anna J. Peters, who was born in Camden, 
Ark., in 1855, and the daughter of John B. 
Peters. He was of Tennessee birth, but came to 
Arkansas at an early date, and died during the 
war. Mrs. Peters was Miss Paralee Jackson, of 
Florence County, Ala. To Mr. and Mrs. Brame 
three children have been born: Ellen G., Mary P. 
and Anna. Mr. Brame is a member of the K. of 



P. and A. L. of H. , and in his political views is a 
Democrat, though not an enthusiast, his first 
presidential vote having been cast for Samuel J. 
Tilden. Mr. Brame and wife are members of the 
Presbyterian Church. 

Nicholas Brickell, un<lertaker, Poplar Grove, 
Ark. There are few branches of business, if any, 
that require more consideration and sympathetic 
feeling than that of the undertaker. Their serv- 
ices are only called under the most trying circum- 
stances that can befall a family or friends, and 
the utmost tact, coupled with decision and perfect, 
unostentatious knowledge of the business, is re- 
quired. In these points Mr. Nicholas Brickell is 
well-grounded by nature and experience. He was 
born in Surry County, N. C. , in 1824, and is the 
eldest of five children born to the union of J. B. 
and Frances (Harrison) Brickell, the father a 
native of South Carolina, and the mother of North 
Carolina. J. B. Brickell was a cabinet workman, 
and always followed that trade after his marriage. 
Previous to that, however, he had followed mer- 
chandising. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, 
having joined while quite young. He was mar- 
ried in 1822, and of the five children born to his 
union, five are now living: Nicholas, D. C. (is a 
manufacturer of carriages in Atlanta, Ga. ), Mathias 
(died in White County, Ark., and his family re- 
side in that county), Andrew J. (resides in Ten- 
nessee), and Emma (wife of E. A. Peal, of North 
Carolina). Mr. Brickell died in 1850. He was a 
member of the Masonic fraternity. Mrs. Brickell 
died in 1870, and was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. Nicholas Brickell passed his 
youthful days and received his education in his 
native county, where, in later years, he learned the 
cabinet-maker's trade. He began working at his 
trade at the age of twenty-one years, and continued 
the same in North Carolina until 1846, when, in 
December of that year, he moved to Georgia, set- 
tling where Palmetto now stands, and followed the 
furniture business. This he continued until 1850, 
when he moved to Franklin, Heard County, Ga. , 
and there followed the same business. In 1870 
he moved to Trenton, Big Creek Township, Phil- 
lips Coimty, Ark., remained thereuntil 1871, when 



> "V 



^ 



e u_ 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



753 



lie uiovwl into the country, and faj'iiiod on runted 
laud for three years. In 1875 he moved to his 
present i)lace of residence, and here built his shop 
and house, besides two store houses, and has forty 
acres of land well improved. Ho was married 
December 2, 1847, to Miss Martha A. Sanders, 
daughter of Joel and Fannie (Harris) Sanders, na- 
tives, respectively, of North Carolina. Mr. and 
Mrs. Sanders became the [)arents of eight children, 
five now living: G. H. , John, Martha A. (wife of 
Mr. Brickell), Margaret (widow of John Edwards, 
who was killed at the second battle of Manassas), 
and Mary. All, with one exception, residing in 
Georgia, whither the father had moved when his 
children were quite small. Mr. Sanders died in 
1849, and his widow in 1850. Mrs. Brickell was 
born February 4, 1830, and by her marriage to 
Mr. Brickell became the mother of ten children, 
seven now living: T. J. (resides at Brinkley, Mon- 
roe County, Ai-k.), John C (deceased), Georgia 
1{. (wife of J. H. Miller, of Holly Grove, Ark.), C. 
\V. (resides in Clarendon, Monroe County), W. P. 
(resides in Phillips County), J. B. (resides at Hel- 
ena), Martha A. (wife of J. J. Raleigh, of Poplar 
Grove), Itobert L., C. W. (of Clarendon, who was 
State senator from that senatorial district, and T. 
J. (who is a local minister in the Methodist P3pis- 
copal Church at Brinkley). In 1861 Mi-. Brickell 
joined the State service in Company G, Col. Wil- 
coxson's regiment of State cavalry, and was in the 
State service for six months. He only served a 
short time in the regular .service, being detailed to 
stay at home and work at his trade, making spin- 
ning wheels and looms for making cloth. Mi\ 
Brickell is a deniitted inem})or of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, Chattahoochee Lodge No. 01, and he and 
wife are both niemljors of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. South, of this place. He favors all im- 
provements for the good of the county, and ex- 
tends a hearty welcome to all white immigration. 
He and his wife are the grandparents of thirteen 
children. 

Hon. Samuel H. Brooks. Since locating in this 
county in 1800 ^Ir. Brooks has enjoyed the reputa- 
tion of being not only a substantial and progressive 
farmer, but an intelligent and thoroughly posted 



man in all public afTairs as well. He was born in 
Philadelphia, Penn., October 17, 1839, and is a son 
of John and Amelia (Fletcher) Brooks, the former 
a native of Bristol, Penn., and the latter of Lon- 
don, England. John Brooks was a merchant l)y 
occu[)ation, and died in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 184(t, 
at the untimely age ef thirty one years. His 
widow afterward married Jacob B. Furrow, of 
Piqua, Ohio, who fcjllowod merchandising until his 
death in 1SS4. His widow survives him, and is an 
earnest and devout member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. She was a child of six years 
when brought by her parents to the United States, 
and their location was made at Philadel])hia, Peini.. 
where their death occurred many years later. Mr. 
and Mrs. Brooks became the parents of two chil- 
dren: Samuel H., and Thomas P., who died in Cin 
cinnati in 1885, being county recorder of Hamilton 
County at the time of his decease. Samuel H. 
Brooks was educated in the schools of Saint Paris, 
Ohio, and at the age of fourteen years left homo to 
become a salesman in a hardware store at Piijua, 
Ohio, but two years later he turned his attention to 
the railroad business, and was ticket agent at that 
point for one year. He next went to Indianapolis, 
Ind. , and became conductor on the old Belfontaine 
line, which is now known as the Bee lino, and after 
serving in this capacity for about ten years he 
worked on the Ohio & Mis9issi|)pi Railroad for a 
short time. Ho then (in 1863) joined the Second 
Tennessee Federal troops, organized at Memphis, 
Tenn., under Col. Curry, but at the end of one 
year he went to Mississippi and located in Coahoma 
County, and a year later came to Phillips County, 
Ark., where he has since been engaged in planting; 
and his well estal)lished characteristics of energy, 
perseverance and unbounded industry have brought 
him safe returns. His neat farm embraces 420 
acres, and to this ho is enabled to give intelligent 
management, but he is at present giving the most of 
his attention to the management of Dr. A. A. Hor- 
nor's plantation of 1,350 acres. He has always 
been a Democrat in politics, and in 1868 was 
elected county treasurer, in which capacity he 
served four 3'ear8. In 1882 he was cho.sen to rep- 
resent Phillips County in the State legislature. In 






^^1 



K^ 



754 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



1862 be was united in marriage to Miss Caroline S. 
Shock, a (laugbter of Abel Shock, who made the 
lirst steam liro-engine in the United States, and dis- 
covered the fine copper fields in the region of Lake 
Superior. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and 
died in Missouri in 1874. Mrs. Brooks was born 
in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 28, 1840, and she and 
Mr. Brooks have one daughter, Amelia A., who 
made a roll of butter that took the premium at the 
Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876. 
Mrs. Brooks is a member of the Presbyterian 
Church, and Mr. Brooks is a Masou, and belongs to 
the I. O. O. F. 

John L. Brown is a native of this county, and 
has always resided here. He was educated at the 
common schools, acquiring a good practical learn- 
ing and resided with his parents until their death, 
in 1S6'J, l)eing married to Miss Mary E. Yates, 
who was born in Mississippi in 1845, and died in 
1S84. He married his second wife in 1885, for- 
merly Mi.ss Lenora Phillips, of South Carolina 
origin. Mr. Brown was born on April 24, 1847, a 
son of Richard Brown, who first saw the light in 
White County, S. C, in 1800. In 1839 he immi- 
grated from South Carolina to this county, where 
he purchased a tract of wild land, and at the time 
of his death, which occurred in 18(54, he owned a 
well-improved farm. His wife was Polly Ann 
Stumb, who was born in Illiuois in 1817, and died 
in 1851, leaving nine children, five of whom are 
still living. John L. Brown and wife are the 
parc^nts of one child, Idalgo S. He owns a farm 
of 200 acres of land, of which 130 acres are under 
cultivation. His principal croj) is cotton and he 
raises about forty bales per annum. He is a 
Democrat in politics, and is a highly respected 
citizen. 

Moses Burke has been long and worthily iden- 
tified with the interests of Phillips County, and no 
worthy history of this immediate vicinity would be 
complete which failed to make proper mention of 
his life. He was born in the house in which he 
now resides March 1, 1848, and is a son of Elisha 
and Eliza (Cail) Burke, both natives of North 
Carolina, the former's birth occurring July 13, 
17'J8, and his death in Phillips County, Ai'k. , 



June 21, 1860. His marriage took place March 
24, 1825, and until 1835 or 1836 they resided in 
their native State, moving then to Arkansas, and 
soon after located on the farm on which our sub- 
ject is now living. The father was a farmer all 
his life, and was very successful, and in connection 
with this work was engaged in milling, ginning, 
blacksmithing and wagon making, being success- 
ful in all these undertakings. While in North 
Carolina he represented his county several times 
in the State legislature, and after coming to Ar- 
kansas he represented his district in the senate 
three or four terms, and later was a member of the 
legislature from Phillips County. He was also 
colonel of militia in North Carolina and Arkansas 
for many years, and while the Whig jjarty was in 
existence affiliated witli that party. He was born 
of Irish parents, and his wife was of Scotch de 
scent, her birth occurring on July 9, 1807. She 
bore her husband the following children: Eliza 
(wife of Dr. James H. Gibson, of La Grange, 
Ark. ) and Moses being the only ones living. Those 
deceased are: Richard C. (who died in 1870 when 
about forty years of age), Sallie F. (wife of 
Joseph Neville, died in 1857 at the age of twenty 
years), Elisha (was accidentally killed at Helena in 
1856 at the age of fourteen years), and the rest of 
the children, numbering three, died in infancy. 
Moses Burke received his early education at his 
home, and when only nineteen years of age he as- 
sumed the management of his mother's property, 
and has continued to successfully conduct it vip to 
the present time. They now jointly own 740 acres 
of land, of which 400 acres are under cultivation, 
nearly all of it having been ol)tained since the 
war, as during that time the most of their property 
was demolished. Mr. Burke was married in 1878 
to Miss Jenny E. Goodwin, a daughter of Sanford 
E. Goodwin, her birth occurring in Phillips Coun 
ty, in 1852, and by her he has a family of five 
children: Aubrey, Elisha B., Ethel, Moses Oscar 
and Jennie E. Mrs. Burke is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and in his political 
views Mr. Burke is a Democrat. He is a live and 
enterprising agriculturist, and his long residence 
in this county, his industrious habits and perse- 



>X t 



V 



-< »> 




verance, as well as his strict integrity ami honesty 
of purpose, have contributed to place around him 
a host of friends and acquaintances. 

William S. Burnett is the able editor and pro- 
prietor of the Helena Daily and W(uildy World, 
which paper is firmly established as a representative 
journal of this portion of the State. Mr. Burnett's 
birth occurred in this county, and he has become 
wejl known for his perseverance, enterprise and 
progress, as well as for many other admirable 
traits of character, and to a very great extent he 
enjoys the esteem and confidence of his fellow man. 
After acquiring a common-school education, he en- 
tered the office of the Democratic Star of Helena as 
an apprentice at the printer's trade, but completed 
his knowledge of the business in the Southern 
Shield office. He then began an independent 
career as publisher of the Helena Clonen, in 1864, 
but after conducting this paper for a short time, he 
sold out, and estHl)lished the Des Arc C!rescent, of 
which paj)er he had the management from 18(3(5 to 
1869. At the latter date, he sold this paper also 
and returned to Helena, where, in conjunction with 
Mulkey & Burke, he established the A^'eekly World 
in 1871, and afterward also began the publication 
of the Daily World. At a later period he sold his 
interest in these journals, and in 1874 he began 
editing the Daily Mail, but in 1876, again dis- 
posed of his paper. From that time until 1885 he 
gave his attention to other branches of business, 
then purchased the Daily World, which he is now 
successfully conducting, it being the second oldest 
daily in the State. Under his judicious manage- 
ment it has become recognized as an influential 
paper, and has done good work in advancing the in- 
terests of Eastern Ai'kansas. Its editorial policy 
has been directed by a man of good judgment, and 
its columns always contain something instructive 
and interesting. He has always sui)piirted the men 
and measures of the Democrat party, and has him- 
self held responsible positions as a township and 
county officer. 

James A. Bush, planter, Latour, Ark. Of that 
sturdy and indei)endent class, the farmers of Ar- 
kansas, none are possessed of more genuine merit 
and a stronger character than he whose name 



stands at the head of this sketch; he has risen to 
more than an ordinary degree of .success in his 
calling of an agriculturist and stock man, and 
wherever known, he is conceded to be an ener- 
getic and progressive tiller of the soil, imbued 
with all those qualities of go-a-head-ativone.ss which 
have characterized his ancestors. His birth oc- 
cniTod in Knoxville, Tenn. , January 2, 1832, and 
he is of German descent. He remained with his 
parents until eighteen years of age, when he com- 
menced to learn the blacksmith trade, working at 
his trade until 18()(), and accumulating considera- 
ble money. He then commenced to speculate, and 
has continued this ever since. During the latewiir 
he served some time in Dolibin's regiment, and 
was in a number of sharp skirmishes. He was on 
picket duty when the lirst gunboat passed Helena, 
and was a brave and gallant soldier. He was dis- 
charged three times for sickness before leaving the 
army. His property was burned and otherwise 
destroyed during the late war, and he was a h('avy 
loser. He was the owner of twenty-seven picked 
slaves, worth on an average of $1,50(1 a|)iece. 
After the war ho commenced to farm, which occu 
pation he has since continued. He is now the 
owner of 1,800 acres, witli 1,200 under cultiva- 
tion, and uses convict labor of Phillips, Monroe, 
Lee and St. Francis Counties. He has used this 
kind of labor for six years, and during that time 
has used 2,000 negroes, only losing on(> by death, 
and he meeting his death by burning, while trying 
to escape. In 1860 Mr. Bush married Miss Jen'nie 
McKinsick, a native of Marshall County, Miss., 
born in 1834, and the daughter of Robert McKin 
sick. The fruits of this union have l)eeii five liv 
ing children: Lucy C. (wife of John D. ]5inley, 
of Covington, Ky., merchant, formerly traveling for 
a firm in St. Louis), James li. (with the East Ar 
kansas Hedge Company, in the capacity of book- 
keeper), Jesse and Walter (twins, both at home) 
and Maude (atscliool. in IVFemphis). IMr. Bush was 
formerly a \\ hig in politics, and is one of the en- 
terprising citizens of the county. Although he 
commenced without means, by his energy and good 
business ability he has become one of the most suc- 
cessful and substantial men of the county. He is a 



a k-. 



:i£: 



756 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



liberal contributor to all laudable entei-prises, and 
has recently donated a house to be used as a Union 
Church. He is the son of Andrew and Nancy (Ag- 
now) Bush, and the grandson of George Bush, 
who was one of the most substantial men of Ten- 
nessee, and died in Knox County of that State. 
Andrew Bush and wife were natives of Knox Coun- 
ty, Tenn., and North Carolina, respectively, and 
were married in Kuosville, Tenn., where they re- 
mained until their son, James A. , was eleven years 
of age. Then they moved to Northern Alabama, 
Madison County, and later came to Arkansas, 
where they passed the remainder of their lives, the 
father dying in 1860, when sixty years of age, and 
the mother dying in 1878, at the age of seventy- 
eight years. Both were members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, and he was a Whig in 
politics. He had followed agricultural pursuits 
all his life, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and 
was in the battle of the Horse Shoe. To his mar- 
riage were born seven children, all now deceased 
but the .subject of this sketch. 

S. B. Carpenter, druggist, Helena, Ark. There 
is no branch of business more important in the 
whole list of occupations than that of the druggist. 
A prominent and representative estaltlishment de- 
voted to this branch of indiistry is that of Mr. S. 
B. Carpenter, who for a number of years has been 
before the public in this line. He carries a large 
stock of drugs, etc., and does a good business. 
He is a native of this county, his birth occurring 
in 1854, and is the son of S. B. and Margaret 
(Owen) Carpenter, both natives of Alabama, where 
their families ^ere very prominent. The parents 
moved to Arkansas at a very early day, entered 
land, and were pioneers of the county. The father 
was a very successful planter, and was the owner of 
a great many negroes. His death occurred in 
l(S74. Of the ten children born to this marriage 
onr subject was the eldest, and five are now living. 
S. B. Carpenter, Jr., was reared in Phillips Coun- 
ty, received his preparatory education there and 
then studied jiharmacy in the School of Pharmacy 
at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1878. Since that time he 
has been engaged in business for himself, and 
although he stiirted on a small capital he is now in 



very comfortable circumstances. He is a bright 
young business man, and prescriptions are com- 
pounded with care and dispatch. He is a member 
of the Masonic fraternity. 

Calvin Clark, Helena, Ark. Indiana has given 
to Phillijjs County, Ark. , many estimable citizens, 
but she has contributed none more highly respected, 
or, for conscientious discharge of duty in every re- 
lation of life, more worthy of respect and esteem 
than the subject of this sketch. He was born in 
Wayne County on July 21, 1820, and is the son of 
John and Anna (Price) Clark, natives of North 
Carolina. The father moved to Indiana from 
North Carolina when eighteen years of age (or in 
183*)) and located in Wayne County, being among 
the very first settlers. He first followed farming, 
but in later years engaged in the milling and card- 
ing business, which he carried on until his death. 
His wife died in 1832, and both were mem- 
bers of the Friends Church. Their family con- 
sisted of five children, throe of whom are now liv- 
ing: Calvin (the eldest child), Alfred (a farmer 
in Indiana was formerly a merchant) and Mary 
Ann Hadley (wife of Jesse Hadley, of Morgan 
County, Ind.). Those deceased were named: Sarah 
(wife of William Thornburg, of Rush County, died 
when about thirty years of age) and Lydia (who 
died when twenty years old). Calvin Clark re- 
ceived his education in the schools of AVayne and 
Morgan Counties, Ind., and was but fifteen years 
of age when his father died. His father had mar- 
ried again after the death of the mother, and Cal 
vin made his home with his step-mother until after 
the father's death, when he went to live with an 
uncle. Soon after he went to Monrovia, attended 
school for a time, and when eighteen years of 
age began teaching school in Henry Coui\ty. 
This he continued for a number of years in the 
winter season, and followed farming in the summer. 
Later he engaged in farming near Richmond, Ind., 
which he continued until 1864, when he came to 
Arkansas and took charge of what was then known 
as the Orphans' Asylum, taking charge of the same 
tintil 1880. This was a school for the colored or 
phans, and is now known as the Southland College, 
under the auspices of the Friends of the United 



9 V 



states. Mr. Clark was marriinl in 1844 to Miss 
Elida Clawsou, of Iiuliana. who was horn in 1S22, 
and is the daughter of William and Koziah (Ward) 
Clawson, of North Carolina. To this union was 
l)orn one living child, Eliza C. (wife of Theo- 
dore P. Wright, banker and miller of Granville, 
Ohio, and a partner with our subject in a planta- 
tion in this county. The children deceased were 
named as follows: Myra (born in 1845, and died 
in 1864, when a young lady) and Annie (who died 
in Indiana when in her sixth year). The above 
mentioned school was first organized by a Mrs. 
Clark, and her husband co-operated with her. This 
has been their life's work, and they can justly be 
proud of the same. Their school was located at 
Helena for two years, and in 1867 they changed it 
to its present location, nine miles northwest of 
Helena. Mrs. Clark received her education in the 
best schools of Indiana (at that time) and is a re- 
corded minister in the Friends' Church. Mr. Clark 
is also a member of that church, being an elder in 
the same, and is a Republican in politics. Clark 
& Wright are the owners of about 1,700 acres of 
land, witli 1,000 acres cleared. 

Hon. James P. Clarke is an able lawyer of 
Helena, Ark., and ever since starting in this pro- 
fession his career has been one of distinction and 
success. He is active, intelligent and energetic 
by nature, public-spirited, liberal-minded and gen- 
erous in disposition; it is not to bo wondered at 
that his career has been successful and honorable. 
He was born in Yazoo County, Miss., August 18, 
1854, and is a son of Walter and Elk'n (White) 
(Jlarke, who were early residents of the State of 
Mississippi, and there the father's death occurred 
in 1861, his wife also passing away in that State. 
Mr. Clarko was a civil engineer and contractor, and 
ho and his wife became the parents of three chil- 
dren, only two of whom are living, of whom Hon. 
James l\ is one. He received the principal i)art 
of his education and rearing in Mississippi, but 
also attended school in Alabama and Virginia, thus 
becoming quite familiar with the " world of 
books." He gr.iduated from the Law Department 
of the University of Virginia, and since coming 
to Helena in 1879 has given his profession his un- 



divided attention, and owing to his sound views, 
his intelligence, and his ability as a lawyer, bus- 
iness has come to him unsolicited. The people of 
the county have not been slow to recognize his 
worth, and in 1886 he was elected to the State 
legislature, and to the State senate in 1888. 

Gen. Patrick Ronayne Cleburne. The career 
of this gentleman and his al)ility as a commander, 
which is .so noted in the annals of Confederate his- 
tory, has been justly admired by friend and foe, 
and although erroiu>ous im])ressions regarding his 
early life hav(! existed, the following sketch of his 
career is founded on fact. He was born in Ireland, 
ten miles west from the the city of Cork, on St. 
Patrick's Day, March 17, 1828, and was a son of a 
popular and successful physician, who made a 
good living by his profession, but who spent his 
money too fi-eely for the acquisition of wealth, in 
his favorite pursuit of amateur farming. He was 
married to Mary Anno Ronayne, and the subject of 
this sketch was named after her father, Patrick 
Ronayne, Esq., of Cork. Dr. Cleburne was de- 
scended from an old Tipp(>rary family of English 
and Quaker stock, which settled in Ireland during 
Cromwell' s reign. He was finely educated and was 
a graduate of some of the best colleges of medi- 
cine and surgery. After the death of his wife, 
which occiured when Patrick was about a year old, 
he married a Miss Stuart, a daughter of a Scotch 
clergyman of that name, their union being a very 
happy one, and his children never lacked the kind 
ministrations and gentle love of a mother, Patru-k 
being an especial favorite of hers, and she was al 
ways remembered by him with veneration. Thtf 
Doctor's first union resulted in the birth of three 
children, and the second in the l)irth of four. Of 
these, Joseph (the issue of the first marriage) died 
of yellow fever contracted on the west coast of 
Africa during a voyage, and Christopher (i.ssue of 
the second marriage) was a gallant captain in tiie 
Second Kentucky Cavalry of Morgan's command, 
and fell at the battle of Cloyd's Farm, May 10, 
1864, aged twenty -one years. The rest, with the 
exception of Patrick, .still survive* and live in this 
country. William, the oldest brother, is t>iigiiieer 
of the Oregon Short Line at Omaha, Nel). , and 



-» K 



J^ - 



li:. 



758 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Anne is now Mrs. Sherlock, formerly of Cincinnati, 
Ohio. Patrick Cleburne received his early in- 
structions from a private tutor, and at the age of 
twelve years was sent to a private school kept by a 
Rev. Mr. Spedden, but as he was a man of very 
harsh measures, Patrick's efforts at acquiring a 
classical education were a failure. At the age of 
sixteen, his father died, and he then determined to 
turn his attention to pharmacy and apprenticed 
himself to a Mr. Justin, of Mallow, but upon his 
faihire to pass the examination at Apothecary's 
Hall, Trinity College, Dul)lin, after what he con- 
sidered a thorough preparation, he was so dis- 
heartened and mortified that he enlisted in the 
Forty-first Regiment of Infantry, then stationed at 
Dublin, hoping that it would soon be ordered to 
foreign service. His anticipations were not real- 
ized, however, and owing to the monotony and dull 
routine of barrack life, he turned his thoughts to 
America, where adventurous and ambitious spirits 
could find a wider scope for their talents, and al- 
though his withdrawal was decidedly opposed by 
Capt. (afterward Gen.) Pratt, who distinguished 
himself in India and the Crimea, he was immov- 
able and purchased his discharge through the in- 
tervention of his familj'. In comjtany with his 
brothers William and Christopher, and his sister 
Anne, he embarked on the vessel Bridgetown, and 
on the following Christmas day entered the mouth 
of the Mississipjsi River. Leaving his friends in 
New Orleans, he went at once to Cincinnati and 
engaged in business on Broadway with a druggist 
named Salter, but soon after left this place and lo- 
cated in Helena, Ark. , commencing his career 
here as a prescrijition clerk in the store of Grant & 
Nash, purchasing, two years afterward, Mr. Grant's 
interest. During this time he devoted himself to the 
study of his profession, and also general literature, 
and being particularly fond of oratory became a 
conspicuous member of literary and debating socie- 
ties. As orator of the day at a Masonic celebra- 
tion, he achieved considerable local distinction, and 
upon the advice of friends, and also being personally 
inclined, he iibandoned his old business and turned 
his attention to the study of law in the office of 
Hon. T. B. Hanloy, and was soon after admitted to 



the bar, forming in 1856 a law partnership with 
Mark W. Alexander, the firm being known as Alex- 
ander & Cleburne. About this time, while the violent 
contest between the Democratic and Know-Noth- 
ing parties was in its full vigor, Mr. Cleburne 
accidentally witnessed a shooting afPray between 
T. C. Hindman, a noted speaker and leader of the 
Democrats, and Dorsey Rice, a bitter partisan on 
the Know-Nothing side, and was shot by Jamison 
Rice, who supposed Mr. Cleburne was a participant 
in the struggle. The ball passed entirely through 
his body, but, although almost mortally wounded, 
he turned and seeing James Marriott standing with 
pistol in his hand and supposing him to be his as- 
sailant, he coolly rai.sed his pistol and shot him 
dead. He then fell himself, and was carried by 
friends to Lis home, where he struggled between life 
and death for many days, but finally recovered. 
This affair was always a source of much regret and 
son-ow to Mr. Cleburne, but which he was power- 
less to avert. In 1859 he became associated in the 

practice of law with L. H. Mangum and Scaif e, 

the firm being Cleburne, Scaife & Mangum, they 
constituting one of the best and strongest legal 
firms of the State. Mr. Cleburne was a very suc- 
cessful lawyer, and very popular with the masses, 
this being the natural result of his own deep 
sympathy with humanity, making every sufferer his 
brother. In 1855, when Helena was visited liy that 
terrible scourge, yellow fever, Mr. Cleburne was 
one of the few to remain to nurse the sick, bury 
the dead and help the poor, this being only one 
instance of his remarkable nerve and courage. He 
knew not what fear was. Incapable of bravado he 
was grand in the energj' of his anger when aroused, 
quick as lightning in execution, and indifferent to 
all consequences. Personally he was the soul of 
honor, but was proud and sensitive in disposition, 
and although at heart the friend of all the world, 
he had few intimate friends; among these may be 
mentioned his brigadier-generals, Polk, Lowrey, 
Govan, Cranberry, Hardee and Cheatham, also 
Gen. John C. Brown. When the Civil War became 
imminent Mr. Cleburne at once st('))])ed to the 
front, and he was chosen captain of the Yell Rifles, 
and was aft.erward made colonel of the First Ark- 



-^-. 



D ^t" 



^'—^ 



4 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



759 



anscas Regiment of State troo})s. A record of 
bis triumphs np to the battle of Franklin is well 
known to every reader of current history, and will 
not be given here. Suffice it to say, he never suffered 
defeat, but achieved splendid success. In more 
battles than one his figure stands out ]irominently 
as the hero of the day, and his di.stinction was won 
by universal acclamation. Although he was rigid 
in the enforcement of discipline, the soldiers whom 
he commanded loved him to a man, and trusted 
him implicity, and were ready to follow where he 
led, with alacrity and confidence. The morning of 
November 29, 1864, saw the armies of the Tennes- 
see ready for battle. Schofield was at Columbia, 
and it was Hood's purpose to outflank and out- 
march him, so as to cut him off from Nashville 
and capture his army. With this object in view 
he crossed the Duck River three miles above 
Columbia and marched to Spring Hill, a small 
town on the Nashville pike midway between Col- 
umbia and Franklin. Cleburne's division was 
leading, with Bate immediately following him, 
and Brown in the rear, the first-named division 
being composed of four brigades. Late in the 
afternoon Cleliurne reached the vicinity of Spring 
Hill, near which was a Federal fortification. A 
mile from this fortification ran McCuthen's Creek, 
and the road on which Cleburne was coming 
crossed this creek, and approached the turnpike 
at a right angle. Under the direction of Gen. 
Cheatham, the corps commander, and following 
the plan of Gen. Hood, Bate moved out to form on 
Cleburne's left, and Brown's brigade was moved 
to the right on the double (juick, and made their 
formation. Gen. Hood then, in person, ordered 
Gen. Clel)urne to form at the left of the road, in 
the cornfield at the foot of a hill, move forward 
and take the enemy's works, adding that Brown 
had formed on his right and Bate was advancing 
to form on his left. This order was executed rap- 
idly, and the enemy had only time to fire one vol- 
ley l)efore Granberry and Govan were at their 
works, and in less than fifteen minutes, with a loss 
of four killed and forty-tive wounded, the earth- 
works with some prisoners were taken. Cleliurne's 
command was now in full view of Spring Hill, and 



less than 300 yards from it. A Federal battery 
on the turnpike then commenced to shell the com- 
mand, which had liecome somewhat scattered in 
pursuing the enemy, andG(>n. Cli^hurne dispatched 
L. H. Mangum, the original writer of this sketch, 
to Granberry on the left, with directions to form 
his brigade so as to be prepared to move on the 
pike. As he gave the order he said, "I will see 
Govan." At that moment a shell burst over his 
head and wounded his horse, causing the animal 
to rear furiously, and Mr. Mangum paused to 
make the inquiry, " Are you hurt, (Tifneral?" but 
the answer fired at him was, " No, go on, Afangum, 
and tell Granberry what I told you, and we will 
take the pike." Shortly after the I)rigades had 
formed and the battery had retreattnl. It was 
then discovered that Bate had not formed on the 
left, owing to the creek, through which Cleburne 
had waded, proving an obstruction, and as night 
was approaching, they were ordered to bivouac. 
During the night the Federal army passed along 
this very pike, within '200 yards of Clel)urne's 
command, and escaped to Franklin. In the morn- 
ing Hood's army began pursuing the enemy, and 
in the afternoon reached Winston's Ridge, where 
they could get a good view of Schofield' s fortifi- 
cations at Franklin, and their admirable nature 
caused Hood to look serious and consult with his 
officers what was best to be done. Some of his 
ablest generals opposed the attack, among whom 
was Gen. Cleimrue, but, notwithstanding this, 
Hood ordered an immediate attack, and while on 
the eve of the onset, ho addressed Cleburne thus: 
' ' General, I wish you to move on the enemy. 
Form your division on the right of the pike, with 
your left resting on the same. (ien. Brown will 
form on your left, with his right resting on the 
same. Give orders to your men not to fire a gun 
till you drive the Federal skirmishers from the first 
line of works in your front. Then jiress them and 
shoot them in the backs while running to the main 
line. Then charge the main works." To which 
Cleburne answered with a smile, "General, I will 
take the works or fall in the attempt." The first 
line of works was easily taken, and when his men 
made the final charge. Clelnirne was at the front. 






760 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



A message had been sent from him to L. H. Man- 
gum to join him at once, the latter having been 
sent to locate a battery, and upon his return the 
General said, "It is too late, go on with Gran- 
berry." He then turned his horse and galloped 
up to Govan's brigade, this being the last time 
Mr. Mangum ever saw the General alive. Shortly 
after Cleburne's horse was shot from under him, 
and while in the act of mounting another which 
had been offered him, this, too, was shot and in- 
stantly killed. Cleburne then rushed forward on 
foot, and when within less than a hundred yards 
from the works, he fell, pierced by a minie-ball, 
which passed through his body and probably 
caused instant death. Hidden by smoke and en- 
veloped by thunders, he sank on the couch of his 
glory, unattended and alone. As soon as his ab- 
sence liecame known, the deepest anxiety was 
shown, and it was at first reported that he was 
captured, but these hopes were dissipated bj' the 
hndiug of Cleburne's body by a correspondent of 
the press, and he was taken to the home of Mr. 
McGavook, near by, and shortly afterward to Col- 
umbia for interment, the funeral rites being per- 
formed by Rt.-Rev. Bishop Quintard. Later bis 
l)ody was removed to the family burying ground 
of the Folk family, at Ashwood, six miles from 
Columbia. Here, shadowed by the solemn forest 
trees, and near the river, on whose placid bosom 
he loved to row, he sleeps the sleep of a hero, and 
on the simple slab above his grave is the following 
inscription: 

Maj.Gen. p. R. CLEBURNE, 

Of the Coufederate Army, boru in County Cork. Ireliuu]. 

Killed at the battle of Franklin, 

November 30, 1864. 

William C. Cooke, who has been a resident of 
this county since 1878, removed here from Missis- 
sippi, settling in Cypress Township, where he pur- 
chased 160 acres of land. To this he has added 
other tracts, and now owns a farm of '220 acres, 
with 140 acres under cultivation. Mr. Cooke was 
a son of Thomas Cooke, who was born in March, 
1800, and died in 1846, when our subject was a 
boy. He was married in Tennessee to Miss Alice 



Cathey, whose birth occurred in Tennessee, in 
about 1800, he dying in May, 1874, and leaving 
eleven children, only two of whom are living: Eliza- 
beth O. (residing in Monroe County) and William 
C. (the principal of this sketch). The latter was 
born in Maury County, Tenn., March 17, 1830. 
He has been married five times; first, in 1852, to 
Miss Mary Graham, a native of North Carolina, 
who died in 1855, leaving one daughter, Alice 
(now Mrs. Jackson, a widow). His second mar- 
riage was in 1856 to Nancy Lock, of Mississippi; 
she departed this life in 1862, leaving three chil- 
dren, two of whom survive: Thomas and Samuel 
L. His third marriage, in 1865, was to the widow 
McCloud, who died in 1871, having borne three 
children, two living: Jenette and Virgil. In 1873 
Cynthia Wright, of this county, liecame his wife, 
and at her death, in 1876, she was the mother of two 
children: Margaret A. and Jennie. Mr. Cooke's 
present wife was formerly Mrs. Rolsinson, to whom 
he was married in 1881. They are the parents 
of three children, two girls an^ one son: Cecil, 
Roy and Lucy. During the war Mr. Cooke enlisted 
in the Confederate army, in the Mississippi Cav- 
alry, in 1862, in which he served until the close 
of hostilities. He is a stanch Democrat, and served 
one term as justice of the peace. He and wife are 
members of the Christian Church. 

J. W. Clopton, wholesale grocer and cotton 
factor, Helena, Ark. This most enterprising and 
successful business man is the son of John H. and 
Matilda (Drake) Clopton, b(5th of whom wore born 
near Nashville, Tenn. They were married in that 
State, and in 1841 moved to Marshall County, Miss. , 
where they resided until 1851, and then moved to 
Phillips County, Ark., where the father died in 
1856. The mother died in 1865. Of the ten chil- 
dren born to their union, four are now living: Hog 
gatt, Jesse P., James W. (in Phillips County) and 
William C. (in New York City). James W. Clop- 
ton, was born in Marshall County, Miss. , on March 
16, 1841, and was ten years of age when he came 
to this county with his parents. He was educated 
princi])ally in Helena, was reared partly on the 
farm, and at an early age began clerking, which en- 
terprise he continued until the late Civil War. He 





^^^"Z^^^*^ t/.-^-tdX^ 




Phillips County , Arkansas. 



liL 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



763 



then enlisted in the Yell Rifles, of which the late 
Maj.-Gen. Cleburne was captain, and served until 
the close of the war. He received a gunshot in 
the right hand and left wrist at the battle of Shi- 
lob, came home on a furlough, and wliile here he 
was captured and taken to Alton, 111. After being 
retained for about four months, he was exchanged, 
and fortunately fell in with the first lot of prisoners 
that got through. He joined his regiment at Mur- 
froesboro, and was second sergeant. He was in 
all the principal engagements, and served his cause 
faithfully and well, lieturniug home he farmed 
for two years, and then embarked in mercantile 
pursuits which he has since carried on. He has an 
extensive wholesale business, and is a successful 
business man. He was married, in 1869, to Miss 
Bettie Rainey, a native of Macon, Miss., by whom 
he has five children: Mary, Edna, Alice, James W. 
and Bess. Mr. Clopton is a member of the K. of 
P. and American Legion of Honor, is a stockholder 
in the People' s Saving Bank and Helena Comi)ress 
Company, also the Fair Association, and is presi- 
dent of the Chamber of Commerce. 

Col. Hoggatt Clopton, Helena, Ark. A glance 
at the lives of many representative men, whose 
names appear in this volume, will reveal sketches 
of some honored, influential citizens, but none 
more worthy or deserving of mention than Col. 
Hoggatt Clopton. This gentleman resides three 
miles west of Helena, and is the owner of Clo[)ton 
Hall plantations, among the largest in the county, 
consisting of 4,500 acres of land, with 1,700 acres 
under cultivation. He is also a caintalist. Col. 
Clopton was born near Nashville, Tenn., Felirnary 
6, 1881, and is th^ son of John Hoggatt and Ma- 
tilda C. (Drake) Clop)ton, the grandson of Anthony 
Cl()i)ton, and the great grandson of Hugh Clopton, 
of Virginia. The latter, with two brothers. Will 
and Anthony, left England and came to America, 
locating in Virginia about 1700. Afterward Will 
returned to the land of his birth, and being the eld- 
est of the three brothers, fell heir to Clopton Hall 
Manor, at Stratford-on-Avon. Anthony Clojiton, 
grandfatLer of the subject of this sketch, was a na- 
tive Virginian, and ditd in De Soto County, Miss., 
in 18-t8, when eighty seven years of age. He 



was a very successful farmer, and was among the 
first settlers of Davidson County, Tenn. , locating at 
Nashville when that city was but a small trading 
point. He moved to Tipton County, Tenn., in 
1836, and resided there until 1846, when he broke 
up housekeeping on account of the death of his 
wife, whose maiden name was IJhoda Hoggatt, and 
moved to Marshall ('ounty. Miss. Later he moved 
to De Soto County of the same State, where he 
passed the closing scenes of his life. He was a 
Whig, but took very little interest in politics. He 
was at one time a partner in a race course at Clo- 
ver Bottom, near Nashville, Tenn., with Gen. 
Andrew Jackson. John Hoggatt Clopton, the 
father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 
Davidson County, Tenn., on Aug. 31, 1805, and 
died on July 26, 1855, in Phillips County, Ark. 
He was married in March, 1830, to Miss Matilda 
C. Drake, a native of Wilson County, Tenn., born 
September 15, 181 3, Tmd died June 6, 1865. They 
lived near Nashville, Tenn., until 1839, when they 
moved near Holly Springs, Marshall County, Miss., 
where they resided until December, 1851. "After 
this the family moved to Phillips County, Ark. 
While living at Nashville Mr. Clopton was engaged 
in raising tine stock, especially racing stock, but 
also raised blooded stock of all kinds. He was the 
owner of a great many slaves, but sold his property 
at Nashville, moved to Mississippi with bis slaves, 
and from that time until his death was occui)ied as 
a cotton planter. He was unusually successful, and 
although starting life with rather limited means, 
by his superior business abilitj' and great energy 
was the possessor of a great deal of property at his 
death. He and wife were worthy members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and on coming 
to Phillips County were instrumental in the building 
up of the Methodist Epi.scopal Church at Helena. 
He was a Whig in politics. Matilda C. (Drake) 
Clopton was the daughter of Brittaiu Drake, a 
native of North Carolina, whose ancestors were 
also English, and an old settler of Wilson County, 
Tenn. He was a farmer, and in his political views 
was a AN'hig. There were born to the union of 
John Hoggatt Clopton and wife, eight sons and two 
daughters, four of whom are now living: Col. 



"^^ 



^ 



( 



k. 



764 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Hoggatt, Jesse P. (a prominent planter and mer- 
chant of Phillips County, Ark.), James W. (a suc- 
cessful merchant and planter of Phillips County, 
now residing in Helena), and William C. (an emi- 
nent attorney of New York City, a graduate of the 
University of Virginia, and also a graduate of the 
University of Berlin, Germany). The children 
deceased were named as follows: John Anthony 
(was born January 23, 1833, and died on July 19, 
1854; he was a merchant at Helena, Ark.), Brit- 
taiu D. Cloptou (was born Mai'ch 9, 1835, and died 
Feljruary 4, 1881, at Columbia, Tenn.), Charles C. 
(was born March 16, 1837, and died near Memphis, 
Tenn., December 24, 1854, while on a visit). Jack 
Hoggatt (was born in October, 1843, and died on 
May 28, 1855), Matilda L., Helena (died in April, 
18r)S), and Fannie (who was the first of the children 
to die, her death occurring when but two years of 
age). Col. Hoggatt Clopton graduated at the Uni- 
versity of Mississippi, in 1851, and was elected 
speaker to represent the Hermean Society at com- 
mencement, in which he bore the highest honor as 
speaker, and soon after turned his attention to plant- 
ing and merchandising. He started the latter busi- 
ness in 1853, continued one year, and being the eld- 
est son it became his duty to assist his father and 
family in planting oi)erations. His three brothers, 
Jesse P. , James W. and William C. were in the Con- 
federate army, Jesse P. holding the rank of major, 
and James W. being in the commissary department 
on account of a wound received at the battle of 
Shiloh. William C. was but fourteen years of age 
when he enlisted. Col. Hoggatt Clopton entered 
the service in 1862, in Albert W. Johnson's regi- 
ment iis lieutenant. After the war he again 
turned his attention to planting, and although he 
has experienced many heavy losses, he is now in a 
prosperous condition, and is one of the representa- 
tive and substantial citizens of the county. His 
marriage to Miss Ellen S. Booker took place Decem- 
ber 19, 1867. She was born in Columbia, Tenn., 
and was the daughter of James G. Booker, a Vir- 
ginian by descent. She was a member of the 
Ei>isf0|)al (Church, and died in full communion with 
the same on May 20, 1869. Mr. Clopton has 
remained single since. He is a member of the 



Masonic fraternity, and in politics he affiliates with 
the Democratic party. He is of purely English 
origin, and may well be proud of his ancestors, as 
many of them have been distinguished men. One 
of them. Sir Hugh Clopton by name, was Lord 
Mayor of London in the reign of King Henry 
the Eighth, and lies entombed by the side of 
Shakespeare, in Stratford Church on Avon. And 
another ancestor, Caj>t. John Hoggatt, his great- 
grandfather, commanded a company in the War for 
Independence, and now lies buried near Nashville, 
Tenn. , with a record of his career written on his 
monument. He was of English descent, and a 
native of Virginia, and was a farmer by occupation. 
Mr. Clopton took an extensive trip all over Eng- 
land, Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and Con- 
tinental Europe the past spring, summer and 
fall, and was at the tomb of Shakespeare and Sir 
Hugh Clopton. They were contemporaries, and 
are buried side by side in Stratford Church on 
(the river) Avon, in Warwick County, England, 
about 100 miles west of London. 

Jesse P. Clopton, planter, Marvell, Ark. The 
principal part of his life Mr. Clopton has followed, 
with substantial success, the occupation to which he 
was reared and in which he is now engaged, farm- 
ing. He is one of the largest land owners in 
Phillips County, is also one of its recognized lead- 
ing agriculturists and merchants, and as a man, 
no less than a citizen, is highly e.steemed. His 
birth occurred near the old Jackson Hermitage, , 
Davidson County, Tenn., March 4, 1S39, and is the 
son of John Haggatt and Matilda C. (Drake) Clop 
ton, both natives of Tennessee. The parents were 
married in their native State but immigrated to 
North Mississippi in 1844 and there the father 
died July 26, 1855. The mother was a descendant 
of Sir Francis Drake, and died in this county June 
6, 1865. Their marriage resulted in the birth of 
ten children: Haggatt (born February 6, 1831), 
John A. (deceased, born January 23, 1833), Brit- 
tain D. (deceased, born March 9, 1835), Charles C. 
(deceased, born March 28, 1837), Jesse P., James 
M. (born March 16, 1841), Jack M. (l)orn Oetolier 
8, 1843), Matilda L. (deceased, born November 29, 
1845), William C. (born March 16, 1848) and Fau- 



•*---7f- 






PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



765 



nio (deceased, born January '29, 1851). Jesse P. 
was but twelve years of age when he moved with 
his parents from Mississi[)])i to this county and 
here he tinished his growth. Ho received such 
educational advantages as wore attainable in the 
common schools, but afterward coiii[)leted his 
schooling by attending Lebanon College, Tenn. 
After this he began the study of medicine, but the 
war broke out and he enlisted in the Confederate 
service in 1861, under Gen. Cleburne's demand. 
Fifteenth Arkansas Regiment. He served until he 
was disabled, was then discharged and was out of 
service for four months. He then again joined the 
army, was soon after captured and almost directly 
exchanged, being on parole for abtiut two mouths. 
He was at the battle of Helena ami was the first man 
shot at while performing the duties of adjutant- 
general. At the close of the war ho returned home 
and engaged in tilling the soil. He was married 
January 7, 1864, to Miss Virginia C. Swan, a native 
of Phillips County, Ark. (bora P\>l)ruary 5, 1846, 
and the daughter of Major John C. Swan, who was 
born in Frankfort, Ky., on April 1, 1800. Major 
Swan came to this county in 1836, located 
eighteen miles west of Helena on what is known as 
the military road, and here he was extensively en- 
gaged in cultivating the soil, owning at one time 
over 1,000 acres in this county and as much in the 
State of Mississippi. He helped survey the mili- 
tary road at an early day and was one of the promi- 
nent and useful citizens. He was married in Hel- 
ena, Ark., to Miss Permelia B. Raleigh, a native 
of Virginia (born November 7, 1817), and the 
daughter of Charles V. Raleigh. Mr. Raleigh 
was a native of North Carolina, and the capital of 
that State was named in his honor. He was a 
descendant of Sir Walter Raleigh. Maj. Swan 
died in this county December 25, 1841), and his wife 
died September 9, 1867. They wore the parents 
of three daughters and ouo son: John R. (was a 
captain in the Confederate army and died at his 
home, a number of years after the war). Mary J. 
(deceased), Fannie A. (deceased) and Virginia C. 
(who is the youngest child). To Mr. and Mrs. 
Clopton werfi boiti live children, two now living: 
Jesse P. (deceased), Virginia (deceased), John H. 



(deceased) , Agnes C. and Eugenia (both at home). 
Mr. Clopton is the owner of 1,776 acres of land, 
1,100 acres under cultivation, and raises annually 
from 250 to 400 bales of cotton. In March, 1872, 
he opened a store of general merchandise in Mar- 
veil and carries a stock of goods valued at $5,000. 
He buys and ships cotton and is the leading busi- 
ness man of Marvell. In politics, he is Democratic, 
casting his first presidential vote for H. Seymour, 
and he held the oflice of circuit clerk for two 
years. He is a member of the K. of H. and the 
K. & L. of H. Hi< and his faniily are members of 
the Episcopal Chiucli. Mr. Clopton has a large 
cotton-gin and saw-mill on his plantation. 

Roland J. Cook, jjlanter. Barton, Ark. Phillips 
County is acknowledged by all to be one of the 
best agricultural portions of the State, and as such 
its citizens are men of advanced ideas and consid- 
erable prominence. A worthy man of this class is 
found in the person of Roland J. Cook. He was 
originally from YaloV)usha County, Miss., where 
his birth occurred October 27, 1839, and is the 
son of James and Frances (Brooks) Cook, natives 
of North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. 
The father was born in 1810 and the mother in 
1814. They were married in Mississippi, moved 
from there to Phillips County, Ark., in 1856, and 
located on the farm where Roland J. now resides. 
The principal part of this land was then covered 
with wood, but it was cleared by Mr. Cook and 
his son. James Cook was a carpenter by trade, iind 
built the house in which our subject is now living. 
After coming to Arkansas he turned his attention 
exclusively to farming, and this continued up to 
the time of his death, which occurred in 1873. 
The mother died in 1866. The father was a Whig 
in politics, sympathized with the South, but never 
approved of secession. There were born to their 
marriage eight children, six now living, Roland J. 
being the eldest. The latter spent his school days 
in Mississippi and Arkansas, and in June, 1801, 
enlisted in the Second Arkansas (Confederate) 
Infantry, serving in the same until after the 
battle of Chickamauga, when he was severely 
wounded by a gunshot in the right hand and the 
left breast. He was orderly sergeant, and was in 



^ 9 



L;^ 



766 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



many prominent engagements: Shiloh, Murfrees- 
l)oro and Perryville, Ky. After being wounded 
be was taken prisoner, Vmt only retained for a 
short time. Returning home after the war, he 
turned his attention to farming, following the 
same for one year in Mississippi, and subsequently 
resumed agricultural pursuits on the old home- 
stead, where he now lives. He is the owner of 
300 acres of good land, and has 150 acres under 
cultivation. In 1806 he married Miss Lucy Win- 
bourn, daughter of Rev. A. K. Winboum, of De 
Soto County, Miss. The result of this union has 
been live children. Mr. and Mrs. Cook are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
and Mr. Cook is steward in the same. He is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, the K. of H., 
and in politics is a Democrat, but is conservative 
in his views. 

H. P. Coolidge (deceased) was born in the State 
of Maine, February 7, 1812, and while still in his 
early youth was taken by his parents to the Buck- 
eye State, settling near Cincinnati, where he was 
left an orphan at an early age. When about sev- 
enteen years of age he went to Louisiana and dur- 
ing a residence of several years in New Orleans 
was a boss mechanic, being considered the com- 
plete master of his trade. While in that city he 
was married to Elizabeth J. Legier, a French lady, 
and in 1842 came with her and his infant son, C. 
R. Coolidge, to Helena, Ark., making the trip on a 
fiat boat, intending to journey on to New Orleans 
for permanent residence there. The sheriff of the 
county determined to make him pay annual license 
for selling his goods, but he thought it a wanton 
injustice, and, although intending to remain at 
Helena for one month, he paid his license and de 
termined to settle here. He rented a store build- 
ing, put in a stock of goods and soon built up a 
very extensive trade, so large in fact that he de- 
termined to stay here, although his original inten- 
tion had been to go back to New Orleans. Helena 
continued to be his home until his death, which 
occurred April 23, 1872, his wife dying November 
17, 1880. Of nine children born to them, two only 
lived to be grown. A daughter, who married Dr. F. 
N. Barke, now a resident of Helena, died January, 



1887, leaving an infant daughter, Mary E. Burke, 
who lives mainly with her uncle, C. R. Coolidge, in 
Helena. Only one, C. R. Coolidge, is now living. 
Mr. Coolidge became known all over this section of 
the country, not only in his business capacity, but 
in local |>olitical matteis as well, and for some time 
served as county and probate judge, although he 
was no office seeker. He was a man who attended 
strictly to his own affairs and for his many sterling 
business and social qualities was beloved by all 
who knew him. At one time he was offered 400 
acres of land, which is now in the heart of Memphis, 
Tenn., for a small sum of money, and if he had 
closed the bargain he would have been worth mill- 
ions of dollars. He was very liberal with his wealth 
and always gave liberally to the poor and distressed, 
also to schools and churches, and all worthy public 
enterprises. He was very jirogressive in his ideas 
and always endeavored to keep out of the beaten 
path, and was ever ready to adojjt new ideas. He 
was a stanch Union man during the war and ex 
pressed his thoughts and opinions freely and 
without fear. He was a prominent Mason and Odd 
Fellow and a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. Such a man, liberal and progressive in his 
views, enterprising, industrious and public-spirited, 
is a blessing to any community and deserves the 
highest jaraise which can be given him. His son, 
Charles R. , has erected a monument to his memory 
which was made in Italy at a cost of $6,000. It is 
twent3'-nine feet six inches in height and is sui'- 
mounted by a life-size statue of Mr. Coolidge, 
which is very tinely executed. Charles R. Coolidge 
was born in New Orleans in November, 1836, and 
came to Helena with his parents. He was brought 
up in the mercantile business, which he has always 
followed. He has been very successful in all his 
business undertakings and has one of the hand- 
somest residences in the city of Helena. Like his 
father he is enterprising and public-spirited and is 
one of the foremost citizens of Phillips County. 
He was married in 1866 to Miss Elizabeth T. Ellis, 
a native of Middle Tennessee, by whom he has ten 
children, nine living: Henry, Charles R. , Jr., Wil- 
lie, Eva, Lizzie, Andi-ew, Ellis, Walter and Mary. 
Eva, his second, child, is deceased, and a younger 






^t 



^. 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



767 



daughter was iiiimod for hor. Mr. Coolidgo was 
au Odd Fellow for mauy years aud served some 
time in the late war aud was at one time taken 
prisoner. 

D. H. Crobs. The Planters' Compress & Stor- 
age Company of Helena, Ark. , is one of the largest 
establishments of the kind in Southern Arkansas, 
and the amount of ground used by them for the 
successful conduct of their establishment comprises 
four and three-quarters acres, it being purchased 
by our subject in August, 1886. He immediately 
erected one of the finest cotton-gins in the South, 
and in 1887 built a compress, which was the first 
erected in Helena, and the first year pressed 18,000 
bales of cotton. This is a large brick structure, 
and was owned and operated individually by Mr. 
Crebs until the spring of 188'.), when a stock 
company was organized, and took the name of the 
Planters' Compress Company, in which Mr. Crebs 
has a controlling interest, and is president of the 
company; J. H. Lawrens is secretary, and L. Lucy, 
treasurer. The cotton-gin has a capacity of twouty- 
five to thirty bales of cotton i)er day. Mr. Crebs 
was born in Winchester, Frederick County, Va. , 
October 30, 1836, and is a sou of Henry Crebs, who 
was also a Virginian, and a soldier in the War of 
1812, he being then only about seventeen years of 
age. His father was a Revolutionary soldier, and 
was of Scotch birth, an early settler of Virginia. 
Henry was a farmer by occupation, and eventually 
died in the town in which he was born and reared. 
Of his six children, four are now living. His son, 
D. H., was eleven years old when his father died, 
then began learning the machinist's trade, and in 
186'2 he enlisted in Company A, Second Virginia 
Regiment, aud was wounded at Seven Pines by a 
gunshot, which necessitated his remaining in a hos- 
pital for some time. He was in Mat. Marra's com- 
mand, but afterward joined Col. Tanner's battalion 
aud was in all the general engagements in which 
his regiment participated. After the war ho was 
left, like all soldiers, destitute, but he worked at 
what ho could find to do, and in 1867 came to 
Helena aud began doing business for a Mr. Bar- 
barbronx,of Louisville. At the end of two years the 
company dissolved, and Mr. Crebs then began an in- 



dependent career, and is still dealing in machinery. 
He built the first oil mills in Helena, also the first 
opera house, but the latter burned down in 1885. 
Mr. Crebs has been one of the live business men of 
the place, and his intere.st and support iu all public 
affairs, his honesty and industry, as well as his 
progressive views on all matters of import- 
ance, have won him the respect of all who know 
him. He is a stockholder in the First National 
Bank and the Peoples' Bank, and by his shrewd- 
ness and tact is one of the wealthy men of the 
county. He has one of the handsomest residences 
iu the city, it being situated on a natural building 
site, in full view of the Mississippi River, as well as 
the city and surrounding country. In 1876 he was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary Carruth, and in 
1880 took for his second wife. Miss Jennie Cook, 
by whom he has two children: Maggie and Harry. 
Job Dean, farmer and saloon man, Trenton, Ark. 
Mr. Dean owes his nativity to Shelby County, 
Tenn., where his birth occurred in 1847, and is 
the first and only child born to the union of Henry 
and Fannie (Abington) Dean, natives, respectively, 
of South Carolina and North Carolina. The elder 
Dean was a farmer aud speculator in real estate. 
He moved to Tennessee when a young man, and 
was there married in 1845 to Miss Abington. He 
owned a great deal of land in this county at the 
time of his death, which occurred in 1860. The 
mother died in 1850, and two years later the father 
married Miss Laura Hudson, of Madison County, 
Tenn. , who bore him four children, only threie of 
whom lived to be grown: Richard (deceased, died 
at the age of twenty-four years of consumption), 
Mary H. (deceased, wife of Tobo Hamner. She 
was the mother of one child, Albert, who resides 
in Tennessee with his father, who is a minister in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church), Emma (wife of 
T. J. Leak, of Collierville, Tenn., and the mother 
of four children. Dean, Tigue, Emma G. and 
Fletcher). Our subject was educated in the com- 
mon schools of his native county, aud spent two 
years at Black Hawk, Carroll County, Miss., where 
ho finished his education. At the age of twenty 
years he left school, and when twenty -nine years 
of age was married to Miss Maggie Davis, of Mar- 



(2 k_ 



_<( 9 



768 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



shall County, Miss., who bore him five children, 
only two now living: Henry and Mamie. After 
marriage Mr. Dean commenced farming in Shelby 
County and there remained until 1874, when he 
moved to Marshall County, Miss., where he was 
engaged in tilling the soil for two years. In 1876 
he came to Phillips County, Ark., cultivated the 
soil, but was not very successful for the first few 
years. In 1880 he opened the saloon business at 
Trenton and still runs this in connection with a 
family grocery. He now owns 160 acres of land 
with foity acres cleared, which he rents for $200 
per year. Mr. Dean is a member of the Masonic 
fi'ateruity, Lebanon Lodge No. 97, K. of H. , and 
is Vice-Dictator of that organization. Politically 
he is a Democrat. He favors improvements for 
the benefit of his county and all laudable designs 
for the interest of the people. 

Amos W. Dougherty, the fifth son in a family 
of fourteen children born to Isaac and Rachel 
(Slimp) Dougherty, made his appearance upon the 
stage of life in Lauderdale County, Ala. , on No- 
vember, 1, 1830. At the age of five he removed 
with his parents to Mississippi, where he was reared, 
educated, and learned the carpenter's trade under 
an older brother. In about 1860 ho came to Ark- 
ansas and located in this county, and was en- 
gaged at his trade until 1887. In 1S51 he was 
married to Miss Liicy B. Wilkes, a native of Ala- 
bama, who died in 1865, leaving five childi-en; one 
of these, Indiana V., is the wife of W. J. Day, of 
this county. Mr. Dougherty was married the sec- 
ond time, in 1866, to Miss Caroline N. Dean, of 
this State, she surviving until in November, 1872. 
His third wife, Nancy J. Slayton, to wliom he was 
married in February, 1874, came originally from 
Georgia, and died in July, 1876. Mr. Dougheiiy 
was married to his last wife, Mrs. Virginia D. An- 
drews, in November, 1877. In 1847 he enlisted 
in the Mexican War and served about six months, 
taking part in a number of skirmishes. In 1861 
his patriotism still asserted itself, and he enlisted 
in the Confederate army, in the Seventh Arkansas 
Infantry, serving until his capture in April, 1865, 
when he was taken to Memphis and kept until the 
following June. Ho owns a small farm of forty- 



nine acres, and also owns a steam cotton-gin, meet- 
ing with good success in his efforts. Mr. Dough- 
erty is a member of the Masonic order and of the 
K. of H. In politics is a Democrat, and a highly 
respected citizen. 

Isaac Ehrman, wholesale and retail liquor dealer, 
Helena, Ark. The trade carried on in staple arti- 
cles of consumption always constitutes a most im- 
portant factor in the commercial resources of a 
city or town, and it is therefore not surprising if it 
finds its natural recognition in Helena. Promi- 
nent among those engaged in it is the firm of Ehr- 
man Brothers, who have followed this business a 
number of years. Isaac Ehrman is a native of 
Rhine, Bavaria, born on November 4, 1836, and 
is a son of M. and Sophia (Rubel) Ehrman, who 
were natives of Germany. The father came to 
America in 1878, and is now a resident of Mem- 
phis, Tenn., and is in the eighty-second year 
of his age. To his marriage were born eight chil- 
dren, six now living, and all in America: Isaac, 
Emelia (wife of Jacob Wertheimer, of Pine BlufF), 
Hannah (wife of J. Nathan, who is a member 
of the firm of Nathan & Opponheimer, of Mem- 
phis), Mrs. Wertheimer (of Birmingham, Ala.), 
Mrs. Alice Wolf (of Columbus, Miss. ) and Emanuel. 
Isaac Ehrman was reared and educated in Ger- 
many, where he remained until 1853, and when 
fifteen years of age, took passage at Havre, and 
landed at New Orleans after an ocean voyage of 
sixty days. He went to Fayette, Miss. , and kept 
books for his uncle until 1860, when he returned 
to Europe. In 1861 he returned to Mississippi, 
but went fi'om there to Memphis, Tenn. , where he 
was engaged in the dry -goods business until 1873; 
was also part of the time interested in the liquor 
business, and at the above-mentioned date he came 
to Helena. He was married in 1863 to Miss Cecil 
Wertheimer, who bore him four children: Fannie, 
Ophelia, Eddie and Blanche. Mr. Ehrman is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, K. of H., K. of 
P., Royal Arcanum, etc. He was alderman for 
four years, and was a stockholder in the People's 
Saving Bank. He is also a stockholder in the 
Opera House and Fair Association, and is a promi- 
nent man of Helena. 



■fv 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



7(iU 



L. A. Fitzpatrick, of the tiim of Jacks, Fitz- 
patrick & Co., wholeHalo drnfr^ista at. Hclorui, was 
boru ill Chickasaw County, Miss., in Novomber, 
1848, ami is tlie son of B. F. ami E. J. (Moore) 
Fitzpatrick, natives of Georgia and Alal)aiua, re- 
spectively. The parents moved to Mississij)pi at 
quite an early date, but from there went to Mobile, 
Ala., where the}' are now living, the father being 
a cotton factor. L. A. Fitzi)atrick's time in youth 
was divided between assisting on the farm and in 
attending the common schools. In 1804 he en- 
listed in the Confederate army, and served one 
year. In ]8()8 he came to Helena, Ark., and be- 
gan clerking in a drug store, but in 1872 he pur- 
chased an interest in the business of Jacks &, 
Moore. In 1879 the firm title was changed to 
Jacks & Co., and in 1884 the present company 
was formed. They carry a stock of goods valued 
at $25,000, and do an annual business of $200,000. 
They are the largest dealers in drugs in Helena, 
and are enjoying a liberal patronage, being careful 
and reliable men. Mr. Fitzpatrick was married in 
1872 to Miss Alzena F. Jacks, a daughter of Dr. 
T. M. Jacks, and to this union wen^ born seven 
children living: Katie, Lotta M., Ben. F., L. A., 
Jr., Hopkins R , ('urtis H. and lont?. Mr. Fitz 
patrick is a member of the I. O. O. F., and Knights 
of Pythias, American Legion of Honor, Koyal Ar- 
canum and Ladies and Knights of Honor. He 
held the oflice of city treasurer for several years, 
and was also alderman for some time. He is a 
large -stockholder in the Jacks Keal Estate Com- 
pany, the Arkansas Building Association and the 
Electric Light Company. 

Robert FitzHugh. In reviewing the contents 
of this volume, no adetjuate idi«a of tht^ agricultural 
affairs of Phillips County or of its substantial citi- 
zens, could be formed which failed to make men- 
tion of Mr. FitzHugh and the excellent estate 
which he owns. His residence tract contains 
1,570 acres, and is admirably adapted to raising all 
kinds of grain indigenous to this climate, and bo- 
sides this he owns 700 acres in another tract, and 
in all has (>()0 acres under cultivation. Everything 
about his property pronounces him to be an agri- 
culturist of enterprise and progress, and such ho 



is acknowledged by all to be. Hq was born in 
Livingston County, N. Y., December 18, 1820, 
and this alone speaks volumes for him as a i)ro- 
gressive and enterprising citizen. He is a son of 
Richard P. and Mary A. FitzHugh, the former a 
native of Maryland and the latter of York State. 
Robert, our subject, first moved from his native 
State to Ohio in 1803, thence to Michigan in 1800, 
and still later settled in Phillips County, Ark. In 
1865 he married Miss Sarah T. Hubbard, a daugh- 
ter of Dr. Hubbard, of Philli|)s County, and six 
children are the result of their union: Mary A., 
Richard H. , Annie S. , Flora B. , Mabel and Foster 
C. Mrs. FitzHugh is a member of the Episcopal 
Church, and her husband is a Democrat in his po- 
litical views. His father removed to York State 
when seventeen years of age and followed fanning 
there, until his death in 1803, at the age of sixty- 
three years. His wife died in 1882, also in New 
York, having reached the ago of sixty-seven years. 
Of seven children l)orn to them, three are now liv- 
ing. 

N. J. Fritzon, mayor of Helena and dealer in 
(jueensware, has a life record of more than usual 
interest and seems by nature to be a man litted 
to rule. He was born across the ocean, his birth 
occurring in Sweden near the Baltic Sea, in Oc- 
tober, 1838. At an early day he displayed the 
energy and enterprise which has since character- 
izt'd his career, and his youth was spent in learn- 
ing the shoemaker's trade and in studying music, 
in which he bi-caine very proficient, being ablt to 
play almost any instrument which was put into his 
hands. Life in bis native land was not suited to 
one of his energetic and enteriirising disposition, 
and he accordingly determined to cross the ocean 
and see what life in a new land had in store for 
him. and in 1857 first sot fot)t on American soil at 
Boston, the voyage from Gothenberg to this point 
occupying a period of tive weeks. He immediately 
wont to Moliiie, 111., thence to Rock Island, work 
ing at his trade, and the year 1859 found him in 
St. Louis, from which point he wont to New Or- 
leans a short time after. This city continued to 
be his home until the Iwmbardment of Fort Sum 
ter, when he returned to St. Louis, thence back to 



^1 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Kock I.slan<l, 111., where he enlisted in Company 
A, Ninth Illinois Cavalry, and was made chief mn- 
sician and bugler of his regiment. In 1862 he 
was mustered out of service, by order of the war 
d('£)artment, and was then musician for eight 
months on Gen. Steele's staff. In February, 
1803, he came to Helena and engaged in the groc- 
ery business and this was his exclusive means of a 
livelihood for twenty-one years, but was a very lu- 
crative one. His stock of queensware is very large 
and of an exceptionally fine quality, and as he is an 
honest and upright man of business, his sales are 
large. He has boon connected with the fire de- 
partment of the cit}' since the war and for several 
years has l)een its chief. In 1888 he was elected 
mayor of Helena and his record as an ofiicial, as 
well as a business man, will bear the investigation 
of one and all, for not a shadow can be advanced 
derogatory to his reputation. He is a Koyal Arch 
Mason, and for a number of years he has been a 
member of the town council and the board of 
health. He was married in 1867 to Miss Mary B. 
Nixon, by whom he has five children: Sidney H., 
John E., Mary B. , Nelson J. and Eudora C. 

Bogan N. Gist is the son of Thomas Gist, 
and was born in South Carolina in 1852. Thomas 
Gist, also a native of South Carolina, dates his ex- 
istence from 1816, immigrating to what is now 
Lee County, S. C, in 1857, where he died in 
1887. He was married in South Carolina to Miss 
Mary Bogan, who passed away in 1865, having 
borne eight children, two sons and two daughters 
now living. Bogan N. , the eldest in order of 
birth, received an excellent education in the schools 
of his native State, afterward completing his stud- 
ies at a prominent military school in Kentucky. 
He resided with his parents until reaching his 
majority, and on May 3, 1878, was married to 
Miss Mary Blanche Heineman, born in Mississippi, 
and a daughter of Charles and Mildreth Heineman. 
Mrs. Heineman is now living in Phillips County, 
Ark. , and her husband died in MurfreesVioro, Ala. 
Mr. Gist and wife are the parents of one child, 
Bogan N. , Jr. They have resided on their present 
place since 1872, on which Mr. Gist erected a 
handsome and commodious home at a cost of 



$200,000. He owns about 640 acres of land, and 
with 500 acres under cultivation, located sixteen 
miles west of Helena. The farm is admirably 
adapted to the growing of hay, grain and vegeta- 
bles, and presents a fine aj)pearance in its care- 
fully cultivated state. Mr. Gist is quite exten- 
sively engaged in stock raising, from which he 
receives a comfortable income. Politically he is a 
Democrat, and is a citizen of whom Phillips County 
may well be proud; honest, enterprising and a 
leader in any movement that suggests the present 
or future growth of the community. 

Thomas Clark Glasscock, a planter and stock 
raiser of Cypress Township, was reared and edu- 
cated in Alabama, his native State, also being mar- 
ried there in 1856 to Miss Isabella Couch, whose 
birth occurred in Morgan County, Ala. , Noveml>er 
22, 1836. She was a daughter of Uriah and Eliza 
beth (Turney) Couch, both of Tennessee origin. 
In 1861 Mr. Glasscock enlisted in the Twenty- 
ninth Alabama Infantry, and served over three 
years. In 1867 he immigrated from Alabama to 
Tennessee, and two years later moved to Philli|)s 
County, Ark., and located on the farm on which 
he now lives, as superintendent, remaining until 
1874, when he returned to Alabama, and in 1881 
came back to this county and again took charge of 
the same plantation, consisting of 1,400 acres, with 
over 400 acres under cultivation. Mr. Glasscock 
was born in Blount County, Ala., August 11, 1837, 
and was a son of John R. and Martha (Ruther- 
ford) Glasscock, natives of Tennessee and Alabama, 
respectively. John R. Glasscock was born about 
1822, a son of Gregory Glasscock, who was also 
born in Tennessee, of English descent, and moved 
to Alabama when John R. was a boy of eight 
years. He took part in numerous early Indian 
wars, and is still living in Cullman County, Ala. 
His wife was born in 1824, and died in 1887, hav- 
ing been the mother of twelve children, eight of 
whom are still living. Thomas C. Glasscock is a 
member of the Masonic order, holding the oflice 
of Worshipful Master of his lodge, and is a strong 
Democrat in politics. Himself and wife have no 
children of their own, but reared one child, Min- 
nie M. (Mrs. Couch), who still resides with them. 



^^ 



^a. 



PHIIiLIPS COUNTY. 



771 



Jaiims P. H. Graham is a native of North 
Carolinu, bat was ruarod iu Mississippi, and re- 
ceived his education in the common schools of that 
State. At the age of twenty two ho commenced 
farming for himself, and iu December, 1800, was 
married to Miss Sarah Cathey, whose birth occurred 
in Mississippi, on October 10, 1842. She died in 
January, 1872, being the mother of four children, 
one of whom, Elizabeth A. D., is still living. In 
November, 1872, Mr. Graham married Sarah E. 
Jarrett, born in Alabama, iu August, 1851, a daugh- 
ter of Freeman and Mary (McMillen) Jarrett, and 
a sister of Joseph F. Jarrett, whose biography 
appears in this work. They are parents of seven 
children, five living: Mary M. , Josio E., Joseph 
W. , Mittie P. and Eduer L. Our subject was 
born in Cleveland County, N. C , on January 27, 
1838. Arthur H. Graham, his father, was born in 
North Carolina, on September 17, 180U, and re- 
moved to Mississippi in 1839, coming from 
that State to this county in 1800. He was mar- 
ried on January 23, 1834, to Miss Elizabeth D. S. 
Wray, also of North Carolina, born in 1815, and a 
daughter of James Wray, of English descent. 
She died in 1844, leaving five children, two of 
whom survive: James P. H. and William Walter. 
The senior Mr. Graham was engaged in agricultural 
pursuits until his death, which occurred in Novem- 
l)i'r, 1887. He was the son of Johii Graham, of 
Irish descent, though a native of Cleveland Coun- 
ty, N. C. James Graham came to this county with 
his father in 180i), and has since resided here. He 
was a resident of Mississippi at the time of the 
breaking out of the war, and enlisted iu March, 
1802, in Company A of the Ninth Mississippi In- 
fantry, serving until December, 1803, when he was 
taken prisoner at the battle of Missionary Itidgo, 
and carried to Rock Island, where he was confined 
until May 3, 1805. He was theu exchanged and 
received his discharge at Natchez, Miss. Although 
captured early in the war, he participated in tour 
great battles of the war. Shiloh, Murfreesboro, 
Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. Mr. Gra- 
ham now owns a line farm of 100 acres, with 
1 12 acres under cultivation, upon which are im- 
provements, buildings, orchards. &c. He is a 



■stanch Democrat, and although not an office 
seeker, was elected justice of the peace in 1884, 
which position he held for a year. He then re- 
signed on account of other Imsiness matters re(juir- 
ing his attention. He is a member of the K. of H. 
and of the Christian Church, his wife Ijelonging to 
the Baptist Church. 

H. M. Grant, M. D. , and ex-State senator, was 
born in Christian County, Ky., in May, 182S(, and 
is one of two surviving members of a family of 
twelve children born to Joshua D. and Henrietta 
(McNeal) Grant, the former a native of North Car- 
olina, and the latter of Virginia. Both parents 
were taken to Kentucky when young, and ther(! 
they were married and spcait the greater i)ortiori of 
their lives, the mother's death occurring in that 
State, and the father's iu Northwest Arkansas, he 
being a farmer and merchant by occu|)ation. Both 
grandfathers served in the M'ar of 1812. Dr. 
Grant received the earlier part of his education in 
Kentucky, and completed his studies at McKendi-ie 
College, Lebanon, 111. At the age of seventeen 
years he began his medical studies, and favored 
with excellent jjreparatory training he was eiuibled 
to at once enter upon a successful career. In 184'J, 
when in liis twentieth year, ho graduated from the 
Louisville Medical College, and his first practice 
was iit La Fayette, Ky., but here he only remained 
a short time. In 1850 he came to Helena, Ark., 
which only had about 200 inhabitants at that time, 
rented an office, and hung out his "shingle," and 
is now the oldest medical pi'actitioner in the town. 
His success has been very gratifying, and to say 
that he is a superior physician and surgeon is not 
detrimental to other physicians of the town and 
county. At the opening of the war he began 
drilling a corps of soldiers preparatory to entering 
the service, but a few days before ready to begin 
active duty his horse fell with him, injuring him so 
badly that ho was iu8ensil)le for several days. His 
right arm was severely injured, and rendered him 
unfit for active military duty, which has always 
been a source of much regret to him. as he had the 
requisites necessary for an excellent soldier. He 
rendered good service, however, in dressing the 
wounded at different battle.s, and iu this capacity 



^^ 



-bR: 



jj^s___^ 



vr^ 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



bis labors were invaluable. While on board a boat 
going down the river he fell asleep and came very 
near being di'owned, as the boat was commencing 
to sink rapidly, and he was only saved from a 
watery grave by his companions pulling him out at 
the skylight by his injured arm. This so aggra 
vated the difficulty that the joint became stiff, and 
he has never since had good use of it. He has 
lilled the position of mayor of Helena for several 
terms, also councilman, and in 1SC6 was elected to 
the State senate, serving by reelection four years, 
and was again chosen to the position in 1880, 
serving another four years by re-election. He was 
the first mayor of Helena after the war, the last man 
elected to the senate before the reconstruction 
period, and the first white man elected after. He 
has always been a man of strict integritj', sterling 
worth, and his progressive and sound views on all 
public matters has made him well and favorably 
known to the residents of Phillips County. He 
was first married in the State of Illinois to Miss 
Sarah E. Roach, and by her had one chikl, who is 
now deceased. His second marriage was consum- 
mated in the State of Kentucky, in 1848, to Miss 
Sarah Griffin, by whom he al.so had one child: 
Sarah C, wife of H. P. Grant. His present wife 
(who was Araminta J. Blaine) is a relative of 
•James G. Blaine. They also have one child: 
Lillian H. The Doctor is a Royal Arch Mason, a 
member of the I. O. O. F., and he and wife belong 
to the Episcopal Church. His sister, Mrs. Eme- 
line S. Daniel, resides in Mount Vernon, 111., and a 
brother. Judge A. M. Grant, died at that place. 

Nathaniel Lee Graves, a Tennesseeau Ijy birth, 
has been a resident of this county since four years of 
age. He was born in Giles County, Tenn. , in 1830, 
being a son of Alexander and Ann (Graves) Graves, 
natives of Granville County, N. C, and Henry 
Coiinty, Va. , respectively, rejiresentatives of two 
distinct families. Alexander Graves came to Arkan- 
sas in 1840, and located in Phillips County, where 
ho was engaged in farming until his death in 1863, 
his wife following one year later. They were the 
parents of seven children, three of whom are still 
living. The priiicif)al of this sketch was first mar- 
ried in March, 1869, to Miss Mary E. Boone, a 



daughter of O. C. Boone, a lineal descendant of 
the noted Daniel Boone. She died in 1876, leav- 
ing two sons: Alexander W. and Nathaniel J. Mr. 
Graves was married to his second wife, Florence 
Carson, a native of Natchez, Miss., April 1, 1878. 
Mr. Graves owns a fine farm of 2,560 acres of land, 
situated thirteen miles west of Helena, of which 
1,800 acres are under cultivation. His principal 
crop is cotton, and he grows of this product from 
five to seven hundred bales per annum. He also 
raises considerable stock, having on hand at the 
present time about seventy head of horses, 125 
head of cattle and 300 sheep. On his plantation 
there are fifty colored families and eight white 
families of laborers engaged in the operation of 
this immense plantation. Mr. Graves also owns 
and operates his own steam cotton-gin. He is a 
member of the Knights of Pythias, Knights <;f 
Honor and of the United Workman. He and wife are 
members of the Old School Presbyterian Church. 
Mr. Graves is one of the most influential men in 
the county, and takes an active interest in all pub- 
lic enterprises. 

F. M. Hawkins, farmer. Vineyard, Ark. In 
the year 1836, in Tennessee, there was born to the 
union of Jehu and Sarah (Owens) Hawkins, a son, 
F. M. Hawkins, who was the youngest of three 
children, only one, our subject, now living. The 
parents were natives of North Carolina and Ten- 
nessee, respectively, and the father came to Arkan- 
sas in 1847, locating ten miles east of Jacksonport 
in Jackson County. After remaining there for 
four or five years he moved to Missouri and set- 
tled near Prairie City, where his death occui'red 
sometime during the war. Mrs. Hawkins died in 
1837. After the death of Mrs. Hawkins, the father 
married Miss Armstrong who bore him three 
children: Henry, Winfield and Mary. Mrs. Haw- 
kins died in 1849 and Mr. Hawkins' third marriage 
was to a sister of his second wife. F. M. Haw. 
kins was principally reared in Jackson County and 
received the major part of his education at home. 
He commenced for himself at the age of eighteen 
years by tilling the soil and this has been the princi- 
pal pursuit through life. In 1861 he joined the 
army as a private and was promoted first to fifth ser- 



V 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



773 



goant, then to lieutenant and later to captain of the 
Niiiotoenth Arkansas Regiment and served in the 
Trans-Mississippi Department, Tappan's brigade 
and Churchill's division for nearly four years. 
He was in the battles of Mansfield (La.), Pleasant 
Hill (La.) and Jenkins' Ferry. He was captured 
at Arkansas Post and was sent to Camp Douglas, 
Chicago, where he remained until March, 18R3. 
He then succeeded in making his e.scape. He 
returned to his company at Little Rock, and his 
command surrendered at Shreveport (La.) at the 
close of the war. Mr. Hawkins then went to Ken- 
tucky, remained there eight years and was en- 
gaged in cultivating the soil. In 1872 he came 
to this county and bought 117 acres of land the 
following year and on that he now resides. To 
the original tract he has added enough to make 
353 acres, and now has 100 acres of dead wood, 
preparatory to clearing. He produces on his farm 
aliout forty bales of cotton, but devotes a great 
deal of his time to the raising of stock. Ho has 
some graded cattle and hogs and is also raising 
some horses. He was married in 1874 to Mrs. 
Bettie Brady {nee Payne) of Shelby County, Ky. , 
and the daughter of John Payne and wife {nee 
Nugeu) of the same State. Mr. Hawkins is a mem- 
ber of the Old School Presbyterian Church, and 
Mrs. Hawkins is a member of the Missionary Bap- 
tist Church. 

William Harvey Henderson is a sou of Hamp- 
ton and Mary (Graham) Henderson, the former of 
whom died when William H. was about lifteen 
years of ago. He lived with his mother until 
twenty-two years old, when he began farming for 
himself, and in 1854 was married to Miss Susan 
Steward, a native of Georgia, who died in the fol- 
lowing year. Mr. Henderson married his jn-esent 
wife, Jliss Margaret King, in January, 1800; she 
was born in Mississippi in 183U. They are the 
parents of nine children, four of whom are still 
living: Thomas J., James H. , Sarah V. (the wife 
of William H. Allison, of this county) and Mary 
B. (wife of Allen Terry). In 1859 Mr. Hender- 
son purchased his jiresent farm, consisting of 160 
acres, which was at that time wild land, with no im- 
provements, and now he has over seventy acres 



under cultivation. His principal crop is cotton, 
and he also raises considerable corn as well as cat- 
tle and hogs. He is a i)rominent Democrat, and 
himself and wife are members of the Missionary 
Baptist Church. Mr. Henderson was Itorn in Gib- 
son County, Tenn., November 14, 1S31. Hampton 
Henderson was of English descent, his father 
being born in England. He moved to Tennessee 
when a young man, and died in 1844. His wife 
was a native of North Carolina, and died in 18G2. 
They were the parents of eight children, two of 
whom are still living: Thomas and AN'iiliam H. 
(the principal of this sketch). 

Richard B. Higgins, a planter of Phillips Coun- 
ty of considerable prominence, is a native of Phil- 
lips County, Ark., his birth occurring October 27, 
1852. His father, Richard Higgins, was born in 
Lexington, Ky., in 1827, and in 1840 immigrated 
to Crittenden County, Ark. Two years later ho 
moved to Phillips County, where he became an 
extensive planter, owning at the date of his death, 
in 1862, over 1,300 acres of valuable land. Ho was 
the son of Joel Higgins, a Kentuckian by birth, 
and of Scotch-Irish descent. Richard Higgins, Sr. , 
was married in Kentucky to Miss Elizabeth B. 
Brand, born in Lexington, Ky., in 182V), and is 
now residing in that city. By her man-iage with 
Mr. Higgins, she became the mother of five chil- 
dren, the subject of this sketch being the fourth in 
order of birth. Richard B. received his education 
in the schools of Kentucky, and in 1879 was mar- 
ried to Miss Mary C. Rankin, of Kentucky, who 
was born in 1859. To their union these children 
have been born: Richard B. and Robert P. Mr. 
Higgins is farming the laud which he inh(>rited 
from bis father, consisting of 770 acres, with 500l 
under a careful and successful state of cultivation. 
He raises over 200 bales of cotton aninially, and 
the many improvements incident to his ownership, 
demonstrate his spirit of energy and j)rogression. 
Mr. and Mrs. Higgins are members in high stand 
ing of the Christian Church. The former is a 
Democrat, having cast his first political vote for 
Samuel J. Tilden. He served as deputy sheriff 
for his county for two years, discharging the duties 
of that office in a highly commendable maun(>r. In 



>^ 



774 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



societies he is identified with the K. of P., Legion 
of Honor, and the United Workman. 

William Hildreth, one of the most promising of 
Phillips County's young and prospering farmers, 
was born in Paris, Ky., April 23, 1855. His father, 
Joseph A. Hildreth, was also a native of Kentucky, 
where he is now residing, and recognized as among 
the leading planters. He is the son of John Hil- 
dreth, of Virgiuia nativity. Joseph A. was mar- 
ried to Miss Sallie Smith, of Bourbon, Ky., who 
died in 1878, having borne six children, three sons 
and three daughters, all living. William is the 
oldest in order of birth. In 1877 he left his home 
and came to Phillips County, several years later 
purchasing his farm on which he now resides. 
This farm consists of 103 acres, with over ninety 
acres carefully cultivated. In 1880 Mr. Hildreth 
was united in marriage with Miss Josie Keller, 
who was l)oru in Paris, Ky., in 1856, and a daugh- 
ter of Patrick and Margaret Keller. Two children 
have been born to their union: Mary and Belle. 
Mr. Hildreth is a Democrat, and a gentleman who 
takes an active interest in all matters pertaining to 
the Ijenefit or growth of the county. 

S. H. Holtzclaw, farmer and stockman, Vine- 
yard, Ark. Phillips County is rapidly coming 
into a position as one of the foremo.st stock coun- 
ties in the State, and it is but uttering a plain fact 
to say, that to a few men in this community is due 
the credit for advancing stock interests here and 
establishing a reputation in this department which 
is bound to stand for years. Mr. Holtzclaw has 
had not a little to do toward developing this indus 
try, and, if for no other account, he is accorded a 
worthy places in this volume. He was born in Mis- 
sissippi in I84'J, and his [larents, E. and E. (Green) 
Holtzclaw, were natives of North Carolina and 
South CaroliTia, and of German and English origin, 
respectively. E. Holtzclaw came to Mississijipi in 
1849, and followed farming on rented land until 
aliout 1855, when he came to Phillips County, Ark. 
He bought 160 acres on Big Creek, and afterward 
added to this amount, until he was the owner of 320 
acres, with 160 acres improved. Canebrako was 
standing all over the table-lands at that time and 
game abounded in this section, even up to 1860. 



From 1855 to 1865 fire was applied plentifully to 
the cane to drive out the panthers, bears and wild- 
cats, for it was almost impossible to raise calves or 
pigs while these animals were so numerous. Mr. 
Holtzclaw owned about twenty-three negroes, old 
and young, and was one of the leading farmers of 
this section. He died in 1874, and his wife four 
years previous. Both were members of the Bap- 
tist Church. They were the parents of ten chil- 
dren, seven of whom lived to be grown, and four 
are now living: Mary J. (wife of William H. Mc- 
Grew, of Phillips County), S. H. (our subject), 
Warren (resides in this county), Matheney (wife 
of William Wooten, resides in this county). S. 
H. Holtzclaw attained his growth and received a 
meager education in Phillips County, his school 
days being cut short by the breaking out of 
the war. This deficiency he has made up to 
a great extent since reaching manhood and by his 
own exertions. At the age of twenty one years 
he commenced farming for himself on rented land, 
and this continued for three years. In 1874, or 
at the time of the death of his father, he as- 
sumed control of the hitter's property, wound up 
the business, and in 1875 purchased eighty acres 
of fine land. Since then he has added 120 acres 
of land, and has 170 acres under cultivation, on 
which he produces about sixty-five bales of cotton, 
or about three fourths of a bale per acre. He al.so 
raises plenty of corn and hay to keep the stock on 
his farm, and very rarely fails to have corn to sell. 
He was married in 1878 to Miss Maggie Chappell, 
of Phillips County, and the daughter of Christopher 
and Ann (Green) Chappell, natives of North Caro- 
lina. Her parents came to Arkansas aliout 1834, 
and settled on what is now known as the Chappell 
place. The father was a noted hunter in this sec- 
tion, and he and XTncle Bill McGraw .and Andy 
Adams were tlie hunters in this county in early 
days, killing as many as five or six bears in one 
hunt. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Holtzclaw 
were born five children, three now living: C. J. 
(deceased), H. G., Charner (deceased), Ervie 
0[ilielia and Sylvestus. Mr. and Mrs. Holtzclaw 
are both members of the Christian Church. 

E. C. Hornor, merchant, Helena, Ark. The 



-f-. 



4^ 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



775 



trado in gonoral dry goods has long constituted one 
of the leading commercial pursuits of the country, 
and in this line in Helena is found a thorou^hlv 
representative house controlled by E. C. Hornor, 
who carries the most complete and extensive 
stock of goods to be had in the city. He 
was born in Helena April 24, 1859, and is a son 
of William and Anna (Reynolds) Hornor, natives 
of Kentucky. The father was a merchant, and 
was one of the early settlers of Phillips County, 
Ark. During the late war he was an officer in the 
quartermiister' s department, and died while on duty. 
The mother is now the wife of James W. Wicker- 
sham, of Fort Smith, Ark. E. C. Hornor, the 
youngest of three children, received his education 
in Helena. He began clerking in a store when 
sixteen years of age, with McKenzie, Hornor & 
Co., and by industrious habits and economy he 
saved suflScient means to enable him to start in 
l)usiness for himself. In 1884 he invested in a 
small stock of goods, valued at perhaps $500, and 
by strict attention to business he soon built up a 
good trade, and now has one of the neatest and 
best equipped stores in the city, with a stock of 
goods valued at 140,000. During the year 1889 
he did a business of $85,000. He employs nine 
men, and although he is the youngest business man 
in the city, he is a bright factor in the mercantile 
affairs of the city. He was married in December, 
1887, to Miss M. BlanclKi Morten, of Sumnerville, 
Tenn. , and the fruits of the union have been two 
sons, Morten and William Edward. 

Thomas H. Hubbard. Like many, and per- 
haps the most of the representative citizens of 
Pliillips County, Ark, Mr. Hubbard is a Virginian, 
his Inrth occurring in HiUifax County in Jiine, 
1843, being a son of Dr. H. C. and Ann M. (Os- 
borne) Hul)bard, who were al.so Virginians, the 
former's ))irth occurring in 1804, and the hitter's 
in 1809. Their respective deaths were in Cuml)er- 
land and Buckingham Counties, in 1878 and 1852. 
Dr. Huliburd was a graduate of the Ohio Medical 
College at Cincinnati, Ohio, and practiced his pro 
fession in Cumberland County, Va., until his death, 
beiuf also engaged in farming. After the death 
of our subject's mother, lie married Miss Sallie P. 



Swann. He and his first wife were members of 
the Missionary Bapti.st Church, and in his jiolitieal 
views he was a ^\■hig. Tliomas H. Huhbard is the 
second of their five children, two now living, 
the other member being William O. His early 
.schooling was received in Cumberland County, and 
upon the opening of the war he joined the Confed- 
erate service, and became a member of the Twen- 
ty-first Virginia Infantry, and two years later 
joined the Third Virginia Cavalry. He was in 
many battles, and was wounded at Cedar Mount- 
ain, by a gun-shot, in the breast an<l left arm. and 
surrendered at Appomattox Court House. After 
retiu-ninghomo he resumed liis farming o])erations, 
but in 1870 moved to Coahoma County, Miss., and 
at the end of eight years removed to Phillips 
County, Ark. He was married, in 1880, to Miss 
Julia Nixon, a native of Brownsville, Miss., and 
by her is the father of two children: Henry C. and 
Louise. Mr. Hubbard is a thrifty farmer, careful, 
prudent and economical, and those who know him 
best recognize in him a good friend and neighbor. 
He and wife are members of the Presl)yterian 
Church, and in his political views he is a Demo- 
crat. 

Edward L. Hul)bard, well and favorably known 
to a host of acquaintances in this community, was 
born in Phillips County, September 26, 1849, and 
during his long residence here has become well 
known for his many sterling (jualities. He is pro- 
gi-essive in his views, and the advanced state of the 
agricultural facilities of the county is due to Aim 
,is well as to his neighbors. His plantation com- 
prises 007 acres of land, and of this 300 acres are 
under cultivation. His opportunities for acquiring 
an education were above the average, for he sup- 
plemented his primary education, which he re- 
ceived in the State of Ohio, by attending an 
excellent school in St. Louis. He and his sister 
Sarah are the oidy surviving members of a family 
of five children, born to Dr. John M. and Adaline 
P. (King) Hubbard, the former a native of the 
" Nutmeg State," and the latter of Lonisiarui. 
The Doctor was a man of exceptiunally fine mind, 
and was exceedingly well educated, lieing a gradu- 
at(> of Yale College and al.so of a medical college. 



(S w. 



'.a. 



776 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Possessing the spirit of adventure, and thinking to 
better his fortunes he pushed westward, and after 
practicing his jirofession for some time in Natchez, 
Miss., he went to Louisiana, where he married and 
made his home until his removal in LS37 to Phil- 
li2)s County, Ark. His labors to alleviate the suf- 
ferings of the sick and afflicted prospered, and the 
excellent health which many of the residents of 
the county now enjoy, is due to his skill and talent. 
He also gave considerable attention to planting, 
and became well-to-do. Owing to his fidelity 
to these callings his own health became wrecked, 
and while in St. Louis, in 1871, trying to revive 
his failing energies his death occurred, he being 
sixty years of age at the time. His wife died in 
Phillips County when a comparatively young 
woman, her demise occurring in 1852. Our imme- 
diate subject has had charge of his present property 
since 1872, and in his political views is a Democrat. 
Obadiah B. Hudson is the son of Henry Hud- 
son, who was born in Scotland about 1774, and 
after his marriage emigrated to the United States, 
locating in Kentucky, where he died in 1850. His 
second wife, Nancy Williams, was born in Tennes- 
see in 1796, and became the mother of fourteen 
children, of whom O. B. Hudson, the principal of 
this sketch, is the only survivor. Mr. Hudson was 
the father of four children by his first marriage. 
01)adiah B. was born in McCracken County, Ky. , 
February 8, 1830, and remained in that State un- 
til thirteen years of age. He never attended school 
but one day in his life, and all of the education 
which he received was by studying at home and by 
practical experience with the world. At the age of 
thirteen he went to Louisiana and was employed 
on a boat on the Mississippi River for three years. 
In 1858, returning to Kentucky, he commenced 
farming in Ballard County, and in the fall of that 
year was married to Susan A. Williams, a native 
of that county, who was born in 1844. She was a 
daughter of James and Cinda R. ^^'illiams. They 
are the parents of eleven children, seven living: 
Rosella (wife of John T. Moore), Mittann (wife of 
William F. Carliss), Imogene, Joseph S. , Fred G. , 
William T. and Maggie B. Mr. Hudson lemained 
in Kentucky only one year after his marriage, 



when he removed to Arkansas and located in Phil- 
lips County, buying a house and lot at La Grange, 
and was employed as a brick mason for about 
twelve years. At the beginning of the war he en- 
listed in the Confederate army and served about 
three months, when he was taken sick and re- 
ceived his discharge. In 1867 he purchased a farm 
of 820 acres in Phillips County, at which time he 
was elected collector of the county, a position the 
duties of which he has ably discharged for twenty- 
two years. In 1872 he sold his farm and removed 
to Helena, where he resided until 1882, then buy- 
ing 160 acres of land, with 125 acres under culti- 
vation. He has had a number of narrow escapes 
while performing his duties as collector, having 
been shot at a number of times and hit six times, 
once in the face, causing the loss of the right eye, 
twice in the body and once in the right leg, just 
below the knee. He is a member of the Knights 
of Honor and of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, to which his wife also belongs. 

W. D. Hutchinson is a worthy successor of W. 
D. Hutchinson, who is remembered by the old pio- 
neers of Phillips County, as one of their resjiected 
number, now long since gone to his last resting 
])lace. Mr. Hutchinson was born in the State of 
Mississippi, in 1833, being a son of James A. and 
Catharine Hutchinson, also natives of that State. 
He came to Arkansas with his father in 185 Land set 
tied in this county, whore he was engaged in farm- 
ing until his death, with the exception of the years 
which he devoted to the cause of the Confederacy. 
Enlisting in 1862 in Capt. Anderson's company of 
Dobbin's regiment, he was taken sick shortly after 
the battle of Helena, on July 4, 1863, and being un- 
able to perform further active duty, received his dis- 
charge and returned home, and again engaged in 
farming, but died in 1867. Previous to his enlistment 
he was a captain of a company of militia. He was a 
member of the A. F. & A. M. , and was in good 
circumstances at the time of his deatli, and left a 
farm of 320 acres to liis wife and eight children, in 
a good state of cultivation. His wife, Mary E. 
(Hicks) Hutchinson, was a daughter of E. A. and 
Lucretia (Dickens) Hicks, originally from Nortli 
Carolina. Mr. Hicks came to Phillips County in 



*?; 



i, \, 



;i^ 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



777 



1844, and at the time of his death was one of the 
largest, if not the most extensive, hind owner in the 
county; he was also a prominent meml)er of the 
I. O. O. F. Previous to his demise in 1850, he 
divided his property among his eight children, 
three of whom are still living: Mary E. (is the old- 
est), E. A. (of Barton, Arkansas) and Erama (wife 
of John Hicks, of Little Rock). Mrs. Hicks was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Oluirch, 
South, and died in 1859. Of the family of eight 
childi-en of Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson, four only 
survive; the three daughters (residents of Mem- 
phis, Tenn.): Frances (wife of John King, is the 
mother of one daughter, Ada May), Mary (is the 
wife of James K. Wooten. and has three children: 
James W., Linceain and Mary C), Emma B. 
(wife of Pat Rhodes) and Albert E. (a farmer of 
Phillips County, and who married a Mrs. Tullea 
(nee Meserole), and is the father of one son : Albert 
E. Hutchin.son). Mrs. Hutchinson still r(>sides on 
the old homestead, and is a highly respected lady, 
and a prominent member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, South, in which she takes an active 
part, giving her time, money and influence to all 
enterprises for the good of the community in which 
she lives. 

Thomas M. Jacks, Jr. , the efficient siirveyor of 
Phillips County and one of its truly respected citi- 
zens, is a native of this county, being a son of Dr. 
Thomas M. and Freelove (French) Jacks. The 
former was born in Rutherford County, N. C, and 
received the rudiments of his literary education at 
the public schools of Huntsville, Ala., after which 
he attended medical college at Louisville, Ky., and 
Jefferson Medical College, at Philailel])hia, Penn. 
Dr. Jack's father, Rev. David Jacks, was also a na- 
tive of Rutherford County, N. C. He (Thomas M. , 
Sr.) came to Arkansas in 1849 and settled at Ster- 
ling, at the mouth of the St. Francis River, where 
he engaged in the practice of his profession, and 
also at Phillips' Bayou. Subsequently, or in 1S52, 
he came to Helena and was a.ssociated with Dr. 
Silverberg in practice, and also in the drug busi- 
ness. In 1800 he entered into partnership wi(h 
John P. Moore in the real estate and banking 
business and in carrying on a drug store. He was 



a very influential man in the county, and repre- 
sented his district in Congress in 1808. He was in 
the sixty-third year of his ago at the time of his 
death in 1883, and was the owner of immense 
landed (>states situated in the counties of Phillips, 
Lee and Arkansas, and Coahoma County, Miss. 
The Doctor was married twice. By his first mar- 
riage, whicli occurred at Sterling, Ark., in IStO, he 
was the father of five children, two sons and three 
daughters, all of whom are living. Mrs. Jacks 
dying in 1S09, Dr. Jacks was again married in 
187"2 to Miss Elizabeth Wills, of Helena, by whom 
he had one daughter and three sons, all living. 
Thomas M. Jacks, the fourth son of the first mar- 
riage, was Ijorn in 1855. He received a thorough 
education at Helena in Prof. Russell's school, 
then preparing himself at Phillips Academy, An- 
dover, Mass. , to enter Yale College, which he did 
in 1875. From this institution he graduated as a 
civil engineer in 1878. Returning to his home at 
Helena, Mr. Jacks acicepted a position as civil en- 
gineer for the Iron Mountain Railroad Company, 
from Helena to Forrest City, and continued with 
them fi'om 1879 to ISSl. In 1880 he was empk^yed 
by the Mobile & Birmingham Railroad Company 
as resident engineer, and is now consulting engi- 
neer on the levee board at Helena, also lieing 
civil engineer of Helena. He was elected surveyor 
of Phillips County in 1880 and re elected in 1888. 
December 28, 1884, Mr. Jacks was married to 
Miss Lulu B. Moore, a daughter of William and 
Lucy Moore, of La (irange. Ark. They are the 
parents of one child, Clandine, three j'ears of age. 
Mr. Jacks is a member of the Baptist Church, and 
politically is a Democrat. At this time he is con- 
nected with the Jacks Fitzpat rick Drug & Real 
Estate Company of Helena. 

Thomas L. Jackson, M. D. , is a graduate of 
the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. 
Ho received the foundation of his education in the 
common schools of Virginia, his native State, and 
later in the Randoljih Macon College of that State, 
from which he graduated in the fourth year of 
that institution, subsecpiontly entering the Jeffer- 
son Medical College. This he attended one year, 
and was graduated in 1859. Dr. Jackson was 



I 



•^ 



l^ 



778 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



born noar Petersburg, Va. , November 21, 1840, 
and iH a son of Thomas and Mary H. (Morgan) 
Jackson, also originally of the Old Dominion. 
Thomas Jackson was born June 20, 1808, of Eng- 
lish ancestry, and is a descendant of one of three 
brothers who came to the American colonies from 
England and received large grants of land. He was 
a son of John E. and Jane (Bailey) Jiickson, also 
natives of the same State as our subject. John E. 
Jackson served seven years in the Revolutionary 
War, for which services his wife drew a pension 
from the Government after his death. The mother 
of Thomas L. was born in 1807, and died in 1864, 
fourteen years before her husband's demise. They 
were the parents of live sons and two daughters. 
Four sons are now deceased (two having died in 
the Confederate army), and one of the daughters. 
He whose name heads this sketch commenced 
practice near his old home in 1860, and the fol- 
lowing spring enlisted in the Confederate army, in 
the First Virginia Cavalry, serving on the medical 
staff the greater part of the time, though he also 
participated in the battles of Manassas, the seven 
days' light before Richmond, Fredericksburg,Spott- 
sylvania Court House, battle of the Wilderness, 
Gettysburg, and was present at Lee" s surrender at 
Appomattox Couit House. After the war he re- 
turned home, and in 1874 moved to Mississippi, 
where he was married three years later to Miss 
Kate E. Pardee. She was born in the State of 
Michigan, March 17, 1859, and is a daughter of 
George and Elizal)eth Pardee. Dr. and Mrs. 
Jackson have live children: Bessie, Lucy, Kate H., 
Thomas S. and William L. Dr. Jackson prac- 
ticed in Mississippi for fifteen years, until Febru- 
ary, 1889, when he removed to Marvel], Ark., 
where he has since been engaged in following his 
chosen profession, now enjoying a patronage 
which amounts to about $2, 500 per year. He was 
appointed chief health officer of Benton County, 
Miss. , by the Governer, which position he held for 
six years. The Doctor is a member of the Knights 
of Honor, and his wife belongs to the Episcopal 
Church. 

Dr. G. D. Jaquess, physician and druggist, 
Helena, Ark. This prominent business man was 



born in Posey County, Ind., January 5, 1834, 
and is a son of Garrison and Mary (Smith) 
Jaquess, natives of Kentucky. The parents immi- 
grated to Indiana alwut 1811, located in Posey 
County, and theie passed their last days. The 
father was a farmer by occupation, and was forty- 
eight years of age at the time of his death. Their 
family consisted of seven children, six sons and one 
daughter, four now living: James F., T. C, W. 
B. and Dr. G. D. The latter assisted the father 
on the farm until twenty years of age, attending 
school dui'ing the winter seasons, and at the age 
of eighteen years he began the study of medicine, 
graduating from the Transylvania University at 
Lexington, Ky., in 184S. He then began practic 
ing at Petersburg, Ind., where he remained until 
the war broke out, when he was made surgeon of 
the Eightieth Indiana Volunteers, and served in 
that capacity until the cessation of hostilities. He 
was married in 1848 to Miss Aurelia Hammond, a 
native of Indiana, who bore her husband two living 
children: Mary J. (wife of L. J. Wilkes) and Aure- 
lia. Two sons were drowned in the Mississippi 
River. In 1806 Dr. Jaquess and family moved to 
Tunica County, Miss. , where the Doctor was en- 
gaged in cotton growing for two years. Not being 
litted for this he gave it up, and in 1869 came to 
Helena, where he was appointed postmaster by 
President Arthur, serving in that capacity for four 
years. Since that time he has been engaged in 
the practice of his profession, and has also carried 
on the drug business in connection. He is a mem- 
ber of the Royal Arcanum, Knights of Honor, and 
Knights and Ladies of Honor, and Golden Rule. 
He owns considerable real estate in both the coun- 
try and city, and is a successful business man. He 
has been mayor of the city three times, and is one 
of the prominent Republicans of I'hillips County. 
Col. Amos Green Jarman. Phillips County has 
long had the reputation of being one of the best 
farming counties in the State, and not onlj' do the 
farmers here give much attention to this industry, 
but they are generally men of enterprise and in- 
formation, and take pride in the general upbuilding 
of the county. Prominent among those who have 
done their full share in advancing every interest of 



ip 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



779 



this section is Mr. Jarmaii, who camo hero in 1859, 
liis first pnrchasp of hind amounting to 820 acres. 
Since then he has added to this tract, and now 
owns 1,000 acres, of which 000 are under cultiva- 
tion. His homo8t(>ad is hoautifully located and 
finely improved, and as he started in life with but 
little means, he deserves much credit for the ad- 
mirahle way in which he has surmounted the many 
difficulties which have strewn his pathway. He 
lost heavily during the war, hut has since recovered 
his losses and added much more. He is a native 
of Alabama. 

Joso]ih F. Jarrett, well known in this com- 
munity, was reared in Alabama untiltliirteen years 
of age, when his parents moved to this county. 
He was married in 1871 to Miss Mary L. Thomp- 
son, who was born in Tennessee in 1855, being a 
daughter of William Thompson, whose sketch ap- 
pears in this work. They are the parents of nine 
children, seven of whom are still living: Lulu 
(wife of S. V. Haggard), Albert, Joseph L., Ollie, 
Willie, Frank and Ora. Mr. Jarrett was born in 
Lawrence County, Ala., in June, 1847, the son of 
James F. Jarrett, whose birth occurred in Ala- 
bama in 1823. He came to this county in ISOO, 
and died here in 1879. He was a son of Freeman 
N. Jarrett, of Irish descent. The mother of our 
subject, Mary (McMillen) Jarrett, was born in 
Alal)ama in 1824 and still resides on the old home- 
stead in this county. She bore a family of eight 
children, four of whom survive: Joseph F., Sarah 
(wife of J. P. H. Graham), Virginia (wife of W. T. 
Cooke) and W. B. Mr. Jarrett has a tine farm of 
200 acres of land, with .seventy-five acres under 
cultivation. He is one of Cypress Township's 
best farmers; is a Democrat, and he and his wife 
are members of the Baptist Church. 

Nathan .lohn.son, whose interests in Phillips 
County are such as to give him wide acquaintance, 
is a native of Tennessee, and a son of Jesse C. and 
Elizabeth (White) Johnson, also originally from 
that State. Jesse C. Johnson was born in 1800, , 
of Irish and English descent, and is still living in | 
M'ilson County, Tcnn. He was a son of Samuel 
Johnson, of Virginia nativity. The mother of our 
subject died when he was only three weeks old, and I 



his father married the second time, Miss Polly 
Pryor, who is still living, and who l)oro twelve 
children, eleven surviving. Nathan Johnson was 
born in Wilson County, on November 9, 1847, re- 
maining in his native State until 1875, when he 
removed to Arkansas, locating in Phillips ('ouiity. 
Here he purchased a (juarter section of wild land, 
all in the woods, and now has over half (jf it 
under cultivation. He was married in ]8f)9 in 
Miss Martha Melissa Marshall, who was l)orn in 
Lee County, Ga. , in August, 1855, the daughter of 
T. J. and Mary E. (King) Marshall. They are 
the parents of eleven children, seven living: Mary 
E., Lilla P., Nora, Valley B., Jemimah, Leslie 
and Ollie. In addition to his farm, Mr. Johnson 
owns a saw-mill, grist-mill and cotton-gin all com- 
bined, which he erected about 1882, at a cost of 
over §4,000, and which is being liberally patron 
ized. Ho also owns another farm of eighty acres, 
with about fourteen acres cleared, on which is sit- 
uated a good dwelling-house. He is a member of 
the Masonic order, th(* Knights of Honor, and of 
the Legion of Honor. A leading Democrat in the 
township, he is one of its influential men, and with 
his wife belongs to the Missionary Baptist Church, 
in which he takes an active part. 

Joseph D. Kendall, of Kentucky nativity, was 
born March 28, 1825, being the .son of Bailey and 
Martha Ci. (Dickerson) Kendall. His father, Bailey 
Kendall, was l)orn in Kentucky April 11, 1795, and 
his wife, originally of the same State, was bor^ in 
180f) and died in 1878. Bailey Kendall emigrated 
to Aikansas in 1880 and died in 1808. He was a 
man of no little prominence, having served as rep- 
resentative of Arkansas and justice of the peace for 
many years. Ho was an influential citizen, his 
demise robbing the county of one of its best and 
most poiiular men. Joseph D. received a liberal 
education in tlio schools of Phillips County, and in 
1801 was united in marriage with MissC. A. Yelton, 
of Kentucky, daughter of Jesse and Lucy (Kendall) 
Yelton. Mrs. Kendall was born in 1835 and died in 
1807, leaving four children, one now living: Jesse 
L. (I)orn February 4, 1803. residing in Helena). 
Mr. Kendall was again married, in 1875, to Mrs. 
Virginia ONoill. She was bom in 1833, and liy 






-^ — ^v - 



780 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



her marriage with Mr. Kendall has borne one child: 
Mary (born March 22, 1878). Her maiden name 
was Faidley. When Mr. Kendall's father came to 
Arkansas he purchased the farm where onr subject 
lives at this time. It was entirely unimproved, 
but is now one of the best and most carefully cul- 
tivated plantations in the county. Mr. Kendall 
made many improvements, transferring the proper- 
ty in an excellent condition to his son at the time 
of his death. This farm consists of 300 acres, and 
is admirably adapted to the growing of all grains, 
fi'uits, cotton and vegetables. He has a fine steam 
cotton-gin which was erected soon after the war by 
Mr. O'Neill, being at that time one of the first in 
that section of the county. Mr. Kendall's farm or 
rather his residence is in the corporation limits of 
Trenton, so he virtually lives in the city and country 
at the same time. He is a member of the K. of H. , 
Trenton Lodge, and a Democrat politically. He 
is giving his children excellent advantages for 
obtaining an education, and is a liberal contributor 
to all enterprises. A good citizen, he is respected 
by the entire community. 

James C. Kersey, a prominent farmer of Big 
Creek Township, was born in Union County, S. C, 
October 17, 1858, but has been a resident of Phil- 
lips County, Ark., since twelve years of age, at- 
tending the common schools of this county in 
youth, and later entering the Arkansas Industrial 
University, at Fayetteville. In April, 1886, he 
was married to Mary E. Copeland, who was born 
in Texas, in May, 1800, a daughter of Elijah and 
Margaret (Heunison) Copeland, both natives of 
Alabama. They are the parents of one son, Will- 
iam R. Mr. Kersey owns a tine farm of 452 acres 
of land, of which about half is under cultivation. 
His principal crop is cotton, he raising some sixty- 
live bales annually. In 1889 he erected a steam 
cotton-gin, at a cost of f 1,200, for his own use and 
that of his neighbors. He has always voted the 
Democi'atic ticket, and cast his first presidential 
ticket for W. S. Hancock. Mr. Kersey's father, 
William Kersey, was born in Upton County, Ga. , 
about 1832, and died in Phillips County in 1882. 
He was reared in Georgia, and when a young man 
went to South Carolina, marrying there, in 1857, 



Miss Sarah H. Turner. He was a son of Robert 
Kersey, a native of South Carolina. Sarah H. 
(Turner) Kersey was born in that State in 1848, 
and is a sister of Nathaniel B. Turner, whose 
biography appears in this work. She is the mother 
of ten children, these still living: Anna J. (the wife 
of Richard Davis), Monroe, Mary A. (the wife of 
Thomas Hennison), Carley (wife of Wiley Clat- 
worthy), Lee, James C. (the principal of this 
sketch), Ellen and Zeller (twins). In 1867 Mr. 
William Kersey moved to Arkansas, and purchased 
the farm on which the subject of this sketch now 
lives. He was a member of the Masonic order, 
and of the Baptist Church. 

Hon. S. H. King, farmer and stock raiser, 
Poplar Grove, Ark. The King family is a very 
old and prominent one, and is of Scotch origin. 
The first to come to this country were Richard 
King and wife, who made their appearance here 
as early as 1700. They located in Philadelphia, 
then a small village, and here the wife died. In 
1735 Samuel married Miss Margaret Barclay, of 
Dutch parentage, and from this honored couple 
the King family of the present day are descendants. 
He and wife were the parents of twelve children. 
He died in May, 1782, at the age of eighty-two 
years. His son, James King (the great grand 
father of our subject), was born in 1737, in New 
Jersey, whither his father had moved. He mar 
ried Miss Sarah Hall, in 1765, in North Carolina, 
and they became the parents of nine children, 
Andrew King being their youngest son, and the 
grandfather of our subject. He died in 1852, at 
the age of seventy-four years. His son, Thomas 
S. N. King (the father of our subject), was born 
in North Carolina, in 1804, and was married in 
1832, to Miss J. F. Smith, a native of Georgia, 
who bore him seven children, all of whom lived to 
be grown: Porter B. (deceased, family resides in 
Benton County, Ark.), Ella S. (widow of A\'. H. 
Trader, and now resides in Washington, D. C), 
W. B. (resides in Madi.son Parish, La., engaged 
in farming), S. H., Elizabeth N. (deceased), Fan- 
nie S. (deceased) and Laura J. (deceased, wife of 
I Henry W. Scull, of Pine Bluff, Ark.). Mrs. King 
died in 1886, at the age of seventy-two years, 



^. 



^r^ 



^1 



i'HlLLIl'S COUNTY. 



781 



after a long aud eventful life. Thomas S. N. 
King had previously been married to Miss Mar- 
garet Battle, who only lived a short time afterward. 
He was a minister iu the Baptist Church, and was 
also a successful agricultimst. He moved to 
Mississippi in 1833, and was among the very iirst 
settlers of that State. In 1SU5 he moved to Ark- 
ansas, [settled at Helena, this county, and was 
engaged in tilling the soil. Ho was the third 
Baptist minister iu the county, and assisted in 
establishing the first three churches of that denom- 
ination there, these being New Hope, Beach Grove 
and Helena, which is now called th(i First Baptist 
Church of Helena. Mr. King moved to the coun- 
try in 1849, and settled three miles south of Helena, 
where he engaged in farming, but still continued 
his ministerial duties. Ho was commissioner of 
schools in this county, and took a deep interest in 
educational matters. He died in IHHO, at the age 
of sixty-four years. S. H. King first attended the 
subscription schools of Phillips County, and at the 
age of eighteen years entered the Union Univer- 
sity of Murfreesboro, Tenn., where he remained 
three years, or until his twenty first year. He 
then engaged as book-keeper for W. F. & J. T. 
Moore, of Helena, with whom he remained one 
year, and then, the war breaking out, he eidisted in 
the Confederate army, Gen. Cleburne's old com- 
pany (called the Yell Rifles) as a private, and 
was promoted to the rank of sergeant while with 
this company. At the end of one year he was 
appointed commissary, with the rank of major of 
Preston Smith's brigade of Teiuiessee troops, be- 
ing the first commissary that was appointed to that 
office with the rank of major. He had previously 
held the rank of captain while in the Tenu(>ssee 
army. Major King participated in many l)attl('s, 
prominent among them being Slnloli, Chicka- 
mauga, Richmond, Murfreesboro, Missioiiary Ridge, 
Atlanta, where he was wounded in both arms, anil 
was slightly wounded in the lower part of the 
breast. After this he was in the battles of Frank- 
lin, Nashville, and was in the last battle fought l)y 
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. He surrendered April 
27, 1865, at Greensboro, N. C. May IT.. 1805, he 
manied Miss Sue Scaife, and in the fall of 



1865 he came back to Phillips County, where ho 
tilled the soil on rented laud in a small way. In 
1872 he purchased 160 acTos of land, which he im- 
proved, and traded for the i)lace on which ho is 
now residing, then consisting of 160 acres. This 
he has since improved and added to, until he now 
owns 312 acres, with 160 acres under cultivation, 
and on which is a good steam cotton-gin. He gins 
yearly an average of 400 l)ales, and produces on 
his farm thirty-five bales yearly, together with hay, 
corn, etc. He is also (juite a stockman, raising 
cattle and horses principally. Mr. and Mrs. King 
became the parents of two children: Lannie (wife 
of J. E. Davidson, resides in Marion Township) 
and W. F. (who resides in Cypress Township, and 
is a teacher by profession). Mrs. King died in 
May, 1868, and in 1871 he chose for his second 
wife Miss Sallie Cook, daughter of James and 
Frances (Brooks) Cook. James Cook came to 
Phillips County jn 1875. The paternal grand- 
mother of Mrs. King was a Bragg, an aunt of Gen. 
Bragg, whihi the maternal grandfather Brooks 
was one of the family of Brook8,of South Carolina, 
and came from England. The mother was a Paine, 
and a relative of Bishop Paine. James Cook and 
wife were the parents of eight children, six now 
living: Roland (on the old homestead, near Bar- 
ton), Sallie (wife of Mr. King), Susan E. (wife of 
E. A. Hicks, of Barton), Nannie, Jennie (wife of 
D. H. Crebs, of Helena) and Robert (of Poplar 
Grove). Mr. Cook died in 1S72, and his wif* in 
1876. To the marriage of Mi-, and Mrs. King 
were born five children: James P., AV. C, Jennie, 
J. W. and A. F. In 1S7S Mr. King was elected 
county treasurer, and served one term. In 1885 
he was elected to the legislature from Philli])s 
County, and served in that capacity in a highly 
creditable manner. He is a member of the K. of 
H., Marvell Lodge No. 1628, and he and Mrs. 
Kills; are momliers of the Baptist Church. He is 
one of the most promiuout citizens of the county, 
aud has the confidence and respect of all. 

James H. Lanier, farmer, Helena, Ark. This 
prominent and much respected citizen of Phillips 
County, Ai-k. , was born in Person County, N. C, 
on March 10, 1826, and is one of thirteen children 






« u. 



782 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



born to the union of Lewis G. and Sarah E. (Hen- 
uing) Lanier, natives of North Carolina. The fa- 
ther was l)orn in 1800, and was married in his na- 
tive State to Miss Honning. About 1880 they 
moved to Maury County, Tenn. , and there the 
mother died in 1850, when about forty nine years 
of age. The father was afterward married three 
times, and received his final summons in Maury 
County in 1880. His Last wife survives him and is 
now living in Maury County, Tenn. The mother 
of our subject was a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, and the father a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, and a Whig in politics. He 
was a well to-do farmer and stock raiser. Of their 
large family of children, three are now living, and 
James H. is fourth in order of birth. They are 
named as follows: James H. , Joseph (a saddler, 
and is now living in Wynne, Ark.) and William (a 
farmer in Maury County, Teun.). Those deceased 
were: Lewis (a farmer of Maury County), Mary 
(died in that county), Albert (died during the war 
while in the Confederate service, and it is thought 
his last days were spent in a Federal prison), Hugh 
H. (died in Maury County, Teun. ; was a farmer), 
Martha (died in Tennessee), Sallie (died in that 
State) and Rebecca (who is the eldest daughter and 
the wife of James H. Colburn, died in Tennessee). 
James H. Lanier passed his school-boy days in 
Maury County, Tenn. , and when twenty-two years 
of age engaged in agricultural pursuits, which he 
continued only a short time until he turned his at- 
tention to mercantile pursuits, serving in the ca- 
pacity of salesman at Mount Pleasant for three 
years. He again returned to tilling the soil, and in 
1855 moved to Phillips County, Ark., serving 
in the capacity of overseer on the plantation of 
Thomas Barrows, continuing thus for throe years. 
In 1802 he enlisted inCapt. Weatherby's company 
of Col. Dobbins' regiment of cavalry, and served 
until the close of the war, being in the commissary 
department during the latter part of the war. He 
participateil in the battle of Helena ; was with Gen. 
Price on his raid through Missouri, and was at 
Pilot Knob. After the war he commenced to farm 
for himself, bought forty acres of land, and has 
added to this until he has an extensive farm. In 



1858 he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E. 
Lanford, a native of Alabama, born near Hunts- 
ville on November 14, 1835, and the daughter of 
William Lanford. The fruits of this union were 
two children: James R. (in the employ of Lohman 
& Co. , at Helena) and Mittie N. (attending schoiil 
at Helena). These children are deceased: William 
L. (died when ten years of age), Sallie R. (died 
at the age of eight years), Martha F. (when six 
years of age) and Mary L. (at the age of ten years). 
Mrs. Lanier has been a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, since early girlhood. 
Mr. Lanier is a Mason, a member of the Wheel, 
and is a Democrat in politics. He is an enterprising 
and much respected citizen of the county. 

Henry Lawrens is a proper representative of the 
energetic business men of Helena, which element 
has done and is doing so much for the advance- 
ment of the material interests of the city. Ho was 
born in Shelby Couaty, Tenn., June 13, 1856, and 
is a son of Joseph and Margaret Lawrens, who 
were born in the old country and removed to 
America during the early part of their lives, set- 
tling in the State of Indiana. From this point 
they moved to Nashville, Tenn. , where the father 
worked as engineer in a brewery; and in this city 
the mother's death occurred. Henry Lawrens 
resided in Nashville until he was fourteen years 
of age, when he went to Memphis and worked for 
some time in a cooper shop, learning the trade, 
and two years later came to Helena, Ark., and 
spent sometime in wotking in different restaurants. 
In 1880 he established his present business, but 
began on a small scale, and now carries a large 
and well selected stock of dry goods, and in fact 
everything to be found in a general establishment. 
He is in every respect a self made man as he came 
to this county without a dollar, and is now deserv- 
edly classed among the leading business men of 
the county, which reputation he has acquired by 
the active, intelligent management of his affairs, 
and by his honesty and fair dealing. He is worth 
at least $10,000, and instead of carrying a stock 
of goods valued at 1156, as he did at first, his 
present stock is valued at 10,000 at least, and his 
establishment is known as the Magnolia Store. He 



1^1 



-s> \ 



A^ 




has served iis city alderman six years or three terms, 
and is a director in the Mutual Building and Loan 
Association. Socially he is a member of the K. of 
P. He was united in marriage November y, 1886, 
to Miss Clara Dissman. Their one child is Minnie. 
Silas Lingg is a memlxir of the firm of Lingg, 
Lambert & Co. , undertakers, of Helena, Ark. , and 
was born in the State of Delaware, on May 21, 
184U, being a sou of Joseph and Judith (Ffirth) 
Lingg, the father a native of Switzerland, and the 
mother of America. Their marriage took place in 
the State of Delaware, and shortly after they moved 
to Chicago, 111., later to Grand Detour, that State, 
and here Joseph Lingg was engineer of a plow fac- 
tory until his death, his wife al.so dying there. Of 
eight children born to them, only two are now liv- 
ing. He and three brothers were in the Union 
army during the Rebellion, and his lirother Joseph 
A. was killed in battle at S])ottsylvauia, Va. The 
maternal grandfather Fiirth was judge of a court 
in Philadelphia in 1796, and was a very intellect- 
ual and prominent man. The ancestors of the wife 
of Mr. Lingg's maternal grandfather settled on 
the site of Philadelphia, Penn., in 1623, which 
place is still occupied and owned by one of Silas 
Lingg's cousins. Nine generations of children 
have been born on the homestead, which is still in 
the family. Silas Lingg was reared and educated in 
Illinois, but being of a rather enterprising disposi- 
tion, he went to Nebraska, and followed river life 
until 1875, and at present has in his possession his 
commission as pilot and capjain of a steamboat: 
In 1875 he took an interest in a soda water and 
cider manufactory belonging to Jacks & Co., and 
was thus associated until 1880, when he bought 
out his partners, and has since managed the Iius- 
iness alone, meeting with the best success. Since 
1880 he has been in the undertaking business also, 
and has become thoroughly exi)erieneed in the de- 
tails of this difficult branch. He is very prompt 
day and night, and guarantees strict and careful 
attention to all orders. He is a director of the 
People's Building and Loan Association, and so- 
cially belongs to the K. of P., the A. O. U. W. 
and the A. L. of H. In 1880 he was elected city 
treasui'er, and in 1885 was chosen city marshal, 



and was re-elected in 1886. He was married in 
1873 to Mattie E. Gordon, by whom he has three 
children: Vera, Blanche E. and Silas L. 

Dr. D. A. LiuthicMim is one of the very foremost 
of the ])rofessional men of the county and is ac- 
knowledged by the medical fraternity to be one of 
their loading members. He was born in Bards- 
town, Ky., June 15, 1827, and is a son of Kufus 
and Eliza (Anthony) Linthicum, the former a na- 
tive of Maryland and the latter of the "Blue Grass 
State." The paternal grandfather, John Linthi- 
cum, was born in Wales, and on coming to the 
United States, settled in Maryland and later in 
Bardstown, Ky. , where he followed the occupation 
of farming and lived until his death. The mater- 
nal grandparents wore native Germans and were 
early settlers of Kentucky, in which State they 
both breathed their last. Rufus Linthicum, like 
our subject, was a physician and was a graduate of 
the Transylvania University of Lexington, Ky. 
He was twice married, and his first union resulted 
in the birth of seven children, only two of whom 
are now living: Dr. D. A. and Susan A., the wife 
of Dr. J. A. Hodge, of Henderson, Ky. To his 
second marriage six children were born. He prac- 
ticed his profession in Henderson County, Ky., 
until his death in the winter of 1864, his wife 
having died in an adjoining county many years 
earlier. The subject of our sketch received the 
principal part of his rearing in what is now Mc- 
Lean County, Ky., and received an excelJpiit 
knowledge of books in the Hartford Academy of 
that State. Having always been desirous of fol- 
lowing in his father's footsteps, he began his medi- 
cal studies under the able instructions of the latter 
and -after receiving sufficient preparation, he 
entered the St. Louis Medical University, graduat- 
ing in 18451. He first entered upon the jiractice of 
his profession in IMcLean County, Ky., where he 
remained until th(> breaking out of the war, then 
enlisted as a private in the Eighth Kentucky Reg- 
iment (C. A. S.). and was subso(iuently made sur 
geon of his regiment which position he held until 
1862. He was then made chief surgeon of Gen. 
Patrick Clebmne's division of Hardee's corps of 
the Ai'my of Tennessee, and served in tlii>* cjipiicity 



A 



_siTv.>" 



784 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



until the linal surrender. He then returned to 
Kentucky, where he was an active medical practi- 
tioner until 1867, when he became a resident of 
Helena, Ark. In 1870 he graduated from the 
Washington University of Baltimore, Md., and in 
1872 had an honorary degree conferred upon him 
by his Alma Mater. He has been president of the 
State Medical Society of Arkansas and is a member 
of the American Medical Association, also of the 
County Medical Society. He was married in 1848 
to Miss Phcebe C. Johnson, of Daviess County, 
Ky. , and by her has had three children, of whom 
Dr. Theodric C. is the only one living. He is a 
graduate of the Kentucky School of Medicine and 
of the Philadelphia School of Pharmacy. 

Thomas J. Lucado, planter, Marvell, Ark. One 
of the foremost men among the agriculturists of 
Phillips County is he whose name appears above, 
and who has borne an influential part in promoting 
the various interests of the county. He owes his 
nativity to Fayette County, Tenn., where his birth 
occurred November 29, 1843, and is the son of 
Joel Lucado. The father was a native of the Old 
Dominion, born in 1797, was reared in that State, 
and was there married to Miss Mary Johnson, a 
native also of Virginia, born in the same year. 
They moved from their native State to Tennessee 
about 1836, were among the early settlers of that 
State, and resided there until 1859, when they 
moved to Phillips County, Ark. He died in 1862, 
and his wife the year following. His father, Isaac 
Lucado, was born in Virginia, and there passed 
his entire life. He was of Spanish-English de- 
scent, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. 
Thomas J. Lucado was the youngest of twelve 
children born to his parents, three of. whom are 
now living. He attained his growth in Fayette 
County, Tenn. , received his education in the com- 
mon schools of that county, and there remained 
with his parents until reaching his majority. He 
then came with them to Phillips County, Ark., 
and here the father purchased about 1,200 acres of 
land, which he owned up to the time of his death. 
In 1862 Thomas J. enlisted in the Confederate 
army. Company G, Fifth Arkansas Regiment In- 
fantry, served three years, and received a slight 



wound at the battle of Prairie Grove. He was 
taken prisoner at the battle of Helena, removed to 
Alton, 111. , and from there to Fort Delaware, where 
he remained until April, 1865. He then returned 
to this county. In 1871 he was united in marriage 
to Miss Sarah Peterson, of Phillips County, 
born in 1854, and who died in 1873. Two 
children were born to this union, both now de- 
ceased. His second marriage took place in 1884, 
to Miss Molly Impey, who was born in this county 
in 1868, and died in 1886. In 1888 Mr. Lucado 
married Miss Mary Kitchens, who was born in 
Phillips County. Mr. Lucado has 540 acres of 
land, with about 250 acres in cultivation, and 
raises 100 bales of cotton annually. He erected a 
cotton gin in 1867, but this was burned in 1876, 
and the one he now has, and which is run by 
steam, cost about 11,500. He is a Democrat in 
politics, and his lirst presidential vote was cast for 
Horatio Seymour. He is an honest, upright man, 
a substantial farmer and a highly respected citi- 
zen. He and Mrs. Lucado are members of the 
Baptist Church. 

William M. Lowry, planter, Helena, Ark. 
One of the foremost men among the agricultur- 
ists of Phillips County, is he whose name appears 
above, and who has borne an intluential part in 
promoting the various interests of the county. 
He was originally from Louisana, his birth occur- 
ring at Milliken's Bend, September 20, 1832, and 
is the son of Alfred J. and Cleora C. (Hyues) 
Lowry, natives, respectively, of Frankfort and 
Bardstown, Ky. The father died at Milliken's 
Bend, La., in 1872, when fifty-five years of age, 
and the mother died in 1864 at the age of forty - 
two years. They were married in Bardstown, Ky. , 
and later moved to Natchez, Miss., where they re- 
mained two years, going thence to Milliken's Bend, 
La. The mother died while on a visit to Louis- 
ville. The father was a graduate of St. Joseph 
College, Bardstown, and was a planter by occupa- 
tion, raising annually from 600 to 1,000 bales of 
cotton. He was a member of the lower house of 
the legislature while residing in Louisana, and 
served in that caisacity for four years. He was a 
Mason and held an office in the Grand Lodge of 



^. 



»rv*- 



J^ 



@ ll^ 



^ '* [?' 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



785 



the State, was a ^Vhig at one time, but during the 
latter part of his life was a Democrat. Mrs. 
Lovvry was a member of the Cumberland Presby- 
terian Church. Their family consisted of eight 
children, six of whom lived to maturity, and 
live of whom are living at the present time, viz. : 
Mrs. S. D. Tompkins (now residing in Helena), 
William M., Mrs. Caroline Polk (wife of Col. 
Cadwallader Polk, of Phillips County), ¥. M. 
(wholesale merchant at St. Louis, Mo.), Mrs. C. C. 
(now residing at Helena). One sou, A. J. Lowry, 
contracted consumption during the war, and died 
one year after peace was declared. He was aid- 
de-camp to Col. Cadwallader Polk. William M. 
Lowry received his education at Bardstown, Ky., 
and remained there until three months before 
graduating, when he was compelled to leave St. 
Joseph's College, at that place on account of ill 
health. He went from thereto New Orleans, La., 
where he was engaged in planting for three years, 
after which he returned to his father's old planta 
tion in that State. In 1809 he came to Philli[)s 
County, and is now the owner of 520 acres of 
land, with 480 acres under cultivation. He was 
in the Confederate service a short time during the 
war, but was discharged on account of disability. 
He lost 1100,000 in two years after the war, and 
conseipiently was obliged to begin over again. He 
has been (juite successful since that time, and 
is one of the first cotton growers in the county. 
He has reared an interesting family of children, 
three sons attending college at Bardstown, Ky. , 
and two daughters attending at Fayetteville, Ark. 
His marriage occurred in 1S<')0. to Miss Artana 
Majonn, of Bayou Sarah, La., and the fruits of 
this union have been eight children, live now liv- 
ing: Bruce (carrying on the home plantation), 
Alfred J. (in the employ of D. H. Crebs, of Hele- 
na), Sam T. (is in the employ of J. W. Clopton, 
cotton broker of Helena), Jennie (at home) and 
Annie T. (at home). Mr. Lowry is a member of 
the Catholic and his wife a member of the Epis- 
copal Church. He is a Democrat in his political 
opinion, and is one of the most enterprising citi- 
zens of the county, always manifesting ]iul)lic spirit 
in worthy movements. 



Gen. L. H. Mangum, attorney at law, Helena, 
Ark. What is usually termed genius has little to 
do with the success of man in general. Keen per- 
ception, sound judgment, and a determined will, 
supported by persevering and continuous effort, 
are essential elements to success in any calling, and 
their possession is sure to accomplish the ends 
hoped for in the days of his youth. The juris[)ru 
deuce of a commonwealth is the most neces.sary 
factor toward its growth and permanence, for, with- 
out a thorough knowledge and administration of 
the law no form of popular government could long 
exist. Gen. L. H. Mangum, by virtue of his abil- 
ity as a jurist and his victories at the bar, is emi- 
nently worthy of a place in the record of success- 
ful me^, and the history of his life is an important 
and honorable part of that of his State and 
country. He was born iu Hillsborough, N. C, on 
May 20, 1837, and is the son of Priestly H. and 
Itebecca H. (Southerland) Mangum, natives of 
North Carolina. The maternal grandfather, Han 
son Southerland, was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
War, and that family was one of the most pronii 
nent in the State of North Carolina. The Man 
gum family were originally from Wales, were early 
settlers of North Carolina, and W. P. ]\Iangum was /'. 
Stateisenator from North Carolina for thirty years, 
being president of the senate during President 
Tyler's administration. Priestly H. Mangum was 
a very prominent and noted lawyer, wa.s solicitor 
for a number of years, and was also a member of 
the North Carolina legislature for a number of 
years. His whole heart was in his profession, for 
he loved the law and had the most exalted respect 
for its conscientious and honoiable followers, and 
he found very little time to mingle with politics. 
His reputation Wiis that of a safe counsellor, a fear- 
less, eUxpient, earnest, and most convincing advn 
cate. His death occurred in ISriO, and the motli 
er's in 1838. They were the parents of sis 
children, three sons and thn-e daughters, four of 
whom are now living. Wiley P. was consul gen 
eral, sent by President Lincoln to China and Japan, 
and held this position for tw<Mity one years. He 
died at Tientsin, China, in February, ISM. Cath- 
erine (deceased), Priestly H., Mary L. (wife of 



:rz 



786 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



J. J. James, of N. C), Rebecca T. (widow of 
Johu R. Williams), and Leonard H., who is the 
youngest of the family. The latter remained in his 
native State until eighteen years of age, having 
previously read law, and then entered the school at 
Princeton, N. J., graduating from the same in 
1857. The .same year he came to Helena, and iu 
1858 was admitted to the Helena bar, afterward 
forming a partnership with Gen. Cleburne & Scaife, 
under the firm title of Clebui'no, Scaife & Maugum, 
the same continuing thus until the breaking out of 
the war, when all entered the army. Mr. Mangum 
enlisted in the celebrated Yell Ritles, and went out 
as second sergeant. He was badly wounded at the 
battle of Shiloh, where he had several horses shot 
from under him, and was shot seven times, through 
the hip, thigh, arm and hand. He was given rijj to 
die, but rallied and returned to the army. He was 
then offered a captaincy, but declined to serve, and 
went to Gen. Cleburne's staff, where he remained 
until the surrender. After returning to Helena he 
found his library stolen, and although he had but 
$30 in money, he began practicing his profession 
and met with excellent success. This he continued 
until he was appointed by President Cleveland 
chief of warrants, land and territorial accounts, 
and steamboat inspector accounts, holding the po- 
sition for four years, and then resigned on his 
own account, thinking that he ought to do so to 
give way to the opposing party. He held the office 
of probate judge for a number of j'ears, and from 
time to time held the circuit judge's place. He 
has been prominently identiiied with Philli])s 
County for over thirty years, and was a member of 
the Democratic National Convention of 1868, held 
at New Y'^ork, nominating Seymour and Blair, also 
of the convention of 1876. He served on the Com- 
mittee of Resoh^tions and Platforms. He has been 
twice married, first to Miss Anna W. Nuun, by 
whom he had two children, one living: Wiley P., 
who is now in Washington City, and his second 
marriage was to Mrs. Fannie Metzger (nee Clem 
ents) of Helena. Personally, Gen. Mangum is 
upright, honorable and just in all matters concern- 
ing his political action, as well as in matters of 
private life. His entire career has been one to 



which he may refer with pardonable pride, and 
just satisfaction. 

Isam Manning, farmer, Poplar Grove, Ark. 
This much- respected and esteemed citizen was 
originally from Indiana, where his birth occurred 
in 1822, and was principally reared in Phillips 
County, Ark., whither he had removed with his 
parents in 1834. His education was received in 
the private schools, and when twenty-three years 
of age he commenced farming for himself on his 
own land. In 1846 he went to Mexico as a soldier in 
Capt Preston's Company, Col. Yell's First Arkan- 
sas Regiment, and was at the battle of Buena Vista. 
He was in the service one year and came home in 
1847. In February of the following year he was 
married to Miss Luciiida Bailey, daughter of Thomas 
and Milly Bailey, of Kentucky, and became the 
father of three childnMi, only one now living: John, 
who is a farmer and resides in Johnson County, 
Ark. Mrs. Manning died in 1857, and in May of 
the following year Mr. Manning was married to 
Miss Samantha Thomas, daughterof W. A. Thomas, 
a native of Georgia. To the second marriage were 
born eleven children, six now living: Biddie (wife 
of Robert McGinnis), Walter, Etta, Jessie, Edmoiid 
and Robert. In 1859 Mr. Manning bought his 
present property, consisting of 400 acres, and now 
has 200 acres improved, with a splendid frame resi 
dence, outbuildings, etc. He has a gin on his 
place, with which he did his own and some custom 
ginning until this year. He raises on his home 
place about thirty bales of cotton yearly, and u]j 
to this year ginned, on an average, about seventy- 
five bales per year. Besides his home farm, Mr. 
Manning is the owner of 620 acres of land, with 100 
acres improved. He did not serve in the late war, 
but lost a'great deal of property. He is a lil)eral 
donator to all laudable enterprises, and he and wife 
are members of the Cumljerland Presbyterian 
Church. He is a member of the Wheel, and in 
his political views affiliates with Democratic party. 
His partMits, William and Jane (Elliott) Manning, 
moved to Arkansas in 1834, and rented land on 
Big Creek, close to what is now Middle Bridge, 
wher(< there was a ferry kept by a man Viy the name 
of James Hanks. The country at that time was 



>v 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



787 



wild ami unsettled, bear, pautlier, wolves, deer, 
etc., were plenty all over the county, and Helena 
was a small place with only two dry-goods stores 
there, kept by Judge McKiuzie and ¥. & M. Hanks. 
There was several saloons and grocery stores, and 
population numbered about 250. Mr. Manning 
remained here about two years, and then went to 
Mississippi, where h© remained but one year. He 
never bought or entered land in this county. 
He died in 1843, at the age of forty- seven years. 
His widow afterward married in (1847) a Mr. Mos- 
by, of Phillips County. She died in 185:5, at the 
age of tifty-tivo years. 

Peter Mengoz. In all ages of the world, indus- 
try, perseverance and energy, where intelligently 
applied, have achieved excellent results, and Mr. 
Mengoz is an excellent example of what can be ac- 
complished when the spirit of determination is ex- 
ercised in connection with the everyday alfairs of 
life. His farming and stock raising operations 
have resulted most satisfactorily, and ho now owns 
1,600 acres of land and has (UJO acres in a tine 
state of cultivation. He is also the owner of the 
Grand Opera House at Helena, and is a director 
and the main stockholder in the Fair Association. 
He has some fine thoroughbred horses on his plan- 
tation, and makes a specialty of Alford cattle and 
Berkshire hogs. Although a native of France he 
has become thoroughly Americanized, and takes a 
deep interest in the affairs of his adopted country. 
His birth occurred on April 27, 1S37, and he is a 
son of Franco A. and Lucile (Vouron) Mengoz, 
who were born, reared, educated and married in 
France. After residing there until 1853 they 
concluded to cross the " big poud ' ' and seek their 
fortune in America, and, upon reaching the United 
States, settled first in Stark County, Ohio, but not 
liking the situation, moved the following year to 
Iowa, and purchased land in Black Hawk County, 
Iowa, being among the first to locate at Gilbert- 
ville. Here the mother's death occurred in 1866, 
at the age of fifty five years, and, after this event, 
Mr. Mengoz returned to France, and after a few 
years' stay there, came back to Iowa to settle uji 
his affairs, realizing on the sale of his property 
quite a handsome sum of money. While in New 



York City, on the eve of returning to his native 
land, he was unfortunately rol)bed of all his money, 
and was compelled to join his sou, the suliject of 
this sketch, and with him made his home until his 
death, August 25, 1878, at the age of seveuty- 
sovon years. He was a stone cutter and contrac- 
tor by trade, and was compelled to h»ave France 
on account of his political views, and after reach 
ing "the land of the free and the home of the 
brave" gave his attention to farming exclusively. 
He served in the French War seven years, and ln^ 
and his wife were members of the Catholic Church. 
Of tive children born to them, their son Peter is 
the eldest, and only throe of the family are now 
living: France (who has been working in the gold 
mines of Oregon since 1867), Mary (wife of Nichu 
las Deisch) and Peter. Eugene was Iwrn in 1842, 
was a farmer by occupation, and died in Phillips 
County in 1876. Charles died in France at the 
age of tive years. Peter Mengoz received the 
most of his education in the schools of his native 
land and came with his parents to this country, 
remaining with them until 1S5S, when he came ti) 
Arkansas and became an employe of a New Orleans 
firm, and was foreman of different forces of men 
in the State of Arkansas until the opening of the 
war, when he joined the Confederate army and 
was in the commissary department, or rather wsa 
a contractor furnishing beef for the army. He 
drove his cattle from Texas, and was in this busi 
ness until the close of the war, when he came to 
Helena and engaged in farming, but at the end of 
one j-ear became a salesman in the gi-ocery and 
provision house of John Meadow, remaining with 
I him two years. He then became associated with 
William Baggett in the grocery business, but at 
the end of one year began business alone, iiml 
oi)ened a wholesale and retail grocery, provision 
and liquor e.stablishment, which he continued to 
j conduct until 1880, when, as stated above, he re 
tired to his plantation. His property has been 
acfpiired through his own business al)ility and en 
ergy since the war, as at that time what property 
he had accumulated was swi>pt away. He is a de 
vout member of the Catholic Church, -stK-ially l)e 
longs to the K. of H., and in his political views is 



^ 



« k. 



^ s> 



bt 



788 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



a Democrat. lu 1873 lie retiu'ned to his old home 
iu France, aad visited Switzerland the same year, 
and in 18S'J again went to Europe and traveled 
through England, France, Switzerland, Bavaria, 
Baden, also other provinces of Prussia, and then 
returned to the United States fully contented to 
make his home here for the remainder of his days. 
He has been quite an extensive traveler in the 
United States also, and in 1855 made a trip to the 
liocky Mountains for a St. Louis Fur Company. 

Aaron Meyers, wholesale and retail grocer, 
Helena, Ark. Among the most important indus- 
tries of any community are those that deal in the 
necessaries of life, and next to bread and meat, 
nothing is more necessary than groceries. Helena 
has a number of first-class establishments doing 
liusiness in this line, and prominent among the 
number is that conducted by Mr. Meyers. This 
gentleman was born in Prussia, Germany, on Au- 
gust 25, 184:1, and is the son of Isaac and Yetta 
Meyers, natives of the same province. There 
the parents grew up, married, and received their 
iinal summons. Aaron Meyers was reared and ed- 
ucated at Schwarza, graduated in 185G and the 
same year sailed for America. He first located at 
St. Louis, was engaged in the grocery business at 
that place until 1868, and then came to Helena, 
Ark., whore he filled the position of salesman for 
some time. He was city mar.shal and city tax col- 
lector, and for five years tilled the position of 
mayor of the city to the satisfaction of all. In 
fact he has been connected with almost every pub- 
lic enterprise that has taken place since he came 
here and has taken a deep interest in improving 
the city. He has been president of the Chamber 
of Commerce for two years, secretary of the school 
board for six years, president of the Helena Build- 
ing & Loan Association, treasurer of the Helena 
Opera House, Grand Chancellor of the K. of P. of 
the State of Arkansas, and holds several ofiices in 
different orders. He is a director in the Fair As- 
sociation and a stockholder in the opera house. 
He was married in 1879 to Miss Johanna Pots- 
damer and to them were born four children: Ellen 
R., Bettie M., Isaac M. and Gertrude R. Mr. 
Meyers was married the second time to Miss 



Biauca Potsdamer, by whom he has one child, 
Joseph C. He and wife are church members. 

P. T. R. Miller, farmer and stockman, Poplar 
Grove, Ark. Mr. Miller, another of the many sub- 
stantial citizens of foreign birth, now residing in 
,, Phillips County, owes his nativity to Scotland, 
where he was born in 1848. His father, Geortre 
Miller, followed agriciUtural pursuits the principal 
part of his life, but in his younger days was en- 
gaged in merchandising in his native country, Scot- 
land, where he now resides with his wife, who was 
formerly Miss Elizabeth Robertson. They both 
enjoy good health in spite of their advanced years, 
he being eighty-four or eighty-five and she sev- 
enty-five years of age, and both are members of the 
Old School Presljyterian Church. Their family 
consisted of eight children, six of whom are now 
living and P. T. R. being the eldest. The next 
in order of birth, Elizabeth (is now the widow of 
David Walker, and lives in Scotland. Mr. Walker 
died in Helena, Phillips County), William A. 
(resides in New York City, and is entry clerk for 
Hilton, Hughes & Denning), James R. (came to 
America, but in 1881 returned to his native coun- 
try and is engaged in tilling the soil), Esther (re- 
sides in Scotland), Maggie (deceased), Georgiana 
(iu Scotland), and Daniel (deceased, who was the 
youngest, and who was killed by a fall from his 
horse in Australia). P. T. R. Miller was reared 
and educated in Scotland, and when nineteen years 
of age crossed the ocean to America, where he fol- 
lowed agricultural pursuits in New York State. 
He was afterward with the Adams Express Com- 
pany as messenger until 1870, when he returned 
to Scotland. In 1871 he came back to America 
and located at Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained 
four years, part of the time lieing engaged in the 
cornice maker's trade, and afterward had charge 
of some horses. He left there in 1875 and canjo 
to Phillips County, Ark., where he has since tilled 
the soil. He is at present a member of the firm 
of Bailey & Miller, which was established in the 
spring of 1888. This firm has 250 acres under 
cultivation, the principal part of which is seeded 
down to grass for the summer herding of cattle. 
They have commodious barns with sufficient room 



-^ 



^ 



9 k^ 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



789 



to care for about 100 head of stock, and take it all 
in all, this is one of the leading stock farms in 
Eastern Arkansas. They have on hand a fine Hoi 
stein animal, preparatory to the breeding of fine 
cattle, and thoir intention is also to breed for 
market a fine grade of sheep. Mr. IMillcr has been 
twice married, first in 1877, to Miss Martha Galla- 
tin, who died in 1878, leaving one child, Martha 
E. Mr. Miller's second marriage was tu Mrs. 
Mattie Banks (nee Hipps), a native of Alabama, and 
the fruits of this tinion have been four children: 
George 11., Lizzie and Henry B. and Ed M'. 
(twins). Mrs. Miller was the mother of three chil- 
dren by her former marriage: Georgia A. (wife of 
W. P. Vernor, of Phillips County), W. H. H. and 
James (both at home). Mr. Miller is a member of 
the A. O. U. W., Junior Lodge, Helena, Ark., and 
Mrs. Miller is a member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, South. 

John P. Moore is vice-president of the First 
National Bank, also of the Peoples Savings Bank, 
and is also a real estate and plantation supply 
dealer of Helena, Ark. His career is but another 
evidence of the possibilities young men have for 
advancement in the world when supported by 
strong resolution to rise. He was raised on a farm, 
though he ac(piired an education in the Western 
Military Institute of Kentucky, and in the Univer- 
sity of Mississippi, at Oxford. His oj)portunities 
he improved and became well posted on the cur- 
rent literature of the day, and laid the foundation 
for a successful career in later days. Ho first began 
business for himself as a merchant in Al)erdeen, 
Miss., but in 1850 sold out his business there, and 
came to Helena, where he o[)ened a mercantile es 
tablishment, which he has since conducted, with 
the exception of the time during the Civil War, 
when h<> was oV)liged to suspend business. His 
mercantile business is now conducted under the 
firm name of John P. & F. Moore, Dr. Frierson 
Moore, his son, being the partner. He ovms a vast 
amount of land in Arkansas and Mississippi, of 
which a large portion is under cultivation, and his 
real estate in the city of Helena is very valuable. 
He is a strong advocate* of inve.stments in real es- 
tate, and has been active in advancing the inter- 



ests of the city and county. He was married near 
Abenleen, Miss., in 1854, and is the father of four 
children, two sons and two dangliters. His par- 
ents were Alabamians, and moved to Chickasaw 
County, Miss., at an early day, in which State 
they l)oth died. Our subject was born in Alabanui, 
and reared in the great State of Mississippi. 

John T. Moore, the obliging and courteous 
postmaster of Red Store, was l)orn in Chicot 
County, Ark., January 20, 1845, the son of 
Stephen P. and Margaret (Cassidy) Jloore. Ste 
phen P. Moore immigrated from South Carolina 
(where he was l)orn in 1814) to Mississippi when 
only sixteen years of age, and was there married 
in 1840, l>y his union with Miss Cassidy becoming 
the father of seven children, two daughters and a 
.son (John T. ) now living. Mrs. Moore died in 
Phillips County, Ark., in 1885, at the age <if 
seventy-one years. John T. Moore was reared in 
Mississippi from the age of four years, and re 
ceived his education in the schools of that State. 
In 1875 hewas married to Miss Eugenia Goodman, 
who was born in Mobile, Ala., in 1840, and died 
in Arkansas County, Ark., in 1882, leaving two 
children: Robert and Eugenia. Mr. Moore immi 
grated to Arkansas from Mississippi in 1882, which 
has been his home ever since. He owns 1,2(50 acres 
of land, a greater portion of it being under a suc- 
cessful state of cultivation. The principal crop 
that he grows is cotton, averaging al)out 140 l)ales 
annually. Mr. Moore belongs to the Bai)tist 
Church, in which he is regarded as a faithful ftiid 
prominent member. He can rememl)er and loves 
to recite his early adventures of hunting, many 
times having killed over 100 l)ears in a season. 

William M. Neal is a real-estate and insuranct> 
agent at Helena, and a record of his life will l>e of 
more than passing interest, for he is a man of rec 
ognized worth and of a substantial and progressive 
spirit. He was born in Wilson County, Tenn., 
September 0, 1858, and is a son of Williani Z. and 
Josei)hine (Puckett) Neal, who were also natives of 
that State, the father being a man of superior edu 
cation, and the founder of the Lebanon (Tenn. ) 
Herald in 1852. This journal he continued to pub 
lisli nnlil 1S72, at which time he sold out, purehas 



^ 



^1 



^ 



790 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



ing a farm and moving thereon, and there now 
lives. He was internal revenue collector under 
Cien. Grant, and was a Whig in his iiolitical views 
for many years. He and wife, who is now dead, 
became the parents of live childi'en, three now liv- 
ing, of whom onr subject is the eldest. His early 
scholastic advantages were received in the Cumber- 
land University at Lebanon, Tenn., and he there 
also learned the printer's trade, serving a four- 
years apprenticeship in his father's office, after 
which ho wrote for and read proof on the Nashville 
Daily American for some time. He next went to 
Washington, Miss., and after working as a book- 
keeper for a number of years he, in March, 1876, 
came to Helena and worked in the same capacity 
for the bank here, continuing to be thus occupied 
four years, at which time he began giving his at- 
tention to merchandising. Four years later he 
embarked in his present calling, and in this branch 
of business has become one of the leading men of 
the county. He handles an immense amount of 
real estate and owns some very valuable property 
himself. He represents the Manhattan Life In- 
surance Company; being, too, a stockholder in and 
secretary of the Helena & Brick Manufacturing 
Company, and is also a stockholder and secretary 
of the Mutual Building & Loan Association, which 
he assisted in organizing, in June, 1887, with a cap- 
ital stock of $000, 000. He is also secretary of the 
Helena Gas, \\'ater & Power Company, which has 
a capital stock of $10,000. December 5, 1888, he 
was married to Miss Margaret Bedford, who is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

M. Newman, wholesale and retail dealer in 
li(^uors, etc., Helena, Ark. A very reliable as well 
as popular store is that of Mr. Newman, who 
opened the saloon business in Helena in 1874, and 
has every requisite and convenience in his line of 
l)usiness. He was born in Hesse Castle, Germany, 
on October -il. 1837, and is the son of William 
and Esther (Freudenberg) Newman, natives of 
(iermauy, where they passed their entire lives. 
Mr. Newman was reared in Germany, received his 
education at Hesse Castl(>, and in 1S5G he sailed 
for America, taking passage at Bremen, and land 
ing at New York City after a fifty -six days' ocean 



voyage. He remained in New Year for one year, 
and then traveled over nearly the entire continent, 
especially the Western and Southern States. In 
the fall of 1858 he located at Little Rock, and 
made his headquarters there until 1801. The fol- 
lowing year he located at Helena, Ark. , and was 
occupied as clerk for two years. He then engaged 
in the mercantile busines.s, can-ied this on until 
180U, and then entered into the stock business for 
one season. In 1871 he embarked in the cigar 
business, and two years later in the dairy business, 
which he continued for one year. After this he 
opened a saloon, and has since conducted the sale 
of liquors, cigars, etc. Mr. Newman was only 
seventeen years of age when he came to America, 
and had nothing but the clothes he was wearing. 
He has been quite successful, and is one of the 
enterprising business men of Helena, doing an 
extensive business in his line. He was married in 
1804 to Miss Bertha Piatt, and the result of this 
union was five childi-en: Eli (who is now twenty- 
three years of age), Theresa (twenty years of age), 
Albert (eighteen), Willie (fifteen) and Estella (ten 
years of age). Mr. Newman is a Royal Arch 
Mason, a Knight of Pythias, belongs to the A. O. 
U. W., and is a member of the Knights and Ladies 
of Honor, Beni Brith, and Kersher Shel Barzel. 
He is the agent for Anheuser-Busch Brewing 
Company, the largest company in the Soxath. 

Judge R. W. Nicholls is an attorney at law of 
Helena, Ark. , and his name is identified with his 
professional .standing, the welfare and material 
and social happiness of Phillips County. He was 
born in the Parish of Assumption, La. , December 
9, 1849, and on his father's side is descended from 
an old English family of note, and inherits French 
blood from his mother. The paternal grandfather, 
Thomas C. Nicholls, was judge of a district court 
in Louisiana, and ujion his death was succeeded by 
his son, R. AV. (the father of our subject), who 
held the office until his death, at the untimely age 
of thirty-five years, having discharged his duties 
in a manner highly satisfactory to all. He was a 
lieutenant in the Mexican War and was aid -de- 
camp for Gen. Taylor. An old trunk which he 
carried through this engagement is in possession 



i \> 



(S W. 



An^ 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



Tin 



of his son, Judge R. W. Nicbolls, uiid Las bis 
name engraved upon it. He was a brother of the 
present Gov. Nicbolls, of Louisiana, who is the 
only one of the seven sons living, and, in fact, is the 
only member of his father's family who survives. 
R. W. was married to Miss J. M. Phillips, and by 
her reared one son. Judge K. W. Nicbolls. The 
youthful days of the latter were spent in his native 
State, a part of bis time being spent on bis father's 
])lantation and the rest of the time in the city of 
New Orleans, where he acquired a good common- 
school education, which he subsequently improved 
by attendance at the State University at Alexan- 
dria, where he graduated in 18(59. In 1870 he 
came to Helena, Ark. , and began the study of law, 
and in December of the following year was ad- 
mitted to the bar. He at once entered upon a 
career of distinction and success, business coming 
to bim unsolicited, and his strong, good sense, his 
knowledge of human nature, his calm conservatism 
and his genuine legal ability were soon perceived, 
and he gained the general confidence of the people, 
so much so that, in 187G, he was elected city attor- 
ney, and in 1879 was chosen mayor of Helena, and 
this position held by re-election until 1882. Since 
that time he has been county and probate judge, 
and selfish and personal considerations have been 
laid aside when the question of duty has been pre- 
sented. Every enterprise of a public nature tiuds 
in him a warm advocate, and his opinion is sought 
and his counsel heeded, in nearly every question 
of a public nature, as well as on private mattiu-s. 
He was married, in 1873, to Miss Janie McAlpine, 
a native of Mississippi, and by her he has a family 
of three children: Winifred, George and Robert 
W., Jr. The Judge belongs to the I. O. O. F., 
the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Honor and 
the Royal Arcanum. He is a grand nephew of 
the famous poet, Rodman Drake, the author of 
"Cidprit Fay." 

William 15. O' Shields has long hail tlie re|)ata 
tion of being one of the best farmers in the county, 
and as a merchant his name and fame is coexten- 
sive with Phillips and the surrounding counties. 
Every step of his career hiis been marked by acts 
of liberality, and he has over displayed a vital in 



terest in the higher development of his county, 
which is no doubt owing, in a measure, to his hav- 
ing been born here. His birth occurred on the 
farm whore he now lives, October 5, 1851, and he 
is the youngest of ten children born to Isaac and 
Jarvey G. (Nixon) O' Shields, Ixjtb of whom were 
l)orn in South Carolina, the former's birth o(!Cur 
ring about 181:-}, and the hitter's in Phillips County, 
Ark., October 10, 1873. His wife died in 1803 at 
the age of fifty one years. Their marriage took 
place in South Carolina, and in 1844 they came to 
Arkansas, locjiting in Phillips (bounty, where he 
followed farming until his death, l)oing quite suc- 
cessful in this calling. He inherited Iri.sh blood 
from his parents, who were born in the Emerald 
Isle, and in his political views was first a Whig, 
but later became a Democrat. His wife was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
and bore him the following family of children, the 
names of those who are living being here given : 
Jennie (widow of Thomas Carter, who died while 
serving in the Confederate army), Thomas N. (who 
is a farmer and blacksmith of this county), Richard 
L. (also a farmer of the county), Isaac (following 
the same occnpation here) and William B. The 
following are the names of those who are de- 
ceased: Nancy (wife of William Jackson), Fanny 
(who died after reaching womanhood), Mollie (wife 
of William Jackson), John, and Elizabeth (the 
wife of Thomas Kibl)y). ANilliam B. O' Shields 
received the most of bis education in Phillips 
County, and supplemented a common school course 
by an attendance at Phillips Academy, where he 
acijuired an excellent education. On attaining 
his majority be began farming for himself, and 
in 1881 l)egau merchandising also, and has since 
followed liotb thes4< occupations, his labors be- 
ing attended with the best results. In his po 
litical views Mr. O' Shields is a Democrat, and 
on that ticket was elected, in 1878, to the po- 
sition of constable, and, in 1882, to the office of 
justice of the peace. In 1885 he was married to 
Miss Mary Davidson, a daughter of John and Mar 
garot Davidson. She was born in Helena, Ark., 
is a member of the M. E. Church, South. They 
have two children: Lottie 1$. an<l Maggie May. 



01 hta 



\\£l 



7'J2 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



E. D. Pillow, sheriff, Helena, Ark. Mr. Pil- 
low, the po|iul(ir sheriff of Phillips County, though 
horn in Coluiuliiii, Tenii., on May 17, 184(5, has 
been a residtnit of Phillips County, Ark., since 
IS(')f), and the conrKlenot^ which the people have in 
hiui, is therefore intellig(<ntly placed, f(jr in that 
time the}' have had every opportunity to judge of 
his characicr an<l qualifications. His parents, 
Jerome H. and l</lvira (Dale) Pillow, were both na- 
tives of Middle Tennessee, and the grandparents 
were among the early settlers of that State. The 
I)atrenial grandfather was in the War of 1812. The 
father of E. D. Pillow, Jerome Pillow, was a bro- 
ther of (ien. Gideon J. Pillow, who made a lasting 
reputation in th(> Mexican War. Jerome 13. was 
a farmer, and some time in tlie 4(Ts he earner to 
I']iilli])s County and inv(>sted largely in real estate, 
althongli he never resided in the county. He is 
still living in Tennessee, and is in his eightieth 
year. The mother (li(Ml in 1889. They were the 
])ar('nts of s(>ven children: Mrs. J. W. (^. Ridley, 
Mrs. Lena Long, Mrs. VV. D. Bethel, Mrs. John 
M. (iray. Mis. Minter Parker, Edward D. and 
Jerome H. Edward J). Pillow, the subject of this 
sketch, was r(>ared in T(mnessee, and received a 
limited education in that State. When in his six 
teenth year, or in 18(52, he enlisted in Conqjany E, 
First Tennessee, and served until the surrender, 
I)eing Imt nineteen years of age when the war 
closed. He was in many hard fought battles, and 
was a brave and daring soldier. In 18(50 he came 
to Hehma and engaged in farming, which pursuit 
he has since continued. He is the owner of about 
;?,()()() acnis of laud, lias about I. (')(•() acres under 
cultivation, and is dcniply interested in the raising 
of cotton. In 1881 he was electe<l slieritT, reolect- 
ed in 188() and 1888, and is now serving his third 
t(<rm. He was married to Miss J<hnma Rice, a 
daughter of Dr. F. H. Rice, and to this union were 
born three children: \\ illiani li., Edward Rice and 
Camille Polk. 

Allen J. Polk owes his nativity to Mecklenburg 
County, N. C., where his l)irtli occurred on March 
5, 1824. H(( is the son of Dr. William J. and 
Mary (Long) Polk, and th(( grandson of Col. Will- 
iam .). Polk, of Revolutionary fame. Col. Polk 



started out from Queens College when sixtfeen years 
of age, entered the army as lieutenant, and scu'ved 
in different capaciticw until the close of the war, 
when he held the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He 
is said to havi> been the first man wounded south 
of Lexington. He died at Raleigh, N. C. This 
Polk family is the same as that of James K. Polk, 
and our subject is a grandson of (ien. Thomas 
Polk, wliose name is so intimately conn(>cted with 
the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independ(>nce, or 
Resolvency, of June 20, 1775. Dr. William J. 
Polk and wife were natives of North Carolina, born 
in Mecklenburg and Halifax Counties, respectively, 
the father on March 21, 17'JI-?, and the mother on 
March 10, 1797. Both died in Columbia, Tenn., 
the former in 1800, and the latter on September 
20, 1885, at the age of eighty nine years. They 
were married in North Carolina on June 1, bSbS, 
and in 1830 moved from that State to Columbia, 
Tenn. , where they passed the closing scenes of 
their lives. In 1848 Dr. Polk sent his son, Allen 
J. Polk, to Phillips County, Ark., to purchase 
land, and the latter is now living on land pur 
chas(Hl in 1849. Dr. Polk was a graduate of Jef- 
ferson School of Medicine, but during his later 
years he was engaged exclusivi'ly in planting. In 
his pcjlitical views he was a Whig, and t(K)k a deej) 
interest in politics. He was president of th(> Batdc 
of Tennessee, at Columbia, for many years, and 
was a man universally respected. He and wife 
were members of the Episcopal Church. Allen J. 
Polk reciMved his education at the University of 
North Carolina, and in 1845 began the* study of 
law at Columbia, Tenn., being admitted to the bar 
at that place in 18 ((i. He ])ra<'ticed law for one 
year, and in 1849 commenciHl [ilanting, which oc- 
cupation he has since followed, although he has 
met with many reverses. In 1859 Mr. Polk mar 
ried Miss Fitzhugh, daughter of Claik Fitzhugh, 
and the fruits of this union were four living chil- 
dren: Mrs. Susan Kecwee (of Helena), Mrs. Anna 
Pepper (of Memphis), Zelda and Robl)in. Mrs. 
Polk is a member of the Catholic Church. She is 
a grand niec(< of (Ien. Oeorg(< Rodgers Clark, who 
captured tiie Northwest Territory. Mr. Polk is a 
member of lh(> Masonic order and a Democrat. 



:^ 



4^ 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



7SJ8 



Col. Cadwalladcr Polk, ])liiiit-(>r, Holoiui, Ark. 
'J'lio sul)iect, of til is skct-c'li tioods no introduction to 
tliK pooplc of Pliilli|)s C!onnty, for a. lonj^ rcwidonce, 
and, al)ov(> all, a carocr of uspfulnoss and promi- 
nence, have given him an acquaintance which shall 
last for many years. He was horn in Colum- 
l)ia, Tenn., Octoher 1(5, 1838, and is the son of 
Dr. William J. and Mary llel)ecca (Ijoiif^) Polk. 
I For farther particulars of parents see sketch of 
Alli'Ti J. Polk. I Of the fourteen children born to 
his parents six ai'e now livinif, and Col. Cadwal- 
lader Polk is sixth in order of birth, viz. : Allen, 
Lucius E. (was a planter at Columbia, Tenn.), 
Uufus (who resides at Little Uock), Mrs. Hous- 
ton (wife of ilussell Houston, of Louisville, Ky.), 
and Mary P. Branch (resides at Nashville, Tenn.). 
Kussell Houston is attorney for the Louisville & 
Nashville llailroad. Col. Cadwallader Polk ro- 
ceivod his education at the University of North 
Carolina, graduating with honor from the same in 
1858, and soon after ho turned his attention to 
planting, which occupation he has carried on since. 
During the late war he enlisted as second lieuten- 
ant of the First Tennessee Confederate Infantry, 
and served in different capacities until promoted 
to the rank of colonel of an Arkansas regiment 
after the battle of Shiloh. He was appointed aid- 
do-camp to Gen. Hindman, and was in service 
from that time until the close of the war. While 
major of Hawthorn's regiment, and at the battle of 
Prairie Grovo, he was wounded in the right cheek 
by a musket-ball, which came out at the left side 
of the neck, and soon after he was made colonel, 
serving in that capacity until cessation of hostili- 
ties. He was in West Virginia with Gen. Stone- 
wall Jackson, was in the second day's tight of 
Shiloh, Prairie Grove, Helena and Little Uock. 
His regiment surrondei'ed at Camden and Pine 
Bluff. He soon after turned his attention to plant- 
ing, and is now the owner of 1,400 acres in the 
home place, with 000 acres in cotton, corn and 
grass. He was married March 2S), 1804, to Miss 
Carrie Lowi-y, of Milliken's Bend, La., and the re- 
sult of this union was six children, viz. : William 
J., Anna T., Walter 11. (at Little Rock in the em 
ploy of the Memphis & Little Kock Uailroad in 



the capacity of book keejier), Cadwallader (at 
home), Ncna (at home), ami l'',dward M. Mr. and 
Mrs. Polk are members of the E|-isco)>al (Miurch. 
Mr. Polk is a Mason, a K. T., and in his political 
opinions aililiatcs with the Democratic |iarty. Hi- 
tak(!8 a gi'eat interest in politics, but has never 
desired to hold ofllco. Ho is now very much oc 
cupied in the rearing of stock, and has a lldcl; of 
Southdowns, probably the finest in the State. lie 
has some Almont's stock of horses, also otliiT line' 
stock, and is one of the jjrogressive :iii<l enter 
prising farmers of the county. 

E. A. Porter, agent fur the Pacilie Express 
Company, at Heltuia, Ark., is a native of Heh'iia, 
Ark., his birth occurring hero Juno T), INOri, he 
being a son of William and Ann A. (Hanks) Por- 
ter, the latter being a sister of Judge James M. 
Hanks, ex-Congressman. \\'illiam Porter was born 
March 9, 1818, at Cincinnati, Ohio, and in his 
youth, or youthful days, came to Arkansas and lo 
cated in Hohma, owning and operating a tannery. 
saw and grist mill at the mouth of the St. Francis 
Eiver. He conducted this business on a very ox 
tensive scale until the oiiening of the war, during 
which time he lost nearly all liis accumulations of 
years. After the war he set to work to retrievi- his 
fortunes, and for some time operated a saw-mill 
and cotton gin, but later on made farming his 
chief avocation, possessing a good farm aljout four 
miles south of Helena. Ho is still living (retired 
from the active duties of life) in Helena, and pos 
sesses the full consciousness of having fought the 
battle of life successfully, and can now rest from 
the labor and heat of the day. He has never as 
pired to political jiositioiis, and although his views 
are in accord with the Democratic party, he has 
never been a partisan. His son, E. A. Porter, was 
reared and i-ducated in Helena, and at an early age 
became a messenger boy in the express service, re 
ceiving various promotions until he attained his 
present position of agent for the Pacific Express 
Company. He is a young man of push, energy 
and enterprise, and owing to his many other ad- 
mirable business (pialilications. his future success 
is assured. He has shown his approval of secret 
organizations by bocoming a member of the K. of 



\9 






794 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



P., being a charter member of this organization at 
Wynne, and he also belongs to the A. O. U. W. 
March 19, 1888, he espoused Miss Ida B. Dickson. 

James C. Rembert is the efficient county clerk 
of Phillips County, Ark., and is a man whom the 
citizens delight to honor, for he is careful, prudent, 
and undeniably honest, and in every walk in life 
has shown himself to be eminently worthy the re- 
spect which is accorded him by all. He is a native 
of Shelby County, Tenn., born January 17, 1849, 
and is a son of Llewellyn C. and Mary (Jackson) 
Reml)ert, who were also Tennesseeans, in which 
State the mother died, the father's death occurr- 
ing in Prairie County, Ark., he having been a 
worthy and fairly successful planter throughout 
life. James C. Rembert attended school in the 
State of Tennessee, until fifteen years of age, his 
time being also spent in assisting his father on the 
farm, and in ISOG he came to Helena, Ark., and 
was salesman in a dry goods house until 1870, 
when he was made chief deputy in the sheriff's 
office, and ably discharged the duties of that posi- 
tion until 1874. He then alternately acted as 
deputy sheriff and salesman of dry goods until 
1882, when he became deputy county clerk, re- 
ceiving the appointment from Gov. Hughes to fill 
a vacancy in April, and his labors were so satis- 
factory that, September 2, 1888, he was elected to 
the office which he still continues to hold. Every 
worthy enterprise of a public nature finds in him 
a warm advocate, and as he is a man of intelligence 
and thinks for himself, his views are always sound. 
He has been fairly prosperous in a worldly point 
of view, and is the owner of some excellent real 
estate in Helena. Socially he belongs to the A. O. 
U. W., the K. of P., and the Royal Arcanum. He 
was married, in 1871, to Miss Cortney C. Cage, and 
by her has three children: J. C, Jr., Bettie C. 
and Cortney T. 

William H. Renfro (deceased) was one of the 
thirtcien children born to the union of Talton and 
Elizabeth (Harrison) Renfro, his birth occurring 
in Maury (Jounty, Tenn. , March 8, 1883. Of that 
large family of children only three are now living: 
John H. (residing in Sacramento, Cal.), D. B. (a 
resident of Holly drove, Ark.) and Matilda (the 



widow of William Baulch). When William H. 
Renfro was nineteen years of age, he came to Phil- 
lips County, having accepted a position to super- 
intend a large plantation, owned by a Mr. A. W. 
Smizer, which he continued to do until the break- 
ing out of the war. He then enlisted in the Con- 
federate army, serving two years. During the war 
he purchased the farm where Mrs. Renfro now re- 
sides, the place then consisting of 480 acres, with 
only fifty improved. Mrs. Renfro owns 200 acres 
of improved land, with only forty unimproved, 
on which are good buildings and many modern evi- 
dences of progression and prosperity. That Mr. Ren- 
fi'o was a ijopalarand influential man is demonstra- 
ted beyond a doubt by the manner in which he is 
mentioned, and the reverence in which his memory is 
held. He was a quiet, law-abiding citizen, keep- 
ing pace with the world, in the even tenor of his 
way, and many improvements of his county stand 
as monuments of his liberality and support. No 
one ever realized, not even his own family, how 
largely Mr. Renfro gave in charities. On this 
point he was secretive, nothing abashing him more 
in his own eyes than when a deed of mercy was 
traced to its source by some grateful recipient of 
his generosity. He was married December 8, 
1856, in this county, to Miss Amanda E. Graves, 
who was born in Shelby County, Tenn., December 
26, 1836, and a daughter of Alexander and Annie 
(Graves) Graves. Mr. and Mrs. Renfro reared a 
family of three children: Ella R. (wife of B. Y. 
Turner) and Lizzie (Mrs. W. C. Brooks). One 
daughter is deceased. Mr. Graves (father of Mrs. 
Renfro), was born in Greenville, N. C. , in 1800, 
and was married in Giles County, Tenn. , having 
moved to that county when twenty one years old. 
To his marriage eight children were born, three 
now living: N. L., Maggie (wife of her cousin, 
Joseph Graves, of this county) and Amanda (Mrs. 
Renfro). Mr. Graves died in Phillips County, Ark., 
in 1803. His wife, who was born in Louisa County, 
Va. , in 1804, died in 1864. Mrs. Renfro manages 
her farm in a good businesslike way. She is a 
supporter of all charitable movements, an earnest 
worker in and a highly-respected member of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



795 



S. M. Upyiiolds, ouo of tlio proiiiiuuiil fiiriuora 
and stock growers of Marion Township, is the sixth 
of a family of eight children l)orn to the union of 
Thomas and Elizabeth (Winters) Reynolds, natives 
of Tennessee. Thomas Reynolds was a farmer by 
occnpalion and continued this pursuit in his nativi> 
State until about 1848, when he moved to Frank- 
lin County, Ark. He purchased land near Ozark, 
Ark., continued his former pursuit, and was among 
the iirst to settle in that county. He died in 1854 
and the mother the year previous. Of their eight 
children, four are now living: (!hristoph(»r CJolum 
bus (resides in Kansas), H.M. , Zach (resides in Mis- 
souri), and Robert G. (who resides at Piano, Tex. ). 
\V. D. (deceased) was in the war with Mexico, and 
was in the battles of Buena Vista, Marengo and 
at the City of Mexico at the surrender. .S. M. 
Reynolds was born in Greene County, Tenii., in 
1846, and was reared by his brother W. D. , and 
received his education in the common schools of 
Phillips and Lee Counties, Ark., as his br(>ther 
moved to this State in 1851). The latter entered 
land and S. M. worked on the same until twenty- 
two years of age. In 1868 he married TMiss Mary 
J. McGrew, of Phillips County, and the daughter 
of William and Sallie (Clabough) McGrew, natives 
of Tennessee and North Carolina, resjjcctively. 
Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are the parents of eight 
children: W. T., Henry L., James P., Marion F., 
Mary E. (deceased), Carrie A., Minnie G. and Oc 
tavus (deceased). After his marriage S. M. Rey 
nolds moved to Sharp County, Ark., where he fol- 
lowed the trade of blacksinithing for al)()nt one 
year and then returned to Phillips County. He 
settled on his present property, which was owned 
I)y his wife and which consisted of 120 acres with 
fifty acres under cultivation. In I8<)'2 Mr. Ri'y- 
uolds joined the boys in gray, Anderson's com- 
pany, commanded by Dol)bins. and was in the l)at- 
tle of Helena, July 4, 18(j3. He was at the sur- 
render of Little Rock, and was also iu a number of 
skirmishes, etc. He was captured in Phillips 
County, was sent to Helena and there remained 
for two weeks when he was paroled. This was the 
latter part of 18'54. Mr. Reynolds, is a member of 
the County Wheel and Farmers' Alliance, and is 



Vice-President of the Subordinate Wheel. He is a 
member of the K. of H., Spring Creek Lodge No. 
'2(')43, and is also Vice President of this. He and 
Mrs. Reynolds and three of the children are mem- 
bers of the Christian Church. William Reynolds, 
the ])at.('rnal grandfather of our subject, was in the 
War of 1812, and the maternal grandfather, Chris 
topher Winters, was a German, from Pennsylvania, 
and last resided at Charleston, Tonn. 

William itose, an old resident and .suljstautial 
farmer of Searcy Township, waa born in Jackson 
County, Ohio, on .January 7, 1817, being one of 
eleven children born to William and Mary (Atkins) 
Rose. William Rose, Sr. , was a native of Mont- 
gomery County, Va., and moved with his parents 
to Ohio when a small boy. He was reared, mar- 
ried and died there in 1879. He was of English- 
Irish descent, and his wife a direct descendant of 
the Germans, and died when William, Jr., was a 
boy. Our subject received his education in the 
schools of Ohio, and, wh(>n twenty-one years old, 
immigrated to St. Francis County, Ark., where he 
rented land until 1847, at that time purchasing 
1()() acres, on which lie lived until 1870, when he 
came to Phillips County, settling on his present 
farm. This place consists of 440 acres, with 200 
acres under a fine state of cultivation, and the im- 
provements, which are numerous, show him to be 
of an industrious and enterprising spirit. In 1889 
Mr. Williams erected a steam cotton-gin, at a cost 
of $1,500. His farm, situated eighteen miles 
southwest of Helena, is well adapted to the grow- 
ing of grain, hay and cotton. He is also engaged 
in stock raisi[ig, a prolitabl(> sourceof income. Mr. 
Rose was first married in St. Francis County, in 
1843, to Miss Marian Castile, a native of that 
county, who died in lSt7, having borne two chil- 
dren, now deceased. Mr. Rose was again married 
in 1850 to Miss Augustine Forbes (a cousin of the 
former wife). She died in ISlU, and of five chil- 
dren born to their union only one is now living: 
^fargaret F. (the wife of F. M. Cox. residing in 
LeeConnty). InlN*15Mr. Rose married Mrs. Kmily 
Brown (nee Brown). His fourth wife was Martha 
Brown, a native of Mississippi, and who has two 
children by her former marriage: John L. and 



.^6 r- 




Carrie. Mr. Rose is a Democrat, politically, liav 
ing cast his first vote for President James K. Polk. 
He is H member of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church, and a quiet, law-abiding citizen. 

Judge M. T. Sanders, Helena, Ark. Matthew 
T. Sanders was born in Abbeville District, S. C, but 
during his childhood his parents moved to Alaba- 
ma and settled in Greene County. His father, Dr. 
Charles P. Sanders, was a native of Charleston, 
and was married to Elizabeth Ann Thomson, of 
Anderson District, S. C. After their removal to 
Alal)ama, his father became a prominent physician 
and practiced his profession with great success 
until his death. His mother is living. The sub- 
ject of this sketch was educated in part at Erskine 
College, S. C, but completed the collegiate course 
at the University of Alabama, studied law, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1859. The same year he 
located in Helena, Ark., where he began the prac- 
tice of his profession. He entered the military serv- 
ice of the Confederate States in 1861, was afterward 
ajipointed tir.st lieutenant of artillery, and assigned 
to ordnance and staff duty. At the close of the war 
he was a member of McNair's staff, Churchill's di- 
vision, received his parole at Shreveport, La., re- 
turned to Helena in 1806, and resumed the profession 
of law. He soon became a successful and prominent 
lawyer, and enjoyed an extensive practice until he 
was elected to the bench. Judge Sanders has al- 
ways been an active Democrat. For two years after 
the close of the war he was editor of the Helena 
Clarion, a leading Democratic journal. For several 
years he was chairman of the Democratic Execu- 
tive Committee of his county, and in the local 
political revolution in Phillips County, by which 
the Democrats, after an exciting campaign, de- 
feated the llepublieans in 1878, he was chosen for 
county judge. In this administration of county 
affairs he relieved the tax-payers of oppressive 
burdens, reduced current expenses of the county 
.")() per centum below what they were previous to 
his election, and earned the lasting gratitude of 
the people by many wise reforms in matters affect- 
ing the welfare of the county. In 1882 Judge 
Sanders was a Democratic candidate for Congress 
in the First Congressional district, but after a par- 



tial canvass of the district withdrew from the race. 
In July of the same year he was nominated for 
circuit judge by the Democracy of the first judicial 
circuit, and elected the following September by a 
majority of more than 5,000 votes over his Repub- 
lican opponent. Col. W. H. Hawes. This honor 
was unsought, and for that reason affords the best 
evidence of the confidence of the people in his 
ability, integrity and purity of character. He was 
re-elected in 1886. Judge Sanders has served 
nearly eight years on the bench, and l)y his fine 
legal attainments and superior administrative ca 
pacity he has proven a valuable acquisition to the 
judiciary of the State. He is both a Mason and 
an Odd Fellow, and a member of the Episcopal 
Church. In 1868 he was married to Miss Sallie 
Alexander, of Helena, Ark. , and by this union has 
five children. 

Arthur M. Scott, a well-known merchant and 
farmer of Spring Creek Township, came originally 
from Alabama, and is a son of Adam C. and Cath- 
arine (Shackelford) Scott, natives of Kentucky and 
Virginia, respectively. Mr. Scott was a relative 
of the noted Winfield Scott. He was a mechanic 
by trade, and died during the Mexican War, while 
in service. His wife is now living in Yell County, 
Ark., at the age of seventy-two years. They were 
the parents of four children, of whom our subject 
is the only one living. Arthur M. Scott was born 
in Southern Alabama, on August 12, 1837. He 
was reared in his native State until eleven years of 
age, when he came to Arkansas with his grand- 
father, John L. Shackelford, and has resided in 
this county since that time. His mother removed 
to this State three years later. Arthur received 
his education at Batesville, where he was attend 
ing school at the breaking out of the war, and then 
enlisted in the Confederate army, in Company C 
of the Fifteenth Arkansas Infantry, in which he 
served until the close of hostilities. He participa 
ted in the battles of Missionary Ridge, Perry ville 
(where he was shot through the right hip and 
disabled for eleven months), Jonesboro, and a 
number of others, and was captured at Franklin, 
Tenn., and taken to Camp Douglas, at Chicago, 
where he was held until June 16, 1865. Return- 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



797 



iug to Arkaasas he engaged iu farming for a yuar, 
then going to Holonii, whore he roniain(Hl until 
ISO'.). After being engaged in clerking iiutil 1871 
he started in business for himself, opening a store 
of gcntiral merchandise, that he still owns, and 
which has proven very successful. Ho also leases 
200 acres of land near North Creek, and on this 
raises annually about fifty bales of cotton, and a 
largo amount of hay. Mr. Scott is a leading 
Democrat, and has served iu a public capacity for 
a number of years. He has tilled the position of 
justice of the peace for some four years, has been 
a notary public since 1879, and has held the office 
of postmaster of North Creek since 1872, being the 
present incumbent. 

Jesse C. Shell, a prominoiit planter and an old 
resident of Phillips County, is a native of Louisi- 
ana, and a son of Jesse J. Shell, who was born in 
Orange District, S. C, May 4, 1802. His father, 
Jacob Shell, first saw the light of day in South j 
Carolina in 1771, dying in Louisiana in 1833. He 
was under Gen. Jackson at the battle of New 
Orleans. His wife, Sarah Itntlidge, a descendant 
of Gov. Rutlidgo, died in 1832. Jesse Shell, Sr. , 
moved to this county fi'om Louisiana, in 1833, to 
escape the cholera, and settling ten miles from 
Helena, was one of the esirly settlers and promi- 
nent men of the locality. He represented his 
county in the first legislature of the State, in 1830, 
and was re elected in 1838, and again in 1840. To 
himself and wife were born nine children, two of 
whom are living: Margaret A. (the wife of Maj. 
Palmer, of Monroe County) and Jesse C. The 
latter was born in Lake Providence in 1829, but 
grew up in this county from his fourth year, being 
reared by a Mr. Mooney after his father's death, 
which occurred in 1841, a re.sult of a kick from a 
horse. Ho was employed, at the age of eighteen, 
as a manager, and had charge of a plantation. In 
1819 he wont to California, was engaged in min- 
ing for two years, and then, returning, he located 
in this county, and was appointed deputy sheriff 
the same year. The following year Mr. Shell was 
again employed as a manager, in which occupation 
h(^ was employed until the war, when he enlisted 
in the First Arkansas Mounted Kiflomen, and 



served until the close of the war, being in Price's 
raid through Missouri. After (leace was declared 
ho commenced farming, and has since followed that 
calling. He was married, in 1878, to Miss Mary 
Ward, who was Ijorn in Preston, England, on Sep 
tember 8, 1852, being a daughter of Henry and 
Alice Ward, who lived and died in England. She 
came to this country with an aunt, and was reared 
in the city of Cincinnati and New Orleans. They 
were the parents of four children: J<>ssell., Wal 
ter P. , James H. and Margaret C. (who is deceased). 
Mr. Shell owns a farm of 100 acres, wliich is most- 
ly under cultivation. He is a Democrat in politics, 
and a member of the Knights of Honor, holding 
the office of Protector in his lodge, and also belongs 
to the Knights and Ladies of Honor. He is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
and his wife of the Catholic Church. 

Frank B. Sliger, president of the First National 
Bank of Hel(>na, Ark., is one of the foremost busi- 
ness men of Phillips County, although he is young 
in years. His birth occurred in New Orleans, La., 
July 1 R, 1 854, and ho is a son of Samuel and Mary 
(Klock) Sliger, the former a native of Frankfort, 
Germany, and the latter of Strasburg. Thoy wore 
married in their native country, and in 1840 em 
barked on board a vessel bound for the United 
States, landing at New Orleans, where Mr. Sliger 
engaged in the produce business. He enlisted in 
the Mexican War, and is supposed to have b(>en as 
sassinated at the City of Mexico. Besides his wife, 
who afterward died in Covington. Ky., he left a 
family of six children, of whom Frank was fourth. 
His opportunities for ac<|uiring a good education 
being excellent, ho secured a fair general knowl- 
edge in the public schools of New Orleans. It was 
not long until he had to rely entirely u^ion his own 
resources for s\ipport, and although his education 
was very good he was young in years and unac 
quainted with the ways of the world, and therefore 
found it somewhat difficult to obtain a living for !i 
numlier of years. In the s[>ring of 1 808, when only 
fourtoi>n years of age, he came to Helena and imme- 
diately ("titered the employ of Straub X- Lohmaim. 
merchants, and is still associated with the si>iiior 
partner, having been connected with him a period 



^. 



^ — "U 



798 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



of twenty -two years. By economy, industry and a 
judicious use of his money saved, wealth soon began 
to come in, and he engaged in the brokerage and 
real-estate business, his wealth materially increas- 
ing while thus occupied. In ISS-t. in connection 
with L. Lucy, he started a private bank, but their 
business increased to such an extent that they were 
compelled to reorganize with more ea[)ital. and the 
National Bank was established, he beoming its 
president. He also deals in real estate, and owns 
a vast amount of land in different localities. He 
is j)ublic-spirited, progressive, and possesses keen 
perception aud sound judgment, and is acknowl- 
edged by all to be one of the leading business 
spirits of Helena. He is a stockholder in the 
Planters' Compress Company, the Electric Light 
and Power Company, and so secure is he in the 
estimation of the people that he could command 
almost any position in their power to give, did he 
so wish it. He has been city treasurer for several 
years, was treasurer of Cotton Belt District No. 1, 
and as he has always been deeply interested in 
educational matters, he has been president of the 
school board for a number of years, but is now re- 
signed. He is Grand Treasurer of the Knights of 
Honor of the State, is Grand Commander of the 
American Legion of Honor of the State, is a mem- 
ber of the Grand Lodge of the Knights of Pythias 
and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and 
also belongs to the Koyal Arcanum and I. O. O. F. , 
being Noble Grand in the latter organization. 
He was married in March, 1880, to Miss Maggie 
Carpenter, by whom he has one child, Eugenia, 
born in March, 1887. 

Edward Sonfield, merchant. Poplar Grove, Ark. 
Mr. Sonfield owes his nativitj' to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
where his birth occurred on May 30, 1854, and is 
the eldest of eleven children, the result of the 
union of Henry and Rosa (Kornik) Sonfield, natives 
of Germany. The father came to this country and 
settled in Cincinnati in 1850 or 1851, aud was en- 
gaged in the jewelry business, following the same 
for ten or eleven years. He then moved to Nash- 
ville, Tenn. , in ISOl, embarked in the dry goods 
business, which he followed until 1865, wheu he 
moved to Memphis, here continuing the same occu- 



pation. He died in that city on July 27, 1873, a 
much-respected and honored citizen. Mrs. Son- 
field still resides in Memphis, whore she was mar- 
ried in 1879 or 1880 to S. Eichwald. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Sonfield were born eleven children, eight 
now living: Edward, Annie (wife of D. Zellner, of 
Memphis), Sarah (wife of M. Hirshberg, of Bos- 
ton), William (salesman at Memphis), Sallie and 
Jennie (at home), Eugene and Leon. Those de- 
ceased were Henrietta (died when small), Julia 
(was accidentally burned to death at Cincinnati in 
1874) and MoitIs (died at Memphis, in 1881, in 
his twenty-third year). Edward Sonfield was edu- 
cated at Cincinnati and Memphis, and at the age 
of thirteen years was employed as cash boy for 
Menken Bros., of Memphis. He was then em- 
ployed as salesman for several years, and from 
1873 to 1876 was traveling salesman for Otto 
Schwill & Co. In 1870 Mr. Sonfield moved to 
Trenton, Phillips County, Ark., and was salesman 
here for several years, traveling a portion of the 
time. In March, 1885, he commenced merchan- 
dising for himself at Poplar Grove with a small 
capital, and has since done a good business, his 
annual sales being about $6,000. He owns a tine 
store house and dwelling. He chose for his com 
panion in life Miss Alice Myers, of Helena, Ark., 
the daughter of Alex, and Mary (Poe) Myers, and 
was united in marriage to her on March 3, 1881. 
Her parents were natives of Germany and Missis- 
sippi, respectively. The father came to America 
when a young man, settled in Holly Springs, Miss., 
was married there and became the father of a fam- 
ily of children, seven now living: Blakly (residing 
in Memphis), Minnie (wife of Ben. Wiley, of Hel 
ena), Alice, Samuel, Lucy, Susie and Alex (the four 
last at home). To Mr. and Mrs. Sonfield were born 
four children: The eldest, an infant, died December 
21, 1881; Henrietta (died October 6, 1883), Henry 
(born October 29, 1884) and Julia (born December 
14, 1886). Mr. and Mrs. Sonfield are both of the 
Jewish faith. Mr. Sonfield is a member and Re- 
porter of the K. of H., Poplar Grove Lodge No. 
2442; also Secretary of the American Legion of 
Honor, Hendi'ix Council 737, and is notary public 
of this county. Politically he is a Democrat. 



-- ^ 



-« s> 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



799 



(!hiist(){)li(irColuiiibus Spain is a son of Mabry, 
Hud Deliliih Spain, iiativoH of South Carolina. The 
former died in 1855, somewhere out VVe.st, the par- 
ticulars of whicli were never known. C. C. Spain 
made his appearance in this world in Union Conn 
ty, S. C, on October 4, 1838. His mother dying 
when he was only seven weeks old, he was reared 
by an uncle, and in 1800 immi>jfrated from South 
Carolina to Trenton, Ark , locatinj^ where he now 
lives in 187(1. This place consists of 175 acres, 
with over 100 acres under cultivation. In 1875 he 
opened a store and engaged in th(> mercantile busi- 
ness, to which he has since given his attention. 
He was the prime mover in getting the postoffice 
of Coffee Creek established in 1878, and has been 
po.stmaster ever since. Mr. Spain has been mar- 
ried three times; first in 1867, to Miss Mellissa 
Browning, who was born in this county, on August 

11, 1845, and who died on August 15, 1878, leav- 
ing four children, two still living: Ida M. and 
Mary E. Arthur and Christopher C. are deceased. 
He married his second wife, Dorathy E. Phillips, 
in January, 1879, who died in March, 1880. His 
third anti present wife was formerly Sarah A. Hig- 
ginbotham, to whom he was married in November, 
1882, and who was born in this county on March 

12, 1801. They are the parents of two children: 
Mellissa C. and Dortha E. Mr. Spain served as a 
gallant soldier in the Confederate service twelve 
months during the war. He is a strong Demo- 
crat, and a member of the K. of H. , and he and 
his wife belong to the Baptist Church. He held 
the office of justice of the peace for over five years. 
In addition to his farm work IMr. Sjjain owns and 
operates a steam cotton-gin, which he erected at a 
cost of $1,200, and which is largely patronized. 

William H. Stone is a prosperous insurance 
agent of Helena, Ark., and we may truthfully say 
that no other business calls for better judgment, 
keener foresight, greater caution or more honest 
dealing than does this. By it the penniless and 
dependent are protected as well as the rich, and it 
is one of the great interests of the age, ranking 
with banking, railroading, mining and mercantile 
pursuits. Mr. Stone is the able representative of 
ten different insurance companies in Helena, and 



is accounted one of the successful business men of 
the county. Hti was l)orn in St. Francis CJoniity, 
Ark., September 80, 1841, and is a sou of William 
H. and Caroline S. (Heslep) Stone, the former a 
native of Tennessee, and the latt<u- of Kentucky. 
After the father's death, whii-li occurred in Ten- 
nessee, the mother came to Helena, Ark., in 1847, 
and here died on March 8, 1877. just thirty years 
to the day after her arrival. Of their family of 
live children all are deceased with the exception 
of William H. and his brother Joseph H. The 
former was but six years old when Ijrought by his 
mother to the county, and here he grew to honor- 
able manhood, receiving his education in a private 
school. Early in the year 18()1 he enlisted in the 
Yell liifles and during a service of four years saw 
much hard service, and participated in some hard 
fought battles. Upon his return to Helena at the 
close of the war he clerked for two years, but since 
that time has followed his present calling, at which 
he has done remarkal)ly well, being now the owner 
of considerable valuable real estate in the town. 
He has been a Mason since 1807, and also belongs 
to the Koyal Arcanum and the Knights of Honor. 
In 1867 he wedded Miss Sallie L. Miles, a native 
of Arkansas, and by her has two children: Ellice 
and Clinton. 

W. B. Stout, agent for the Southern Express 
Company, and passenger agent for the Louisville, 
New Orleans & Texas Kailroad, owes his nativity 
to Paducah, Ky., where his birth oceiured on No- 
vember 25, 1848, and is the son of Hezekiah and 
Mary G. (Gholston) Stout, the father a native of 
Indiana, and the mother of Kentucky. The father 
was a prominent business and saw mill man in In- 
diana, Teiniessee and Kcuitucky, and was city tax 
collector for a numl>er of years in Paducah, Ky., 
before his death, which occurred in Paducah, in 
November, 1877. The boyhood days of W. B. 
Stout was passed in the common schools and later 
in college. At an early age he was employed in the 
Adams and Southern Express ofKce at Paducah, and 
has followed this business for twenty-two years. In 
1880 he was transferred to St. Louis, andr(>mained 
there until coming to Helena, in 1880. He has 
occupied every position of trust while in the em- 



!A 



800 



HISTORY OF AEKANSAS. 



ploy of this company, aud now occupies both posi- 
tions as express agent and passenger agent. He 
has much exjierience and thoroughly understands 
his business. He was married in 1880 to Miss 
Louisa M. Simon, of Paducah, Ky., who was born 
in Louisville, Ky., became a member of the Catho- 
lic Church in early life, both children being bap- 
tized in the same church. Their names are: Mamie 
Threasa (was born at Little Rock, Ark., January 
14, 1882) and Archibald L. (was born in St. Louis, 
Mo., in March, 1885). Mr. St<}ut is a member of 
the K. of H. , and is a stockholder in two building 
and loan associations, American Building & Loan 
Association and Tontine Savings Association; being 
secretary and treasurer of the same. 

Maj. J. A. Tappan, hardware merchant, Hel- 
ena, Ark. In Fayette County, Tenn., in January, 
1847, there was born to Capt. E. S. and Sarah E. 
(Williamson) Tappan, a son, J. A. Tappan. The 
[)arents were both natives of Tennessee, aud the 
father was a merchant by vocation. He was a 
prominent politician of Tennessee, and was a mem- 
ber of the legislature several terms. He was a 
captain in the War of 1812. J. A. Tappan was 
reared to matiirity in his native county, receiving 
his education there, and when only sixteen years 
of age, or, in 1803, he enlisted in Company A, 
Sixth Tennessee Regiment, and served until the 
surrender. Ho then learned civil engineering, fol- 
lowing the same for years, and engineered the St. 
Louis & St. Joe Railroad; also the Missouri, Kan- 
sas & Topeka Railroad. In 1870 he came to Hel- 
ena and built the Arkansas Midland Railroad, be- 
ing chief engineer of the same. He then took 
charge of and reconstructed the gas-works, which 
were $8,000 in debt, got them in good shape and 
turned them over with $2, 500 cash. He represents 
W. H. Brown & Co., at Pittsburg, the largest 
coal dealers in the world. He engaged in the hard- 
ware business in January, 1889, and is doing a 
good business, carrying a large stock of goods. 
Their coal business is an extensive one, selling 
aliout 500,000 bushels annually. It is shipped 
both by river aud railroad. He is a stockholder in 
the Fair Association. He was married in 1878 to 
Miss Maggie Lambert, and the fruits of this union 



have been three children: Maggie, Mattie aud 
Be'ssie. Mr. Tappan is a member of the I. O. O. F. 
Lodge, and is one of the leading and prominent 
men of Helena. He has done a great deal in the 
way of improving the city. 

Reuben Terry is a native of Kentucky, and a 
son of John and Jane (Gray) Terry, originally 
from Kentucky and Virginia, respectively. John 
Terry was born on April 3, 1801, and died in 1833 
at Evansville, Ind. , while on his way from New 
Orleans. He was married on June 20, 1819. 
Reuben Terry, his father, was of Irish descent aud 
a native of Virginia. Reuben Terry, the principal 
of this sketch, was born in Bourbon County, Ky. , 
on April 1, 1821, and at the age of sixteen com- 
menced learning the carpenter's trade, which he 
followed for twenty years. He was married in 
Indiana, in 1847, to Miss Nancy Ann Shaver, who 
was born in Ripley County, that State, in 1828. 
She died in January, 1885, having been the mother 
of nine chiklreu, two of whom are still living: John 
W. (residing in Poplar Grove) and Albert (who 
resides in this county) Mr. Terry's second mar- 
riage was on June 11, 1889, to Miss Fannie Jones, 
who was born in Tennessee, August 22, 1858. In 
1872 Mr. Terry engaged in the mercantile business 
at Turner, this county, taking his eldest son, J.W., 
in partnership, the firm being known as J.W. Terry 
& Co. They carry a stock of $4,000, and do a busi- 
ness of $12,000 to $15,000 anuually. He has been 
portmaster of this village since 1879, In 1840 he 
enlisted in the Mexican War, serving under Gen. 
Taylor, and was discharged at Now Orleans in 
Jime, 1847. He is a member of the Masonic and 
I. O. O. F. fraternities, and he and wife are con- 
nected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. 

G. F. Thomin, M. D., physician and surgeon, 
Marvell, Ark. A prominent physician aud siir 
geon, who by his own abilities has attained dis- 
tinction in his profession, is Dr. G. F. Thomin. 
This gentleman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 
1848, and is the son of Conrad Frederick Thomin, 
a native of Germany, who came to America in 
1824. The latter settled in Cincinnati, and em- 
barked in the milling business, which he still con- 






^1 



-« S) U" 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



801 



tinues, runniug ji custom and merchant mill, al- 
though ho in uow seveiity Keveii years of ago. He 
was marriod in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Jliss Cath<>rino 
Folenious, who is also living, and is now sixty- 
four yoars of ago. Both are momhors of the Old 
School Prosltytcrian Church. Of thoir family of 
live cliildren, four aro imw living: Tjonisa (do 
ceased, wife of Joso|)h Cohn, the family now re- 
siding in Hamilton County, Ohio), Frodoricka 
(wife of B. Buell, of the same place), Eliza (wife 
of Robert Wade, who is the grandnophow of (Jon. 
B. Wade, of Ohio. Ho also resides in Hamilton 
County), Ct. F., and Charles F. (who resides in 
Ohio). G. F. Thomin was reared in Cincinnati, 
Ohio, and attended the free schools of that [)laco 
until six years of age, when his father moved in 
the country, to Venice on the Great Miami llivor. 
There he attended school until sixteen years of 
age, when he entered Hanover College (Indiana), 
graduating from tht^ same at the age of twctnty 
years. He then entered the Ohio Medical School 
the same year, and at the age of twenty-one grad- 
uated from the same. In 1805 he enlisted in the 
United States army as one of the Ohio State Na- 
tional Guards, commanded by Col. Fisher, of Cin- 
cinnati, and spent most of his time while in the 
army on the eastern coast of Virginia. He was a 
drummer boy, and was discharged at Camp Doni- 
son, Ohio. The Doctor commenced [)racticing at 
Millvillis Ohio, where he remained for three yoars, 
and then moved to Northeast Missouri in 1872. 
He practiced at AVilliamston, Lewis County, and 
remained there until December, 1884, when ho 
located at Marvel!, in Phillips County, his present 
homo, and still has his large practice. Although 
he has spent a comparatively short time in this 
county, he enjoys a large and lucrative practice, 
and from all a])[>e!irances the confidence in his 
abilities is not misplaced. The Doctor has been 
twice married, his first wife being Miss Nautilla 
\\'oodyard. diuighter of Col. M. D. Woodyard, 
whom he married in 1870. Col. Woodyard com- 
manded the United States forces from Missouri, 
and was under Gen. Moore. To the Doctor and 
wife was born but one child, who died in infancy. 
Mrs. Thomin died in 1872 of consumption. In 



1874 Dr. Thomin married Miss Mamie K. Sprinkle, 
daughter of W. J. S])rinkle, of Canton, Mo., who 
was (juartormaster under Gen. Moore. Doctor 
and Mrs. Thomin l)ecame the parents of three chil 
dron: Ada, Fredori(!a and Harry (deceased). The 
Doctor is a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
Marvell Lodge No. IJO'J, of which he is Master, 
and he and wife aro members of the Christian 
Church. 

William Thompson, an extensive planter f»f Cy 
press Township, is a native of Tennessee, and was 
born in W'illianjson County Octolxsr 22, 1S21. He 
moved to Kentucky in 1848, and in 1855 to Greene 
County, Mo., coming in 1806 to this county. The 
first year ho rented a farm, and the following year 
purchased a tract of wild laud. Mr. Thomp.son 
was marriod in Kentucky a))out IS47 to Miss Hen- 
rietta lvo[)or, who was born in Kentucky in 1S38. 
She is the mother of twelve children, ten of whom 
aro still living: Jose])h Fi. (married to L. F. llen- 
fraw), William \., Sarah M. (widow of llobert Hen- 
derson), Lucretia (married to J. F. Jarrett), Anna 
(wife of F. Dawson), Henrietta B. (wife of William 
McKinley), Charles F., Laura, Allie and Alice 
(twins). They are the grandparents of twenty-two 
children. Mr. Thompson owns 320 acres of land, 
with 140 acres under cultivation. Though upon 
locating in this county ho had but $1 in his i)ocket, 
he is now in good circumstances, and owns a well 
improved farm, stocked with cattle, mules and 
horses. Mr. Thompson, formerly a Whig, cast his 
first presidential vote for Henry Clay; he How 
votes the Democratic ticket. During the war he 
served as wagon master in the Confederate arn)y 
for three years. He and wife and all but two of 
the children belong to the Baptist Church. Mr. 
Thompson is a model farmer, an old resident ami 
a highly respected citizen. 

Judge P. O. Thweatt, attorney at law. To un 
dertake to introduce to our readers the sul)ject of 
this sketch would be something entirely unneces- 
sary, for his (>xtensive acquaintarice and long con 
uoction with the affairs of this county have rend 
ered him well and ])i>pularly known. Born near 
Franklin, Williamson Cotuity, Tenn., October 10, 
1834, he is a son of Harwood D. and Elizabeth 



i^s r- 



^ — 'fv*" 



802 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



(Echols) Thweatt, who were of Welsh aud English 
origin, and natives of the Old Dominion, their an 
cestors having settled in that couiiuouwealth prior 
to the American Revolution. Both the paternal and 
maternal grandfathers participated in that war, 
aud two of the Judge's paternal uncles died while 
serving in the War of 1812, and his mother's only 
brother died the next year of disease contracted at 
Pensacola. Harwood and Elizabeth Thweatt moved 
from Virginia to Tennessee in 1811. and located 
near Franklin, but in the year 1845 moved to Mis- 
sissipj>i and settled in Yalobusha County, where 
both died on a farm. Two of their seven children 
are now living: Nichols and Judge P. O. The 
latter spent his youth aud received his early edu- 
cation near what afterward became the battle-lield 
of Franklin, he being an attjendant of Harper's 
Academy, from which institution he graduated in 
1856. From that time until 1859 he made his 
home in Mississippi, and at the latter date removed 
to Monroe County, Ark., where he spent some 
time in teaching school and studying law, being 
admitted to the bar at Clarendon, in March, 18fi0, 
and entered at once upon a successful career. His 
labors were interrupted, however, by the opening 
of the war, and in June, 1801, he went to Fort 
Smith and joined Churchill's regiment, but owing 
to his receiving a gunshot wound in the left leg, at 
the l)attle of Oak Hill, Mo., August 10, of that 
yea'r, he was unfitted for active duty for the re- 
mainder of the war, but served as commissary. 
In 18fi2 he was elected county and probate judge 
of Monroe County, and served until the Federal 
troops took possession of the county, in 1863, 
when he went as a refugee to Texas and there 
remained until the war closed. In 1865 he re- 
turned to Clarendon, Ark. , built him an oflSce and 
resumed his law practice. In 1860 he was elected 
prosecuting attorney of the First Judicial District, 
which extended from the Missouri line to the mouth 
of White River, and served until the reconstruction 
period, when he was removed from office. Having 
located at Helena, he practiced alone until April, 
1870, then formed a co partnership with Judge T. 
B. Hanley, continuing until 1873, when he became 
associated with Hon. G. Quarlea, which partner- 



shiji lasted for about ten years. His professional 
career was one of gratifying success, and he has 
built up a reputation for ability that is not merely 
local, but extends over a wide range. He owns 
two good farms, each containing several hundred 
acres, antl his farm on Old Town Ridge comprises 
800 acres, of which 400 are in cultivation; and the 
one on Old Town Island comprises 320 acres, of 
which 220 are in a high state of cultivation, and 
on which is erected a fine steam cotton-gin. All 
this has been earned through practicing his pro- 
fession. He was associated for some time with his 
brother, W. H. Thweatt, at Clarendon, but like 
himself the latter enlisted in the Confederate army, 
was wounded at the battle of Shiloh, in 1862, and 
died in 1864. The Judge is a Royal Arch Mason, 
has passed all the chairs in the Odd Fellows lodge, 
and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, 
the Royal Arcanum and the Legion of Honor. 
His marriage, which occurred on February 23, 
1870, was to Mary, the only daughter of Judge J. 
S. Hornor, and by her he is the father of three 
children: Bessie, Oscar and Re, who are living, 
and two dead. The Judge has now in his posses- 
sion a Virginia land grant, dated 1735, to a tract 
of land in Prince George County, Va. , signed Ijy 
George II., and granting a large tract of laud to 
his ancestors on the father's side. 

Joseph ^\'oodson Thompson, farmer, Marvell, 
Ark. A lifelong experience in the channels of 
agricultural pursuits has contributed not a little 
toward the success which has fallen to the lot of 
Mr. Thompson, who is acknowledged by all to be 
one of the enterprising and substantial citizens of 
the county. He is the owner of 370 acres of ex- 
cellent land, and has 140 acres under cultivation, 
with a good orchard, fine buildings, etc. He was 
originally from Williamson County, Teun., where 
his birth occurred on March 3, 1826, and is the 
son of Joseph Lee Thompson, and grandson of 
A\'illiam and Rachel Thompson. The grandparents 
moved from North Caroliua to Williamson County, 
Tenn. , when Joseph was six years of age, and 
there he grew to manhood. William Thompson was 
of Scotch descent, and he was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary War. Joseph Thompson was mar- 



"If 



•^^ 



I-? k^ 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



S(»H 



ried in Williiiiusoii County, Toiiii. , to Miss Sarah 
Adams, a imtive of Blount C!ouiity, Tidiii., horn in 
ISOO; she diod in 1S77, in Phillijjs County, Ark. 
Ho moved from Tennessee to Greene County, Mo. , 
in l.Sr)t;, and from there to Phillips County, Ark., 
in ISfi'i. Ther(( lie died July 3, KST4. They were 
the parents of eight children, live now living; 
William (in this county), Joseph W., John L. (re- 
sides in Greene County, Mo. ), Mary (widow of Mr. 
Carter, and now resides in Fulton County, Ky.) 
and Samuel H. (in Monroe County, Ark.). Joseph 
Woodson Thomjison was the third in order of 
birth of th(> children l)orn to his parents. He at- 
tained his growth and received his education in 
Williamson County, Teim., and in 1854 he went 
to Greene County, Mo., where he resided eight 
years, engaged in farming. He then enlisted in 
the Confederate army, in ]May, 1861, in Company 
A of the State service, and in 1862 entered the 
regular army in Company B, Hawthorn's regi- 
ment of infantry. About Fel)ruary, 1863, ho was 
discharged on account of disability. He was in 
the fights of Pea Kidge and Oak Hill. After his dis- 
charge he came to this county, and here he has 
resided ever since. He was married here on March 
27, ]88'2, to Mrs. Helen Pasley, a native of Phil- 
li[)s County, Ark., and the fruits of this union has 
been one child, Woodson Leo. Mrs. Thompson 
was liorn in 1852 as the daugiiter of A\'illianj and 
Laura Thompson, both of whom died when their 
daughter was about two years old. They were 
married in this county, and after their death Helen 
was reared among strangers. She was married 
aliout 1875, to Harvey J. Pasley, who died in 1877, 
leaving one child, Harvey C, who now resides 
with Mr. and Mrs. Thompson. Mr. Thomjjson is 
Democratic in his political views, and his first 
presidential vote was cast for Z. Taylor. At one 
time he was a Whig. Mr. Thompson is a mem- 
ber of the Ma.soaic order. Marvell Lodge No. 369, 
Royal Arch Chapter at Clarendon, Monroe County, 
Ark., and is also a member of the K. of H. 

Mrs. Emma Aim Turner is the widow of Na- 
than S. Turner, who was born in Caswell County. 
N. C, Deceml)er 28, 1825, as a sou of Edmund 
and Mary (Slade) Turner, also natives of Caswell 



County. The |>aternal grandfatlusr, Edmund Tur 
ner, originally from Maryland, was a soldier in the 
llevolutionary War, and was one of the early set 
tiers of North Carolina. He was of English de 
scent. Edmund Turner, Jr., removed from North 
Carolina in 1S41, going first to Tennessee, then ti; 
Missouri, where he remained ten years, then to 
Mississippi, and in 1857 cami- to Phillips County, 
Ark., where he died the following year, his wife 
dying the same month. They were the parents of 
five children, two of whom only are living. Na- 
than S. Turner and the suljject of this sketch were 
married in Mississippi January 7, 1852. He came 
to this county in 1856, and embarked in farming, 
and was one of the influential men of the county. 
He was a member of the Masonic order, in which 
he had taken the Royal Arch degree, and was a 
prominent Democrat. He died on February 28, 
1874. Mrs. Emma Turner was born in Currituck 
County. N. C. , on September 30, 183S, her parents 
being Daniel 15. and Nancy (tiray) Lindsey, also 
of that county. They were married in their native 
State, and resided in Currituck County until 1841'. 
when they moved to Hardeman County, Teini., 
remaining five years. After removing to Missis- 
sippi, in 1856, they came to Arkansas, and located 
in this county. Mr. Lindsey afterward went to 
St. Francis County, where he died in 1868, at the 
age of sixty years. His wife was l)orn in 1SI6, and 
died in Deceml)er, 1858. in Monroe County, Ark. 
They were the parents of nine children, four of 
whom are still living — onr' son in Texas, on<' siji/in 
Mississippi, a daughter in Faulkner County, Ark., 
and the principal of this sketch. Mrs. Turner 
owns 285 acres of land, near the village of Poplar 
Grove, of which 2<l(l acres ari' under cultivation. 
She also owns tweuty-two town lots. She is now 
engaged in keeping a boarding house, wliich is 
largely patronized. She is tlii' inothei- of two 
children, William T. and John M. 

Nathaniel Berry Turner, a large planter of Cy 
press Township, is a native of South Carolina, and 
is the owner of 1,320 acres of land, with over t(Ml 
acres under cultivation. Besiiles being the owner 
of a steam cotton-gin, which he erected in IS73, 
ho is quite an extensive stock-rai.ser, and the larg- 



804 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



est Lay producer in his township. His principal 
crop is corn and cotton, of the last of which he 
raises from 100 to 160 bales annually. He was 
born in South Carolina, March 7, 1834, and is a 
son of .John and Nancy (Cooper) Turner. John 
Turner, a native of South Carolina, died in that 
State in 1855. His father, Joseph Turner, was a 
Virginian by birth. The mother of our subject, 
originally from South Carolina, died in May, 1871. 
She bore a family of eleven children, five boys and 
six girls, three of whom are living in South Caro- 
lina, one in Alabama, and three in this county. 
The rest are now deceased. The subject of this 
sketch remained in his native State until 1859, 
when he came to Arkansas, and located in Phillips 
County. Here he was married, in 1868, to Miss 
Ellen McDowell, who was born in Mississippi, in 
1847. They are the parents of eleven children, 
eight of whom survive: John L., Laiira A., Na- 
thaniel G. , Ellis, James C, Nellie, Blanche and 
Liza Josie. Mr. Turner enlisted in June, 1862, 
in Company C, of Johnson's regiment, in which 
he served until the close of the war. He is a strong 
Democrat, and one of the influential men of his 
township. He has served as school director for six 
years, is a member of the County Wheel, and is a 
self-made man. When he came to this county he 
was employed as overseer of a gang of negroes, 
and had no property. Now he is one of the largest 
land owners in the county. 

Capt. B. Y. Turner, farmer, Poplar Grove, 
Ark. Mr. Turner is recognized as a careful, ener- 
getic agriculturist of this community, and by his 
advanced ideas and progressive habits has done no 
little for the farming elements hereabouts. Orig- 
inally from Tennessee, he was born in 1838, and is 
the youngest of live children, the fruits of the 
union of Edmond and Mary (Slade) Tui-ner, na- 
tives, respectively, of Maryland and North Caro- 
lina. Edmond Turner moved to Tennessee about 
1837, but after a residence there of one year moved 
to Greene County, Mo., and settled near Spring- 
field in 1839. Springfield was at that time a very 
small place, the principal merchant being Daniel 
P. Berry, and only two or three business houses 
were there at that time. The section of country 



between that place and the Arkansas line was very 
sparsely settled, and Mr. Turner was among the 
pioneers of that county. Ho remained there six- 
teen years, and in 1855 came to this county, settling 
where his son, Capt. B. Y. Turner, now lives, and 
on a portion of this land the city of Poplar Grove 
was laid out in 1878. When Mr. Turner first 
purchased this farm there were but thirty acres 
cleared, and at the time of his death he had im- 
proved only forty or forty- five acres. He died in 
1858. Of the five children born to his marriage 
only two are now living: W. C. (who resides in 
California and is extensively engaged in farming 
and stock raising) and B. Y. Turner. The mother 
of these children died in 1858, within a few days of 
her husband. Both were members of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, South. He was a member of 
the Masonic fraternity. B. Y. Turner was reared 
and educated principally in Marshall County, 
Miss., whither his father had moved in 1851. He 
attended graded school at Oxford, Miss., for two 
years, and afterward came with his father to this 
State, where he studied medicine under Dr. R. G. 
Dunn, and attended his first lectures at Louisville 
Medical College in 1855. He never practiced to 
any great extent, but spent the time between 1856 
and 1861 engaged in farming. In the last mentioned 
year he joined a company known as the South 
Western Guards, as a private, and was elected 
lieutenant, and upon its organization was promoted 
to the rank of captain. After his company was 
joined to the Second Arkansas Infantry, Capt. 
Turner was engaged in the following battles: 
Green River, Shiloh, Corinth (1st) and luka. 
After the last named 1)attle he was transferred to 
the west side of the Mississippi River and served 
in Dobbins' brigade, under Gen. Price. He was 
in the battles of Helena and Big Creek, and at the 
last place was wounded by a minie ball in the left 
leg, which disal)led him for some time. He was 
with Gen. Price through Missouri, and partici- 
pated in most of the battles fought during that 
time. He surrendered and was paroled at Helena 
in July, 1865. Capt. Turner then returned home 
and found himself a poor man, his property con 
sisting of two six-shooters and a black horse. He 



^-* 



Li: 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



805 



was not discouraged, however, and wont to work 
at tilling tlio soil. He is now the owner of 400 
acres of land, with '2r)0 acres under cultivation, 
and is also the owner of a large cotton-gin and 
grist mill coml)iaed. Ho gins annually TiOO hales 
of cotton, and produces from his farm seventy 
bales annually. In 18()7 he was elected sheriff 
(this was the lirst election hold after the war), l)ut 
was disqualilled by the now constitution of 18()8. 
Ten years later he was elected to the same office 
and tilled this office in a highly creditable manner 
until 188 4. Mr. Turner has been throe times 
married; first, in 1859, to Miss Faunie Swan, who 
died the same year. In 1S(V.I iio niarrie 1 Miss 
Virginia A. Cowley, daughter of Edward A. Cow- 
ley, who was one of the early county and circuit 
clerks of Phillii)s (Joniity, and one of the old pio- 
neers of Helena. To Mr. and Mrs. Turner were 
bora two children : Edward B. (died at the age of 
nine years) and Virginia (who died at the age of 
six years). Mrs. Turner died in 1875. She was 
a member of the Old School Presbyterian Church. 
In 1879 Mr. Turner was united in marriage to 
Miss Ella 11. Reafro, of Phillips County, and 
daughter of W. H. and A. A. Eenfro, natives of 
Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Turner l)ecame the 
parents of two childi-en: lleufro H. and Bartlott 
Y. , Jr. Mr. Turner is a member of the Old 
School Presbyterian Church, and is a member of 
Poplar Grove Lodge of the K. of H. He is a 
Democrat in his political views, and is a prominent 
citizen. Mr. Turner is a member of the American 
Legion of Honor, llendrix Lodge No. 737. 

James R. Turner, livery merchant, Poplar 
(irove. Ark. This stable, from the largo business 
it does, not only exemplifies the importance of the 
town, but reflects credit on its management. Mr. 
Turner engaged in this liusiness near where he is 
now located, at the age of twenty-one years, and 
in 1873 he moved to his present place of business, 
having built the first Inisiness house in the village, 
and started the first general store. He was also 
a])pointed postmaster in his twenty-first year, and 
served in that cai>aeity for twenty years. At the 
time he was apjiointed postmaster he was elect- 
ed justice of the peace, which oflSce he retained 



for (Mght years. In January, 1868, he married 
Miss K. N. McCoy, a native of l'liilli|>s C'onnty, 
l)orn on Christuuis day, 1851, and the daughter 
of John and J. E. (Howard) McCoy, natives of 
K(>ntucky, who cam<> to this State in ISIO. ISIr. 
McCoy was a short time in the Confederate army, 
and died in 1804. Mrs. McCoy afterward, in 
1872, was united in niari'iage to M. A. Stri|)line, 
of this county. Hi^ died in 1877. and Afrs. McC'oy 
now resides with her son-in-law, Jamos R. Turner. 
To the latter' s marriage were born seven children, 
four now living: Roliert N., Daisy, Eva and 
Templin. Three died when small. Mr. Turner 
is a menil)er of th(> i\Iasonic fraternity. La Fayette 
Lodge No. 97. and he and wife are members of 
the K. & L. of H., Pojjlar Grove Lodge No. 518, 

' he beinir Treasurer of the same. Mrs. Turner is 

i ^ 

a member of tin" CJumborland Presliyterian Church. 
Mr. Turner is an earnest worker for emigration, 
and is a meml)er of the county emigration body 
called the Phillips County Emigration Society. 
He was born in Phillips County, Ark., in 1848, and 
is the third of nine children born to the union of 
W. R. and Elizabeth F. (Ewett) Turner, and the 
only one now living. The father came to this 
county from Maryland in 183l'i. settled near Helena, 
which was them only a small trading point, and 
when Indians were numerous. He bought land 
and tilled the soil the principal part of his life, 
and at one time, previous to the war, was the owner 
of a number of negroes. He was one of the pio- 
neer settlors, and helped to open nearly eveK 
public road in the county. He served as justice of 
the peace previous to the late unpleasantness, and 
was for those days one of the best-educated men 
in the county. He was born in 1818 and died in 
1877. He served for a short time in the Confed- 
erate service l)of()ro the clos(> of the war. He was 
twice married, lirst, in 1843. to the motiier of the 
subject of this sketch, who died in 18(52, and in 
1803 to a sister of his (Irsl wife, Martha A. Ewett, 
who bore him three children, two of whom are 
now living: J. C. (in the store of James R. Turner! 
and IMrs. Enuna F. Pearson (of Poplar CSrove.) 
Mrs. Turner resides with her daughter, Mrs. Pear- 
son. 



^. 



806 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



Richard N. Venable, M. D. , physician and sur- 
geon, Poplar Grove, Ark. Among the people of 
Phillips, ii9 well as surronnding counties, the name 
that heads this sketch is by no means an unf amil 
iar one, for, for many years he has been success- 
fully occupied in the prosecution of his chosen pro- 
fession. During this time his career as a practi- 
tioner and thorough student of medicine has won 
for him no less a reputation than has his personal 
characteristics us a citizen and neighbor. He was 
born in Virginia in 1828, and is the third of seven 
children, the result of the union of Henry and 
Margaret (Ried) Venable, natives of the Old Do- 
minion, also. Henry Venable was a merchant and 
farmer of Virginia, and was postmaster of Prince 
Edward Court House (some meml)er of this family 
has been postmaster at that place for over 100 
years). He was a slave owner, having at one time 
lifty negroes, but devoted most of his time to mer- 
chandising. He died in 1856, in his lifty-eighth 
year, and Mrs. Venalile died in 1870, at the age of 
seventy years. The maternal grandfather of the 
Doctor was sent by George III. to survey and sell 
a large tract of land, located close around Prince 
Edward Court House, Va. The maternal grand- 
father, Gilford Morton, was in the Revolution- 
ary War, and was wounded at Guilford Court 
House, N. C. Of the seven children born to the 
marriage of Henry Venable, only three are now 
living, Dr. Venable being the eldest one, Andrew 
and Margaret (now Mrs. Hanna, of Prince Edward 
County, Va.). Andi-ew resides in Charlotte County. 
Dr. Venable was reared in Prince Edward County, 
Va. , received his education at home until twelve 
year.s of age, when he entered the Washington 
University, later the University of Virginia, and in 
1851 he entered the Jeffer.son Medical School of 
Philadelphia, graduating from the same. He then 
began practicing at Lynchlnirg, Va. ; from there 
went to Minnesota, thence to Mississi]ipi, and in 
1876 came to Phillips County, Ark, where he set 
tied near Poplar Grove. He has been twice mar 
ried; first to Miss Caroline I. Craft, of Holly 
Springs, Miss., who died in 1876, and in 1883 he 
was united in marriage to Mrs. Wallace, who had 
been a resident of Phillips County for thirty years. 



Dr. Venable was in the Confederate service from 
1862 to 1865, was surgeon of Baldwin's brigade and 
the Second Texas (Moore's) brigade. During the 
siege of Vicksburg he was transferred to another 
brigade, and remained with the same until the close 
of the war. He was engaged in numerous battles 
as field surgeon, was taken prisoner at Vicksburg 
but was immediately paroled. He returned to 
Phillips County at the close of the war, and at 
once resumed his practice. Dr. Venable is a man 
who favors all public improvements for the benefit 
of his county, and favors rdl newcomers with a 
hearty welcome. He and Mrs. Venable are mem 
bers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He 
is a member of the Masonic fraternity, is a K. & 
L. of H. , Myrtle Lodge No. 518. He is a promi 
nent physician, and has a large practice. 

B. B. Waddell, president and manager of the 
Citizens' Street Railway and superintendent of the 
Highland Improvement Company, was originally 
from Carroll County, Tenn., where his birth oc- 
curred on August 24, 1832, and is the son of Amos 
and Nancy (Pratt) Waddell, the father a native of 
Georgia and the mother of Virginia. The parents 
emigrated to Tennessee about 1820, were among 
the first settlers, and here the mother died. In 
1849 the father moved to Southern Arkansas, lo- 
cating in Ashley County, where he remained for 
several years. He then returned to Tennessee, 
where he passed his last days. He was a captain 
in the War of 1812. Their family consisted of 
eleven children, four now living: Dr. A. P., Mrs. 
Smith (of Tennessee), B. B. and Lucinda (in 
Texas). B. B. Waddell attained his growth and 
received his education in Tennessee. In 1849 he 
came with his father to Arkansas, but only re- 
mained a few weeks when he returned to Memphis 
and entered the law office of Judge Henry G. 
Smith. In 1S53 he was admitted to the bar and 
is the only one of the Memphis bar admitted at that 
time who is now living. He practiced law at that 
place until 1866, with the exception of the time 
during the war, after which he gave up his pro- 
fession and engaged in keeping hotel until 1873. 
In 1861 he entered tiie staff of Gen. Polk, was 
transferred to Gen. Beauregard's staff, and re- 



-^ 



PHILLIPS COUNTY. 



807 



nmiuod with tlip sanio until 1S64, when his Imalth 
faihxl and he returned to ISIeiuphis. While keep- 
ing hotel he was also engaged in laying the Nich- 
olson pavement, and made other city improvements. 
In 1S73 he wont to St. Lonis, embarked in the real 
estate business and remained there until 188(1 
He then engaged as general superintendent for 
Thomas G. Allen & Co., of Monii)Iiis, large real 
estate dealers, owning lifty-two plantations, and 
he remained interested in this business until 1887, 
when ho came to Helena, and with other parties 
purchased a large interest here, which he is now 
superintending. He procured the franchise and 
laid the street railway in 18S8, and this is now in 
a prosperous condition. Since his residence here 
he has consolidated his interest and formed the 
Highland Improvement C^ompany, and purchased 
the large hills around Helena. He is now engaged 
in leveling the hills and making beautiful building 
sites of the same. Mr. Waddell is a progressive 
citizen and has always rendered his services of in- 
Huence in Helena by many marked improvements. 
While living in Merapliis he was principally engaged 
in the management of a large plantation in connec- 
tion with his law practice. He was married at 
Denmark, Tenn., in 185f), to Miss Fannie Tarlier, 
by whom he has four children: Tarbor, Lizzie, 
Paul and Anna. He is a member of the Episcopal 
Church. 

Ca{)t. D. R. Weedman, farmer, Poi)lar Grove, 
Ark. Mr. Weedman, one of the leading farmers 
of Marion Township, first saw the light in ]?reek- 
inridge County, Ky., in 1S88, and is the third of 
ten children, the result of the union of Stephen 
and Mary A. (Gilbert) ^\■eedmaIl, natives of Ken- 
tucky and Virginia, and of German English par- 
entage, respectively. The paternal grandfather 
came from Germany to America when a small boy. 
Stephen Weedman was a farmer and house carpen- 
ter by occupation, and followed this the latter part 
of his life. He was among the early settlers of 
Grayson Cormty, Ky., and died in ISIJC, at the age 
of sixty years. Mrs. Weedman still lives in Meade 
County. Ky.. is eighty nine years of age, enjoys 
perfect health, and is a member of the Baptist 
Church, of which her husV)aud was also a meml>er. 



Of tli(> ten children l)orn to their marriage only 
six are now living: Addison (resides in Kentucky), 
Amos (also resides in Kentucky), D. R., Morde- 
cai, Miram (both residing in Kentucky), Jacob 
(deceased), William (deceased), P'rancis (resides in 
Kentucky), Martha (deceased), and Mary (wife of 
George Brands). D. II. Woodman was early 
taught the duties of farm life, and received his ed- 
ucation in Breckinridge County, Ky. At the age 
of twenty-one years he commenced life for himself 
as a ilat-boatman, and also learned the trade of 
ship carpenter. While engaged in the flat-boat 
business he carried on the building of flat-boats, 
following the same for ten years, or until thirty 
one years of age. He then joined the Confederate 
army. Company F, First Kentucky Regiment, as 
a private, and was elected second lieutenant at the 
organization of the company. From that he was 
promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, and par- 
ticipated in the following l)attlos; Stone River, 
Chickamauga, Dalton and all the cavalry lights in 
that section. From Dalton he went to Atlanta, 
Greensboro, N. C, and here his brigade was de- 
tailed as escort for Jefferson Davis and Gen. Breck- 
inridge, and remained with them until the surren- 
der on May 8th. This regim<>nt was the last guard 
to Mr. Davis. Capt. Weodmtm has in his pos.ses- 
sion one of the silver dollars paid him by the Con- 
federate States Government, just before his sur- 
render, and has inscribed on it the following: 
"Last payment, C. S. A., Washington, Ga., May 
8. \S(\'}," and on the other side is, " D. R. Well 
man, 1st Ky. Cav. '' At the termination of hostil- 
ities Capt. Weedman wont to his home in Ken 
tucky an<l rem.iined in that State from June. 186."), 
to May, 18<')U, when he engaged at iiis trade, and 
also followed agricnlliiral pursuits. Ho then came 
to Phillips Couiity and worked at the carjionter's 
tradi> for four years. In 1N7( he Ixiugiit eighty 
acres of land, with sixty acres improved, l)ut has 
since sold that, and is now the owner of '.ir>0 acres 
with 2(H) acn>s under improvement. The Captain 
was married in 1875) to Mrs. Martha A. Connelly. 
lu'f Thompson, of this county, and a native of this 
State, which union resulted in the birth of two 
children, only one, Gofjrge. now living. .Mr. Weeil 



Ml 



lii. 



808 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



man is a member of thi? K. of H. , Poplar Grove 
Lodge No. 2442, and Mrs. Weedman is a member 
of the K. & L. of H., Myrtle Lodge No. 518, 
both lodges of Poplar Grove. Capt. Weedman, 
like the majority of liis neighbors, favors all pnb 
lie improvements for the bonetit of his county, and 
extends a hearty welcome to all emigrations of 
whites, no matter of what nationality. 

L. J. Wilkes, grocer, Helena, Ark. There are 
several houses in this city that are thoroughly 
typical, not alone of the comprehensive growth and 
increasing importance of Helena as the supplying 
center of the growing West, but whose career is a 
source of public pride, delineating as they do the 
general business enterprise and commercial sagac- 
ity of some of our leading citizens. Such a con- 
cern is that conducted by Wilkes & Ford which 
was established under the firm title of Wilkes & 
Ford in 1884. They carry a full line of groceries, 
etc. , and are doing a good business. Mr. Wilkes 
was born in Putnam County, Ga., on October 25, 
1852, and is the son of Rev. T. U. Wilkes, a Bap- 
tist minister who came to Arkansas about 1861, 
and located at Trenton, where he passed the clos- 
ing scenes of his life. The mother died in Georgia. 
L. J. Wilkes was quite small when he came to Ark- 
ansas, and here he grew to manhood, receiving a 
limited schooling at Trenton, Ark. In 1871 he 
came to Helena and was emj)loyed as a clerk for 
several years. Being economical he saved money 
and in 1876 went into the business for himself, 
taking a partner. As above stated, he formed a 
partnership with Mr. Ford in 1884, and they are 
now doing a thriving business. Mr. Wilkes is a 
stockholder in the Home Mutual Building & 
Loan Association and is a wide-awake and thor- 
oughgoing business man. He was married in 
] 876 to Miss Mary Jaquess, daughter of Dr. G. D. 
Jaquess, of Indiana, and the result of this union 
has been three children: George R., Luther J. and 
Louisa. Mr. Wilkes is a member of the First 
Baptist Church, his wife a member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, South. 

Giles VV. Wilkes, a well-known colored citizen 
of Big Creek Township, Phillips County, and ex- 
tensively engaged in planting, was Iwrii in North 



Carolina about the year 1833. He was reared in 
Georgia and came to Phillips County, Ark., in 
1861, ten years later purchasing the plantation on 
which he now resides. This consists of 580 acres, 
with 250 acres cultivated, and his spirit of jiro- 
gre.ssion has made his farm one of the most care- 
fully cultivated in the community. He has many 
modern improvements, a good house, out-build- 
ings, and the general impression given to the ob- 
server is that thrift and prosperity abound. Mr. 
Wilkes was first married, in 1866, to Miss Salina 
Scaile, of South Carolina, who died in 1885, hav- 
ing borne one child. One year later Mr. Wilkes 
was married to Mrs. Mary Joyce, who has two 
children by her former marriage: Mary and Anna. 
By her union with Mr. Wilkes she is the mother 
of two children living: Luther and James. Mrs. 
Wilkes owns in her name 250 acres of land, mak- 
ing a total of 830 acres under the skillful and ofii- 
cient management of Mr. Wilkes. Himself and 
former wife were members of the Colored Mission- 
ary Baptist Church. The present Mrs. Wilkes is 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. Mr. Wilkes is a Republican in his politi- 
cal views, having cast his first vote for U. S. 
Grant. He is an honest and industrious citizen, 
liberal in all his contributions to worthy enter- 
prises, and is qxiite wealthy. 

S. A. Wooten, wholesale and retail grocer, 
Helena, Ark. The grocery trade 'is one of the 
most important departments of commerce all the 
world over, representing as it does the staple 
article of consumption. In Helena it is somewhat 
extensively carried on, the establishments being of 
a general representative character. Prominent 
among those engaged in this trade are Messrs. 
W'ooten & Co., who are classed among the most 
successful business men of Helena. S. A. Wooten 
owes his nativity to Tipton County, Tenn., where his 
birth occurred in 1858, and he is the son of Arthur 
and Eliza Wooten, both of whom died when our 
subject was an infant. He was given a good com- 
mon-school education in Tennessee, and there re- 
mained until fourteen years of age, when he came 
to Helena, Ark. He was from early youth a boy 
of strong will power, and his greatest desire 



37i: 



was to rise higher in position. Ho Hrst sought em 
ployment as a clerk in a store, followed this for a 
number of years, and gave the best of satisfactioa 
to his employers. Being industrious and econom- 
ical he saved some money, and in 1882 embarked 
with his brother Cliurles in the mercantile busi- 
ness, but continued but a short time when each 
started out for himself. S. A. was in partnership 
with others for some time, and is now considered 
one of the leading grocers of Helena, doing an ex- 
tensive trade in both the wholesale and retail. He 
was married in 1882 to Miss Cora Eddins. a native 
of Tipton County, Tenii., and three children were 
born to this union : Katie, Floy and Shadie. Mr. 
Wooten is a member of the A. O. U. W. and the 
Golden Kule. He carries $2,000 insurance in the 
Travelers, §1,000 in the Manhattan and $2,000 in 
the New York Life Insurance Company. 

George W. Yancey has been a resident of Phil- 
lips County since sixteen years of age. He owns 
a farm of l-l-O acres, with ninety acres under culti- 
vation, situated three and one-half miles southwest 
of Trenton, his principal crops being corn and hay, 
and he is also breeding horses, mules and cattle, 
which he finds to be one of the lucrative branches 
of agriculture. Mr. Yancey was born in Virginia, 
on July 4, 1 855, and is a son of James E. and Mary 
E. (Waller) Yancey, also natives of that State. 
They removed to Kentucky in 1851), then to Illinois 
in 1867, and 1870 came to this county, engaging 
in farming. James E. Yancey was born in 1813, 
and was a son of Charles Yancey, a native of Yir- 



• o 
» ' — 

■« . ■ 

^ 6 f 



ginia, and nf ]'3iiglish descent. He died in 1875, 
on the farm on which the principal of this sketch 
now resides. Mrs. Yancey is still living and re- 
sides with her son. She was the mother of nine 
children. George W. Yancey was married in 1870, 
to Miss Viola Crenshaw, who was Ijorn in this 
county in 1859. She is the mother of four children, 
two of whom are living: Winnie. William. J. (de- 
ceased), Ann (deceased) and Berton C. Mr. Yan- 
cey is a member of the Knights of Honor, and is a 
Democrat in politics, having cast his first presi- 
dential vote for Tilden in 1876. 

Simon Krow was Iwrn in Prussia in 1837, and 
emigrated to this country when seventeen years of 
age, locating in Cincinnati, where he was employed 
as book-keeper for several years. He then went 
to St. Louis and engaged in the mercantile business, 
going in 1800 to Memphis, Tenn., where he was 
engaged in the same branch of trade for five years. 
In 1865 he came to Arkansas and devoted his at- 
tention to buying cotton along the Arkansas River, 
trading in this manner from Fort Srdith to the 
Mississippi. Four years later he came to Trenton 
audagain entered into the mercantile business, in 
which he is still occupied, carrying a stock of from 
!?25,O0O to $:^O,00O. He has a large and in 
creasing trade and well de.serves his success. Mr. 
Krow is a memi)er of the Masonic order, and also 
of the Knights of Honor. In addition to his nier 
cautilo interests he is interested in the real estate 
business and owns considerable ]>roperty. and is 
one of Trenton's influential and |ironiiiient citizens. 




810 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



XX 



•»-iSs^ — 



Speech ok Hon. T. F. .Soi;i;i;li.s on the Deep \Vateu (.ii'ESTiON— A Mattek of Pkime Imi'OI'.tance- 
EA.STEKN Arkansas Jntepksts— NzcEssiT-i of Deep Water— Methods Employed, Etc, Etc. 



♦^s(^ 




'HE following extract from 
the speech of Hon. Theo- 
doric F. Sorrells, delegate 
to the Denver Deep Water 
Convention, as delivered 
before the Arkansas legis- 
lature, is deemed of suffi- 
cient importance to occupy the 
best attention of the readers of 
the present volume: 

Gentlemen of the General As- 
sembly: In obedience to the an- 
nouncement made to-day I appear 
before you to address you upon the 
great commercial question of the 
^'y^V^ age, and one to be carried out by 
^^ §) this generation, and I do thank you 

for the courtesies thus extended to me in tendering 
me this hall for the purposes of this occasion, that I 
might have an opportunity of giving you a short 
account of my stewardship as your representative 
to the Denver convention in August last, as well as 
my views touching the probable results of the 
meeting of said convention. I was appointed by 
Gov. Simon P. Hughes as a delegate to the Inter- 
State Deep M'ater Harbor Convention at Denver, 
Colo. , which was held there August 28, 29, 30, and 
31, 1888. * * * This, to my mind, 
is the most important step that has been taken in 
forty years, and one in the right direction, and 
was held at a suitable time, when gentleman from 
every portion of the Trans-Mississippi States had 



an opportunity to attend and participate in the 
deliberations of the said cenvention, who may have 
desired to take a part in its permanent organiza- 
tion. No country occupied by civilized man has 
been suffering more than the Trans-Mississippi 
States for the want of a deep water harbor on the 
northwest coast of the Gulf of Mexico, so as to 
make a convenient outlet for the Trans-Mississippi 
States to the sea. 

The inhabitants of the Trans-Mississippi States 
must be aroused from their commercial inactivity 
and change their mode of operation, and prepare 
for a different and more convenient commercial 
existence; and with a view to that end the con- 
vention assembled with 750 delegates from all the 
Trans-Mississippi States. After four days and 
night's labor the convention adopted the following 
resolutions: 

Whereas, it is the sense of the States of Texas. Colo- 
rado, Kansas, Nebraska. Missoiui. Iowa, Arkansas, Cali- 
fornia and Nevada, and of the Territories of New Mexico. 
Wyoming. Utah, Arizona, Dakota and Indian Territory, 
in convention assembled at Denver, Colo., under the call 
of his e.xcellence, Alva Adams, governor of the State of 
Colorado, that tlie commercial, agricultural, mining, 
manufacturing and stock interests of all lliat part of the 
United States lying west of the Mississippi Uiver, and the 
commercial and naval advantages of our country gener- 
ally, demand a permanent deej) water port on the north- 
west coast of the Gulf of Mexico; therefore be it 

liesoleecl. 1. That the senators and representatives 
in Congress, from the States hereinbefore referred to, and 
the delegates from the Territories herein set forth, be and 
they are hereby most earnestly requested to procure at 
once a permanent available apiuoiiriation of the amount 



"F 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



811 



necessary to secure a ileep water port on I lie iiorlbwest 
coast of the Gulf of Mexico, west of the flUi'-' west longi- 
liuic, capable of adinittinj; the largest vessels, an<l at 
which the best and most accessible harbor can be secured 
and maintained in the shortest possible lime and t)ie 
least cost. 

3. That for the purpose of carrying into effect the 
foregoing resolutions, committees to consist of five from 
each State and three from each Territory representative 
in this couveuliou, be appointed by their respective dele- 
gations; that it shall be the duties of said committees to 
see that the oliject of said resolutions be pro|)erK' pre- 
sented and vigorously urged before Congress, and to that 
end and with the view of co-operation and concert of 
action the chairmen of the respective committees shall be 
and they are hcrebj' constituted aiid created a central* 
committee. 

3. That the States and Territories and commercial 
bodies represented in this convention approve the idea of 
securing deep water on the gulf coast of Texas l)y private 
capital, and they do hereby res|)ectfully request and re- 
spectfully urge their senators, representatives and dele- 
gates in Congress to lend their united supi)ort to such bills 
as may be introduced for such purpose with proper safe' 
guards for the protection of the government, provided 
that the port or point suggested be one desirable for the 
location of a deep water harl)or. 

Whekeas, the need of a deej) water harbor on the coast 
of the Oulf of Mexico directly and vitally alTects nearly 
one»fourth of the people of the United States, we deem 
the requests contained in the foregoing resolutions of 
such great and paramount importance as to justify their 
early reference to the official notice of the president of 
the United States, in order that he maybe duly and fully 
informed, and be able, as contemplated in the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, to "give to Congress informa- 
tion of the State of the Union, and recommend to their 
consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary 
and expedient;" therefore be it 

liesiilred, that a copy of the foregoing resolutions be 
transmitted to the president of the United States, and 
that he be requested to make in his next annual nu-ssage 
to the Congress of the United States such reconiuKinda- 
tions with reference to the location of a deep water har- 
bor on the northwest coast of the Gulf of Mexico as to 
him shall seem proper and expedient. 

WiiEKEAS. it is of vital importance to all that vast re- 
gion of our country between the Mississippi Hiver and 
the Pacific Ocean, including Minnesota. Oregon and 
Washington Territory on the north, and Arkansas. Texas 
and California on the south, that a liarbor dc.p enougli to 
float any vessel that sails the ocean, anil ample enough to 
protect the fleet that will be reiiuired to handle the com 
merce of this whole region of country, nearer to it than 
any other Atlantic seaport, be constructed on the north 



west coast of the Gulf of Mexico as soon as |iracilcable: 
and 

WuEKF.AS, such a harbor is of such great national im- 
portance that it is worthy of an ample appropriation from 
Congress foi its const ruction; and 

WlilCllEAS. we luive already adopted a request to the 
present members of Congress to favor such appropria 
tions. but would make that request more emphatic; there 
fore, 

lieaiihe.d, that the legislatures and people of all the 
States and Territories included in the region described be 
earnestly requested to elect no senators, representatives 
or delegates to Congress, except such as are known to be 
heartily in favor of such an appropriation, and will ear- 
nestly and faithfully work for it until such a harbor is 
completed. 

After tho ailoption of the above resolutions and 
the appointment uf the general committee and the 
State executive committees, the general committee 
adjourned to meet in the city of Dallas. Tex., on 
October 17, 1888, and a quorum being present the 
committee formuhited and adopted the following 
act, to be presented to Congress: 

A nir.L TO KSTAIiLlSH A DEEP WATER HAKBOK ON TUE 

■ 

coast of the state of texas and fok otmrk 

purposes: 
Be it enitcled by the Senate and House of lieffrenentalives 
of the United Staten of Ainrriea in Congrem anHembled: 

Section 1. That the President be and is hereby em- 
powered and requested to appoint three engineers of the 
army and two engineers from civil life, who shall proceed 
to make a carefid and critical examination of the coast 
of Texas and select the luost eligible point for a deep 
water harbor, to be of ample depth, width and capacity 
to accommodate the largest oceangoing vessels ant^ the 
commercial and naval necessities of the country, said se- 
lection to be made at one of tlie present ports or at a dif- 
ferent place if the commission find one more eligible for 
the purposes above indicated. 

Section 2. That the sum of $10,000,000, or as much 
thereof as may be necessary, be and the same is heri-by 
appropriated ami made a piTmanent and availal)le fund 
for the purpo.se of selecting such deep water harbor and 
constriu'ting tlie same as soon as the selection shall be 
made. ' 

Section 'i. That the eoininissioners herein provided 
for. not in the employ of the Government, shall receive as 
compensation — dollars per day. and their expenses 
while traveling. 

Section 4. The money hereby appropriated to be 
paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise ap- 
propriated; sail! work to be conducted ami the money 
expeiuli'il under the direction of the secretary of war. 



I 



^1 



812 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



The reason I voted for the above act asking 
Congress to appropriate $10,000,000 is simply 
from the fact that I am opposed to the driblet 
system of appropriations for the improvement of 
rivers and harbors, for I do regard the system as 
having been a great drawl)ack upon the improve- 
ment of our rivers and harbors now and heretofore 
so much needed. In consequence of the great and 
often ruinous delays caused too often by tacking 
appropriations for rivers and harbors on the gen- 
eral river and harbor bills, which is too often done 
by a system of demagogy, where each congressman 
wants some bayou or river opened up to give them 
a little brief local popularity that they may be re- 
turned to Congress. And so they frequently work 
for each other's local schemes to give each other 
local popularity, but with no advantage to naviga- 
tion, but to the great injury of the country and the 
depletion of the Federal treasury. 

Still this system is quite expensive and ruinous, 
because the work that is done under the driblet 
system frequently washes away between the appro- 
priations . For instance, take the Mississippi River 
improvements. The unfinished levees wash away 
as fast as the appropriations are received; hence 
the labor bestowed, the money spent, and no per- 
manent good results. For that reason I am in 
favor of making ample appropriations to commence 
and carry out the work to completion, without any 
delay, and for that reason I voted for an appro- 
priation of $10,000,000, and would never be satis- 
fied with anything less. What is $10,000,000 to 
such a great country as this? The difference in 
the price of freights in one year will more than 
pay for a lirst-class harbor on the Texas coast. 
But, before I commence the argument, I will say 
that I have no written speech prepared for this 
occasion, but my remarks will be drawn from my 
observation and study of this great commercial 
question for the last fifteen years, and I regret that 
I have not time to discuss this great question as 
its magnitude demands, but I will not weary your 
patience or impose upon your kindness and good 
nature. But I do unhesitatingly say that the 
question I present to-night is one of more impor 
tance than has been presented to the people of the 



Trans-Mississippi States in forty j'eare, and without 
any further delay I will subdivide the question 
into three divisions. 

The first subdivision of the question is: Do the 
inhabitants of the Trans-Mississippi States need a 
deep water harb<jr on the northwest coast of fhe 
Gulf of Mexico y 

The second division of the question is: Can a 
deep water harbor on the northwest coast of the 
Gulf of Mexico be built ? 

The third division to the question is: A\'hatwill 
be the results to the Western Hemisphere and to 
the world if l)uilt? 

I will now proceed to dispose of the question 
as indicated, by each subdivision, as the same jire- 
sents itself to my understanding, and say with 
great earnestness that the 15,000,000 of people 
embraced in the Trans-Mississippi States do greatly 
need a deep water harbor, a great commercial en- 
trepot, somewhere on the northwest coast of the 
Gulf of Mexico as an outlet, mart and market for 
the produce of that great country, to save the ex 
pense of the long railroad haul that those people 
in the Trans-Mississippi States have in order to 
reach the Atlantic seaboard with their produce 
raised in those States and Territories. The Trans- 
Mississi]ipi States on 1,132,245, 1 18 acres of land, 
with a population of nearly 13,2^3,096, and an 
assessed value of property of $3,290,320, 5rjS, pro 
duced in the aggregate, in 1880, 715,791.000 
bushels of corn, and shipped out of the counties 
where gi'own 315,677,940 bushels. The wheat 
crop of the sauje year amounted to 30,240,500 
bushels, and the crop shipped out of the counties 
where raised, 22,393,270 bushels. 

Now. in order to determine whether the coun- 
try west of the Mississippi River neetls a deep 
water harbor on the northwest coast of the Gulf 
of Mexico, which (jucwtion I think will be fully set 
tied in the minds of all fair-minded men, whether 
they live in the East or West, as soon as I make a 
statement of the comparative distances and difl'er- 
ence in the railroad haul from any given point in 
the Trans-Mississippi States to the Gulf of Mexico 
and the Atlantic seaboard, which I will proceed to 
give. 



^r^ 



J, 



■k 



HiyXOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



813 



To Cuir Coast 
I-'rom— 



Miles. 



l.illle Uock. Ark 44(1 

St. 1,01118, Mo 720 

Nan Francisco, Cal 182tl 

Toiwka, Kns t>8u 

l.jiH-olii, Kelt 8'J(( 

Bisinark, Dak 1240 

.Siinta Fe. N. M 760 

Denver, Colo 920 

Salt Lake City 120m 

llelenj, Mont 1495 

Oregon City, Ore I88."i 

Carson City.Nev 1480 



From New York 

To— Miles. 

Utile Hock, Ark 1080 

SI. Louis, Mo 88.5 

San Francisco, Cal 2G.^0 

Topcka. K as 1135 

Lincoln, Kcb 1185 

HiMilark, Dak 133.1 

.Santa Fe, N.M 173.5 

Denver, Colo I(i20 

.Sail Lake 19(10 

Montana 1920 

Orejjon City 2440 

Carson City 2380 



Hence tbo expense of rail haul to aiul from the 
Atlantic seaboard to the cities west of the Missis- 
sippi River to any point in the Trans- Mississippi 
States. That a great savinij in the e.\pense of 
transportation by bringing the consumer and pro- 
ducer in close proximity with each other, and such 
would certainly be the case with a deep water har- 
bor on the northwest coast of the Gulf of Mexico, 
and l>y that means obtain much lower freight rates, 
which would cause the producer to obtain much 
greater increase of profits on the productions of 
their farms than they have been able to do when 
dei)endiug alone on European countries. 

By reference to the txade of Central America, 
AVest Intlia Islands, South America and Mexico, 
ami the trade of Mexico with foreign markets, as 
will fully appear from the statement of surplus 
grains produced in the Trans-Mississippi States 
alone, is almost as much surplus of wheat and corn 
as the balance of the United States. The truth is 
that the Trans-Mississippi States, including the Pa- 
cific States, do furnish almost the entire export trade 
of the United States; and fi'om an accurate estimate 
that has been made, giving the number of horses, 
mules, milch cows, sheep, liogs and cattle in the 
United States in 1887, it will be seen that the 
greater portion of live stock in the United States 
is now west of the Mississipiii River, and the great 
est production of meat of the United States is fur- 
nished by the Trans- Mississippi States and Terri- 
tories. 

A large portion of the trade from Europe to 
Mexico is at this time being carried through the 
ports of Corpus Christi and Galveston, and it is 
believed that the completion of the Mexican Na- 
tional Railway, that runs down Galveston Island, 
when connected with any railw.ny rnniiing to the 
city of Mexico, will turn away much of the trade 



from Vera ('ruz iind bring the same down to a deep 
water harl)()r on the Texas coast, and a suitable 
hari)or ou the Texas coast would save 1,500 miles 
of transportation. And the trade of Northern Mex- 
ico will in the future greatly increase tlm commer- 
cial business and traile of the United States. 

This opinion seems to be entertained by rail 
road men, as they seem to be pushing their lines 
toward Mexico. And an immense .saving would be 
made in the long lines of through shipments. If 
there was a deep water harbor on the northwest 
coast of the Gulf of Mexico, this would certainly 
control much of the trade of Mexico, because the 
same would pass through the ports on the Texas 
coast, there being no good harbor on the Mexican 
coast. 

From the foregoing talile of distances from the 
Texas gulf coast to the different points above indi- 
cated, and the difference between those points and 
a dee]) water harlxir on the iK)rth\vest coast of the 
Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic seaboard, the ne- 
cessity of a deep water harbor in the interest of 
trade anil commerce on the northwest coast of the 
Gulf of ]Mexico seems to go without argument, for 
the opening of a gateway to the Gulf of Mexico is 
the commencement of a new commercial era. In 
the countries of North and South America, the 
West India Islands, Central America, Mexico and 
all the Trans-Mississippi States new commercial 
destiny that will attract the attention and consid- 
eration of the civilized world, and place in the 
hands of the American people the commer<fe of 
the world. Through this gateway to the Gulf of 
Mexico the future opens to the people of the 
Trans-Mississippi States a great harvest of wealth, 
and they are now beginning to learn the lessons 
before them and turn their trade away from Eur- 
ope and Asia, and seek other markets, if nece.ssity 
retpiire, of their own creation in the southern 
climes of the Western Hemisphere, because there 
is an immense unculfiviited country situated far 
beyond the contnjl of our laws and constitution, an 
immense area of navigable waters, a gulf and a 
sea, destined to become the greatest commercial 
place in the Western Hemisphere, full of islands 
and the wealth of nature. All are stniggling and 



g)T>> 



814 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



striviug to take an active part in the great com- 
mercial movement of this progressive age. 

Still beyond there lies a vast continent, full of 
all that is valuable in nature; those continents and 
islands are our natural co-operators, and with us 
to become the world's benefactors, for with us un- 
der the present civilization our people are turned 
away from old Europe and Asia to distant conti- 
nents in pursuit of trade and commerce. We are 
not familiar with the lands and waters of the West- 
ern Hemisphere that lie beyond and under the 
tropics. Our people ought to learn more of them. 
They have a longitudinal position in the Western 
Hemisphere. In the position they occupy with 
the people of the Trans-Mississippi States and in 
accordance with the requirements of a great natu- 
ral commercial law of trade, mutual intercourse 
would maintain and wealth be amassed by ex- 
change of products. Alexander the Great was 
compelled to enrich his empires with the wealth of 
the tropics. He, with the great tide of human 
beings, moved fi'om the Persian gulf and built up 
great commercial harbors on the Mediterranean 
Sea, and thence onward to the Netherlands, and 
to-day has a controlling influence over England's 
commerce. Such we learn from history and the 
same has come down to us. Such a destiny now 
lies in sight of the people of the Trans-Mississippi 
States, and the rapid increase to 20,000,000 in 
the Trans-Mississippi States and from that to 
40,000,000 in the next half century does certainly 
command the prompt action of those now living to 
make ready for the new trade and commerce now 
growing up Ijetween the two continents of the 
Western Hemisphere, and success of trade and 
commerce will depend upon the co-operative move- 
ments between the two countries, one with the 
other. If we look back through history to ancient 
times we will find the world full of examples to 
stimulate us in this great commercial enterprise. 
We are only required to look back through history 
to that dark commercial age when commerce and 
trade commence its final struggle with the military 
under the feudal despotism of Europe and Asia; 
when five great commercial highways were opened 
and traveled from the Persian gulf to the commer- 



cial markets on the Mediterranean Sea, which were 
the great highways traveled by Phoenecians, Jews 
and the merchants of Alexandria to Constantino] ile 
and other cities. 

Now, if it be true in those ancient days that 
nations were made wealthy by the trade of Africa 
and the East Indies, the prospects must be much 
greater for the people of the Trans-Mississippi 
States to enrich themselves by the trade of the 
West Indies, Central and South America and Mex- 
ico. The trade that now opens to the people of 
the Trans- Mississippi States is certainly a much 
broader field for human enterprise than Europe 
and Asia affords at this time, which they have only 
to cultivate to make the same a great ally in trade 
and commerce and not a rival in any of the chosen 
industries of the great Trans-Mississippi States. It 
is certain that the universal tendency of the race of 
mankind upon this globe has been to make the cir- 
cuit of the world upon parallel lines with theequa 
tor, seeming as by instinct to follow the sun in his 
movement around the planet. It is also certain that 
the great wealth of formei' ages in other nations 
have been obtained from the tropics. No people 
have ever been vitalized by civilization who have 
failed to exchange earth's products with different 
latitudes and zones. The exchange of similar pro- 
ducts do not enrich either country. The di fference 
in products when exchanged will create wealth in 
both. For instance, there is no advantage derived 
by the exchange of the cotton of Tennessee for the 
cotton of Arkansas, or the tobacco of Kentucky for 
that of Virginia, for these are the products of each 
State; and no exchange can be made that will be 
profitable to either. It must appear to all fair- 
minded men that the exchange of the products of 
the warm climate for those of the cold climate, such 
as corn, wheat, fruits and arts of industry of the 
North, for the sugar, coffee, cotton, rice and other 
productions of the South, that our people are to be 
mostly benefited in securing the rewards of their 
varied industries. 

The circuit of the globe is now complete. 
Upon our land the chain of the world's empire has 
been finished; the conquest has been carried from 
the East to the West. Astonished at such a tri- 



^. 



r>- 



.Jt 9 



>£. 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



s 1 ,-) 



Tiinpli, tlio Aaglo-Saxoii raco now tiiriiH to uew 
tiolds of laboi' on lont^itudiiial Hikih. Wliat olse 
can be done in order to achieve tlieir greatest pos- 
sibilities in civilization and commerce'!' It seems 
to me that notliiiig else can be done in these pro- 
gressive and gras])iag times. It does appear to 
me that man's travel on this globe has been to 
make the circuit of the same within the lines of 
the same temperature with his own home in the 
East; and the westward movemiuit of i\m luunan 
race along the growth of progiH>ss and improve- 
ment corresponds with the movement of the suu in 
Zodiac. But the next great and important move- 
ment to bo made must correspond to the second 
solar movement which is known in astronoraj' as 
the procession of the equinoxes. The varying of 
the sun in its ethereal i)athway, what is known as 
the elliptic, creates the changes and variations in 
the seasons and revives the vegetable kingdom and 
causes everything to grow for man's happiness and 
comfort, and the varying and vibrating of the 
human race, north and south of the line of equal 
temperature, creates the immense wealth of the 
world and pushes forward civilization into every 
country. 

For that reason the people of the Trans Missis- 
sippi States have but to live in obedience to this 
great law of the universe to fulfill the ends of their 
earthly missicm. The development of these facts 
will at once completely reorganize the present sys- 
tem of exchange in the Trans- Mississippi States, as 
w(Ul as this continent, and decrea.se the importance 
of east and west railways in comparison to those 
running north and south, and railways running 
from any of the great ('ommercial cities of tlie val 
ley, Chicago, St. Louis or Kansas City, or other 
kindred cities, to the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean will 
sink into utter significance in comparison to those 
running north and south and uniting the lakes 
.with the gulf. The truth is, one good railway 
connecting with a good harbor on the Gulf of Mex- 
ico will i)e of more value to any one of the cities 
from which it may run than any Pacific railway 
that well can be built. For this reason it must ap- 
pear to every candid mind that in less time than 
two years the trade with the West India Islands, 



Central and South America will l>e more va]ual)li' 
to th(! TransMississippi States than all the trade 
they will have with Europe and Asia. This state- 
ment to some persons may seem remarkable. Nev- 
ertheless time will [)rovo it to be true. In this I 
desire to be fully understood. I don't intend to 
say that the trade of the West Indies, Central and 
South Ami-rica will ))e greater than the trade of 
Europe and Asia, but I do say that the time will 
come in the near future when the people of the 
Tnuis Mississi])pi States will carry <jn more trade 
with the West Indies, Central and South America, 
than they will with Europe and Asia. 

Now let mo atop and argue the case, and see if 
I am not correct. As a proof I will state that the 
greater portion of the trade of the Trans-Missis- 
8ij)pi States, as well as the entire Mississippi Val- 
ley, at present with Europe and Asia, is confined 
to such products as are produced in the country 
where they live; and in the same Latitude are to, be 
found iu all North America, in much greater (pian- 
tities, all those natural products that Europe ami 
Asia have in the same latitude. For that reason 
may we not suppose that the time is near at hand 
when the people will produce out of the same kind 
of raw material such fabrics and implement*; as 
they may need in their varied industries ' And for 
that simple reason our [)eoplo will no longer be 
forced to go to Eurt)pe and Asia for such things as 
can be raised and manufactured at home. Then 
our people will only l)i> required to go down to the 
elements we do not possess in order to carry o/S this 
trade with th(> commercial marts aiul markets of 
the world. This will of course lead them down to 
the tropical regions of the globi', and for that sim- 
ple reason another evidence of the commercial 
destiny of the people of the Trans-Mississippi 
States, and the surplus producer of these States 
following the flow of the waters to the gulf, 
whether carried by river or by rail. Our trade 
with the warm climates of the Western Hemisphere 
is rajtidly increasing; and to keep it on the increase 
demands liberal legislation and far seeing states- 
manship on the part of our congressmen. No man 
can calculate the value of our future commerce 
with the Central and South American States, the 



^^ 



Ml 



-^ 



816 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



West Indies and Mexico, when these countries shall 
be more fully developed, the soils forced to produce 
and yield to their utmost capacity, the productions 
of which will mostly find its way to the Trans-Mis- 
sissippi States. And whatever trade is carried on 
with Europe and Asia with the great Mississippi 
Valley must be done through the Gulf of Mexico. 

The construction of a canal across the Isthmus 
of Panama, as well as the railroad from Panama 
to the City of Mexico, will most certainly bring the 
trade from the western slope and the Pacific Ocean 
throi;gh there and into the Caribbean Sea and the 
Gulf of Mexico, which is destined to become the 
great commercial place of the world, and thousands 
of .ships comprising the fleets of all Christendom 
will meet in this great commercial highway, which 
these waters will most certainly become. 

But without a deep water harbor on the north- 
west coast of the Gulf of Mexico these things can 
never be; and with a deep water harbor on the 
northwest coast of the Gulf of Mexico the great 
commercial advantages can and will be accom- 
plished in the near future as certain as any fut- 
ure event, the building of which is not a local 
matter, but of great national concern, being need- 
ful for national defenses, where she can erect her 
forts and fortifications to protect the sea coast, as 
we have much open coast along that line that is 
entirely improtected, and the civilized world is 
alive to the fact that the United States has a 
poor navy. 

I do hope I have convinced you of the neces- 
sity of a deep water harbor on the northwest coast 
of the Gulf of Mexico with ample sea room to ac- 
commodate the trade and commerce of the world. 
This is the great question, the all absorbing ques- 
tion, the question of the hour with the peojjle of 
the Trans- Mississippi States. 

I am convinced that the thing can be done and 
that speedily, if Congre.ss will make the required 
appropriation for that purpose, which I believe 
Congress will do if the people of the Trans-Missis- 
sippi States will unite and properly present the 
matter to Congress. 

The next question to be considered is, can a 
deep water harbor be constructed on the northwest 



coast of the Gulf of Mexico with ample sea room 
to accommodate the trade and commerce of the 
civilized world? The solution of the question, to 
my mind, is quite easy, if we are allowed to judge 
the future by the past, and for our purpose we will 
look back through history for 2,00(1 or more years 
and see what has been done beyond the seas. Have 
not the nations of the Old World spent millions 
upon millions of dollars in the improvement of 
their rivers and harbors? The Danube, Seine, 
Oder and other rivers? The harbor at Antwerp 
and the Amsterdam Canal ? And have we not a 
more powerful nation than any that ever existed 
beyond the Atlantic? Besides vast sums of money 
expended by the nations of the Old World for the 
improvement of their rivers and harbors, none of 
which is equal, in commercial importance, to a 
deep water harbor on the northwest coast of the 
Gulf of Mexico. Still our legislators hesitate to 
move forward in the development of this great 
country, as the situation demands, for the best 
interest of this generation and others to come. 

I will call attention to two of the great canals 
of the globe, the character and magnitude of which 
require the deepest thought and the most profound 
consideration. 

I will first mention the great imperial canal, of 
China, completed in the thirteenth century, which 
was 1 , 250 miles long, a distance from the northern 
lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and the Chinese wall, 
which is 1,500 miles long. And during this cen- 
tury the Suez Canal was constructed, which carries 
the waters of the Red Sea through the Gulf of 
Suez into the Mediterranean Sea, which is the 
greatest commercial water highway for trade and 
commerce that has been made since the time of 
Pharaoh, when Joseph was carried down to Egypt. 
The said canal furnished more direct communica- 
tion with the Eastern Hemisphere famous in those 
Trojan times. This canal is ninety-two miles 
long, twenty-six feet deep, its di'aught is twenty- 
five feet, it required thirteen years to construct 
it, was finished in 1869, at a cost of 17,026,000 
pounds. It has a capacity for barges 400 feet long. 

To the American legislator this great com- 
mercial enterjirise looks wonderful, and the ex 



^ 



;e^ 



HISTOKY OF ARKANSAS. 



817 



l)piise almost beyond computation. But what nro 
they to this groat country and its needs? Which 
canal has only heen completed twenty years, and 
has done more to civilize and Christianize the in- 
habitants of the Eastern Hemisphere in this short 
time than had been done in a thousand years be- 
fore, by bringing the people of the Eastern Hemi- 
sphere in close proximity with each other, and 
thereby the morals, customs, habits and intelli- 
gence of the people were improved. Within the 
memory of men now living many improvements 
have been made on the American harbors. The 
Erie Canal has been constructed: Milwaukee, 
Chicago, Buffalo, New York and many other great 
harbor improvements have been made, too tedious 
to mention in the brief time allowed me. The 
truth is there has never been a failure to improve 
any American harbor that has been undertaken . 
So I do unhesitatingly say that a deep water har- 
bor can be constructed on the northwest coast of 
the Gulf of Mexico. There can not be a qii(>stion 
as to the successful construction of such a harbor, 
if Congress will make the required appropriation, 
which I believe it will do, as I have before stated. 
The next and last question to be considered is 
as to what will be the social, financial and com- j 
mei'cial results to be attained by the construction | 
of a deep water harbor on the northwest coast of 
the Gulf of Mexico. There is one thing of which 
I do feel certain, that at whatever place shall l)e 
constructed a deep water harbor on the northwest 
coast of the Gulf of Mexico, there will spring up 
from the sand beach one of the grandest cities in 
the great Southwest. It will become the great 
central city of the Western Hemisphere, and will 
soon l)econie a grand commercial mart and market 
for the |)roduce of the great new M'est, which is 
now on a lioom from the Mississippi liiver to the 
Pacific Ocean. The city that will be liuilt up tht-re 
will soon stand out as one of the most flourisliing , 
cities that will adorn the American continent. Such 
is to my mind the character of the city that will 
be erected there, and there stand for the admira 
tion and glory of succeeding generations as they 
pass down the stream of time, through the long 
vista of ages to come. And as the inhabitants of 



the great Trans Mississippi States will in future 
time stand on the wharves of this great coming 
city and look back along the pathway of bygone 
years, they will bo ready to exclaim, as did the 
queen of Sheba when she visited Solomon, that 
"half had not lieen told by me to-in"ght." 

When we look l)ack through the dim distance 
of former ages and take a view of the commercial 
marts of the ancients, those which l)y tlieir com 
mercial growth have left their footprints on the 
sands of time, which time can never wipe out or 
ol)literate, and for whose supremacy and control 
empires have l)oen gained and lost; when we look 
back through the ages to those ancient cities, see 
the resources that nourished and upheld tliem, we 
find that they were quite small compared to those 
that now cluster around, and will become tributary 
to a deep water harbor on the northwest coast of 
the Gulf of Mexico See, for instance, who are to 
be her contributors fi-om the land side, which ex- 
tends fi'om the Gulf of Mexico north to the Lake 
of the Woods, including eighteen States and Ter 
ritories, embracing nearly one-third of the whole 
United States, every inch of which will be l)enefi- 
ciaries to a deep water harbor on the northwest 
coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The inhabitants of 
this vast country has doubled every two years, and 
the population of this great country com]>rises 
one fifth of the national po[)ulation. But !is great 
as has been the growth of this great country, the 
same is at this time in the infancy of it,s future 
greatness. 

The productions of this country are ahnosl 
beyond computation at this time, and to undertake 
to estimate what the future productions willl)e, no 
human foresight can discover the amount of trallic 
and ttjunage that will in the future roll down from 
this great country on tiie great railways to tlie 
wharves of ihisgi-eat coming city. This great city 
will, in a few short years, grow up to '_'(M),(MH) in 
haliitants, and those who live will Ix- prouil of it. 
and gratilied in feeling that they have l)een con 
cernetl in the inauguration of this great commer 
cial movement, and helped to lay the foumlation 
for their future gn-nt ei-ntnil cilv of tin- Western 
Hemisphere. 



^^ 



^a 



*.\iL 




The interest aud happiness of generations to 
come plead for its completion. Nature has pointed 
out the way the products of this grand and great 
country shall l)e carried to the markets of the 
world. 

The great Creator has so arranged the mount- 
ains and the valleys between the Alleghenies and 
the Sierra Nevadas that the commerce of this great 
country, comprising the Trans-Mississippi States, 
shall pass down to a deep water harbor on the 
northwest coast of the Gulf of IMexico to reach the 
markets of the world without being required to 
make a long and expensive "rail haul" with the 
immense produce of the great valleys across the 
Alleghenies or the Sierra Nevadas to reach the 
seal)oards of the Atlantic on the east and the Pa- 
cific on the west. 

The truth is, there is no limit to the argument 
that can be made on behalf of a deej) water harbor 
on the northwest coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It 
grasps like the seas and takes in all the shores (of 
the Western Hemisphere at least). A few more* 
thoughts and I will hasten to the close of an unfin- 
ished argument up)on the great commercial ques- 
tion now before this country. 

I have now discussed this great question from 
the land side. It now becomes my duty to look 
Gilt over and across the Gulf of Mexico and the 
Caribbean sea to the great countries that lie be- 
yond, all of which will become tributary to a deep 
water harbor on the northwest coast of the Gulf of 
Mexico, which will be Central and South America, 
West India Islands, Mexico and Cuba, which will 
soon belong to the United States by purchases from 
Spain. So will the commerce of China and Japan 
come through the harbor on the gulf coast as soon 
as the canal is constructed through the Isthmus of 
Panama. All these great countries will bring their 
commerce through a deep water harbor on the 
northwest coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Such a 
brilliant future is not offered to any other harbor 
now on the globe, and all th.it is required to bring 
thes(( grand results is an ample appropriation by 
Congress to carry out this grand commercial enter- 
prise, which will contribute so much to the glory 
aud happiness of generations unborn, and will con- 



tribute largely to the growth and commerce of th(» 
great State of Arkansas. 

As soon as the deep water harl)or is established 
on the northwest coast of the Gulf of Mexico and 
the bridge is built across the Mississippi River at 
Memphis there will be many great trunk lines of 
railways ruiuiing from Memphis and St. Louis to 
the deep water harbor on the gulf coast, all of 
which will be forced to run through the State of 
Arkansas — no way to go aronnd her. Then the 
southern portion of Arkansas and Northern Louis- 
iana and Southeastern Texas will finally loom up 
and make Little Rock a great railroad center and 
an extensive manufacturing city. I might say at 
this jooint that a deep water harbor on the gulf 
coast of Texas will forever be more favorable to 
our export and import trade than any harbor on 
the Pacific coast. For this reason the produce of 
the great country lying between the Mississippi 
River and the Pacific Ocean will never be carried to 
the city of San Francisco to be shipped to the 
markets of Europe, for they will not ship their pro- 
duce from San Francisco across the Northern Pacific 
and beyond the equator into the Southern Pacific, 
and around Cape Horn over a perilous sea of 
10,000 miles to reach the Atlantic Ocean to go to 
Europe, in order to avoid which they will bring 
their produce directly down to a deejj water harl)or 
on the northwest coast of the Gulf of Mexico to 
tide water, where they can have free ocean to the 
markets of the world. For that reason the city of 
San Francisco can never compete with a deep 
water harbor on the northwest coast of the Gulf 
of Mexico in point of trade and commerce, 
whether imports or exports. So all this contrib 
utes to the future greatness of a deep water har- 
bor on the gulf coast of Texas, and then we shall 
have established a permanent trade and commercial 
relations with all l-he South American States, Cuba, 
the West India Islands, Central America and 
Mexico. 

No ship thai siiil.s from oilhiT shore 

Whili! to anil fro it, ]ilics. 
But wciivcs llic thread of fricnilship o'er 

Thi' ,1,'iilf tliat 'twixt us lies. 



^« 



ERRATA. 



819 



ERRATA 



The following corrections have been received 
since the publication of the various sketches to 
which they refer. The publishers regret the de- 
lay in return of biographies, thus necessitating 
this Errata: 

Page 139. Sketch of Robert W. Canada. 

3d line. Change "for a period of time" to sini'c 

January S[i, ISoiJ. 
5th line. Malima for Melissa. 
22d line. Dialpka G. for Alpha C. 
Page 140. Same sketch. 

24th line. Four years instead of eight. 

Last line. "1830" for "1838," 

2d line (second column). After Tennessee add: 

CominsT to Arkansas. 
7th line. Ja/iunri/ for June. 
8th line. Clerk fur instead of a merchant in bun- 

iiess irith. 
17th line. Trustee of inste&d of steward in. 
At end of sketch add: Mr. Canada was one of the 
judges of election in six townships of White 
County when Arkansas was reconstructed in 1808. 
Page 141. In sketch of William H. Carodine, name 
should be spelled Caradine throughout. 
18th line (second column). Jicints for Jones. 
Page 142. Same sketch. After Church add: t'''tfwM. 
Page 176. Sketch of John T. Hicks. 

7th line. J^ytle should be Liyhtle. 

Sth line. Tirenty-cii/ht instead of eighteen. 

9th line. Read after Arkansas: "Previous to 

which he read law." 
10th line. Read; "After coming to Searcy he be- 
gan jiracticing," etc. 
19th line. " 18r)7" should be "1859." 
Page 177. Same sketch. 

lllh line. " 184(> ' should be "1836." 
■ ISth line. "1858" should be "1859." 
15th line. Lytle should read Lightle. 
17th line. Before Tennessee insert: Fayette County. 
19th line. After Tennessee add; In 18.59. 
21st line. After residing add: Having attained the 

age of eighly-seven years. 
23d line. Read: After which he took a law course 

at the University of Virginia in 1881-82, etc. 
2d line from bottom of sketch. Ejiiscopal should 
read Protistant Episcopal. 



Page 



Page 



Page 



Page 

Page 
Page 



Page 



Page 



196. Sketch of Jefferson Pinkney Linder. 

28th line (second column). linptist for Presbyterian. 

38d line. That county should read Lincoln Ccntnty. 

38th line. August should read September. 

234. Sketch of John A. Roberson. 

12th line. Mr. Roberson should read Mrs. Roberson. 

2Gth line. "110" should be "180." 

6th line from bottom. " 1S64 " for " 1863." 

257. Sketch of Walker & Ford. 

32d line. For sentence commencing " He served as, 
etc.," substitute: J. R. Ford served in the Con- 
federate army as an officer in the Second Georgia 
Infantry. Being sent on a special mission which 
led him outside the Confederate lines, he was 
captured and tried bj- a courtnuirtial as a spy; 
and though not found guiltj' he was sent t" prison 
at Camp Chase, Ohio, and held until after the 
surrender. He was released on parole May 14, 
1865. 

6th line from bottom. Alabama d: Chattanooga 
should read Chattanooga, Rome tfc Columbus. 

Sth line from bottom. Merchant instead of sales- 
man. 

2d line from bottom. Benjamin for Robert. 

258. Same sketch. 

18th line. Married Miss Joanna Lane. 

22d line. December 14 for December J,. 

23d line. September S for September IJ,. 

387. Sketch of John N. White. 

8th line (second column). After 1885 add: T6 the 
Hinton place. 

407. Sketch of Levi B. Boon. 

llth line. For sentence commencing: The mother 
was afterward married, substitute: The latter was 
reared bj' a man named Boon, from whom L. B. 
took his name. 

12th line (second column). Stack for Stock. 

429. Sketch of U. C. Louder. 

91 h line (second column). Mr. should be Benoni. 

27th line. Atlicia should be Alice. 

28th line. Four should be seren. 

Since the sketch of Mr Louder was printed he has 
been called away from earth, having died No- 
vember 30, 1889. 

475. Sketch of Col. V. B. Izard, 

6th line, 11'. tor N. 

6th line from bottom. Actirely for $iieeesnfully. 






2ij« 



:l£: 



820 



HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 



M line from bottom. W. for JV. 

IStli line (second column). Acting for assisting. 
Page 476. Same slietch. 

3d line. C'umminys for Cunning. 

8tli line. Jamex S. hard instead of .Innies. 

16tli line from bottom (second column;. Itejected 
for repcdkd. 
Page 479. Same sketch. 

4th line. Change marriage to: .lanuary I'.l. 18.M, m 
Miss Mollie T. Foudren. 

19tli line. SeJeetinn for xnlicilinf/: and oflici'x for 

Page 552. Sketch of Dr. W. I). I'owell. 

13th line. Qurpana should read Oeorgiii Ann. 

15th line. Jennie should read Jimmie. 

4tli line (second column). "1850" sliould read 

■■1866.'- 
5th line. The same year" shovild read " in lS."jfl." 
Gth line. Sop/ine.r shoidd read Sliaffner. 
7th line. //. Leona for Georrjiami. 
9tli line. After tintr ad<l: In 1872 to Miss Lyihia 



A. Wardnell, a native of Illinois, and the fruits 

of this union were two children: Minnie, born 

April 15, 1873. and Lillie M., born May 13, 1875, 

died December 22, 1876. 
9th line. After 1881 add: Mr. Powell was married 

the third time to Mrs. 
lOtli line. For Marid A. Ilill substitute "Mrs. 

Maliala Ann Maria Hill, daughter of William L. 

Eddins, of Shelliy County, Tenn." 
22d line. " 18.^)6" should re.'i'l "1866." 
Page 562. Sketch of William I?. W(dlborn. 

9th line. Kno.rrille should read Nn-niln't. 
Page 572. Sketch of P. H. Adams. 

6th line from bottom. GUdley should read Qn- 

lirjhtleij. 
4th line from bottom. Helle R. should read Bettic 

/?., and Francis sliould read Frank. 
5th line (second column). "1844" should be 

"1840." 
6th line. Martha A. fimith shoidd be Martli<i 

Jatiii's. * 




1^9 



6 6 



JX. 




T 






' t, C- \> 1.^ ' " t ^ o> 

^^•.^^ %'^ ^'^C^.^x^^ 1>^''- '^^^^ 






,0-5 J ,. lO O, J -/• ^^'^ o' 

~l -7-. ■ i ° \0o^ ° V ^ -, 

,0 (3, J .^ .0 o 



\ 


o 






1 1 n . 


■7' 






-. ' '^ V 


o 








•-> 


^. 




K 


^•< -^b 


0^ 


■.'/"^^ v^^' 




/" 


X 










%/■■-' 


,/^ 










% 


.# 








v^^ 


'cio'' 




s^°- 


. ,^-^ ''-^^ 










y 






^ ■:''■■ 


%^ 
















"^ "o 


0^ ,^ ^ ^ V^ 




■,<^ 


^e 


:/: >o°.. 






c4-. 


^^ no " 




x>:.r 




.$^% 

^v^ •? 






.^N' ■/■ 









'' '' y v "• ,A 


O 




' '^x. "■ ,.\\ . ' ' 


» * •/ 




V- ■■*' ,f'> 


' 




^^ f^l 










'i 


'-j» 


.^' ^ 






% 




• o 


y 











,-.■5 



> <<, - ■ .o>' <^,. ^ c'i ^>. : - aV •< 









- , ... .^' 



,x 



' "-fj. f -^r'"^'^- 



'CQ- 















A^^-^-^ 



V. X- 






CO' 



^0O. 



vN^^ 






V 



^,. ,.sv^- 






'=>,'*, 

^^i, ' 

-y'^. 






■ o 



.c5 r^ 






'*i>' 






v^-^ -^^^ 






-f5 .■■^■ 









v^-^ -^t. 






